Theodore's World: ACORN, Obama, and the Mortgage Mess

« Karl Rove Blasts Pelosi as Most Vicious Speech | Main | Did I Say Can This Election Get Any More Strange? It Just Did! Look at This! LOL »

September 30, 2008

ACORN, Obama, and the Mortgage Mess



ACORN, Obama, and the Mortgage Mess

Townhall.....for complete article

by Mona Charen

ACORN attracted Barack Obama in his youthful community organizing days. Madeline Talbott hired him to train her staff — the very people who would later descend on Chicago’s banks as CRA shakedown artists. The Democratic nominee later funneled money to the group through the Woods Fund, on whose board he sat, and through the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, ditto. Obama was not just sympathetic — he was an ACORN fellow traveler.

Now you could make the case that before 2008, well-intentioned people were simply unaware of what their agitation on behalf of non-credit-worthy borrowers could lead to. But now? With the whole financial world and possibly the world economy trembling and cracking like a cement building in an earthquake, Democrats continue to try to fund their friends at ACORN? And, unashamed, they then trot out to the TV cameras to declare “the party is over” for Wall Street (Nancy Pelosi)? The party should be over for the Democrats who brought us to this pass. If Obama wins, it means hiring an arsonist to fight a fire.


.



Wild Thing's comment..........

Obama.... dirty, dirty, dirty politics-as-usual.

Rofl! Today Rush called Obama a little squirrel!

Squirrels love ACORNs, don't they?? heh heh Good one for ElRushbo.

A past quote from 2007 buy Obama:

"I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work." — Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, November 2007

Obama, during his four-year tenure in Chicago as a community organizer, worked as a trainer for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — the infamous ACORN, whose affiliate, Project Vote, is known for voter fraud — the same ACORN from which a mighty mortgage mess has grown.

Upon his return to Chicago after Harvard Law School, Obama provided legal representation for ACORN and for Tony Rezko (recently convicted of bribery and money laundering), who was Obama’s main money man during his years in the Illinois State Senate. Rezko had helped the Obamas purchase a home in Chicago’s politically correct Hyde Park. Obama sat on the boards of the philanthropic Woods Foundation and the Joyce Foundation, both of whom funneled millions of dollars to ACORN.


Posted by Wild Thing at September 30, 2008 06:07 PM


Comments

Chicago is the only city that I know of that if you are dead and a democrat that doesn't mean you can't vote. Obama is proof of that. Maybe that could be a new obama label, 'go to the cemetery and vote'.

Speaking about 'little Squirrels' I popped 15 so far this year. They keep invading my Bird-feeders. Just like obama they are a mere annoyance.

Posted by: Mark at September 30, 2008 07:51 PM


Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae executives who have brought down Wall Street.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17241-2004Dec21.html

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted, ' Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that 'mistakes were made' and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years.' Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.
Raines left with a 'golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear. http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ . The Government noted, 'The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner.' These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Raines

Tim Howard - Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard 'was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a 'stable pattern of earnings' at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that, 'Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,'
On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004.
Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS186992+18-Apr-2008+PRN20080418

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million.' Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.
Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Johnson_(businessman)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON? Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee

IF OBAMA PLANS ON CLEANING UP THE MESS - HIS ADVISORS HAVE THE EXPERTISE - THEY MADE THE MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE. Would you trust the men who tore Wall Street down to build the New Wall Street ?

Posted by: Duane at September 30, 2008 10:37 PM


Mark this is such a great sentence.

"Chicago is the only city that I know of that if you are dead and a democrat that doesn't mean you can't vote."

The land of democrat corruption from the beginning of time.

My Dad used to get so mad at the Squirrels in the winter. He had a bird feeder outside the window near the living room and the Squirrels would come and steal food from the birds.

Posted by: Wild Thing at September 30, 2008 11:30 PM


Duane thank you for the links and information.
Sorry your comment got delayed it was sent to the spam folder I guess because of the links, not sure. I just came back online just now and approved it.

Posted by: Wild Thing at September 30, 2008 11:31 PM


Not a problem.

Posted by: Duane at October 1, 2008 08:48 AM