Cognitive dissonance–Obama hits McCain on the economy, while using a shady subprime exec for a talent scout
Two headlines that just caught my eye:
Obama hits McCain on economy, gas prices
and
Top Talent Scout for Obama Tied to Subprime Lender
James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company’s CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Journal said at least two of the mortgages, among a series of loans made available to people Countrywide officials called “friends of Angelo,” were at rates below market averages, though it is difficult to predict a market rate without access to nonpublic information about a borrower’s credit history and other factors that can reduce interest charges on a loan…
On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama has criticized Countrywide’s executives. “These are the people who are responsible for infecting the economy and helping to create a home foreclosure crisis. Two million people may end up losing their homes,” Mr. Obama said in March at a town hall meeting in Lancaster, Pa.
I’m sure the omniscient, infallible Obamessiah will be able to reconcile those things with ease.
As for the gas prices, he’s got a point. McCain doesn’t want to drill ANWR either.
_________________
{Post by See-Dubya; h/t on the second to Protein Wisdom, where there is more.}
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Did you know the Caribou actually thrive living next to the Alaska pipeline? Contrary to what the humus eating eco- flagellates think.
That’s why I’m writing in Newt. Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay less. McInsane just doesn’t listen to his base. Sad. Maybe if we can have La Raza ask McCain to open up ANWR, he’d change his vote?
“That’s not the James Johnson I knew”…in 5…4…3..2
Obama: “James’ is not the Countrywide I remember criticizing.”
McCaribou?
OT…see-dub, are you now working for MM? I do hope that you are, cause I always enjoyed your posts.
Yeah. I want one of those window/bumper stickers I saw Newt with on H&C the other night, John. I need one for each of our vehicles.
Did James Johnson help Michelle O’s children with the $7 mil he borrowed?
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Or does that line make be a racist? You can never tell when not agreeing with this guy makes you a racist.
I bet the Obamasiah can’t stand to look in the mirror along with the grumpy old man when it comes to both of their voting records in hamstringing this countries ability to use its vast untapped energy resources. I agree with John Ansell Drill Here, Drill Now, and Pay Less!
Nah. But, have no fear, Tony R. stepped up in his place to do that.
Obummer either doesn’t understand irony, or is so stupid to think that he isn’t as much of a hypocrite as John McCain on this issue.
I’m with you on this one, Goldwater Knight, but I’ll go a little bit further:
It’s really nice to have both the Caribou (how big is their carbon footprint?) and the friends of Angelo on your side, huh Obummer? McCain? Don’t anybody roll out a press release too soon!
Of course this doesn’t help the Great Obummer’s children or his many synchophants get him elected this Fall, huh?
http://www.newt.org there you go Barry F.
LOL Taylork #3. That’s his automative response.
Well, dang. I was looking on the American Solutions site the other night, because that was the one he kept talking about and I couldn’t find them. Hmmm?
Oh, well. Got to get mine now.
John, I must be a little slow on the up take this evening. I see the image on the front page of Newt’s site but I don’t see where I can order the sticker. Do you have a direct link to the sticker?
It is not surprising that BHO has questionable acquaintances… what is bothering me is why after all of his proposed tax increases & other “bad for business” policies big business has not risen to smite him?? What do they know??
I hate this. I won’t vote for Obama. Never in a million years. But, McCain is pretty awful himself. What should I do? (pounding forehead on desk)
LOL, I didn’t find it either Barry. I suggest sending an Email to Matt Scofield in the contact section. He’ll send the info right on over. (During his working hours with Newt.org.)
#7 re: “Did James Johnson help Michelle O’s children with the $7 mil he borrowed?”
Perhaps his bundlers are smarter that Clinton’s… and what ever happened to that poor Chinese fellow anyway?
“FYI ALERT”
Carbon Belch Day is June 12th
We should just charge Mexico 1 barrel of oil for each Illegal, 15 million out the gate and thousands per day for each entry….
for starters put a pillow on your desk.
LOL AJ. Pillow on the desk. HA. Your oil idea is a great one too.
There’s one way to contribute to the supply issue, AJ, maybe even part of the demand problem too.
Friends of Angelo, meet friends of Tony.
aj
I still wonder how much our oil and gasoline usage would go down if we got rid of the 12-20 million illegals that are here on our roads and using our electricity …
8am beer sales would drop also dl…
aj … good point … but most of the folks here have no idea what a big electric bill is like we do this time of year … and it seems even higher this summer already … lower demand would save us both some money …
GlodWater Knight #1…..
you are correct. The caribou, elk etc….love the pipeline. They lean against it for heat. Maybe the polar bears would like to give it a try.
I’m shocked, shocked to learn that a subprime lender would manage the veep search for a subprime candidate!
Ooooookay. So we raise taxes on the hardest working Americans and give the money to a bunch of layabouts. An idea like that needs a catchphrase. I propose:
FROM THE WORKERS TO THE SHIRKERS!
they get hit hard for winter heating though, no doubt about it lower demand would help, not just on fuel, on everthing thats handed to them on a platter.
PS…. 106* here now, I think it hit 108*
Sounds good, until you remember that Newt sat beside that hag in the Al Gore funded commercial to help perpetuate the man-made global warming myth.
Well, too bad Al gork isnt planning a trip to Japan, they might mistake him for one of the Whales they’re allowed to hunt.
And, lest we forget, how much carbon dioxide are they producing? The sky is falling!
There is MUCH more to this than meets the eye.
Countrywide was more than a subprime lender – it was perhaps the largest seller of loans to Fannie Mae. In other words, Fannie Mae was a Countrywide customer and Countrywide was a Fannie Mae customer. The more loans Countrywide sold to Fannie Mae, the more money they made. And the more loans Fannie Mae bought from Countrywide and packaged up and resold, the more money Fannie Mae made.
It is not just the terms of Johnson’s personal loans that are at issue ($7 milion reported to be at below market rates is one hell of an exposure for Countrywide), but also the terms of the loan sales from Countrywide to Fannie Mae. And with that goes the issues of whether the loans purchased by Countrywide performed relative to other Fannie Mae sellers and whether Countrywide was required to repurchase loans that went into default under the same terms as other sellers.
Accepting loans on preferential terms was apparently a violation of Fannie Mae’s internal policies, but it may also have been a violation of federal law. I am not certain to what standards officers of Fannie Mae are held, but officers of banks and mortgage companies affiliated with banks are subject to federal criminal laws, including the following:
It is hard to imagine with all the banking regulations and protections on the books, that Fannie Mae would be given a pass on standards applicable to many of their customers. Be that as it may, Countrywide did and does have a federally insured bank in the mix, and the terms of a preferential loan made to a “government official” could certainly raise suspicion that the loan was an attempt to influence Fannie Mae.
You may also recall that Countrywide was the subject of perhaps the first “bailout” on the mortgage side, having inked a deal to be acquired by Bank of America prior to what appeared to be its impending bust. Countrywide’s woes did not go unnoticed, and its top officers are now the subjects of criminal investigations by the federal government as well as SEC inquiries.
Fannie Mae’s issues have been relatively quiet as of late. But they too are looking at some fairly massive losses. It will be interesting to see if any of Fannie Mae’s problems arise from its relationship with Countrywide, and if so, to what extent.
This bit of news could not come at a worse time for Countrywide. While the Federal Reserve recently approved its acquisition by Bank of America, the deal is not yet done. If any more guano hits the proverbial fan, BofA just may decide to walk from the deal.
The Johnson loan is just a very small tip of a very large iceberg. And Obama’s relationship with Johnson is but another sign that Obama’s judgment is anything but Presidential.
I like Newt, but remember he did that Green commercial with San Fran Nan aka stretch Pelosi.
And I’ve been passing the word. Over 10,000 more since I signed the petition.
Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less
http://www.americansolutions.com/
OK
If you haven’t found it yet try this.
Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay less. sticker
JT:
Signed it. Thank you. We need to bludgeon Congress over this.
Thanks ATX Cowgirl.
XBlade #32, noted that hag comment. Newt took a beating for that and had to come out a few time to state why he did it. I think the hag even broke campaign finance rules for taking money for that ad while she’s running for office.
Raising taxes on oil companies is a good liberal idea. Guess who is going to pay for it? Yup. Anyway, I thought congress was in charge of passing taxes and the economic policies, not the President. Last time I checked the Constitution (not that anyone pays any attention to it anymore), that was the congressional duty. What the democrats want you to believe is the same as if I told you to rob a bank, you go and rob it, and I go to jail. You get off scot-free…with the cash. Now, I know these candidates are hoping most everyone is ignorant of government and how it works, but don’t stand there and insult me with a lot of crap. All I see is a smaller paycheck in my future, and you want me to cheer? Too early in the morning anyway. Where’s my coffee?
Sorry Newt fans..
I was one of his constituents when the Dems gerrymandered Georgia in the early 90’s. I lived on the South Side of the city where the majority were solid middle class types who worked at the airport. The Demo-restructuring put Newt in a very affluential part of the North Side of Atlanta (deeper pockets are indicated). No big deal except the same restructuring created the now infamous “Octopus” district that allowed for a 10 mile wide corridor 200 miles long that ensured Cynthia (sure Saudi Arabia, I’ll take your money) McKinney would be elected over and over again. Newt never whispered a peep in opposition.
Newt (other than his climate stupidity of late) has been a reasonably good Anti-Commie but I just can’t forgive him for sitting on his hands so he could get bigger campaign contributions.
SUPPORT Senate Bill 2958!! God Bless Oil Production!!!
American Energy Production Act- this bill would produce up to 24 billion barrels of new oil if enacted
There is support for the effort by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, to force the Senate to debate new energy legislation. McConnell, backed by Cornyn and other Senate Republicans, introduced the American Energy Production Act, S. 2958, as an amendment today to separate legislation currently before the Senate.
If enacted, the legislation would lead to the estimated production of up to 24 billion barrels of oil — enough oil to supply America for 5 years with no foreign imports. It was introduced last week as a stand-alone bill by Sen. Cornyn and his colleagues.
The legislation will strengthen domestic energy production by exploring in ANWR, additional outer continental shelves, shale areas, and provide for increased refinery capacity.
Specifically, the American Energy Production Act:
* Allows petitions for leasing activities in the Atlantic and Pacific regions of the Outer Continental Shelf in order to tap into the 14 billion barrels of known recoverable oil in this area.
* Establishes a competitive oil and gas leasing program for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain under the Mineral Leasing Act, providing access to over 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil
* Creates a revenue sharing agreement for participating states in which 37.5 percent of revenues will go to new producing states, 12.5 percent to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and 50 percent to the Federal Treasury.
* Repeals the $4,000 fee for new applications for permits to drill that was established in last year’s Omnibus Appropriations Bill.
* Suspends filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for 180 days
* Repeals a provision in last year’s Omnibus which reduced mineral leasing revenue payments to States by 2 percent, and restores the 50/50 Federal-State revenue sharing structure.
McCain’s principle economic advisor is Phil Gramm, who is an exec of UBS. This Swiss bank has billions on the line in US subprime exposure.
Look for the candidate with the least conflict of interest, that’s Obama. Not no conflict, but much less.
put the crack pipe down and back away slowly lgm.
Which is precisely why McCain needs more econ-advisers with real-world experience like Phil Gramm: USB has a vested interest in getting Americans back on solvent ground – it’s the only way they’ll recover their past investments and it keeps the American market open to them for future investments.