Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Latest Government Actions (NFC) [Ferrari Digest, Vol 26, Issue 27]

[LarryT (l02turner]

Doug wrote
<<sought $110 million in penalties and $115 million in returned
bonuses from the three accused. [SNIP]..The three
executives agreed to pay fines totaling about $3 million,
which will be paid by Fannie's insurance policies.>>


Jeez Louise!   What kind of moronic negotiators do we have representing the 
American taxpayers??

In fact, it doesn't even sound like there were any negotiations - maybe the 
crooks, crooked lawyers talking to the stupid US GOV lawyers saying , "well, 
duh, how about $3 mil to make this go away?"  to which they responded, "well 
sure, sounds fair - we steal $225 million (almost a 1/4 od a billion $$'s!) 
and give back $3 - less than 1.5% - hmm seems fair - btw, can we get the 
gov't insurance to pay the fine for us?"

When I read the part of your post which said raines was being sued in civil 
court, I thought, "Ah Ha!  maybe we'll get some justice - not even close. 
It wasn;t even worth filing the lawsuit"

My Saturday's been ruined - well, maybe not, but it definately irritated 
me -

Evidently the politicians *real* emphasis is on screwing the public as much 
as possible.  And they're pretty successful.

IMHO this is why Palin is so popular - she seems to be one of *US* - perhaps 
she won't become part of the problem before she can do some good. - if she's 
makes it into office.   I know VPs are typically cosmetic positions, but if 
something should happen to McCain (God forbid) I have a good feeling the 
country would be in good hands.

I wonder if I'd be able to sleep at night if I'd stolen so much money?

Take Care,
Larry T
http://youroil.net
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug and Terri Anderson" <dnt [at] dock.net>
To: "Larry Turner" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
Cc: <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 11:55 PM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Latest Government Actions (NFC) [Ferrari Digest,Vol 
26, Issue 27]


> We start off with a question:
>
> And where is Franklin Raines today?  He is a chief
> economic advisor to the presidential campaign of Senator
> Barack Obama.
>
> And here is an answer:
>
> Franklin Rains is the former chairman and chief executive
> officer of Fannie Mae, the government sponsored enterprise
> started in 1939 to offer mortgages to Americans wishing to
> become home owners.  After serving as budget director under
> President Bill Clinton, Mr. Raines served as CEO at Fannie
> Mae from 2000 until 2004.  While Mr. Raines was CEO, Fannie
> Mae went deep into the practice of buying mortgages based on
> almost no or no money down given to borrowers who could not
> afford them.  During this time he received bonuses and
> salary over 90 million dollars.  In 2004 he was offered
> "early retirement" after the accounting practices used
> at Fannie during his tenure to secure top executive bonuses
> were shown to be fraudulent.  Civil charges were filed
> against Raines and two other former executives which sought
> $110 million in penalties and $115 million in returned
> bonuses from the three accused. On April 18, 2008, the
> government announced a settlement with Raines
> together with J. Timothy Howard,
> Fannie's former chief financial officer, and Leanne G.
> Spencer, Fannie's former controller. The three
> executives agreed to pay fines totaling about $3 million,
> which will be paid by Fannie's insurance policies.
> When pressed by the Bush administration to tighten down
> regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, members of
> congress - Republicans and Democrats alike - in positions
> to pass such regulations, did nothing.  Today, Fannie Mae
> owns or guarantees over half of America's 12 trillion
> dollar mortgage market, and we are in the middle of a credit
> crunch and housing slump brought on in large part by
> government backed Fannie Mae going down this dangerous
> credit slope under Mr. Raines.
>
> > From Wikipedia:
> On July 16, 2008, The Washington Post reported that Franklin Raines had
> "taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice 
> on
> mortgage and housing policy matters." [6]. Also, in an editorial in August
> 27, 2008 titled "Tough Decision Coming", the Washington Post editorial 
> staff
> claimed that "Two members of Mr. Obama's political circle, James A. 
> Johnson
> and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae."[7]
>
> On September 18, 2008 John McCain's Campaign, in an ad critical of Obama,
> quoted the Washington Post to claim that Franklin Raines advises Barack
> Obama on economic matters. Both Raines and the Obama Campaign claim that
> Raines is not an Obama advisor and has never advised Senator Obama. [8]
>
> Is Obama smart?  Sure seems so.  Is he a good speaker?  Pretty good with a
> prompter - and if he smiled at me and kept touching my knee when he didnt
> have one to answer my question - - - I'd swat him.  He gonna do that to
> Ahmadinejad?  Is he a charmer?  A+  Do I trust him to lead us?  Sure, but
> not were I want to end up.  Do I believe we will get change?  Ayep - Three
> dimes, 2 nickels and four pennies from my dollar an hour job.  Does he 
> have
> experience?  Sure - he can write books and attract sycophants like candle 
> to
> a moth.
>
> Alas -
>
> DOUG
>
>
>
>
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