Okay, I WANT TO KNOW why this news about Barack Obama is NOT getting ANY National attention from the MEDIA! Doesn't the American PUBLIC deserve to know who Barack Obama is associated with, most especially the sub-prime mortgage sleeze-buckets mafioso Angelo Mozillo CEO of Countrywide and James Johnson former CEO of the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae.
Here is ANOTHER fine example of DOUBLE-STANDARD no integrity Barack Obama. HYPOCRITE! You are NO DIFFERENT than President George Bush, Jr. who expects the American people to believe every damn word you say while you do the complete OPPOSITE! Click here to read the entire article. Way to go Democratic National Committee and delegates, you have carefully chosen a democratic candidate who will appeal to, I mean BEND-OVER for all of your BACKERS! Your MAJOR contributors! SHAME ON YOU! Yeah right that's REAL CHANGE!
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Could Become a Political Liability
By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun
June 9, 2008
Long-standing ties between a member of Senator Obama's new vice presidential search team and a prominent mortgage executive the senator has pilloried could become a political liability that hampers the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's ability to tap into public ire over the subprime mortgage crisis.
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.
"That reeks most high," a public relations specialist and vocal critic of Mr. Mozilo, Bonnie Russell of Del Mar, Calif., said. "Where's the 'change to believe in' if they're playing the same old game using the same old players?"
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.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the senator from Illinois "fumed" over a total of $19 million in bonuses set to be paid to Mr. Mozilo and the president of Countrywide, David Sambol. "They get a $19 million bonus while people are at risk of losing their home. What's wrong with this picture?" Mr. Obama asked.
In a written statement issued in March, the senator called the payments "an outrage" and suggested Mr. Mozilo and others had "tricked" homeowners into unaffordable loans. "These executives crossed the line to boost their bottom line," Mr. Obama declared.
Aides to Mr. Obama had no immediate response yesterday afternoon to a request for comment for this article. An attorney for Mr. Johnson, Brian Brooks, did not respond to e-mail and telephone messages seeking comment yesterday. [NO SURPRISE THERE]
From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Johnson served as CEO of the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae, which worked closely with Countrywide, one of the nation's leading lenders and loan servicing companies. In 1996, Mr. Johnson named Mr. Mozilo as chairman of Fannie Mae's national advisory council. A 1999 article in the American Banker said the two men had a "close friendship."
In recent months, the job has been looking less than brilliant, as Countrywide reported billions in losses, much of it from so-called subprime loans made to borrowers unqualified for typical loans. In 18 months, the firm's stock fell to about $5 from $45. In January, Bank of America agreed to take over Countrywide in a stock deal now valued at about $3.5 billion.
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