[StBernard] Truth behind Congress rejecting bail-out

[Westley Annis]

Be sure to read the "where they are now"!! Interesting stuff. 

Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae executives who have brought
down Wall Street. Laying blame where due:

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. 

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! 

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.
 
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 ?

Jer