Sometimes you have to look a few layers down to find the players in the political parties and Jim Johnson is one of those up to now obscure power brokers. He served Walter Mondale and John Kerry and now is Barack Obama's Veep Vetter.
But who vetted the vetter? This guy has a relationship with the CEO of Countrywide Financial who is embroiled in the subprime mortgage battle and he is responsible for hefty compensation packages for a variety of CEOs whose compensation committee he sits.
Snippets:
On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Johnson received at least $7 million worth of home loans from Countrywide through an informal program for friends of company CEO Angelo Mozilo that offered rates below the market average. At least four of the loans were issued while Johnson was employed either as the CEO or an outside consultant for Fannie Mae.
In 2006, five companies where Johnson served on compensation committees came under fire from Institutional Shareholders Services and The Corporate Library, two corporate compensation research companies, for accounting errors and failing to sufficiently tie executive payment to performance.
"There is nothing 'overblown and irrelevant' about millions of Americans facing foreclosure and Barack Obama entrusting his most important decision as a presidential candidate to a man who has accepted millions in special loans from a subprime mortgage lender.”
2 comments:
Johnson left Fannie Mae in 1998. But, by definition, subprime refers to loans that did not meet Fannie Mae standards. Also, the rapid granting of subprime loans and the selling of mortgage-based securities has devestated the real estate market years after Johnson left. Placing the blame on him places the cause too far away from the effect.
Yeah that guy should be in jail. Good thing McCain doesn't have any advisors that are embroiled in subprime mortgage scandels! At least none you've commented on.
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