William Daley: Another Fannie Mae Cabalist

Obama Continues To Recruit From Pool Of Failed Fannie Mae Executives

“NEWS: Pres. Obama To Name William Daley As New White House Chief Of Staff At 230pm Event Today.” (Mark Knoller, Twitter Feed, Accessed 1/6/11)

WITH DALEY AS CHIEF OF STAFF, OBAMA CONTINUES TREND OF HIRING FORMER FANNIE MAE EXECUTIVES

William Daley Served On The Fannie Mae Board And Received Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Deferred Compensation And Stock Options. “After Clinton passed over Daley for a Cabinet post in his first term, he appointed him to the Fannie Mae board. Daley reported collecting $24,814 in director’s fees in 1996 from the firm. He also listed deferred compensation and stock options from Fannie Mae worth between $215,000 and $500,000.” (Charles R. Babcock and Barbara J. Saffir, “In Wealth, Clinton Team Doesn’t Look Like America,” The Washington Post, 6/24/97)

• Former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson Recruited Daley For Fannie Mae. “Fannie’s government relations operations dramatically expanded in the mid-1990s, when then-CEO Johnson recruited Washington A-listers Robert Zoellick, who served in the Reagan and Bush administrations; Lawrence M. Small, former secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; and William M. Daley, commerce secretary in the Clinton administration.” (Lisa Lerer, “Fannie, Freddie Spent $200M To Buy Influence,” The Politico, 7/16/08)
• Daley’s Son Is A Former Lobbyist For Fannie Mae. “Daley is a former Fannie Mae board member. Daley’s son, William Daley Jr., is a former lobbyist for Fannie Mae. Daley Jr. is now with Morgan Stanley, and he is registered with Cook County and the State of Illinois as a lobbyist for the firm.” (Lynn Sweet, “Ad Ties Obama To Machine,” Chicago Sun-Times, 9/23/08)

Daley’s Subprime Mortgage Mess: “That said, the potential appointment of someone who was sour on the major elements of the president’s domestic legislation to the top-ranking presidential position creates some uncomfortable optics. So too does Daley’s position, from 2005 through 2007, as a co-chair of the Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Commission on the Regulation of Capital Markets in the 21st Century’ — a committee that played a role lobbying on derivatives regulation and consumer protections — as well as the fact that JPMorgan Chase, where he served as an executive, had a $30 billion subprime mortgage business.” (Sam Stein, “William Daley, Rumored Chief Of Staff Nominee, Opposed Consumer Protection Agency,” Huffington Post, 1/4/11)

“A Longtime Democratic Operative, [Current National Security Adviser Tom] Donilon For Six Years Beginning In 1999 Was A Registered Lobbyist And Top Executive At Fannie Mae, Leaving In 2005. His Tenure Coincided With Efforts In Congress To Rein In The Mortgage Giant With Tougher Regulations And Greater Oversight.” (Pete Yost, “On Housing, Donilon At Center Of Regulatory Fight,” The Associated Press, 10/9/10)

• Donilon Was At The “Head Of An Unceasing Anti-Regulatory Campaign.” “At Fannie Mae, Donilon was the key player whose job it was to battle any regulatory initiatives from Capitol Hill, said two people familiar with Donilon’s tenure at the housing mortgage giant. Donilon designed and implemented Fannie Mae’s public affairs strategy, which included Capitol Hill and anything that might affect opinion there, said one of the two people, a former Democratic Party official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to be able to speak candidly. The second person, a former housing industry executive intimately familiar with of Fannie Mae’s operations, agreed that Donilon was at the head of an unceasing anti-regulatory campaign that the company waged throughout his tenure.”  (Pete Yost, “On Housing, Donilon At Center Of Regulatory Fight,” The Associated Press, 10/9/10)
• Donilon Received “More Than $10 Million In Salary, Bonuses And Stock Option” Just Between 2001 and 2004. “Lawmakers would surely have raked him over the coals about the more than $10 million in salary, bonuses and stock options the firm reported paying him just between 2001 and 2004.” (Josh Gerstein, “Donilon’s Resume: Policy, Law And Fannie Mae,” Politico, 10/08/10)

Damon Munchus Worked As “A Senior Financial Analyst For Credit Portfolio Strategies At Fannie Mae.” “Prior to the Treasury Department, his financial services and capital markets experience ranged from being a member of President Obama’s FDIC Agency Review Transition Team, a Vice President within the Investment Banking Division of Jefferies and Co., and a senior financial analyst for credit portfolio strategies at Fannie Mae.” (Cyprus Advisory Team, Cyprus Advisory, Accessed 1/4/11)

• Munchus Worked At Fannie Mae As A Senior Financial Analyst Prior To Working On Obama’s Transition Team And At Treasury. (Center For Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org, Accessed 1/4/11; Damon Munchus Revolving Door Profile, opensecrets.org, Accessed 1/4/11)

EVEN THOUGH FANNIE AND FREDDIE HELPED PAVE THE WAY FOR THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

President Bill Clinton Admitted His Policies Regarding Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Paved Way For Current Financial Crisis. “Clinton … said that Democrats weren’t entirely blameless, stating that they should have highlighted problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and ‘tried more aggressively to regulate derivatives.’ He also acknowledged that there was possible danger in his administration’s policy of pressing Fannie Mae, the mortgage company, to lower its credit standards for lower- and middle-income families seeking homes. ‘I think, through the lens of this, it looks like that was true,’ Clinton said.” (Walter Alarkon, “Clinton Rejects Blame For Financial Crisis,” The Hill, 9/25/08)

Clinton: Democrats Responsible For “Resisting Any Efforts By Republicans” To Tighten Regulations At Fannie & Freddie. CLINTON: “I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress, or by me when I was President, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”  (ABC’s “Good Morning America” 9/25/08)

Since The Early 1990s, Barney Frank Pushed Fannie And Freddie “To Break Its Rules, Lower Its Standards, And Buy Risky Loans.” “To hear Barney Frank tell it, he bears no responsibility for the housing bubble or for the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But his record as a member of the House Financial Services Committee tells a different story. As far back as 1991, Frank was pushing Fannie Mae to break its rules, lower its standards, and buy risky loans.”  (Bruce Feirstein, “100 To Blame: Barney Frank, Richard Fuld, And More,” Vanity Fair, 9/15/09)

“Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac, The Mortgage-Finance Companies Operating Under U.S. Conservatorship, Could Draw A Total Of $363 Billion In Treasury Department Aid Through 2013 If The Housing Market Worsens, The Federal Housing Finance Agency Said.” (Lorraine Woellert, “Fannie, Freddie May Draw $363 Billion, FHFA Says,” Bloomberg, 10/21/10)

• Even Under A Best-Case Scenario, Taxpayers Could Still Need To Provide $142 Billion In Bailouts. “Under the best-case scenario, which assumes a strong near-term recovery in the housing market, the total cost to taxpayers would be $221 billion, or $142 billion after dividends. A middle-ground scenario would require total aid of $238 billion, or $154 billion after dividends. So far the companies have drawn $148 billion and returned $13 billion in dividends to Treasury.”  (Lorraine Woellert, “Fannie, Freddie May Draw $363 Billion, FHFA Says,” Bloomberg, 10/21/10)

Fannie And Freddie Will Likely “Be The Most Expensive Legacy” Of The Financial Crisis. “Fannie Mae asked the U.S. government for an additional $8.4 billion in aid after posting an $11.5 billion net loss for the first quarter, the latest sign that the bailout of the mortgage investor and its main rival, Freddie Mac, is likely to be the most expensive legacy of the U.S. housing-market bust.” (Nick Timiraos, “Fannie Mae Needs $8.4 Billion More,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/11/10 )

“While Many Banks And Even American International Group Have Repaid Or Are Working To Reimburse The Government, The Likelihood Of Fannie And Freddie Doing So Is Slim, Their Regulator Said.” (Zachary A. Goldfarb, “Fannie, Freddie Bailout Could Double, Regulator Says, The Washington Post, 10/21/10)

WHICH DIDN’T STOP OBAMA FROM TAKING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FANNIE AND FREDDIE EMPLOYEES

Fannie Mae Employees Gave Obama Over $118,000 In Campaign Contributions Since 2003. (Center For Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org, Accessed 1/5/11)

• While Freddie Mac Employees Gave Obama An Additional $41,000. (Center For Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org, Accessed 1/5/11)

Obama Was The Top Recipient Of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Contributions In 2008. (Center For Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org, Accessed 1/5/11)

Read more: http://www.gop.com/index.php/briefing/comments/the_subprime_white_house##ixzz1AHix7PxE

h/t: Illinois Review