Posted by
Always To The Right on Friday, November 07, 2008 12:29:14 PM
During the campaign, Barack Obama had to fight off assertions that
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had him in their pocket while the two GSEs
committed fraud and declined to their collapse. Obama didn’t help that
perception when he chose Jim Johnson, Fannie Mae’s former CEO and
chair, as the leader of his VP search committee, a position Johnson
resigned shortly afterwards. Now ABC reports that Obama’s new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, sat on the board of Freddie Mac during the critical period
Emanuel’s action, or lack of it, came during a time when the SEC says
Freddie Mac misrepresented its income to investors in order to maintain
its price. In other words, they committed fraud. The SEC specifically
notes that Freddie did this in 2000, 2001, and 2002, and Emanuel sat on
the board in 2000-2001.
For an incoming administration that ran on cleaning up the greed on
Wall Street, the selection of Emanuel speaks a lot louder than any
campaign promises. One might think that anyone who sat on the boards
of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the two GSEs cooked the books and
set the stage for global financial collapse should at least be
considered political poison for any appointment, let alone one as
significant as White House Chief of Staff — if nothing else, then at
least on the basis of competence. Instead, it looks like Obama is bringing the Chicago Way to Pennsylvania Avenue.
Hope and change, indeed.
Update: Business & Media Institute notes the numbers on Emanuel and Freddie Mac
Surprise: Rahm Emanuel sat on Freddie Mac board while scandal took shape
Of course this
would only matter of Emanuel were a Republican and he was appointed
White House Chief of Staff. But since he has that protective D after his name, it won't matter.