Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (75051)	7/5/2012 11:32:08 AM
From: John	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

Everyone already knows that members of Congress are fully permitted to engage in insider trading under the law. In fact, they routinely do so and often boast about it -- let's call that an unethical perk for fully following the orders of the owners of the world's central banks. Today, it was revealed that numerous members of Congress, past and present, sold their congressional votes to defunct lender, Countrywide, in exchange for special loans at special rates. Countrywide's illegal lending practices ultimately lead to the nation's foreclosure crisis. news.yahoo.com excerpt: The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the nation's foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a House report. [...] The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also named six current and former members of Congress who received discount loans, but all of their names had surfaced previously. Other previously mentioned names included former top executive branch officials and three chief executives of Fannie Mae. [...] "The Committee's investigation found Countrywide lobbyists and CEO Angelo Mozilo used discounted loans as a tool to ingratiate itself with policymakers in an effort to benefit the company's business interests," said Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who heads the committee. "This preferential treatment — that varied depending on the influence of the borrower — was not routinely offered to the public." Issa said that while Mozilo mocked Fannie Mae and top executives for its crony capitalism business model, he would nonetheless personally intercede to ensure executives had access to discounted Countrywide loans. "These relationships helped Mozilo increase his own company's profits while dumping the risk of bad loans on taxpayers," the report said. [...] Among those who received loan discounts from Countrywide, the report said, were: -Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. -Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D. -Mary Jane Collipriest, who was communications director for former Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, then a member of the Banking Committee. The report said Dodd referred Collipriest to Countrywide's VIP unit. Dodd, when commenting on his own loans, has said he was unaware of the discount program. -Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. -Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., former chairman of the Oversight Committee. -Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif. -Top staff members of the House Financial Services Committee. -A staff member of Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, a member of the Financial Services Committee. -Former Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif. -Former Housing and Urban Development Secretaries Alphonso Jackson and Henry Cisneros; and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. The VIP unit processed Cisneros' loan after he joined Fannie's board of directors. -Former Fannie Mae heads James Johnson, Daniel Mudd and Franklin Raines. Countrywide took a loss on Mudd's loan. Fannie employees were the most frequent recipients of VIP loans. Johnson received a discount after Mozilo waived problems with his credit rating. The report said Mozilo "ordered the loan approved, and gave Johnson a break. He instructed the VIP unit: 'Charge him 1/2 under prime. Don't worry about (the credit score). He is constantly on the road and therefore pays his bills on an irregular basis but he ultimately pays them.'" [...]