Could this be a problem for Obama?

[Elwood P Dowd]

Has this been debunked? I checked Snopes, and there is nothing on there about this.

A repuke email sent to me this afternoon:


> Franklin Rains is the former chairman and chief executive
> officer of Fannie Mae, the government sponsored enterprise
> started in 1939 to offer mortgages to Americans wishing to
> become home owners. After serving as budget director under
> President Bill Clinton, Mr. Raines served as CEO at Fannie
> Mae from 2000 until 2004. While Mr. Raines was CEO, Fannie
> Mae went deep into the practice of buying mortgages
> based on almost no or no money down given to borrowers who
> could not afford them. During this time he received
> bonuses and salary over 90 million dollars. In 2004 he was
> offered “early retirement” after the accounting
> practices used at Fannie during his tenure to secure top
> executive bonuses were shown to be fraudulent. Civil
> charges were filed against Raines and two other former
> executives which sought $110 million in penalties and $115
> million in returned bonuses from the three accused. On April
> 18, 2008, the government announced a settlement with Raine.
>
>
> Together with J. Timothy Howard, Fannie's former chief
> financial officer, and Leanne G. Spencer, Fannie's
> former controller, the three executives agreed to pay fines
> totaling about $3 million, which will be paid by
> Fannie's insurance policies. When pressed by the
> Bush administration to tighten down regulations on Fannie
> Mae and Freddie Mac, members of congress - Republicans and
> Democrats alike - in positions to pass such regulations, did
> nothing. Today, Fannie Mae owns or guarantees over half of
> America’s 12 trillion dollar mortgage market, and we are
> in the middle of a credit crunch and housing slump brought
> on in large part by government backed Fannie Mae going down
> this dangerous credit slope under Mr. Raines.
>
>
> And where is Franklin Raines today? He is a chief
> economic advisor to the presidential campaign of Senator
> Barack Obama.

[soccermomforobama]

1. No

because Raines is not an advisor to Obama. The McCain camp has been trying to sell that he is but it is not true.

[tekisui]

2. That is bullshit.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200809240017?f=h_latest

[ingac70]

3. NOPE! Check snopes again...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/fanniemae.asp

[Elwood P Dowd]

20. Thanks. Can't figure out how I missed that.

I've sent the Snopes link and other debunking back to these clowns.

[spanone]

4. no rick davis is the criminal here

[TheDoorbellRang]

5. Debunked a week or two ago. Sorry, no link

Raines is not an Obama advisor. The extent of their contact is about a three minute conversation once. IIRC there was a story in WaPo about it.

[abumbyanyothername]

26. The extent of their contact was a three minute converesation?

So . . . Obama was considering him for Veep?

:rofl:

[TheDoorbellRang]

29. LOL. I guess he wasn't feisty enough for veep

and then there was the wrong plumbing thang, too. :D

[scheming daemons]

6. Raines has never been an advisor to Obama's campaign. The WashPost retracted that lie.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. You know what the connection between Raines and Obama is?

They're both black.

That's it.

Jesus Christ, it takes half a second of googling to debunk this shit.

[babylonsister]

8. Nope. Your friend and McBush wish it were so...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Raines

On July 16, 2008, The Washington Post reported that Franklin Raines had "taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters." <19>. Also, in an editorial in August 27, 2008 titled "Tough Decision Coming", the Washington Post editorial staff wrote that "Two members of Mr. Obama's political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae."<20>

On September 18, 2008, John McCain's Campaign, published a campaign ad that quoted the Washington Post's claim that Franklin Raines advises Barack Obama on economic matters. The ad also notes that "Raines made millions and then left Fannie Mae while it was under investigation for accounting irregularities".<21> Both Raines and the Obama Campaign claim that Raines is not an Obama advisor and has never advised Senator Obama. <22>

In the New York Times John Steele Gordon wrote an opinion criticizing Raines' contribution to the 2008 financial crisis caused by the failure of Fannie Mae, "...Fannie C.E.O. from 1999 to 2004, had been budget director in the Clinton White House. He cooked the books at Fannie to increase his compensation (more than $50 million)." <23>

In 2008 September U.S. Presidential candidate Senator John McCain has sought to tie Raines to McCain's opponent Barack Obama, in an effort to discredit Obama on economic issues. McCain quoted the Washington Post articles stating that Raines advises Obama. Raines and Obama state that he does not.<24> <25> When the claim that Raines was an Obama advisor first appeared in the Post months before the McCain ad, the Obama campaign didn't seek a correction at the time. <26>

The Washington Post characterizes John McCain's attempts to connect Sen. Obama with Franklin Raines based on their reporting as "a stretch."<27> All reporting the Washington Post did about the matter stems from a single conversation a reporter had with Raines, in which she recalls Raines said "he had gotten a couple of calls from the Obama campaign."

[succubus.blues]

9. Even the Washington Post

debunks this.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/09/obamas_fannie_mae_connection.html

[CreekDog]

10. Oh come on. How many threads addressed this last week? 30?

did you miss that? did you miss coverage of this topic on the news last week?

[Elwood P Dowd]

12. I missed a bunch of stuff last week.

Just getting back in the swing of things this week.

[CreekDog]

18. you didn't do a good job checking snopes, because it's there.

oh well. at least lots of people get to see your OP anyway.

[Viking12]

16. The OP is not necessarily a troll...

This bullshit is repeated ad nauseum by Hannity EVERY fucking day. It's literally become commonly accepted fact.

The old notion of "The Big Lie" comes into play -- if you're gonna lie, tell a whopper and stick to it, eventually people will believe it.

[CreekDog]

22. didn't call him a troll

but it IS annoying. especially when the OP says he checked Snopes and this issue was right on the list when you click "Barack Obama".

[Elwood P Dowd]

24. Look, I just missed it.

Haven't been feeling well lately and just got a little lax. I wanted a quick answer, so I posted here.

[CreekDog]

25. Everybody's on edge, including me

sorry. :(

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Is anything ever NOT a problem for Obama???

:eyes:

[blondeatlast]

28. He always wears great ties...

Oops--he's an elitist fashionista!

[cali]

13. Please don't think you can post garbage and get away with it.

Raines is NOT an advisor to Obama.

[Elwood P Dowd]

15. I never claimed that!

I posted a freaking repuke email I received this afternoon.

[ellacott]

14. Why didn't you check snopes?

[woolldog]

17. Please report this email to the Obama campaign:

Forward it to: [email protected]

[DefenseLawyer]

19. Why oh why

Do folks insist on cutting and pasting huge chunks of bullshit, in the name of "debunking" the huge chunk of bullshit? It would certainly suffice to make a reference to the issue in question and provide a link without spreading the garbage further by copying it all verbatim into your post. Whether it is your intention or not, all you are doing is republishing the same worthless crap one more time. Cut it out!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

21. Bigger problem for Obama: Which inaugural ball to attend first

or "whom should I appoint as Assistant Secretary of Education?"

I'm not being arrogant, it's just that they're far higher on the list than this email.

[blondeatlast]

23. You have a friend in Google, too. Debunked--in the MAJOR media.

Ass--king you to Google it next time; is that too much?

[Peacetrain]

27. I would not worry, this had been debunked numerous times. So I think we are fine

:)