[392cobra]

Another close friend of O's shouldn't be forgotten, Jimmy Johnson.Past CEO of Fannie Mae.

Jim Johnson, Former Fannie Mae CEO, To Begin VP Search for Obama

Atlanta, GA 5/22/2008 04:08 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)



Former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson has been asked by Senator Barack Obama on Thursday to start the search for a viable Vice Presidential candidate.

Johnson and Obama are starting the top-secret search as Obama edges closer to the Democratic nomination. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.

Johnson created the Fannie Mae Foundation where he served with distinction as its chairman and CEO from 1991 to 1998. In 1999, he became CEO of Fannie Mae.

As of 2006, Johnson is a vice chairman of the private banking firm Perseus LLC, a position he has held since 2001. He is also a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission.



Monday, June 09, 2008

BARACK OBAMA

How is Obama's veep searcher Jim Johnson not one of those overpaid CEOs the candidate decries?

The McCain camp is hitting one of Obama's veep hunters, Jim Johnson, for his seemingly sweet loans from Countrywide Financial Corp.

Jim Johnson, A Former CEO Of Fannie Mae Chosen To Lead Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee, Received Special Loans From Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo. "Countrywide Financial Corp. makes mortgage loans through a vast network of offices, brokers and call centers. But a few customers have gotten their loans a special way: through Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo. These borrowers, known internally as 'friends of Angelo' or FoA, include two former CEOs of Fannie Mae, the biggest buyer of Countrywide's mortgages, say people familiar with the matter. One was James Johnson, a longtime Democratic Party power and an adviser to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, who this past week was named to a panel that is vetting running-mate possibilities for the presumed nominee." (Glenn R. Simpson and James R. Hagerty, "Countrywide Friends Got Good Loans," The Wall Street Journal, 6/7/08)

• While CEO Of Fannie Mae, Johnson And Mozilo Worked Closely And Maintained A "Close Friendship." "From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Johnson served as CEO of the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae, which worked closely with Countrywide, one of the nation's leading lenders and loan servicing companies. In 1996, Mr. Johnson named Mr. Mozilo as chairman of Fannie Mae's national advisory council. A 1999 article in the American Banker said the two men had a 'close friendship.'" (Josh Gerstein, "Top Talent Scout For Obama Tied To Subprime Lender," The New York Sun, 6/9/08)

They note Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, criticized his counterpart with Hillary, Mark Penn, for working with Countrywide.

David Axelrod: "She's stuck him with him through the revelation that his firm was working for Blackwater and working for Countrywide, and, you know, so, it’s kind of stunning. Remember that the embassy said they weren't sure whether he was there as a representative of his firm or a representative of Senator Clinton. I mean, I think there are issues associated with this. I'm not - you can use the word hypocrisy, but there are certainly questions that arise from this." (MSNBC's "Countdown," 4/7/08)


Readers of the Kerry Spot will remember Johnson, once Kerry's veep-searcher, getting caught up in the Fannie Mae financial mismanagement mess. Byron noted it more recently in the Corner.

Here's the thing... Johnson made $21 million in one year from Fannie-Mae, a quasi-private corporation that enjoys a massive subsidy of taxpayers' money.

Obama repeatedly complains about CEOs making more in ten minutes than most workers make in a year, calling it a "moral deficit." If Johnson worked the standard 40 hour week for 52 weeks that year, he had an hourly rate of $10,096.15.

Salaries at Fannie Mae vary quite a bit, it seems, but it appears that Johnson had to work about five hours to equal the annual salary of a securities analyst, or just under twelve hours to equal the annual salary of an IT project manager. (No word on what the janitors, groundskeepers/facilities management and secretaries made there...)

Really, if making anywhere from 175 to 412 times the salary of your worker is an unacceptable "moral deficit" to Obama, it's not clear why he would tolerate it on his running mate search team...


06/09 12:34 PM