Posted by
Rich on Sunday, June 15, 2008 8:03:14 AM
Hot Air blog
points out, "When Barack Obama needed to win Pennsylvania, what villain
did he use in his populist rhetoric? In the below video he chose
Countrywide Finance. Countrywide, Obama said, paid off its executives
while leaving homeowners with foreclosure notices." He particularly
criticized the company's CEO for his excessive compensation and more
generally "infecting the economy and helping to create a home
foreclosure crisis," which he linked not only to the 2 million who lost
their houses but to school districts that couldn't purchase supplies
and pay teachers.
When
it came time to selecting his VP, what hero did Obama choose? Jim
Johnson, who got millions in loans from Countrywide. According to John
Dickerson at Slate.com, "Now the man Obama has entrusted with what he
has called the most
important decision of his campaign is wrapped up in Countrywide and tied to the CEO. There are lots of
unanswered questions
about the Johnson deal, though no evidence as yet that he did anything
wrong. But the Obama standard isn't wrongdoing. It's mere connection to
the company. By that standard, this is bad news."
This week Obama was forced, due to media and public pressure, to throw
Jim Johnson under the train. How many more people will Obama throw
under the train? The list is long and growing.
Now we learn about two other prominent Democrats who are on the Countrywide take. According to
Bloomburg.com, "[Democrat] Senator
Kent Conrad said he was given preferential treatment on a mortgage from
Countrywide Financial Corp.
and will write a $10,500 check to charity. "It appears Countrywide
waived one point on my mortgage,'' Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat,
said in a statement today in Washington."
"Conrad and [Democrat] Senator
Christopher Dodd,
who [since 2006 and before the current housing crisis] oversees the
U.S. mortgage industry as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee,
were among those who received loans through Countrywide's "V.I.P.''
program, which waived points, fees and borrowing rules for prominent
people, Portfolio magazine reported June 12. Dodd has denied receiving
preferential treatment." according to Bloomberg.com.
So much for
Obama's rhetoric and promise of change. Obama, his party's leadership
and his closest advisers are part of the old guard liberal Democratic
machine.
What is that old saying, "Do as I say not as I do?"