Will Obama’s Chief of Staff Return Money From Stock Options ...from... Freddie Mac ?

Flopping Aces ^ | Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:07 am | Mike's America

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Will Obama’s Chief of Staff Return Money From Stock Options He Got While Helping to Drive Freddie Mac Into the Ground?

The Chicago Trib reports how Rahm Emanuel scored big at Freddie Mac!

The collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were key elements in the financial meltdown of 2008. It’s no secret that Democrats under Bill Clinton had used both organizations as personal piggybanks to reward loyal friends. Note: President Bush put a stop to such gross patronage during his Administration.

We all know about the tens of millions in bonuses Fannie Mae paid to Franklin Raines, former Clinton White House Budget Director and Jamie Gorelick, former Clinton Deputy Attorney General. (So far no angry ACORN protests outside their palatial homes and no demand by Democrats in Congress that the money be returned).

But what continues to go largely unreported is the role that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel played at Freddie Mac and the compensation he earned for showing up for board meetings six times a year. Later, as a candidate for congress Emanuel received more in campaign contributions from Freddie Mac than any other candidate.

Rahm Emanuel’s profitable stint at mortgage giant
By Bob Secter and Andrew Zajac

Chicago Tribune
March 26, 2009

…Because of Freddie Mac’s federal charter, the board in Emanuel’s day was a hybrid of directors elected by shareholders and those appointed by the president.

In his final year in office, Clinton tapped three close pals: Emanuel, Washington lobbyist and golfing partner James Free, and Harold Ickes, a former White House aide instrumental in securing the election of Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate. Free’s appointment was good for four months, and Ickes’ only three months.
…
Freddie Mac board did most of its work in committees. Yet proxy statements that detailed committee assignments showed none for Emanuel, Free or Ickes during the time they served in 2000 or 2001. Most other directors carried two committee assignments each.
…
[B]uried deep in corporate and government documents on the Freddie Mac Freddie Mac scandal is a little-known and very different story involving Emanuel.

He was named to the Freddie Mac board in February 2000 by Clinton, whom Emanuel had served as White House political director and vocal defender during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals.

The board met no more than six times a year. Unlike most fellow directors, Emanuel was not assigned to any of the board’s working committees, according to company proxy statements. Immediately upon joining the board, Emanuel and other new directors qualified for $380,000 in stock and options plus a $20,000 annual fee, records indicate.

On Emanuel’s watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass.

The accounting scandal wasn’t the only one that brewed during Emanuel’s tenure.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This is a Lengthy Excerpt....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread:

Creator of Freddie Mac’s Home Possible goes to FHA ( The Creator of Housing Blue Print bubble???)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[GOP Poet]

WHere are the Stones of the GOP. Silence on this stuff in the media. They should be raising hell with all this corruption!!!!!!!!!! Does the GOP still exist?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More on the quality of Obama’s appointee's...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread:

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread:

Obama in Trouble (The Weekly Standard)

[Dante3]

ping for later

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

About :

Rahm Emanuel's Judaism Through His Rabbi's Eyes

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel Says Limbaugh is "praying for Obama to fail" - Video 3/1/09

This Man should be removed and his bonuses should be taxed much as the AIG's execs were....any hope?

[LucyT]

Thanks, Ernest. Where’s the outrage?

[Excerpted]

The collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were key elements in the financial meltdown of 2008.

It’s no secret that Democrats under Bill Clinton had used both organizations as personal piggybanks to reward loyal friends.

Note: President Bush put a stop to such gross patronage during his Administration.

But what continues to go largely unreported is the role that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel played at Freddie Mac and the compensation he earned for showing up for board meetings six times a year. Later, as a candidate for congress Emanuel received more in campaign contributions from Freddie Mac than any other candidate.

On Emanuel’s watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments.

The accounting scandal wasn’t the only one that brewed during Emanuel’s tenure.

[SERKIT]

It’s no secret that Democrats under Bill Clinton had used both organizations as personal piggybanks to reward loyal friends.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just in case you haven't seen this one:

Dodd's Wife a Former Director of Bermuda-Based IPC Holdings, an AIG Controlled Company

[Dustbunny]

I was telling my daughter cake crumb this morning that I think that all this Stimulus and TARP money is just a way for Democrats to launder public money to their buddies.

I also think that someone needs to point out that what is going on is nothing but a huge 'SNAKE OIL' sale by the BHO administration and the Democrat Congress.

I also think that we need to start a protest about ACORN giving back the taxpayers money. They are nothing but a Political Arm of the Democrat Party. Therefore the money they received was unconstitutional.

If AIG had to give back their bonus money then anyone that profited before or after from any TARP or Stimulus must return it to the taxpayer.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for adding the Link...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From this thread:

Plenty of Rahm at the AIG Table

[FromLori]

hy doesn’t Rahm Emanuel pay property taxes?
February 23, 2009 · 10 Comments

http://gto7.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/why-doesnt-rahm-emanuel-pay-property-taxes/

Why don’t we all do this!!!!

Rahm Emanuel’s home
According to the Cook County Assessor’s website, the Chicago home of four-term Democrat Congressman and new White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, doesn’t exist. While the address of 4228 North Hermitage is listed as Emanuel’s residence on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website, there seems to be no public record of Emanuel ever paying property taxes on this home.

The Cook County Assessor’s and Cook County Treasurer’s online records indicate Emanuel’s Chicago neighbors pay between $3,500 and $7,000 annually. However, Illinois Review has been unable to locate any evidence that the former Clinton advisor and investment banker is paying his fair share of Cook County ’s notoriously high tax burden.

Why wouldn’t 4228 North Hermitage property owners Rahm Emanuel and wife Amy Rule pay property taxes?

One reason may be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their personal non-profit foundation called the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation“. As the non-profit’s headquarters, their home could be exempt from paying property taxes.

In January 2007, USA Today reported on Emanuel’s foundation:

The Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Trust was formed in 2002, when the Chicago lawmaker was first elected. The former Clinton White House aide and his wife, Amy Rule, are its only donors. Emanuel was an investment banker after serving in the White House.

The trust reported having $2,900 on hand at the end of 2005 after receiving $34,000 from Emanuel and donating more than $31,000

During the past three years, Emanuel’s charity gave nearly $25,000 to the Anshe Emet synagogue and school [a private school that the Rahm/Rule children attend]…, and $15,000 to the foundation run by former president Bill Clinton. It also gave $14,000 to Marwen, a Chicago charity that provides art classes and other educational help to low-income children. Rule is on 20 Marwen’s board.

(He doesn’t pay any property taxes and he gets income tax write-offs by donating $25000 to the Synagogue and other amounts of money to his Foundation. This allows his kids to attend school tuition-free and allows him to expense a lot of personal expenses. What a racket!

Take all your income and donate it back to yourself via tax exempt orgs where you can spend it on as expenses to operate your car, pay the electric and water bills, etc.

I guess if you are a hypocritical “liberal” democrat who advocates raising taxes on everyone else, this is all permissible.)

Emanuel’s 4228 North Hermitage home is one of the largest in the neighborhood, with a side ya rd that appears to be a vacant lot, making the Emanuels’ property the largest portion on the block.

Other North Hermitage homes on Emanuel’s block are valued in the $500,000 plus range. According to Cook County Treasurer’s website, the Chicago owners of nearby 118 year old 4222 North Hermitage pay almost $6800 annually. The family at 4224 North Heritage pays $6000 each year in property taxes.

President Obama - himself a connected, Chicago insider who has benefited from questionable land deals - may find it difficult to explain why his very 20 own Chicago-based chief of staff doesn’t pay property taxes like the “little guy” he claims to represent. Or perhaps allowing his wealthy friends to avoid taxes is part of Obama’s trickle down redistribution economics. It’s certainly the kind of “change” we Illinoisans can believe in…since we’re quite familiar with it here in the federal indictment land of Daley, Blagojevich, Madigan, Jones, Cellini, Rezko, etc.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

Common Man Economics and Politics
RAHM’S ‘RENT’ IS JUST THE TIP OF ETHICS ICEBERG
Real estate crash could save you money on taxes
Replacing Rahm

[azishot]

Thanks for the ping, LucyT.

You asked, “Where’s the outrage?” I know conservatives are outraged but I don’t see any Republicans running to a microphone to express “outrage.”

Do any of them have something to hide? Just asking....

[mojitojoe]

[penelopesire]

Bookmark. Thanks for posting this article.