OBAMA'S NEW WH COS: Deal-Maker Daley from JP Morgan
Townhall.com | January 10, 2011 | Michael Barone
FR Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 by Kaslin
"He possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy." That's what Barack Obama said as he announced the appointment of his new chief of staff, William Daley, before a crowd of admiring White House staffers.
It's not hard to understand Obama's reasons for choosing Daley. Businesses are sitting on $1 trillion in cash and refusing to make job-creating investments. They are spooked by the Obama Democrats' vast expansion of the size and scope of government and the prospects of ever more intrusive and expensive regulations being churned out by various federal agencies every day.
Obama hopes that the fact that Daley has held high-level jobs in the private sector will assure them that their fears are unfounded.
But when you take a look at Daley's resume, what you see are positions not in job-creating departments but at the intersection between private firms and governments.
(1) Daley headed a union-owned bank.
(2) Daley was on the board of Fannie Mae.
(3) Daley was a high honcho at the telecom SBC.
(4) Most recently, Daley headed Chicago affairs for JPMorgan Chase.
JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, is the most politically shrewd of the big finance chief executives. In the financial turmoil of 2008, Dimon obtained Bear Stearns for a song and Washington Mutual at a favorable price. His bank unloaded mortgage-backed securities while Citigroup loaded up on them and, unlike Bank of America, didn't get saddled with the losses of Merrill Lynch.
Daley's public-sector jobs have also been located at the intersection of government and business. In his first term, Bill Clinton hired Daley lead the lobbying for the North American Free Trade Agreement, and in his second Clinton appointed him secretary of commerce, where he also pressed for free-trade measures.
You can understand why Daley has been appointed to the boards of directors of Boeing based in Chicago (heavily dependent on exports and pro-free trade) and Abbott Laboratories (heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and government regulation). And why left-wing bloggers have been denouncing his appointment.
Actually, Daley's views and his background are not so very different from those of the first Obama chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who seems likely to be elected to succeed Richard M. Daley as mayor of Chicago in a few weeks.
Emanuel famously recommended an incremental approach on health care; Obama decided to follow Nancy Pelosi's advice, with policy and electoral results that are well known.
The major difference between Emanuel and Daley is one of temperament. Emanuel is fiery, profane, intense; Daley is calm, gruff, matter-of-fact. In this respect, Daley, resembles the man who was installed as speaker of the House, John Boehner. --SNIP--
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REFERENCE Lehman's Bankruptcy Estate Sues J.P. Morgan
WSJ | 5/26/2010 | BY MIKE SPECTOR And SUSANNE CRAIG
FR Posted May 26, 2010 by markomalley
Lehman's Bankruptcy Estate Sues JP Morgan Chase & Co., alleging that JP Morgan illegally siphoned billions of dollars from Lehman in the days before the investment bank filed the largest bankruptcy in US history.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US Bankruptcy Court, New York, alleges that JP Morgan Chief Executive James Dimon and other top executives used inside knowledge to take advantage of Lehman as its financial state worsened.
JP Morgan coerced Lehman to turn over $8.6 billion in collateral in Sept 2008, triggering a liquidity squeeze that contributed to Lehman's collapse, the suit said. The estate is hoping to recoup billions in collateral the bank demanded, and other damages. (Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
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JPMorgan overcharged thousands of military families, improperly foreclosed
Housing Wire | by JON PRIOR / FR Posted by DeaconBenjamin
JPMorgan Chase overcharged roughly 4,000 troops on their mortgage and improperly foreclosed on 14 of the families, a spokesperson for the bank said Mon.
Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act amended 2003, lenders can be required to lower mortgage rates for active-duty military personnel to 6% and cannot pursue a foreclosure, but according to the report, Chase was slow to make the change for many of the families, charging Marine Capt.
Jonathan Rowles as much as 10% and hounding him with debt collection calls for as much as $15,000 in arrears, according to NBC news. The Rowles case against Chase is still pending, but the bank said it had made the mistakes and is trying to correct the problem.
In a statement sent to HousingWire, Chase said it will be sending roughly $2 million in refunds to families that have been overcharged and will give back the homes that were improperly foreclosed.
Major servicers are under investigation from regulators and the 50 state AGs for other problems in the foreclosure process. Iowa AG Tom Miller said in a statement sent to HousingWire that Chase disclosed the overcharges to him "very recently." "I m concerned and troubled over JP Morgan Chase's disclosure," Miller said. "Our deployed men and women should focus on their deployment.
Neither they, nor their families, should have to endure this kind of financial distraction back home."In Dec, he did say a settlement compensating homeowners was one of many options on the table. "We made mistakes here and we are fixing them," a Chase spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau said. The bank said it is reviewing how it services loans to military personnel, and it has implemented a team that works only for these borrowers.
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