Ellington

The New York Times has the story of the day (of the campaign?):

Senator John McCain's campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say. Mr. McCain, the Republican candidate for president, has recently begun campaigning as a critic of the two companies and the lobbying army that helped them evade greater regulation as they began buying riskier mortgages with implicit federal backing. He and his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, have donors and advisers who are tied to the companies.

But last week the McCain campaign stepped up a running battle of guilt by association when it began broadcasting commercials trying to link Mr. Obama directly to the government bailout of the mortgage giants this month by charging that he takes advice from Fannie Mae's former chief executive, Franklin Raines, an assertion both Mr. Raines and the Obama campaign dispute.

Incensed by the advertisements, several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Mr. McCain's campaign manager and longtime adviser, played in helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beat back regulatory challenges when he served as president of their advocacy group, the Homeownership Alliance, formed in the summer of 2000. Some who came forward were Democrats, but Republicans, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed their descriptions.

"The value that he brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again," said Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae, who said that while he worked there from 2000 to 2002, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together paid Mr. Davis's firm $35,000 a month. Mr. Davis "didn't really do anything," Mr. McCarson, a Democrat, said.

Mr. Davis's role with the group has bubbled up as an issue in the campaign, but the extent of his compensation and the details of his role have not been reported previously.

Previous Comments

ID

135966

Comment

So this guy literally approves an ad that criticizes Obama for meeting a former CEO of Fannie Mae ONE TIME (the CEO was black...not sure if that had something to do with it) and, meantime, he's gotten $2mil from them for access to McCain. As they'd say on Saturday Night Live (and I can't seem to get out of my head as a read this stuff)..."Oh Reeeeeally???"

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-09-22T16:04:13-06:00

ID

137460

Comment

I wondered why they used Raines (former Af/Am CEO) in the ad when he had no significant role in the campaign while Johnson, the former white Fannie Mae executive DID have a significant role. It seems that after they received criticism about that, they came out with another ad with Johnson instead.

Author

FreeClif

Date

2008-09-23T09:23:14-06:00

ID

137462

Comment

Have aliens taken control of George Will's body?: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html

Author

FreeClif

Date

2008-09-23T10:22:13-06:00

ID

137468

Comment

This mess gets worse. The New York Times investigation reveals more, indicating that McCain and his campaign boyz are lying through their teeth about this: One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain's campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by Mr. McCain that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had no involvement with the company for the last several years. Mr. Davis's firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said. They said they did not recall Mr. Davis doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee composed of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the coming midterm congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis's his firm, Davis & Manafort, was kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis's close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who was widely expected by 2006 to run again for the White House.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-09-23T18:31:55-06:00

ID

137469

Comment

Ladd and iTodd, Thanks for being such a good filter of "internet news" for your JFP readers. I always look to these JFP pages to get links to "real news" from true "journalists" in the country who seem more and more to use the web to post their missives and facts. Keep up the good work!

Author

FrankMickens

Date

2008-09-23T19:08:07-06:00

ID

137470

Comment

Thanks, Casual. We'll do our best. It's important for Mississippians to keep up with non-state media. We try to make sure the most important gets gathered in one place. And many of you help. Thanks!

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-09-23T19:23:41-06:00

ID

137471

Comment

Whitley, George Will is clearly seeing that this mess goes beyond partisanship. The danger that McCain-Palin can do is unimaginable, and that is become clearer by the day. Only a partisan could deny it at this point.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-09-23T19:24:48-06:00