Barack Obama recently told the press that he thought about it for some time before deciding to go ahead and unleash attacks on AIG employees receiving contractually-specified compensation for job performance or as retention incentives. Doubtless, the president talked over whether it would be a good idea to use the White House as a platform to whip up public emotion into outraged anger directed at ordinary private citizens with his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Rahm Emanuel, as the Chicago Tribune reports, had at the time already long since collected his own bonus for passive collaboration on the board of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation “Freddie Mac” in the policies directly responsible for the mortgage default crisis, unlike Jake DeSantis, for example, who would soon be nationally targeted despite having no actual real connection.


Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors by a top federal regulator.

One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel—now chief of staff to President Barack Obama—who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort. ...

The Freddie Mac money was a small piece of the $16 million he made in a three-year interlude as an investment banker…

He was named to the Freddie Mac board in February 2000 by Clinton, whom Emanuel had served as White House political director…

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.

__________________

Rahm Emanuel Speaks Out on the "Bonus" Issue




Hey, all a’ yez hoid a’ dis Jake DeSantis guy, right? Da eyeshade what woiked for AIG and pulled down seven hundred large in bonuses, and den got hit wit’ a whaddayacall, “compost facto” law or “bill of attainment” or sump’n dat da Feds passed dat said, Hey, we got one law for most people, but we got dis udder one for youse guys, so pay up, see ? So, frien' Jake, he says, "Oh, yeh? Well, watch my smoke, assholes", an' he writes up a letter a' resignation, but instead a' sendin' it to da boss, he sends it to da New York Times - da freakin' New York Times! Da boy's got a lotta moxie, no two ways about it.

An' ya know what I tink? I tink dis Jake bozo has a good purnt. In America, dere oughta be one law for everybody, right? And da Feds shouldn’t oughta be able to come back and shake down a few goombahs just ‘cuz dey don’t like ‘em too much. So, whedder yer a’ money bags woikin’ for AIG, or - just to give yez an example at random - a well-connected political fixer who pockets three hundred grand after attendin’ a few meetin’s at Freddie Mac, citizens oughta be able to hang on to da getus, all equal-like. Am I right?

__________________

• Want to know when the new FTA Fix files are posted?
• General Helpful Hints on Forum Posting