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Last week, former Country-wide CEO Angelo Mozilo was been fined heavily and that looks like a wrap.
He was never asked to name the names of the senators or congress members he gave deals too, we have a few the number could be over 30.
I don't know whats up with that. This isn't a partisan issue, I am sure there were members from both sides of the aisle, they always buy them from both sides and the reps had control of congress till jan. 07.
In short this is bullshit as the article ,plainly states the political class has given themselves a pass.
Angelo's Ashes
The SEC's Mozilo settlement gives the political class a pass.
When we look back on the "Friends of Angelo" loan program at Countrywide Financial, we wonder how so many political careers have survived.
Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo recently settled civil fraud charges brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the politicians and media seem well pleased. At last, we are told, one of the greedy financial class has paid a price for the credit mania and panic.
But the rest of us should not consider Mr. Mozilo's settlement to be a final reckoning. Far from it. His enablers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, remain unreformed and continue to distort the American mortgage market even as they consume a taxpayer bailout. Meanwhile, Mr. Mozilo's "friends" in government who received cut-rate loans have largely escaped punishment.
The government charged Mr. Mozilo with misleading Countrywide investors by withholding information about the deteriorating quality of the company's mortgage loans, and also with insider trading. He sold shares in 2006 while the SEC says he was aware of the company's increasing credit risks.
Mr. Mozilo agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine, the largest ever for a senior executive of a public company, though relatively small potatoes considering the hundreds of millions he earned at Countrywide over the years.
snip-
A year ago the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform agreed to subpoena documents on the "Friends of Angelo" program from current Countrywide owner Bank of America. For any files that related to Members of the House or their spouses, the subpoena instructed the bank to send the documents directly to the House ethics committee. The ethicists have since said nothing about the issue.
Way back in March 2009, a report by Representative Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) identified several Congressional staff members as recipients of Countrywide VIP loans, along with officials in the executive branch. This past summer, Mr. Issa sent a letter to the Senate ethics committee that for some reason did not name names but reported, based on a review of Countrywide documents, that 30 Senators or Senate employees had received VIP loans. Several months later, still no names.
At a minimum, we wonder why the SEC didn't insist that Mr. Mozilo cooperate in naming the politicians and others in government or at Fannie and Freddie who benefited from Countrywide's mortgage largesse. Mr. Mozilo will still live well, and the political class emerges unscathed, while the rest of us live with the ashes of their government-supported lending.
Review & Outlook: Angelo's Ashes - WSJ.com
He was never asked to name the names of the senators or congress members he gave deals too, we have a few the number could be over 30.
I don't know whats up with that. This isn't a partisan issue, I am sure there were members from both sides of the aisle, they always buy them from both sides and the reps had control of congress till jan. 07.
In short this is bullshit as the article ,plainly states the political class has given themselves a pass.
Angelo's Ashes
The SEC's Mozilo settlement gives the political class a pass.
When we look back on the "Friends of Angelo" loan program at Countrywide Financial, we wonder how so many political careers have survived.
Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo recently settled civil fraud charges brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the politicians and media seem well pleased. At last, we are told, one of the greedy financial class has paid a price for the credit mania and panic.
But the rest of us should not consider Mr. Mozilo's settlement to be a final reckoning. Far from it. His enablers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, remain unreformed and continue to distort the American mortgage market even as they consume a taxpayer bailout. Meanwhile, Mr. Mozilo's "friends" in government who received cut-rate loans have largely escaped punishment.
The government charged Mr. Mozilo with misleading Countrywide investors by withholding information about the deteriorating quality of the company's mortgage loans, and also with insider trading. He sold shares in 2006 while the SEC says he was aware of the company's increasing credit risks.
Mr. Mozilo agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine, the largest ever for a senior executive of a public company, though relatively small potatoes considering the hundreds of millions he earned at Countrywide over the years.
snip-
A year ago the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform agreed to subpoena documents on the "Friends of Angelo" program from current Countrywide owner Bank of America. For any files that related to Members of the House or their spouses, the subpoena instructed the bank to send the documents directly to the House ethics committee. The ethicists have since said nothing about the issue.
Way back in March 2009, a report by Representative Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) identified several Congressional staff members as recipients of Countrywide VIP loans, along with officials in the executive branch. This past summer, Mr. Issa sent a letter to the Senate ethics committee that for some reason did not name names but reported, based on a review of Countrywide documents, that 30 Senators or Senate employees had received VIP loans. Several months later, still no names.
At a minimum, we wonder why the SEC didn't insist that Mr. Mozilo cooperate in naming the politicians and others in government or at Fannie and Freddie who benefited from Countrywide's mortgage largesse. Mr. Mozilo will still live well, and the political class emerges unscathed, while the rest of us live with the ashes of their government-supported lending.
Review & Outlook: Angelo's Ashes - WSJ.com
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