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For months the Obama administration has been pushing for a foreclosure fraud settlement that would be very favorable for the big banks. Obama finally got the deal he has long wanted today, Thursday February 9th. It was reported that a deal had been reached last night, February 8th.
This means on Tuesday February 7th, it must have been known to people in the Obama administration that a foreclosure fraud deal had already been reached or would be reached in the next few days.
February 7th also just happens to be the day that the Obama campaign decided to officially endorse having people donate money to their own allied Super PAC. Up until then Obama had campaigned against the idea of Super PACs, but on Tuesday Obama reversed course and decided to essentially tell millionaires that he wanted them to use Priorities USA to make huge donations to help his re-election.
Later that same day, Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, went to New York City to assure top Wall Street players that Obama would be very nice to them. From Bloomberg:
Jim Messina, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager, assured a group of Democratic donors from the financial services industry that Obama won’t demonize Wall Street as he stresses populist appeals in his re-election campaign, according to two people at the meeting.
At the members-only Core Club in Manhattan, Messina provided a campaign briefing last night for some of the president’s top donors, including Ralph Schlosstein, chief executive officer at Evercore Partners Inc., and his wife, Jane Hartley, co-founder of the economic and political advisory firm Observatory Group LLC; Eric Mindich, founder of Eton Park Capital Management LP; and Ron Blaylock, co-founder of GenNx360 Capital Partners.
Less that 48 hours after signalling that Obama wanted very rich donors, like perhaps Wall Street executives, to give unlimited money to his allied Super PAC, his Department of Justice announced it reached a deal on foreclosure fraud that contains very favorable terms for the big banks.
What a fortunate coincidence that top bank executives who should very happy about this deal now have an officially endorsed place to show their gratitude to Obama by making unlimited campaign donations to help his re-election. This is truly some lucky timing.
48 Comments
How does one get paid to spout oxymoronic b.s. like this?
Wasn’t it Messina who came up with that memorable launch slogan, “Are You In?” ?
Why is he still employed?
Maybe Billion Dollar Obama realized he couldn’t make his Billion Dollar campaign fundraising goal without banksters.
The Billion Dollar Fraud strikes again.
They’ve gotten pretty much all they wanted out of this weasel and will shit all over him as soon as they get a chance.
yes, how fortunate… our super-rich elites must be vastly relieved that obama*s populist rhetoric is only empty posturing…
and so, with breakneck speed, we are headed to yet another presidential election where the choices are not really choices at all… i*m both angry and embarrassed that i actually thought 2008 presented a choice… silly me…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
Don’t know where Jon Walker’s been, but I’m ecstatic he’s back. ALL recent FDLers would do well to read Jon’s exhaustingly thorough coverage and analysis of the HCR ordeal Obama foist upon us. Jon, at his best, is EVERYTHING FDL was & I hope will once again be.
Jon is great to be sure. The problem is that he has to write about such unpleasant subjects – as if there were any pleasant ones these days.
Pardon me, but I just landed on your quaint and charming planet. Is this the first time that your president has flip-flopped on an issue of this magnitude?
Caption under photo: Why is this man smiling?
Answer: Because he is accomplishing what he set out to do for his corporate masters.
He has decimated what was left of the democratic party.
On another note: By the end of this decade, the government will have at least 30,000 drones flying in U.S. airspace. The bill was passed and obama will sign it. So now we have the Patriot Act, the NDAA, and coming very soon drones flying over the U.S. Where do you think all of this is heading? Guess.
Uh-oh, now I feel like I really am from another planet. What sort of trough are we in? I thought we were our usual wonderful selves.
The backstabbing S.O.B. needs a primary challenger, right now!!
I will plan to “moon” the drones on a regular basis. The neighbors may object but what the heck.
Will try not to clutter up this thread with too many of my questions, but which drone bill are we talking about?
The ultimate fraud, and most expensive (see global War on Terra), is Obysmal.
He must smile as he recounts famous fairy tales at his children’s bedtime.
‘For indeed, I am the nightmare of which I speak.’
Scallywags! The whole lot of em!
Barack, Benito Mussolini, Obama is just another politician working hard to further the fleecing of all American assets.
You cannot see one item since he was sworn into office that he had the fortitude to stand up for the people of this country on. NOT ONE ISSUE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwCWCJLm6M0
Despite all the funding he’ll be raking in, will Obama survive an “electoral bullet” this fall?
I could be wrong about this, but I think it’s a little late in the process, there’s no credible intra-party challenger, no money, no organization, etc.
Rocky Anderson for President!
The government in this country has been captured by criminals who have locked up the rest of the country in jail while they are roaming free.
There is no amount of money to overcome this timeline serving as campaign fodder. O just handed terribly damning sound bites on a silver platter.
I guess Jamie’s work was done.
I’m not familiar with Rocky Anderson, but I think I’m going to vote Republican for the first time in my life, if only to get a small measure of revenge.
Ha! Good for you! Go, Twain!
I plan to practice my self defense handgun training.
We can’t call him Slick Willie, but he is slick. And this not the “Change You Can Believe In” he sweet talked the electorate with a few years ago. He’s a big disappointment.
I’m sure it’s all just a coinky dink.
And when he encourages large donations from the movie and recording industries we’ll know what the eventual fate of SOPA and PIPA will be….AFTER the election of course.
Yeah! That’ll show him! Didn’t anybody learn anything in 2010?
Of course. He has to finish us off before he leaves office and sails into huge speaking fees and sitting on boards.
Yes, I learned that S.O.B. doesn’t deserve to be president and that I cannot under ANY circumstances vote for him.
I’m sure he has already been offered at least 30 different positions.
The old hands over at Turley blog are just mouthing the same old BS: Obama has no choice; fight fire with fire; don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. Blah blah blah. Not what Turley is saying, but it’s a pretty sorry showing of so-called progressives.
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/02/07/obama-embraces-the-threat-to-our-democracy-and-endorses-use-of-superpac/#comment-327073
Every advisor he has is from the Finance sector or Criminal themselves in the DOJ. The rest of people that surround him are War Profiteers. I don’t see anything condusive to what Americans want or need coming from this White House or Congress.
Are they really Progressives or staunch Dems?
My point is that your choices are not limited to Democratic or Republican. Only those who buy into the false dichotomy believe that.
Obama is corrupt to the core.
The Senate passed the bill on Monday 75-20 and allots 63.4 billion to the FAA. obama is expected to sign it. See Common Dreams for the entire article.
Partisan Democrats seem to be co-opting the term “progressive” to use themselves and ceding the definition of “liberal” to Rush et al. Then there was the time that Lanny Davis claimed to be a progressive to Ed Schultz, (and Schultz let it go by without objection)? Then there are the ones who have picked a side like one chooses a sports team and really have no clue what to believe except what the party tells them.
Certainly, with Haim Saban as a primary sponsor of Obama’s campaign, you can kiss any chance of any kind of positive Middle East policy goodbye in the next Obama term.
I really wan’t someone to vote for but I don’t see anyone anywhere. There really has to be some mountainous changes in our system, but I am at a loss .
If Obama were just an ordinary Democrat, like we thought he wasn’t’ none of this would be a surprise. In the end we would have been been as well off with Hilary. Excuse me while I go throw up.
No. He is how the system works. We need a new definition of corrupt.
I thoroughly agree and I share your frustration. Here is the way I see it: The only thing that voting Republican out of protest will do is push the country further right. The only thing that allowing huge Republican majorities in either or both houses and a Republican president will do is push the country further right. This is unambiguously true. The Democrats never take the lesson. Ever. They always just move even more to the right, trying to race the Republicans to the extreme right edge in some cases.
At the same time, I too have sworn to never cast another Vichycrat vote. The few decent Democratic party members who believe what the rest only spout should keep their seats but for the most part the major difference between Democrats and Republicans is one of subtlety, not behavior. What is the answer? I don’t claim to know. I’m just saying that I know what the answer isn’t: It isn’t to vote for or allow Republicans to achieve, maintain, expand or consolidate their hold on government. If 2010 and what Republicans have done or tried to do subsequently isn’t enough to convince people of the reality of why that shit won’t work, then I might as well abandon trying to reason with anybody at all. This rant isn’t being flung at you but you asked :)
Geebuz, more fucktitude foisted upon the masses.
Nice read despite the horror of the reality Mr. Walker, thanks.
Our nation, bought and paid for and owned by the 1%.
Fully.
Proven.
1) At what point does it all crash like empires crash?
2) At what point will the masses finally have enough and DO something? On a mass scale, I mean . . . and NOT thru the political system as it exists.
My guess is #1 happens first, and who knows when that will happen. Perhaps in my lifetime (25 or so years more I expect)?
Voting for Dems is certainly no better option, I think that concept has been pretty well hammered . . . and yet, the masses continue (and some at FDL) to fall for the same ole hit song, “Lesser Of Two Evils” in the key of G . . . ;-)
So, in response to your response to the person you responded to . . . don’t vote for either major party!
Alas, any other choices are equally fruitless in terms of actually DOING anything about the corrupted system and empire.
But hey, we gots a vote, I intend to use it and I fired the DIMS Party after being a staunch DIM since ’71. ;-)
The rest is out of my hands . . . I can’t save this one. Just try and survive it, daily, and be nice to people I know and in the streets.
Margaret, upon review, I was NOT trying to suggest you don’t know about the DIMS vote and such . . . I coulda phrased that better to open with . . . yer as hip as hip can get AFAIC. ;-)
People have to be much more uncomfortable before doing anything very revolutionary but the one percent seems to be Hell bent on expediting the process, does it not?
Yer preachin’ to the choir Larue, as you well know. I didn’t say I know what the answer is, just what it ain’t! ;)
Yep, sure seems like that.
Foolhardy, as it’s BOUND to backlash on them at some point, with or without the masses revolting . . . Oh well. ;-)
Yep. ;-)
No, we need a new definition of how the system works, starting with a new system.
Rocky Anderson re:POLITICAL ACTION CORRUPTION
Justice Party Presidential Candidate Rocky Anderson is outraged, but
not surprised, that President Obama has decided to accept money from
Super PACS.
“This is gross hypocrisy on the part of the President. The systemic
corruption of our government starts with money — essentially bribes that
both parties receive with slavish devotion to the contributors, where the
people get shafted,” said Anderson.
The Supreme Court opinion in Citizens United helped create the Super
PAC when it concluded corporations are people. Anderson stated:
“To have the President, who once said Super PACS were a threat to
democracy, do an abrupt about face and accept money from these greed
machines is disgraceful. Even before Citizens United we had a serious
problem of money controlling politics in the country. Most of our elected
representatives act as if they are on retainer, acting on behalf of those
who give them and their campaigns the most money. All the while, the
interests of the public are ignored or betrayed.”
Anderson, former Mayor of Salt Lake City, co-founded the Justice Party
to offer Americans an alternative to the money-controlled dealings of the
Democrats and Republicans. As a candidate, Rocky Anderson only
accepts donations of up to $100 per person. According to Anderson:
“We need to come together to overrule, forever, through a constitutional
amendment, the Supreme Court opinion in Citizens United. Campaigns
should be publicly funded. Candidates should be entitled to free and
equal time on the public air waves. That would enhance the dialogue,
educate voters, and promote democracy in significant ways.”
VoteRocky@gmail.com, or visit http://www.voterocky.org.
McClatchy’s story on the foreclosure settlement (which isn’t even the top story – that would be the contraception mandate) doesn’t give a sense of how inadequate it is. There are informative charts & graphs at the top but no real narrative about what they mean and the story is full of quotes like this:
Consumer advocacy groups applauded the settlement.
“Despite its limitations, the settlement requires real reforms in the mortgage servicing industry to stop sloppy business practices and out-and-out fraud. It also will help stabilize housing markets and property values by giving more homeowners a chance to restructure or refinance out of unaffordable loans that are underwater,” Michael Calhoun, the head of the Durham, N.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending, said in a statement.
I think on the perception management front, the Administration is probably doing okay.