Connecting the dots - ten years after the fact:

McCain

McCain noted the Illinois senator had taken large campaign contributions from both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that the one-time head of Obama's vice presidential search team, Jim Johnson, had received a $21 million severance deal after stepping down as Fannie Mae CEO. McCain's campaign released a new television ad Friday hitting Obama for his connection to Johnson.

James A. Johnson left Fannie Mae in 1998.

Johnson did have problems with his tenure at Fannie Mae, but he had nothing to do with the housing/mortgage problems that got started after the deregulation push of 1999 (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act), subsequent changes (William Donaldson at SEC), and lax regulation (Greenspan).


posted by Quiddity at 9/20/2008 02:41:00 AM