Fannie Mae - Sub-Prime Market Smoking Gun

[Linda Minor]

David:
The article you posted was written more than a year before George W. was elected President and actually states the reason for the change, according to its chairman, Franklin D. Raines, as:

increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and ... pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits

So, who is Franklin D. Raines?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Raines
Franklin Delano Raines
...
On July 16, 2008, The Washington Post reported that Franklin Raines had "taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters." [19]. Also, in an editorial in August 27, 2008 titled "Tough Decision Coming", the Washington Post editorial staff wrote that "Two members of Mr. Obama's political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae."[20]
On September 18, 2008, John McCain's Campaign, published a campaign ad that quoted the Washington Post's claim that Franklin Raines advises Barack Obama on economic matters. The ad also notes that "Raines made millions and then left Fannie Mae while it was under investigation for accounting irregularities".[21] Both Raines and the Obama Campaign claim that Raines is not an Obama advisor and has never advised Senator Obama. [22]
In the New York Times John Steele Gordon wrote an opinion criticizing Raines' contribution to the 2008 financial crisis caused by the failure of Fannie Mae, "...Fannie C.E.O. from 1999 to 2004, had been budget director in the Clinton White House. He cooked the books at Fannie to increase his compensation (more than $50 million)." [23]

In 2008 September U.S. Presidential candidate Senator John McCain has sought to tie Raines to McCain's opponent Barack Obama, in an effort to discredit Obama on economic issues. McCain quoted the Washington Post articles stating that Raines advises Obama. Raines and Obama state that he does not.[24] [25] When the claim that Raines was an Obama advisor first appeared in the Post months before the McCain ad, the Obama campaign didn't seek a correction at the time. [26]
The Washington Post characterizes John McCain's attempts to connect Sen. Obama with Franklin Raines based on their reporting as "a stretch."[27] All reporting the Washington Post did about the matter stems from a single conversation a reporter had with Raines, in which she recalls Raines said "he had gotten a couple of calls from the Obama campaign."