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Re: Ethics war heats up as key Obama advisor resigns
CHICAGO (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama was roiled by another campaign scandal Wednesday when a key advisor resigned amid damaging reports that he had received preferential home loans.
Although Jim Johnson, who has been leading the hunt for a vice presidential candidate, denies any favorable treatment, the accusations could dent Obama's image as an untarnished newcomer who has vowed to clean up Washington politics.
Johnson, a former chief executive of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, resigned just hours after Obama took part in a round table in Chicago highlighting the impact of predatory lending on Americans.
Millions have lost their homes over the past two years, unable to keep up with soaring mortgage payments. Some 1.5 million foreclosures were initiated in 2007, marking a 53 percent spike from the prior year, according to the Federal Reserve.
Johnson has denied a weekend Wall Street Journal report that he may have received favorable treatment from Countrywide Financial -- a bank Obama has sharply criticized for its role in the subprime lending crisis -- while he was at Fannie Mae.
But the Washington Post further alleged Wednesday that Johnson benefited from an earnings manipulation in 1998 which allowed the company's executives to earn large bonuses, pocketing some 1.9 million dollars.
Obama said in a statement that Johnson had resigned because he "did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee."
The 46-year-old Obama, who has campaigned with a call to change, has vowed to reject all contributions from lobbyists and to rid politics of corruption and self-interest.
His Republican rival John McCain, who regularly vows to get rid of "pork barrel" spending in Washington, has been criticized for giving lobbyists key positions in his campaign.
McCain has lost five advisors in recent weeks, two of whom had lobbied for the Myanmar junta while others had lobbied on behalf of Saudi Arabia or Russia.
In the ethics war, McCain's campaign jumped on reports of Johnson's alleged conflict of interest to accuse Obama of hypocrisy and poor judgment.
"The American people have reason to question the judgment of a candidate who has shown he will only make the right call when under pressure from the news media," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement.
"America can't afford a president who flip-flops on key questions in the course of 24 hours. That's not change we can believe in."
The Obama campaign countered by accusing McCain of hypocrisy in return, noting that a prominent lobbyist is currently heading the Republican's vice presidential selection process and that his top economic advisor received a 21 million dollar severance package while presiding over "thousands of layoffs at Hewlett Packard."
"We don't need any lectures from a campaign that waited 15 months to purge the lobbyists from their staff, and only did so because they said it was a 'perception problem,'" said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
National polls this week showed Obama widening his lead over McCain, particularly picking up support among women following his defeat of former first lady Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.
Monday, a Gallup poll showed that Obama's lead over McCain was wider than at any time since May 18 with 48 percent to 41 percent.
The struggling economy has dominated the White House campaign in recent days as the two candidates battle ahead of the November 4 general elections.
"We know there are tough times. I don't have to tell you," McCain, 71, told a town hall meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a key swing state.
"We need to keep taxes low. Why in the world would anyone consider raising your taxes in difficult economic times?"
Obama said McCain -- who once opposed the Bush tax cuts -- was guilty of fuzzy mathematics and accused him of ignoring the needs of ordinary Americans.
"He's calling for nearly two trillion dollars in corporate tax cuts over the next decade, but he hasn't even proposed a single measure to protect hardworking Americans from credit card companies that are trying to take advantage of them," Obama said, noting he plans to create a "middle class" tax cut of that would give 95 percent of US families an extra 1,000 dollars.
Re: Ethics war heats up as key Obama advisor resigns
VP is going to be a pretty important choice for both this time around. I think Obama has alot of choices to choose from, he just needs to pick the candidate with the fewest & least harmful skeletons in their closet. I heard on Morning Joe on MSNBC yesterday morning McCain "could" be looking to choose Michael Bloomberg from NYC mayor. I'd be totally cool with that, that'd be a win win situation where even if Obama loses the country could/should still improve.
At this point I just want Bush outta there, I don't care who replaces him. I'm sick of paying $4+ for gas, it's ridiculous. and don't give me Europe pays $8, or milk costs $5/gallon argument. Europes economy is already built around $4 gas, just look at the size of the US vs the size of countries like England, Germany, Norway etc... And the American public doesn't use 10 gallons of milk to get to & from work every week. Next years heating costs will be higher, food shopping is expensive which is essentially inflation (rising costs without rising pay), I'm already buying cheapo stuff like cheese, lemonade, BBQ sauce & stuff. Only a year ago my car costs $27 to fill up, now it's $48. Fortunately I don't drive far to work but for people who do $200/mo now runs $400/mo, that's a pretty big increase. And gas isn't getting less expensive anytime soon. Gas was $1.47 the day Bush took office. I remember it was only about a dollar when Clinton took office. 8 years of Presidency it went up $.40 cents, 8 years of a Texan (ie. Oil) Presidency it goes up $3 bucks. Coincidence?? Get the fuck outta here.
