2009-03-12foxnews.com

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., helped steered millions of dollars in bailout funds to a bank on whose board her husband served, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The bank also didn't appear to meet the requirements for receiving the money, the newspaper reported.

Waters, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, arranged a meeting in September between Treasury officials and the chief executive of OneUnited, one of the country's largest black-owned banks, which requested $50 million in special bailout funds.

Treasury officials told the newspaper that Waters didn't tell them her husband, Sidney Williams, served on the bank's board of directors and has owned at least $250,000 in stock in the institution.

OneUnited has contributed $12,500 to Waters' campaigns (less a sign of graft, we think, than general cozyness).

OneUnited has come under regulatory scrutiny before:

the F.D.I.C. sanctioned the institution in October 2008 for “unsafe or unsound banking practices,” including excessive compensation for Mr. Cohee. The bank had provided him with a 2008 Porsche SUV and maintained his $6.4 million beachfront compound in Santa Monica. Calif., with views of the Pacific and a spa and pool.

Barney Frank, chair of the Financial Services Committee also seems to have been involved in the preferential dealing:

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was so moved by OneUnited's plight that he tailored a provision in the $700 billion bill [3] so that the bank would get special consideration for help. And Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who also sits on that committee, could be relied on to ring up the Treasury to make sure they knew just how special OneUnited was.

Both Waters and Frank, of course, were reliable and staunch defenders of Fannie and Freddie (Disclaimer: while Repubs are made out to be heroes in this video, they were really more interested in channeling housing dollars to their private sector subprime patrons).

Of course, this isn't the first time Waters has been criticized for working more for the special interests of her family and major donors than, say, the general interests of public (how quaint a notion!)

Regular readers know we have a special place in our hearts for Maxine Waters. That is because she is one of the headlining co-sponsors of HR 600, a bill to allow property sellers to channel monies to buyers for downpayments on FHA loans, effectively achieving 100% financing. One such upstanding company is suing us for outing and criticizing their own participation in the scheme in the past (the practice is currently illegal, for some strange reason). But hey, we're sure Waters' participation is all about helping homeowners (even though they are likely to be put underwater in the transactions) -- not, say, allowing banks (like her husband's?) to dump REOs at inflated prices. Nah, couldn't be!



Comments:

catherine at 07:37 2009-03-13 said:
it is way past time we Iceland these crooks,

the liberal Democrats that the media hides and covers are horrendous.

I love my Republicans being under the magnifying glass and WE TAKE OUT OUR TRASH,

but the 30 year criminal MILLIONAIRE LIBERALS that are allowed to stay around like this crook Waters (who looks down her face at anyone with money) and tax cheat Rangel and Indymac downer Schumer and mortgage cheat Schumer and tax cheat Emanuel and free property Rezko cheat Obama and Pelosi that makes workplace rules for everyone in the country AND SHIELDS HER MILLIONAIRE HUSBAND'S COMPANY from the same rules

should not be allowed to languish any longer on our bucks. They are all making rules that are taking this country commie.

If they are crooks with a Republican label THEN THEY ARE CROOKS WITH A DEMOCRAT LABEL, come on people, time to Iceland these crooks and start over, they have done nothing but vote themselves the best medical and retirement and benefits OUR TAX DOLLARS CAN BUY! Permalink

rocketrob at 10:23 2009-03-13 said:
the two party system is fraudulent. In basic sales the close is called the "alternate choice" close.

"Would you like to own the blue model or the red one?" - Any way you choose, you choose only what they offer you. Obama was sold perfectly like a box of cereal. So was Bush before him, and Clinton before him, and Bush before, and.............................................................................................

Wake up America. They use this system to divide and conquer. They are all sewer rats who steal from us day in and day out. This whole economic scam traces back through way too many politicians and administrations - red and blue. Finally get it everyone?

This economic meltdown may piss off enough Americans to make good use of the so-called FEMA camps.... ( for them or us?) Permalink

catherine at 10:51 2009-03-13 said:
the two party system is fraudulent. In basic sales the close is called the "alternate choice" close.

"Would you like to own the blue model or the red one?" - Any way you choose, you choose only what they offer you. Obama was sold perfectly like a box of cereal. So was Bush before him, and Clinton before him, and Bush before, and.............................................................................................

Wake up America. They use this system to divide and conquer. They are all sewer rats who steal from us day in and day out. This whole economic scam traces back through way too many politicians and administrations - red and blue. Finally get it everyone?

This economic meltdown may sprinkle off enough Americans to make good use of the so-called FEMA camps.... ( for them or us?)

you evidently aren't watching the same media I am, Bush and his family were trashed heavily by our mainstream media, Dan Rather was making up documents, it was hourly trashing of Cheney and Bush

if any of the above were Republicans they would be out on the rail and they should

no Barney Frank would be allowed to keep a Republican seat, hell the media keeps trashing Bush cause they were sure HE MUST HAVE DONE Coke in college, MEANWHILE NOBAMA WRITES IN HIS BOOKS HE SOLD COKE AND POT IN COLLEGE and so what...............no maybe I agree the parties are closer than we think

but never ever would Republicans be allowed to hang around doing the Democrat crap, hell William Jefferson with thousands in his freezer is still in office and I am sure if Bush was sticking the cigars in the intern, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOWN THE DOOR AND SHOULD HAVE BY HIS OWN REPUBLICANS

the media sells their Democrat crooks

and again don't get me wrong I want to know every pimple on my Republicans butts, I just want the same treatment for the liberals

No Republican who admitted selling coke and pot in college would ever have been carried on the media's shoulders as their messiah to the Presidency AND SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN

and can you imagine if Rezko bought him a piece of property

or the Blago who is in trouble for selling BO's Senate seat, but the media hardly reported that BO took Blago's Senate seat when he went to Governor

never questioned about whether he sold it to BO, and that question would have been asked if Bush was involved, believe me, we would know every piece of that story and Emanual would never have been allowed near the White House, my beef is with the media

and definitely not you RR..................... Permalink

BobbaLouie at 00:49 2009-03-16 said:
Maxine is being consistent. She is trying to scam the government for money for her husband's bank and she's trying to scam the government out of money for people that won't be able to pay it back. What's the difference?

Bobba http://www.scamandfraudblog.com Permalink

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