Herb Allison, Fannie Mae Chief, Tapped To Run Bailout

Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is expected to tap Fannie Mae Chief Executive Herb Allison to head the government's $700 billion financial-rescue program, people familiar with the matter say.

In choosing Mr. Allison to head the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the administration is turning to an experienced manager at a time when it is having trouble filling key finance posts. Mr. Allison, 65 years old, is the former chairman of investment company TIAA-CREF and was a Merrill Lynch & Co. executive for years. In September, he agreed to run Fannie Mae after the U.S. took over the mortgage giant and its sister firm, Freddie Mac.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[breakingpoint]

Okay I get it, this is a joke, right? Someone forgot to tell Bush his term was up, right?

C;mon this is not the time to make these kinds of funnies

What happen to the Obama the American People elected?

Barack, are you being a prankster?
Oh, you sly dog c'mon now who are you really going to appoint to oversee the bailout?

silly goose, no more kidding around now, who is it really?

[JohnnyRocco]

"What happen to the Obama the American People elected?"

It was a fake. Just another empty suit to tell the gullible voters what they wanted to hear. Designed only to win the campaign, not to actually govern.

[smitallica]

Oh please. He's already reversed about a dozen of Bush's biggest f-ups.
He's governed more in his first three months than Bush did in 8 years.

[breakingpoint]

So one of the guys who screwed up and took us to the cleaners is going to get a new more important job?

who the hell is actually running the country?

I think we all need to get a mirror and see if I really look that stupid

[AlP]

Get Warren Buffet!

[strawberrries]

the more things change, the more they are the same.

- Alphonse Karr

[MarsAmbassador]

They must think very highly of him, because he's been tasked with not only cleaning up Fannie Mae, but being in charge of the entire bailout. Good thing he's got a giant brain-filled cranium, 'cause he's gonna need it!

[liminal67]

well said..

http://pitchbendpost.blogspot.com/

[nogimmicks]

he looks exactly like old Stewie Griffin from the Family Guy.

[swo68]

omg he does. Is that good or bad? o.O

[JZ735]

BAD...and even worse...Glenn Greenwald writes, on Obama's horrendous continuation of morally and legally wrong security positions adopted from Bush:

Nor is the faith-based belief that Obama is a Good Person who therefore deserves trust even remotely rational or relevant. As Professor Turley put it on Countdown: "It doesn‘t matter if you are a good person doing bad things. You are doing bad things." These secrecy and detention powers are among the most dangerous and tyrannical powers a President can seize, and Obama's attempt to cling to them is deplorable no matter his "motives."

The same applies to picking people like this guy along with Gheitner and Summers...these are the perpetrators of wrongdoing...Obama is no longer defensible, by anyone, anytime.

[AdamND]

This guy wasn't the head of the company when it fell. He took over after it fell by request of the Federal gov't.

Can you people please do a little research before you post? The headline is a tad bit misleading.

[JZ735]

Headed down a dangerous path...but even worse is what Glenn Greenwald has been trumpeting of late...:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/13/obama/index.html

[loki]

There must be something in the oval office that destroys braincells. Because its offical , Obama, has gone totally insane like Bush did. Bringing in Allison to run the bailout? Thats would be like bringing in Cheney to run the Pentagon.

[RGKahn]

",,, President Barack Obama is expected to tap Fannie Mae Chief Executive Herb Allison to head the government's $700 billion financial-rescue program, people familiar with the matter say." Why are we recycling the executives who got us into this financial mess into positions that are responsible for getting us out of it?

[AdamND]

He wasn't responsible for it. He's the guy who the gov't hired after Fannie Mae fell to run it. He worked there for a while then retired.

[dems08]

How exactly (and when) did Allison "get us into this financial mess"?

(He's only headed Fannie for 8 months.)

[swo68]

This is the guy who replaced the guy who made the mess.

[CLASSWARWELOST]

Class war it's that simple-doesn't matter black or white they pay to play.

[dems08]

How and when exactly did Herb Allison contribute to the economic disaster boosh bequeathed to the middle class?

[klondiker]

A lot of people are complaining about the fact that Obama is bringing in the same people who caused the disaster. I sympathize with this point of view, but I want to ask: who else can he bring? There are very few people who have the experience managing something like this. Would it really be responsible to bring in someone to manage a $700 billion bank bailout program who has no finance experience? Aren't there certain technical skills that are absolutely needed for this position that only an industry person would have?

[killpack]

No, it wouldn't be responsible to bring in someone to manage a $700 billion bank bailout without any experience in "finance." That's about as irresponsible as putting the so-called experts in charge. No, the American people had it right when they opposed the bailout to begin with.

[jeanrenoir]

This is sanity. The rest is just inchoate rage. Understandable, but clueless. It's a Democratic brand of the know-nothingism which brought us Bush from the know-nothings of the right. None of this debate matters at all. If Obama succeeds in helping the economy, he will be even more hugely popular than he is now, and his critics will be completely helpless politically, on the left or the right. And no one outside of the Daily Kos will care whether Herb Allison had anything to do with the rescue of the economy. If Obama fails, no one will care about Allison either. They'll be too busy getting ready to crucify Obama at the polls. So far, after every round of criticism of Obama from the Krugman left, those shoots of green grass seem to pop right up around the country. Let's see if that continues. If so, Obama knows his critics of all political persuasions will be dead meat, and he'll be the greatest populist leader in America in history--a benevolent, wise version of Huey Long in his unexampled ability to stir up a crowd.

[CBTeabagg]

So could you kindly explain not only the pointless escalation of the Afghan War, his lie about bringing troops out of Iraq, and the big one which is not only agreeing with the Bush DOJ for illegal wiretaps, but actually extending the powers further.

I'd love someone to explain to me how any of these will help our country. The reason people who you seem to call "know-nothings" of the left are speaking out, is because Obama has turned out to be the standard cronyism lying politician. He just happens to speak alot more fluently than the previous chimp we had in office, so people like yourself are easily fooled by it.

Thanks.

[CLASSWARWELOST]

insane unless you sod out already look like it.