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

[Tyger79]

To quote the legendary Johnny Rotten, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?!"

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

I hear Obama wanted Ken Lay from Enron. Lay is dead, but Obama was going to let Cheney put a pen in Lay's hand and then sign all the financial decisions by moving the hand with his own.


After all, That is how it worked with Bush and Cheney.

[Helzapoppin]

The reason Obama is having trouble filling top finance posts is because most people with brains enough to do the job realize what a boneheaded plan the bank bailout is.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

The real reason is Rahm Emmanual (Obama's Chief of staff) is picking the people. Rahm is a hedge fund operative who marshaled millions of Wall Street donations for Obama's campaign after Hillary ceded the primary campaign.

[killpack]

Most Americans were against the bank bailout. You didn't have to be a financial whiz to know it was a terrible idea. The average American already knew it. Funny how Congress just went ahead and did it anyway.

[dems08]

Herb Allison:

Since Sept. 08:
President and CEO of Fannie Mae

2002 - 2008:
Chairman, President and CEO of TIAA-CREF
(Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund)

2000 - 2002:

President and CEO of the Alliance for Lifelong Learning, Inc., a joint venture of Oxford, Stanford and Yale Universities, offering online, college-level courses to adults.

1971 - 1999:

Merrill Lynch

More:

Allison is a director of Time Warner Inc., and a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management, the Advisory Council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's International Advisory Committee.

He was a director of the New York Stock Exchange from 2003-2005. In recent years Mr. Allison also chaired the Business-Higher Education Forum and the Vietnam Education Foundation and served on the Business Roundtable, the Financial Services Roundtable, recently served on the Board of Directors of The Conference Board, the Board of Trustees of The Economic Club of New York, the New York State Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services, the New York State Commission on Education Reform and the Council of Graduate Schools Advisory Committee.

Allison earned a B.A. in philosophy from Yale University. Following four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, including a year in Vietnam, he received an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

Just like I suspected... another fox to guard the hen house. How did that "regulation of financial services" work out, Mr. NYSE director?

[JZ735]

Obama has done nothing to distinguish himself by choosing the very idiots who ruined the economy to run the show, just as he has gone even further than Bush did on wiretapping...WBAI Pacifica's news show, the WBAI Evening News, discusses this Monday...go to their website and click on Archives to find show www.wbai.orgg).

The shills have nothing any longer...Obama is NOT change, and anyone who thinks so is not only a fool, but a mere tool for this man.

[JZ735]

The shills have nothing any longer...Obama is NOT change, and anyone who thinks so is not only a fool, but a mere tool for this man.

And that means those who who think he IS change, just to clarify.

[dems08]

"RECENTLY served on ...the New York State Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services"

[delta queen]

That's a very seasoned resume. FNM has done well by his tenure these last few months - as far as my stock price tells me.

[Carolab]

"...and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's International Advisory Committee"

Uh huh.

[PhilipTaylor]

Hi CAB!

Watched the Jones Videos and I read in detail the CREED of LIBERTY and while much of it makes sense, I find the "We don't need NO DARN Laws/Regulations Part" unacceptable!

I will never make a good Libertarian as I don't have enough faith in People to do the Right Thing as there are simply too many who are willing to TRICK the SYSTEM!

[flossophy]

This is like appointing the guy who contributed to the financial crisis to oversee the bailout...

Oh, wait...

[dems08]

He's been President of Fannie since September (for 8 months).

[JZ735]

Yeah, so?

[flossophy]

I was confusing him with Franklin Raines... it's the hairdo.

[blimie]

Obama, so many times he has disappointed us with his corporate status quo choices.

[JZ735]

...even worse and more dangerous is his desire to keep in place the government's right to wiretap....you can not sue the government for ANY kind of wiretap, whether it is security related or not, if Obama has his way...going WAY beyond Bush...NOT what we wanted from him...

See WBAI EVENING NEWS www.wbai.orgg, click on ARCHIVES, program for 4/13/09).

[truegreen]

Bad choice, Pres. Obama, bad choice!

[JZ735]

He's making them right and left...and people have to stop shilling for him...it not only makes YOU look stupid, but is an affront to the nation as a whole.

[CLASSWARWELOST]

No bad choices jut political payoffs. Obama is not who he pretends to be. He looiks stupid but all is planned. He sold out log time ago. He had 3 time more money than McCain I wonder why. Just another politician. Can we say one term president. He puts fox in charge of hen house for reason.

[HighPlainsDrifterToo]

I agree. I no longer have any use for either political party. The big money guys own them all.

[juanchopancho]

This is repulsive

[biged242]

"Welcome, Mr. Fox. Your new corner office will be right here in the hen house, by the front door."

[slowhand0728]

Wow no kidding. What a huge disappointment

[slowhand0728]

You really have to be kidding me, COME on now. Talk about an old boys network, round and round they go taking care of themselves. No more, no more bailouts not a dime for stimulous, no more bonus money no more of the SAME old same people who got us into these messes. What this guy can say mission accomplished? No way, you have got to be kidding me. How can people not be so tired of this?

[primeelite]

I agree I am a huge supporter of Obama but this kind of decision is just ridiculous. It is almost insulting to us average Americans who aren't in the good ol boy network. It also seems like no one gets positions in Washington unless they are from Harvard or Yale. How about letting someone try there hand at something who wasn't taught at the same places by the same people.

[JZ735]

Your support should dwindle if you are going to have any faith in restoring this country to fiscal stability.

[surfvenice]

unf**king-believable.

why not tap aig chief to a white house postion.

anyone but bailed out chiefs. obama could have chosen a monkey i wouldnt have cared.

this is simply just so disappointing

[JZ735]

Of course...only the most naive of you are remotely disappointed, because many of us knew this was coming ages ago...but it's never too late to wake up and smell the coffee.

[SinisterK9]

Why not ask the former CEO of GM to take the job while we're at it? It never ends....

[Five Six Seven]

Franken Wins, Says Election Contest Court: Analysis and Excerpts of the 68 page Order:

http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=261&ArticleName=Franken+Wins%2c+Rules+ECC

[JZ735]

Off topic and no one cares.

[DBtv]

Only attacks on Obama here.

[111]

Mr. Allison is not a good guy -

aside from his involvement with Enron -

began his professional career in 1971 as an associate in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch in New York. After postings in Paris, Tehran and London, Mr. Allison served at various times as Treasurer, Director of Human Resources, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for the Investment Banking, Equity and Debt Divisions before being elected President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., in 1997.

After leaving Merrill Lynch in mid-1999, he served as National Finance Chairman for U.S. Senator John McCain's first Presidential Campaign.

Mr. Allison oversaw large layoffs at Merrill. The next year, he resigned after being told he would not succeed Mr. Komansky, said a person involved in the discussions.
After joining TIAA-Cref, Mr. Allison fired 500 employees, or about 8 percent of the work force, in a round of cutbacks that employees nicknamed Herbicides.

He was a director of the New York Stock Exchange from 2003-2005.

just another member of the oligarchy

[LeftLeanWing]

I think it would be very difficult to find an overqualified Sunday School teacher to fill this position.
Do you know someone ?

[Prakosh]

Looks like par for the course for the Obama financial and treasury selections. He seems to be the kind of guy who will fit right in with Rubin, Summers, Geithner and the rest of the crew there. It's so hard to find good financial help these days. They all seem to be part of the problem. I guess that just shows how great and systemic the problems are. And systemic problems require systemic solutions. Too bad the liberals in the Obama administration don't seem prepared to make anything that looks like systemic changes. They want an agreement on the use of derivatives not regulation of derivatives. It's going to be another great century filled with those ups and downs that att is now advertising as if they were natural!!!!

[JZ735]

So true...Obama has failed miserably here...and will again...his continuation and even amplification of Bush's worst positions on security matters is even more frightening than this absurd affront to Americans trying to scrape by.

[dems08]

What about any of what you wrote translates to he isn't 'a good guy'?

[AndThenOneDay]

Couldn't get Michael Milken?