Redstate

Posted at 3:45pm on Jun. 10, 2008 Why Jim Johnson Matters

By Erick

If you're scratching your head on this Jim Johnson story, as I was, watch the video I've put together below:

Obama sets standards for everyone else, but he refuses to live up to them himself and damn you for challenging him to live up to those standards.

Posted in Archived | Barack Obama | Countrywide Financial | Jim Johnson — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:08pm on Jun. 10, 2008 Jim Johnson, Barack Obama, and George Soros

By Soren Dayton

Lots of attention has focused on Jim Johnson, who Barack Obama picked to guide the VP selection process. We have already talked about a number of the problems. It comes down to this: just as Tony Rezko helped Obama with a sweetheart deal to buy his house, Countywide Financial, which Obama rails against, helped Johnson buy his.

But there is more on Johnson. In 2001, he joined Persueus LLC as a Vice Chairman. Perseus has a number of funds. Among them:

PERSEUS-SOROS BIOPHARMACEUTICAL FUND, L.P., which Perseus co-manages, was formed in 2000 with capital commitments totaling $449 million to make investments in life sciences companies

So Perseus is a business partner with George Soros. And Johnson is the Vice Chairman ...

Incidentally, as Say Anything Blog notes, Perseus also seems to own the publisher of the Scott McClellan book:

Public Affairs Books (editor at large Peter Osnos: About The Century Foundation.)

Public Affairs Books is owned by Perseus Book Group.

Perseus Book Group is in turn owned by Perseus Funds Group, (holding company Perseus LLC). Perseus has enjoyed growth of assets over the last 13 years of 10,000% (100 x 1995 value).

Are we looking at the finance empire of the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy?

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | George Soros | Jim Johnson | VLWC — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:43pm on Jun. 10, 2008 Thrown Under the Bus Watch: Eric Holder & Jim Johnson.

My, that was quick.

By Moe Lane

This would almost be painful to watch (Via Jake Tapper, who gets extra points for uttering "my stars" in response.):

Almost. Fortunately, I'm laughing too hard at the sight of watching someone who is supposed to be the second incarnation of Demosthenes fumbling his way through an explanation of how you can get somebody to do your VP pick for you while still not having them actually work for you.

Media figures, please take note from Sunlen Miller's example: Senator Barack Obama is fun when he's flailing about.

Moe Lane

PS: Semi-transcript (grabbed from Tapper) after the fold.

PPS: See also our own Kevin Holtsberry, over at Stop Him Now. I hope that you haven't thrown out all the old stationary yet, Kevin.

Posted in 2008 | A Child wearing an adult's clothes | Barack Obama | Eric Holder | Jim Johnson — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:00am on Jun. 9, 2008 More on Jim Johnson: Obama bundler, lobbyist, and shady mortgage executive

By Soren Dayton

Earlier, I introduced Jim Johnson, the head of Barack Obama's vice presidential search team. He is also a lobbyist, operative for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale (is this the change we need?), representative of a former head of state, bundler for the Obama campaign, and disgraced mortgage executive who mistated Fannie Mae profits to get a bigger bonus. Oh yeah.

Today, the NY Sun tells us that he also got sweetheart mortgages from bankrupt (legally, not merely in other ways) mortgage dealer Country Wide Financial:

James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company's CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

But I am sure that Barack Obama sees nothing wrong with that. After all, he got a subsidy on his own house from now-felon, then-FBI investigation target Tony Rezko.

So next time Barack Obama complains about the Housing crisis, ask him about his Vice Presidential search guy who gets sweetheart deals. Or even about his own sweetheart deals. He hasn't answered enough questions there only, "like eight questions." We agree with the Chicago Sun Times that that is not enough.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Housing Crisis | Jim Johnson | Obamafiles — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:42am on May 23, 2008 Barack Obama goes with Dizzy City Fatcat for VP selection job.

Because he's all about *change.* That you can *believe* in.

By Moe Lane

You've probably read Soren's first piece (starring Jim Johnson) about the lobbyists and bundlers that are lurking around Senator Barack Obama's campaign. Some of you might have even been bitterly going, "So what? The Obama knows what he's doing: he might let people like Jim Johnson give him money, but the Obama certainly doesn't trust them."

Yeah. About that:

Obama has asked former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to begin vetting potential vice presidential picks, Democratic officials said Thursday. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.

[Via Mickey Kaus, who has been watching this guy with horror for years (H/T: Glenn Reynolds). See also Dan's take on the political acumen of Johnson in the first place.]

But, hey! Jim did such a great job for Mondale, Kerry, and Fannie Mae: why not let him work his peculiar magic for the Obama campaign? I mean, clearly if Johnson's good enough for Obama, he should be more than good enough for all the little people that are faithfully supporting the Senator. Even if Johnson was involved in shenanigans that are now making us contemplate doing a $300 billion dollar bailout of the home mortgage industry.

Great choice there, Barry. Who's going to be your pick for helping the DNC with their fund raising, by the way? I hear Jeffrey Skilling's not doing anything these days: of course, he can't really travel...

Moe Lane

Quick PS: Reread Obama's supposed denial. Note that it does not say "Jim Johnson will not be the person to lead my VP selection process." It merely says that Obama's not paying him. It is, in fact, a rather ornate weasel of a statement.

But I suppose that people will cling to what they cling to.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama Bundler | Fannie Mae | Jim Johnson — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »