Obama Camp Talking Points on Jim Johnson and Countrywide

Talking Points on Jim Johnson and Countrywide

June 9, 2008

This story is overblown and irrelevant

This an overblown story about what appear to be completely above-board
transactions. The Wall Street Journal even admits that they don't have
a story-noting that it's "impossible" to know the factors that went
into these arrangements.

And look, one of John McCain's top advisors, John Green, lobbied for
Ameriquest, one of the nation's largest subprime lenders and a key
player in the mortgage crisis. What does it say about Senator McCain's
campaign that they've selected someone who's lobbied for a subprime
lender to serve as their full-time liaison to Republicans in Congress?

Americans know that we face a critical choice in this race-and isn't
about the terms of an outside advisor's loans. This race is about
leadership, and which candidate will crack down on fraudulent lenders
and bring real relief to Americans struggling in the grip of the
housing crisis.

Barack Obama has offered a real solution to the housing crisis-John
McCain hasn't

Barack Obama understands what homeowners are going through, and he's
put forward a detailed proposal to crack down on fraudulent lenders
and help folks stay in their homes. As President, he'll penalize
predatory lenders and create a $10 billion Foreclosure Prevention Fund
to help families stay in their homes. And among other steps, he'll
give a tax credit to middle class homeowners that would cover 10
percent of the interest on their mortgages every year.

Meanwhile, John McCain has struggled for months to come up with a real
plan to address the housing crisis. It took him three tries to come up
with answers for struggling homeowners, and he still came up short.
And when he laid out his economic agenda recently he couldn't be
bothered to talk about the housing crisis.