Los Angeles has corrupt politicians too

One of my friends pointed out to me that Chicago does not have a monopoly on corruption. He forwarded me the following news article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123682571772404053.html

Lets follow the money flow in the above story.

1. Ms. Waters and her husband, Sidney Williams, were investors in two African-American owned California banks that merged with other lenders in 2002 to form OneUnited. Congressional financial-disclosure forms show Ms. Waters acquired OneUnited stock worth between $250,000 and $500,000 in March 2004, as did Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams joined the board of OneUnited that year.

2. Mr. Williams also received interest payments from a separate holding at the bank, also worth between $250,000 and $500,000.

3. OneUnited's executives have donated $12,500 to Ms. Waters's election campaigns.

4. In January, Ms. Waters acknowledged she made a call to the Treasury on OneUnited's behalf. The bank's capital, which was heavily invested in shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was all but wiped out with the federal takeover of the two mortgage giants, and the bank was seeking help from regulators.

5. OneUnited eventually secured bailout funds under the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Maxine Waters as a member the House Financial Services Committee, helped create federal lending laws and regulations that allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to dominate the home mortgage industry. At the same time OneUnited a bank in which she is a major stockholder - and that her husband is a director of - was building its investment position in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Part of the dividends and capital gains that OneUnited Bank earned from investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are paid to Maxine Waters as dividends and capital gains from her stockholdings in OneUnited Bank. Her husband also collects dividends, capital gains and interest from OneUnited Bank. She also collects campaign contributions from OneUnited's executives and the source of these contributions are the proceeds of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investments. Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have collapsed Maxine Waters will collect from the TARP payments too.

In case you missed the last paragraph in the news article I will repeat it below:

In October, regulators demanded that OneUnited raise fresh capital and name an independent board. The bank was ordered to stop paying for a Porsche used by one of its executives and its chairman's $6.4 million beachfront home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., a luxury enclave between Malibu and Santa Monica.

By the way, Maxine Waters is not only an expert on banking she is also an authority on the subject of energy production as you will see in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUaY3LhJ-IQ