Democratic Domain | Washington Free Beacon

Democratic Domain | Washington Free Beacon

The proposal is being championed by a San Francisco firm called Mortgage Resolution Partners (MRP), which is closely tied to the Democratic Party and prominent liberal investors.
The firm’s chairman, Steven Gluckstern, has personally donated more than $160,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2000, including $7,300 to President Obama. Gluckstern also bundled between $200,000 and $500,000 in donations for the president in 2008.
Gluckstern previously worked for Obama-ally Warren Buffett as general manager of the billionaire investor’s Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group.
BJ Greenspan, the firm’s chief of staff, joined MRP after a stint at the Institute of New Economic Thinking, an organization founded and funded by billionaire financier George Soros.
Former California state treasurer Phil Angelides, who in 2009 was tapped by then-House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) to lead a federal investigation into the causes of the financial crisis, served as executive chairman at MRP until earlier this year.
Angelides stepped down from his position in January after Reuters reported on his role and revealed a letter he sent to prospective investors, in which Angelides detailed the MRP strategy to use “legal and political leverage” to acquire underwater mortgages and resell them at a profit of up to 20 percent. Angelides referred to the firm’s political connections as its “secret formula” in the letter.
Evercore Partners, one of the investment firms MRP has enlisted to help raise funds for the proposal, is also closely tied to the Democratic Party. Evercore founder and chairman Roger Altman has bundled between $200,000 and $500,000 this cycle, and has personally contributed more than $278,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2007, including $7,300 to Obama.
Local officials say the plan is a last ditch effort to avoid additional foreclosures and boost tax revenue. The city of San Bernardino announced last week that it would file for bankruptcy, joining Stockton and Mammoth Lakes to become the third California municipality to do so in recent weeks.