Obama slams deals for mortgage bosses

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has turned his attention on the big pay-offs tipped for senior executives at mortgage finance giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which are being bailed out by public money.

As Lehman Brothers' stock went into meltdown, Obama tried to steer the media focus away from the rival Republican party's vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and onto the United States economy.

"It would be unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall at a time when the US Treasury has taken unprecedented steps to rescue these companies with taxpayer resources," Obama said.

He said he had written to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the companies' regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, pointing out that the failure by the government to use its authority to block the pay packages would be "a gross violation of the public trust".

Fannie Mae chief executive Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac's boss Richard Syron, were thrown out as part of the rescue package but still stand to walk away with severance packages worth nearly $30million (£17.15million).