Obama got sweetheart deal on home loan Update: Obama says it was competition
posted at 7:43 am on July 2, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Barack Obama’s home loan has more questionable aspects than just the Tony Rezko connections, according to the Washington Post. After ten years as a prominent Chicago politician and in his first year in the Senate, Obama got a $1.32 million loan below market rates without paying the normal extra fees — a rate which saved him $300 per month on his mortgage. Obama managed to do this despite the extraordinarily large mortgage and his lack of history with the lender:
The couple wanted to step up from their $415,000 condo. They chose a house with six bedrooms, four fireplaces, a four-car garage and 5 1/2 baths, including a double steam shower and a marble powder room. It had a wine cellar, a music room, a library, a solarium, beveled glass doors and a granite-floored kitchen.
The Obamas had no prior relationship with Northern Trust when they applied for the loan. They received an oral commitment on Feb. 4, 2005, and locked in the rate of 5.625 percent, the campaign said. On that date, HSH data show, the average rate in Chicago for a 30-year fixed-rate jumbo loan with no points was about 5.94 percent.
Jumbo loans are for amounts up to $650,000, but the Obamas’ $1.32 million loan was so large that few comparables are available. Mortgage specialists say that many high-end buyers pay cash.
Thus far, no evidence has arisen that the Obamas took advantage of a “Friends of Angelo” program, as Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad did with Countrywide. However, the difference in rates — especially for such a large mortgage — gives the appearance of a political favor, at the very least. Combined with the Tony Rezko’s financial involvement in the deal, at a time when Rezko had little income other than that from a shady Iraqi financier and fraudster, and it looks as though people in Chicago really wanted to see the Obamas move into that house.
Northern Trust has helped out Barack Obama in other ways, too. According to the Post, their employees have donated $71,000 to Obama’s campaigns. When Obama rejected public financing, were these donations the kind that he insisted represented the moral equivalent of the system he championed until he found that he could outraise and outspend his opponents?
Obama has spent plenty of time castigating credit lenders in this campaign for their capricious practices and bad management. He has rung the populist bell, saying that ordinary Americans can’t get a break from lenders while the powerful play by different rules. Now we know Obama has personal experience in that area, albeit on the other side of the equation than he implies with his rhetoric.
Update: Obama’s campaign has responded with the explanation that the newly-elected was so popular among lenders, they were competing for his business:
On The Washington Post story “Obama Got Discount Home Loan,” the campaign, through spokesman Ben LaBolt, tells The Bourbon Room that Barack Obama received a loan that “anyone with the Obamas’ financial profile could have gotten the same rate on that mortgage.”
LaBolt says the Obama family was flush with cash at the time they were loan shopping and that the bank in question, Northern Trust, sought their business by offering a lower mortgage rate and to respond to a competitive mortgage rate offered by another lender. LaBolt would not identify the lender “at this time.”
“There was a competitive offer from another bank and the Obamas had a substantial amount of cash to deposit in the bank,” LaBolt said. “Northern Trust made the loan for commercial reasons.”
Let’s assume this is true. Doesn’t the basic lending rate also account for competition? Northern Trust competes for every loan it gets; that’s the beauty of competition, which someone should explain to Maxine Waters and Maurice Hinchey. More to the point, though, why were lenders lining up to give money at discount rates to the Obamas? And who was this mysterious second lender that cut $300 a month from Northern Trust’s income stream?
And here’s another question: Can the lender identify (anonymously) any other borrower during the relevant time period that got the same favorable rate and, if so, what was the basis for setting the rate that low for the other borrower(s)? Any other borrower, that is, who didn’t pay points or fees to get the lower rate, who didn’t have a big down payment, and who hadn’t been elected to public office?
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I’m shocked, shocked!, that Obama would get a “VIP loan” from the Northern Trust bank. Ask yourself if Obama gave the Northern Trust bank any favors — though this would require a lot of digging, because the easiest way you give banks favors is to dump government money into development and other projects the bank is financing…
Outlander on July 2, 2008 at 7:49 AM
I’m John McCain and I distance myself from such personal attacks against my close personal friend from the other side of the aisle that I have crossed many times to get work done for the American people after I returned from Vietnam where I was a prisoner. Such attacks have no place in this campaign!
sabbott on July 2, 2008 at 7:51 AM
Come on, it was the house the Obama’s had always hoped for! They needed a change, you see, from their condo. You just know that the mortgage company’s response to their loan request was, “Yes we can!”
el hombre on July 2, 2008 at 7:53 AM
Yea, but barry’s a really nice guy with good intentions.
peacenprosperity on July 2, 2008 at 7:54 AM
These mortgage stories are so appalling they are reminiscent of the House banking scandal where members were writing checks on money that wasn’t there. Below-market rates, no points or fess, then they’re out there delivering hoity-toity lectures to the banks while giving a wink-wink on the side. All of it right in public.
No wonder Congress’ ratings are in the gutter. How how on earth do these people live with themselves?
BigD on July 2, 2008 at 7:55 AM
With each day passing, we see that Obama offers no change, we see that Obama is just another sleazy politician from Chicago. More of the same at a time when America needs strong principled leadership in the worst of ways.
Keemo on July 2, 2008 at 7:55 AM
If I understand things correctly, Obama vastly overpaid Rezko for the empty lot next door. The favorable terms offered by Northern Trust fill in the missing piece. It’s called money laundering.
jerryofva on July 2, 2008 at 8:03 AM
So is Chris Dodd his uncle?
Travis1 on July 2, 2008 at 8:04 AM
Well, every day,or so it seems,Obama flip/flops,or
doesn’t exactly practise what he preach’s,here Obama
has a dubious home loan, below market rate!
So,while some homeowners,and the housing loan industry
stuggle to get a solution,Barack Obama gets special
treatment and a lower rate deal, as the rest of the
Americans are losing their homes,and others a higher
loan rate!
Is this the Hope and Change Obama’s talking about,
a lower rate for Obama and a higher rate from the
rest of the voting Americans in home loans!
This example by Obama, most be what Liberals call
the caring and the compassionate Left!!!!
canopfor on July 2, 2008 at 8:09 AM
Oops, should be struggle,and not stuggle:)
canopfor on July 2, 2008 at 8:13 AM
Welcome to Chicago, folks. There’s Chicago, then the rest of Illinois. Gotta love gerrymandering.
Send_Me on July 2, 2008 at 8:14 AM
Well I guess this puts Chris Dodd back on the VP shortlist.
*initiate Obama speech sequence*
I’ve heard the stories from many average Americans. The single mom, who works three jobs, who is facing foreclosure because she just can’t make ends meet. Well, uhhhh, too bad!
*end hopenchange sequence*
MB007 on July 2, 2008 at 8:22 AM
Ed, surely you have something wrong here. I’ve heard
OsamaObama and Michelle my Belle describe their struggles with student loans and how they forsake greedy corporate America and sacrificed in the Hood. So certainly they don’t really live in the nice digs your described? How can it be? For what you say to be true, then it would mean, gasp, thatOsamaObama is a hypocrite!!!!Dingbat63 on July 2, 2008 at 8:24 AM
AmericanThinker has more info. on Obama’s mortgage.
JiangxiDad on July 2, 2008 at 8:25 AM
I think in the article Obama defended this deal by saying he and the bank had millions of dollars in other deals and they knew he was dependible.
I’d like to know what other deals he is talking about.
William Amos on July 2, 2008 at 8:26 AM
They are reminiscent of the House banking scandal where
members were writing checks on money that wasn’t there.
BigD on July 2,2008 at 7:55AM.
BigD:Checking my memory,there was a Liberal,Dan Rowsinkoski,
who was writing checks left,right and centre at the
Post Office,and if I remember right,he did some prison
time for this crime!:)
Maybe this is who your thinking of!
canopfor on July 2, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Hey, he was only doing what the other Democrat senators were doing. He was just trying to fit in. Oh, and he is a great leader.
fluffy on July 2, 2008 at 8:30 AM
hey, we are not allowed to talk about this………at least until G.Soro’s give us his permission
sbark on July 2, 2008 at 8:31 AM
And she’s whining about her school loans? Honey, if you’d skipped the wine cellar, you’d have had no problem paying back your school loans.
Wethal on July 2, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Obama “This is not the home loan that I knew”
William Amos on July 2, 2008 at 8:32 AM
You know, if I was a bank, I would have done the same thing. Loaning money to someone you have deemed a good risk, you should get a good deal.
Now if the loan was well below any other rate, or if the bank received favors, then it is a problem. But loaning money, cheaply, to someone who is considered a low risk, why not give him a good rate.
What bank wouldn’t want to give a loan to almost every major politician, if they don’t have the money, the politician will get it somehow. Probably the best credit risk there is…
right2bright on July 2, 2008 at 8:34 AM
Why is NOTHING being done about Dodd and Conrad???
twiggman on July 2, 2008 at 8:35 AM
“O Lucky Man!”
I hope this is a reference to the film.
Tom_Shipley on July 2, 2008 at 8:36 AM
Ah here is what I saw
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the rate was adjusted to account for a competing offer from another lender and other factors. “The Obamas have since had as much as $3 million invested through Northern Trust,” he said in a statement
William Amos on July 2, 2008 at 8:37 AM
If Obama, Dodd and Conrad had an R after their names the media would run them out of office by Friday.
Aren’t double standards cool?
JammieWearingFool on July 2, 2008 at 8:42 AM
Response from Obama: This was an inartful way of getting a loan. Yes we can! Change! Change!
justinok on July 2, 2008 at 8:44 AM
Obama can just say that banks will be forced to give these deals to everyone.
.
$300 per month is change I can believe would influence a rookie state senatot in Illinois…
.
Ed - this needs an update to list favors that Rezko got for his money.
Right_of_Attila on July 2, 2008 at 8:49 AM
Hope for Change….
custer on July 2, 2008 at 8:53 AM
The odd thing about the rate is that Ed is comparing this loan rate to the market. In the mortgage market, rates are determined by a marketplace of major investors, who buy “securitized” mortgage bundles, or large investments made up of bundles of individual mortgages, all underwritten to the same standards and all bearing the same interest rate. They’re like bonds.
If Northern Trust underwrote this loan to their own lending standards - and they are certainly well within their rights to do so - then the loan rate would be based upon an entirely different method. Banks lend based on their own analysis of their “cost of funds”.
I would be fascinated to see what Northern Trust was charging their other customers for $1mm+ residential mortgages in their portfolio at that time. I think it is safe to say that the pricing of this loan had nothing to do with anything, other than Obambi’s political clout, and the perception that it was a safe loan to make, which it most evidently was.
Jaibones on July 2, 2008 at 8:57 AM
There isnt a problem with the loan the problem is with the rate. Its a very sweetheart deal.
William Amos on July 2, 2008 at 9:01 AM
Lay off! This really helped Michelle’s kids!
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 9:03 AM
This is wonderful. The Obama halo continues to be tarnished, little by little. By November it won’t have much shine left on it.
I continue to believe that Democrats may have a last minute change of heart and realize that they have been flim-flammed by David Axelrod and his puppet candidate. At least I hope so. I am having a hard time imagining four years living with this empty suit in charge.
I also continue to believe that the Washington Post is gong to endorse McCain. It’s no accident that the Post is breaking all these damaging stories about Obama. I wonder if there aren’t some real Clintonites embedded there.
rockmom on July 2, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Nice to see that they were able to stuggle through all those student loans they paid off while living in their $415,000 condo on the south side.
Marty on July 2, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Ya, it especially sweet when the kickback $71K as a “campaign contribution.”
That’s it. I’m running for Congress of the Senate. It’s about time I started robbing this country blind like everybody else.
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 9:06 AM
.
If the Obama’s expenses rose at the same time as their income, how did they get $3 million to invest??
Right_of_Attila on July 2, 2008 at 9:08 AM
And the double-the-limit jumbo size. And the lack of points.
And the utter shamelessness of our sanctimonious senators.
BigD on July 2, 2008 at 9:11 AM
Jaibones, that loan was almost certainly not securitized. Super-jumbos generally aren’t. That’s why they normally carry higher interest rates than conforming or regular jumbo loans. If Northern Trust is regulated by the OTS or OCC, the loan most likely violated federal banking rules which do not allow below-market lending for favored clients. Such lending was one of the ingredients that led to the savings and loan debacle in the early 1990s.
One reason why Kent Conrad’s apartment building loan by Countrywide is so fishy is that Countrywide was a pure mortgage bank, meaning that it sold or securitized everything. It did not have the capacity to hold whole loans in portfolio, which is why it did not do apartment loans. It obviously made a major exception in the case of Conrad’s loan - though it may have been able to get rid of it through Fannie Mae since Jim Johnson was the instigator of the deal. That whole deal really stinks and needs to be investigated.
rockmom on July 2, 2008 at 9:11 AM
Again according to the article Barack got elected to senator and his wife got promoted. Add to that several “Book deals” and they had a lot of income coming in.
but still is the “Rezko” factor.
William Amos on July 2, 2008 at 9:16 AM
All property records including mortgages are available on the Cook County website at the Recorder of Deeds search section if anyone is interested in looking up primary documentation instead of relying of WaPo.
forest on July 2, 2008 at 9:18 AM
This is all very distracting…
D2Boston on July 2, 2008 at 9:18 AM
rockmom,
exactly my point. Ed is suggesting that the rate is low compared to secondary market pricing, when in fact the rate is absurd, as it is almost surely a portfolio product, which are almost always higher rates.
But, as I pointed out, if Northern Trust can point to a similar arrangement for other customers with like transactions, they will have a defense against criticism.
I don’t know how Northern Trust is chartered or who regulates. Could be FDIC.
Jaibones on July 2, 2008 at 9:18 AM
I’ve been wondering about the WaPo coverage myself. They haven’t drunk the HopenChange Kool-Aid, don’t get a thrill up the leg. Between WaPo, and Jake Tapper’s ABCNews blog, some information about the real Obama is getting out.
Obama wouldn’t really be in charge, anyway. His handlers would. He’d come out to make speeches with a teleprompter, and rarely to press conferences. He’s make Bush look articulate if he tried to wing it.
Obama reminds me of minorities and women who were put in as “presidents” of companies so they could get government contracts under minority/affirmative action set-aside quotas. They were just figureheads, while the companies were entirely owned and operated by someone else.
Wethal on July 2, 2008 at 9:21 AM
You know,
For a guy who supposedly grew up poor, had to get student loans to pay his way through college, and then spent his career doing “community organizing” and public service lawyering (which pays, but not much), where the frak did Obama get his millions from?
Sekhmet on July 2, 2008 at 9:23 AM
Great rates for me, but not for thee.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 2, 2008 at 9:23 AM
Is this an example of an “inartful” interest rate?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 2, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Right. I’ve heard Michellemybelle say in her speeches if it hadn’t been for the book deals, they would have never gotten out of the poor house ($415,000 condo).
Brat on July 2, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Two big-selling books.
Jaibones on July 2, 2008 at 9:33 AM
Wanna bet if they can it’s all politicians and otherwise connected people? Think there are some worried Pols in Chicago worried right now they are about to be thrown under the Obama bus?
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 9:33 AM
I was checking names of people on the board, one William Osborn is on the board of Chicago Council on Global Affairs with Michelle
William Osborn
Northern Trust CEO (1995-2008)
Northern Trust President (1993-2006)
Northern Trust COO (1993-95)
Northern Trust (1970-)
OSBORN, WILLIAM A MR
WINNETKA,IL 60093 NORTHERN TRUST CORP/BANKER 3/31/07 $2,300 Obama, Barack (D)
OSBORN, WILLIAM A MR
WINNETKA,IL 60093 NORTHERN TRUST CORPORATION/BANKER 5/9/07 $1,000 McCain, John (R)
Plays both sides. Mainly gives Republican, but gave to Durbin, Richardson along with Bush. Also gave Obama 1,000 in 2003.
WoosterOh on July 2, 2008 at 9:36 AM
The other disappointment about this story is that the loan was written before FannieMae instituted risk-based pricing adjustments, i.e. the lower your credit score, the higher your rate. Would have been fun to know what their credit scores were then.
If Michelle’s whining is to be believed, their credit scores would not have been so very happy. Obambi wrote about having trouble paying bills, too. Wonder if Northern Trust gives below market pricing on super jumbo loans to all their low-credit score borrowers?
Jaibones on July 2, 2008 at 9:36 AM
Yes, indeed. The whole Chicago mafia establishment is going to come under a microscope in the next few months and some of these people are going to come into the public eye for the first time. I’ll bet that Northern Trust is the “go-to” bank for all of them. It isn’t the biggest or most powerful bank in Chicago - that used to be LaSalle Bank before it was bought by Bank of America.
rockmom on July 2, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Good work! You’re a better investigative journalist than the entire staff of any major metropolitan newspaper.
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 9:40 AM
I don’t know. Bankers are pretty well focused on making money, so in my experience the rate-discounting would have been done for any customer in whom they saw particular long-term value.
And in this case, it would seem that they gambled well.
Jaibones on July 2, 2008 at 9:41 AM
Ditto. Well done.
Jaibones on July 2, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Perhaps it was just an “in-artful” decision on his part.
carbon_footprint on July 2, 2008 at 9:42 AM
email that to Ed at the tips email.
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 9:44 AM
This is just another resume’ enhancement in the democrat party.
roninacreage on July 2, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Obama: the inartful dodger.
(The Loan Ranger?)
profitsbeard on July 2, 2008 at 9:45 AM
When are the bimbos going to come forward? That will give him a lock on the Presidency.
roninacreage on July 2, 2008 at 9:46 AM
“Just let me say this, about that, I received no preferential treatment for a mortgage because I am a US SENATOR” quote CHRIS DO OOOOOPPPPSSS I mean B. HUSSEIN OBAMA.
pueblo1032 on July 2, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Looks like Northern Trust Bank is a federal savings bank, meaning it is regulated by the OTS. This loan definitely could violate OTS rules.
rockmom on July 2, 2008 at 9:49 AM
How do ya throw a mortgage under the bus?
JimK on July 2, 2008 at 10:02 AM
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/07/most-irresponsible-piece-of-journalism.html
Nonfactor on July 2, 2008 at 10:05 AM
And if Northern Trust knew about the Rezko part of the transaction it definitely broke the law.
rockmom on July 2, 2008 at 10:09 AM
BHO, “That’s not the Obama I know.”
Another case of Democrap “leadership,” Do as I say, not as I do.
VikingGoneWild on July 2, 2008 at 10:14 AM
You cynical right wing hate mongers! You are not focusing on hope and change for the future which is about change and hope! Rather you are still participating in the politics of personal destruction which the American people are so tired of and which Barack Obama promises to change when he is hopefully elected to the office of President of the United States so that he can bring back Hope and Change to a country that use to believe in Change and Hope but now is mired in the same old tired politics rather than Change and Hope…
sabbott on July 2, 2008 at 10:20 AM
.
It’s just a piece of paper - a lot easier than trying to fit the whole house under the bus.
Think_b4_speaking on July 2, 2008 at 10:22 AM
.
Love the electoral map on that site, showing Obama winning Indiana - that really adds to the credibility of the site.
Think_b4_speaking on July 2, 2008 at 10:27 AM
While I personally think it’s a GOOD thing that an MSM outlet like the Washington Post is reporting this, most of the commenters after the article think this is a non-story, preferring to harp on the non-payment of taxes on Cindy McCain’s aunt’s house due to a town hall clerical error.
Those commenters are so brainwashed by Saint Barack’s Hopenchange sweetness and light, they’re willing to let a sweetheart deal wash off Mr. Clean like Obama himself pretended to “brush off” Hillary from his empty suit. Never mind that he saved $300 a month ($108,000 over a 30-year loan) on a six-bedroom house for four people that most Chicago South-siders couldn’t dream of owning (not to mention the $300K from Rezko), for those commenters everything is forgiven, because Obama can do no wrong.
Maybe those commenters don’t represent Middle America, or even moderate voters in northern Virginia who could vote either way, who might be influenced by an article in the Washington Post.
But what will it take to bring down this latest shyster from Chi-town, who might be slicker than Slick Willie?
Steve Z on July 2, 2008 at 10:30 AM
272,000 is the max that the Obamas show before going to the senate. Is that a comfortable living taking away the mortgage, private school, dance lessons, student loans and all those other pesky bills we all have to pay. just curious because it is way beyond my paygrade.
yakwill83 on July 2, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Would Dave Ramsey approved of this deal?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 2, 2008 at 10:47 AM
I get the sense that this would normally be the kind of practice that gets liberals cluck-clucking about institutions that aggravate or perpetuate vast differences in wealth.
It’s reverse redlining.
DrSteve on July 2, 2008 at 10:54 AM
SABBOTT at 10:20AM….
DITTO!!!!!
pueblo1032 on July 2, 2008 at 11:15 AM
DrSteve on July 2, 2008 at 10:54 AM
I’m waiting for Maxine Waters to come out in favor of nationalizing the banks.
forest on July 2, 2008 at 11:19 AM
This is truly the politics of change. Obama is now in the front ranks of politicians robbing the system in a new way. I always knew change meant changing the way normal citizens get scr*wed. Now we’re just learning more about the specifics.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Olberman spins this.
snaggletoothie on July 2, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Obama made the bank an offer [of Chicago-style "regulatory considerations"] they couldn’t refuse.
eeyore on July 2, 2008 at 11:42 AM
I am trying to get a home loan now. I wish I had taken the time to make more “influential” friends first because I am afraid I am going to get stuck with market rates…damn.
HawaiiLwyr on July 2, 2008 at 12:19 PM
I’ve been trying to make this point for a while now on message boards, comment pages, and my blog.
Ocarter attended an affluent private school, the best colleges, lived in a plush condo, then a luxury mansion…all without ever having held a real job, near as I can tell.
Has he ever had to get his hands dirty? Has he ever worried about how to pay a bill, or how he was going to afford having kids?
Yet the media still supports his back story with nonsense like the student loan issue. Pathetic.
ynot4tony2 on July 2, 2008 at 12:38 PM
another poster already showed that northern trust’s CEO gave to Obama as he did also to republicans..playing both sides..it’s entirely possible he did Obama a favor ..it fits with his MO..make sure whoever gets in office, rep. or dem, owes me something
galtg on July 2, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Well, come on, he had to keep up with his mentor/pastor’s new digs.
jackmac on July 2, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the rate was adjusted to account for a competing offer from another lender and other factors. “The Obamas have since had as much as $3 million invested through Northern Trust,” he said in a statement
Where in the hell did they get 3 million dollars?
ArmyAunt on July 2, 2008 at 1:27 PM
has anyone noticed how this story was on Drudge for a whole..what?..5 minutes..?
the national anthem story is buried in black on the left hand side but the negatice McCain story in in the center..in red
I remember a day when drudge….
galtg on July 2, 2008 at 1:37 PM
This is not the Drudge I knew…
dmh0667 on July 2, 2008 at 2:01 PM
Leak by bloody leak, the truth is slowly oozing out on this pitiful guy.
Still waiting for Barack Hussein Obama to release an official certified copy of his birth certificate. Because as of date, what has been published on the Daily KOS, and Obama’s Anti-Smear web sites, have been analyzed as fakes.
byteshredder on July 2, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Rest assured that Jim Ruttenberg and his team of McCain investigators will not look into the story. The guys at the NY Times are still trying to find new witnesses who will say that McCain had an affair. The Times will not touch the Dodd Contrywide story with a ten foot pole. After the story broke, the Times did do a feature story on Dodd. I thought it might mention the scandal. Instead it was about how Dodd is a workaholic devoted senator and all round good guy. No mention of the Countrywide scandal that has engulfed Dodd.
Larraby on July 2, 2008 at 2:17 PM
Do Sen. Dodd and Conrad still have their sweetheart VIP rates or have they been raised to regular levels now that the flashlight is shining?
danking70 on July 2, 2008 at 2:44 PM
It is good to know that the free market is alive and well in Chicago and the politicians go to the highest bidder!
jerseyman on July 2, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Dammit. I’m tired of you people stealing all my lines.
misterpeasea on July 2, 2008 at 3:23 PM
I have noticed that all the MSM have coverd this with weak headlines..
avoiding the use of the word “sweetheart deal”
If Obama would have been a Republican we would be hearing “Sweetheart” all day long..
Chakra Hammer on July 2, 2008 at 3:27 PM
Anyone who actually works in government (I know, Obama has never actually “worked” at all) knows that we can’t take any benefits from private companies on the basis of our position.
Normal people (not the messiah) and Republicans can go to jail for this stuff.
Once again, we’re all equal, it’s just that Democrat politicians are more equal than us little people.
NoDonkey on July 2, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Obama must think we’re all stupid.
I’m not saying, I’m just sayin’:
yo on July 2, 2008 at 4:48 PM
Obama to Wesleyan graduates: Don’t pursue the money culture and the big house, because collective salvation is in service. (subtext: so I can get MY big house and you can serve ME).
If Northern Trust Company missed out on $300 per month for 30 years, or a total of $108,000, what did they get for their “sacrifice”? Maybe the Washington Post (or a Chicago paper) might want to look into THAT!
Steve Z on July 2, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Anybody that believes this jerk please see me . . . I have several large bridges I’d like you to buy.
rplat on July 2, 2008 at 7:10 PM
Competition, huh?
On the other hand, nationalized health would be super.
Dan Collins on July 2, 2008 at 7:28 PM
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