Chicago Billionaire Industrialist on Board of Obama’s Mortgage Provider
By NoQuarter on July 2, 2008 at 12:52 PM in Barack Obama, Chicago, Chicago Mansion, Chicago politics, Crown family, Economy, Housing Crisis, Machinists Union, Maytag, Northern Trust, Tom Buffenbarger, Unemployment, Unions, Workers
Memeorandum.com is linking to the numerous stories on today’s Washington Post article noted by TexasDarlin in “Obamas Got Discounted Home Loan.” Many — from Politico’s Ben Smith to Salon — are downplaying the report as “well short” of the Countrywide story.
However, shortly, we will reveal additional details about the membership of the Chicago-headquartered billionaire Crown family on the board of directors of Northern Trust, which granted the Obamas their advantageous loan. Crown family members have been major donors to Obama’s campaigns, and serve on his elite fundraisers group for his presidential campaign.
Among the most disturbing stories of Obama’s many efforts to give political and legislative advantages to the Crown family’s holdings, Senate candidate Barack Obama promised Illinois’ Maytag workers he’d work to protect their jobs — and took campaign donations from the beleagured workers — but then met with Lester Crown, on the board of directors of Maytag, to take his campaign donations. Crown later told the press that Obama never raised the workers’ fate with him. The machinists lost their jobs to Maytag’s Mexican plant. From my story, “Machinists’ Union TELLS It Like It Is ,” quoting a must-read article at TradingMarkets.com, “Obama’s fundraising, rhetoric collide: Union says senator did little to save jobs“:
Obama had a special connection to Maytag: Lester Crown, one of the company’s directors and biggest investors whose family, records show, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Obama’s campaigns since 2003. But Crown says Obama never raised the fate of the Galesburg plant with him, …
These are the ties that bind:
The billionaire industrialist Crown family’s board memberships with Exelon Corporation, Maytag Corporation, and Northern Trust < -> Barack Obama
Barack Obama plays the “populist” routine in his campaign speeches, but he delivers to his billionaire benefactors, not the common working stiffs who are losing their jobs and their homes.
Now for a quick round-up of bloggers’ reports on the Obamas’ “sweetheart” home mortgage from Northern Trust, on whose board a billionaire member of the Crown family sits:
Hot Air blog:
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. [...]
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 … 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. …
The Swamp, Chicago Tribune’s blog — which generally downplays the importance of the WaPo story:
[C]oming as it does after all the disclosures of the erstwhile Friends of Angelo program at Countrywide Financial which apparently benefited some members of Congress and at least one former member of the Obama campaign team, James Johnson, who headed up Obama’s vice presidential selection process until stepping down because of the scandalette, this story about Obama’s mortgage is certainly worth knowing about.
Redstate.com blog:
Obama, caught off-guard about Johnson’s sweetheart Countrywide deals, initially tried to defend his vice presidential talent scout. But, Obama threw Johnson, under the bus, just a few days after Johnson’s Countrywide sweetheart deals came to light.
Obama is spinning his sweetheart mortgage deal as the lender competing for Obama’s business:
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the rate was adjusted to account for a competing offer from another lender and other factors.
[. . .]
The Obama campaign called the rate “consistent with Northern Trust policies, and it reflected the base rate set for that period discounted to address the competition for the account and other opportunities, such as personal financial services, that the relationship would bring to Northern Trust.”
It’s those “other factors” and “other opportunities” that worry me. Those “factors” and “opportunities” could be anything, including special access to a grateful U.S. Senator or a President.
Presidents, and U.S. Senators, need to avoid the appearance of impropriety. As with Obama’s relationship with the crook, Antoin Rezko, Obama’s judgment once again failed both Obama and America.
gee that didn’t take long…
a. hillary
b. mccain
america first!
From fivethirtyeight.com
“It took more than four months, but something finally beat out the Vicki Iseman story for its sheer chutzpah and utter irresponsibility.
The culprit is this piece from the Washington Post, which alleges that Barack Obama received a “discount” on his 30-year home mortgage when he purchased his house in Hyde Park in 2005. Obama’s mortgage rate was 5.625 percent; the Washington Post cites databases stating that the average rate on comparable properties was 5.93 percent.
So Obama’s rate was 30 basis points better than the average. However, the amount of the loan and the nature of the property are not the only factors that determine a mortgage rate. Another major consideration is the creditworthiness of the borrower. According to current rate quotes from myFICO.com, a borrower with very good credit can expect a mortgage rate about 30 basis points better than someone with pretty good credit, and a borrower with excellent credit can expect about a 50 basis point discount.
Unless the Washington Post has access to Obama’s FICO score — and unless it has rented an apartment to him, it probably doesn’t — it is missing a pretty important piece of information on what Obama’s mortgage rate ought to have been. What was Obama’s FICO score? I don’t know, but considering that…
* Obama had just gotten a $2.27 million book deal from Random House — about $1 million more than the value of the mortgage.
* The Obamas each had exceptionally secure jobs that paid them a combined annual salary of about $500,000 per year.
* The Obamas had just sold their condo, on which they had realized a $137,500 profit.
* The Obamas were prominent public figures whose political futures depended in part on maintaining a reputation for responsibility and trustworthiness.
* The Obamas are known to be relatively thrifty and have no credit card debt but substantial savings.
…I would think that the Obamas were exceptionally creditworthy. So indeed, Obama received a “discount” — the same discount that any borrower in his position would have received.
And, yes, I apologize for being a little off-subject (and running three media-bashing pieces in a row), but one of the things that ties together my work over here and my work at Baseball Prospectus is that I want the media to be smarter and more accountable when they cite statistical information, be it mortgage rates or polling numbers or batting averages. This article was neither smart nor accountable. It’s the equivalent of noting that Alex Rodriguez has a batting average 40 points better than the league average, and using that to infer that the umpires were biased in his favor.”
You sir are an idiot. A loan over $1,000,000 for a home is very risky. That being said, the average rate for a loan of that size would be around 7 to 8 percent, not 5.65. Ask any legitimate banker, they will tell you the exact same thing.
Though I wouldnt vote for Obama if you threatened to cut my legs off with a steak knife, I dont think the mortgage thing is a big deal. I got a jumbo in 05 with a lower rate then Obama..
The Washington Post story noted as an aside that Mrs. Obama got a huge raise in pay once her hubby was elected to the Senate.
What a corrupt city Chicago is.
Chicago is indeed corrupt politically. Thing is, Chicago works better than most cities. As a native Chicagoan, I’ll take Chicago corruption over most so-called well run non-corrupt cities any day. BTW, corruption in Chicago tends to be almost exclusively along the lines of city politicians handing out jobs and city contracts for their supporters - not private universities granting pay raises and promotions for staff members.
Also, Obama, has never held an elected office in the patronage filled area of Chicago politics - the Aldermanic system, the Parks Commission, the sanitation commission, or the Mayor’s office. State senators are generally out of the Chicago patronage loop.
But Michelle did.
Let the Obama campaign come forward with the details of the “competing offer”.
I agree. Who made the competing offer, and where are the details. The Crowns and the Pritzkers, both of whom enjoy a cozy relationship with Obama, are among the richest people in Chicago with connections everywhere. As we say here, “It’s now what you know, it’s who you know.”
CHANGE THAT IS FULL OF LIES.
CHANGE THAT HELPS BILLIONAIRE INDUSTRIALISTS.
CHANGE THAT MOVES JOBS TO MEXICO.
CHANGE THAT GIVES OBAMA CHEAP MORTGAGES.
CHANGE WE WON’T TAKE!! NOBAMA!!!
The MSM won’t talk about all this stuff! This is why he is has gotten away with so much already. Maybe Hannity would like to see some of these articles??? (not Colmes though… he got hit with the kool aid)
STOP THE CENSORSHIP
Obama will win because he can be bought and pushed. Look at how much more money the financial institutions are throwing his way. Much more that they are donating to the McCain campaign. They are going to have a field day with Obama and we will pay.
Good one Andrew
On other fronts, found this:
REAL faith based org. has TWO anti-obama ads starting on radio and TV today, July 2 in 3 or 4 swing states. GREAT topics also:
1. This ad focuses on bozo’s flip flops on Iran, showing his danger to national security.
2. And this one focuses on the charges against bozo by Larry Sinclair, and says that while MSM has buried this, these charges need looking into- sex and drugs all in one bundle. Goodie goodie
Wish they were running in my state so I could watch them.
Contrast this faith group, run by a real upfront minister who is also soliciting interviews - WANT TO CALL HIM LARRY? Compared to the new bozo bogus Matthew25.org - which is operated out of a Suite # in DC.
teehee Happy 4th- hope all will be sending Hillary the $20+ asked for this weekend by joint support effort - to keep her free.
Ah, here is more of the puzzle:
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/02/194141.php
The Crown family has given heavily to Obama. For example:
And where did the Crown family make their money?
Barack Obama, the anti-war candidate.
Not to mention this…
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/07/the_obamas_and_their_mortgage_1.html
Over three months ago, this line of inquiry was initiated at REZKOWATCH. (now moved and called: The Real Barack Obama)
http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com
They have been fighting the fight there for a Long time. Please give them a visit. Also there is one of the most complete assemblies of Obama’s ‘Rezko ties’ documents and ALL that entails. Good, solid, informative stuff.
Now,
This banking stuff can be confusing as hell in the main. But one thing is very clear in all home loans which are guaranteed by the government. Any of you who have bought a house have signed lots of pages on your loan documents. One of those pages says essentially, “Everything I’ve written down here is the truth. No lies or falsifications or omissions of pertinent data have occurred.”
The minute that a rezone, replat, split of an existing property takes place followed by a sweetheart loan, any Appraiser should have said, “Warning Will Robinson! Danger!”
What has happened is a violation of the “Arm’s Length Transaction Rule” and basically means that this is a bogus real estate transaction with so many Red Flags that any loan company involved would HAVE to be in on it.
That is called “Conspiracy to Defraud a Federally Insured Lender.” Typical sentencing runs 5 to 10 yrs in Federal lockup.
Hey REZKOWATCH! Maybe we did it after all…
Interesting points Zeke on the fraud aspect. Would it not be a question of timing?
Rezko got his “loan” from Henry’s Bank. Make a connection to Northern Trust and Henry’s it might fill in the picture. Above my paygrade.
Nah, I don’t think timing matters. You damn near have to prove you didn’t cheat when you apply for a loan. That’s the title search/vetting part when you apply.
Here’s a hypothetical:
You want to buy a house but don’t have the down money. In order to qualify for the loan you can’t acquire any additional large debt. Your mom lends you the money under the table and you don’t tell them. Well, they get to look at your bank statements and find out you got the money from somewhere and that you lied.
Technically, this is a felony. You and mom conspired to falsify your financial position. Same thing if she sold you her house and lied about the sales price.
Obama’s deal needed Rezko’s participation from the onset. The seller, having turned down offers higher than those of the combined Rezko/Obama offer is probably complicit and were he to have some fed climb up his butt, would probably admit his part.
I still maintain that the appraiser in this deal is the weak link because he can get busted anyway for breaking appraisal rules.
Talk about a canary…
He probably got paid about $500-$1000 for doing his part. Not much pay for 5 years in G-Pop.
The seller, having turned down offers higher than those of the combined Rezko/Obama offer is probably complicit and were he to have some fed climb up his butt, would probably admit his part
This is where Michelle Obama used her position on the Historic LandMark Commission to jam the sale. From what I have read (everything I could get my fingers on) , the sellers were jammed by Michelle to subdivide when the request to sell was submitted to the Commision,thus enabling the Obamas to “afford” the “house”. the conversation on how to procede with financing would have required BO to contact Rezko from the outset. He knew his former employee who held the option. The only condition the seller had was that the sale close on the same day. The Wolfords wanted out lock stock and barrel and did NOT want to have an empty lot to screw around with if they were “leaving town”.
When the sale closed Michelle used her influence AGAIN to jam the permits thru for the fence.
The fact that the property “had been on the market for sometime” only indicates that they were jamming the sellers for “sometime”. The real estate agents for Rezko, Obama and the Wolfords(sp?) were well known to each other and Rezko who had gotten “jobs” for at least one of the agents. To cozy by half.
BO and Rezko had dealings with Susan Crown and Rowe who are on the board of Northern Trust.
The Henry Bank guy ? Allsemere? were known to both BO and Rezko. I grew up in a Bada Bing town in NY and saw this type of crap a bunch…
Alsamarre is a whole novel of his own. Toss him with Auchi and run ‘em through Iraq and it gets right into John LeCarre’ ville.
There is provable treason down that trail of evidence.
A certain Iraqi with dual U.S. Citizenship recently called for armed attacks on American soldiers.
This is called advocating the armed takeover of the United States and is treason.
TheRealBarackObama has files and files linked there. The Chicago Sun Times articles will teach everyone what they need to know about this.
Don’t get all het up in the actual numbers as much as the rules they broke to GET those numbers.
The Henry Bank guy
I don’t have my notes handy but I was referring to a possiple connections to the loan rezko aquired to purchase his lot and the Northern Trust loans. When were they submitted / funded?
I forget the bank name for Rezko
My best response to this would be that the Fed doesn’t guarantee loans for raw land, so Alsamarre’s phone records for that five day period might be interesting.
Regardless, the money part regarding Rezko could have come from a jar in his yard. How would you present this as a legitimate loan application when the ’subject to’s ‘ would have been pages long?
There is no way to avoid the aspect that another party would be involved in the transaction, with another parcel being in jeopardy if either side defaulted. This is so full of what are called “Encumbrances,” that no honest bank would ever qualify it.
sorry I didn’t respond sooner… my alter ego had to mow the yard…
Funny, mine had to do the same.
That is was I was getting at. The “seperate” deals that BO would have us believe were dependant on each other. Funding to close on the same day requires a level of co-ordination.
Is Broadway bank the name you are looking for? The same Broadway Bank headed up by Alexi Giannoulias? You know the same bank found to have given millions in loans to the outfit to fund prostitution?
The same bank which Rezko cashed his $800,000 dollar Vegas gambling debts?
The same bank where Obama deposited his campaign funds.
Yes the same Alexi G. who didn’t have a chance in hell to win an election until the Saviour Obama came aboard to save the ship; even stepping on Madigan’s toes and risking the party ire of Illinois.
Anyone interested can investigate that little tidbit further. The info is out there……. you just have to open your eyes to see it. So far, I cannot find a notable link between Broadway and Northern Trust banks. Could be on the wrong track….. dunno
Rezkowatch has done great work on this. I wonder if the 2nd was involved in the parcel next door somehow. What I don’ get is that if Obama had all this fortune from his books, why did he need such a questionable looking deal in the first place? And as long as we’re discussing the Crown empire, and books, I believe that Crown Publishing owns Random House. Also, IIRC, Rita Rezko was on O’s 2004 campaign finance committee with her husband. And of course James Crown sat on the board of U of C.
Yeah, I believe the second would have covered the add-on parcel. What’s cool about that part is that the small chunk, “of little consequence,” happens to adversely impact Rezko’s wife’s land in that it makes it, I believe, an atypical lot, read: (too small) for another big-ass mansion. This makes Rezko’s land worthless as a marketable property. If it is unbuildable, (except, oddly,
the Secret Service would be allowed to put up housing for its bodyguards were there to be a need,) it just became a six hundred thousand dollar play yard for Barry’s kids.
And nobody was unduly influenced in the participation of this transaction.
Hmmmmm
that is what is says at Zillows about the house sales http://www.zillow.com/Charts.htm?chartDuration=5years&zpid=50904051
“Transaction Not Included in Zestimate This transaction was not used in computing the Zestimate for this house due to anomalies we detected with this transaction. These anomalies can include unusual document or transaction types, sales between possibly related parties, unusually high or low transaction prices, or other data irregularities that might indicate the transaction is not a full-value, arms-length transaction.”
This is the web site that keeps on giving. . .C’mon, this has to be a Lyndon LaRouche front. How else can you people be so warped. Getting a 5.65% jumbo mortgage with plenty of money in the bank back in 2005 is not such a big deal. I myself with much less stellar resources got a 5.75% jumbo back in 2005 (without any “special help”). So Politico (no friend of Obama or the left) downplays the story and you guys use RedState to state your case. You, my friends, are a laughing stock and nothing but GOP tools and wankers.
Hey, take it up with the Washington Post.
Perhaps if the content it laughable, people would stop reading the site and it would have no effect. Something must draw Obamaphiles here, though. As outsiders to his innermost workings, we must do a lot of scratching and digging to unearth nuggets. On the other hand, if our inklings are correct, Obama is a danger to the average citizen.
Oc course, if you’re a campaign worker, perhaps you got a sweet deal, too.
The Washington Post stated the case — the facts in that piece speak for themselves. I recall that Obama saved $300 a month. And what a credit history he had! He himself says they were heavily in debt after his failed Congressional run.
So you don’t know the facts about Obama here but speculate and you don’t know anything about me but speculate too. That, my friend, is my point. . .you folks don’t know jack but continue to spew your bile in the hopes of what? Getting McCain elected. Truly remarkable.
What’s the rate for a super Jumbo over 650k? his loan is over a mil, how can he can a rate lower that average jumbo? shouldn’t it be .50% more for loan over 650k? 5.94+.5=6.44%. Even if his credit was over 740, his discount would only be less than .5%. with the low closing fee of the loan, a 6.25% should be a greaat rate for someone with great credit. Don’t try to confuse people with super jumbo loan as jumbo loan. I sould know, I got one in 2005. You are just trying to B.S. people who never got a big mortgage.
So you don’t know the facts about how Obama got his mortgage nor do you know jack about me, but that doesn’t stop you speculating about it (or should I just say, making stuff up). . . You younger folks seem to forget about all the crap they dug up about the Clintons in ‘92, e.g., how HRC made a cool $100k on a commodities option trade executed by a “friend”. . .but I suppose that was different. The point is, no one is “perfect” but putting McCain in office because you still can’t get over the fact that HRC didn’t win the nomination is just ludicrous.
ludicrous….I thought he was a rap star.
It’s Me Again;
It is not about “because Hillary lost.” She did not.
It is that BO is not qualified to be POTUS.
McCain maybe many things but he is not bought and paid for, like a 2 dollar pickle as is BO.
Obarfos loan was not a jumbo loan. It was a super jumbo of over 1.3 million. The average rate for that sized loan is quite a bit more than a jumbo rate. No points either. How lucky they were.
I thought I would share a post I read on Greta the other night–McCain was only going to be a protest vote until I read this.
AP Col. (Ret.) Bud Day with John McCain at a campaign stop in Pensacola, Fla., in January. When it comes to choosing a president, the American people want to know more about a candidate than policy positions. They want to know about character and the values ingrained his heart. For Mr. McCain, that means they will want to know more about him personally than he has been willing to reveal.
Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escapting from a North Vietnamese prison during the way. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, “I told you I would make you a cripple.” The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day’s will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the US and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, The Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm and put him in a misshapen case. This was done so that the arm would heal at a goofy angle. Had it done so he would never have flown again.
But it didn’t heal that way because of John McCain. Risking sever punishment, McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. McCain put Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo he put Day’s splint in place. Years later Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complemented the treatment he had gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was McCain who deserved the credit. Day did go on to fly again.
McCain was one of the three chaplains for his fellow prisoners. At one point after being shuttled among different prisons, Mr. Day found himself as the most senior officer at the Hanoi Hilton. So he tapped McCain to help administer religious services to the other prisoners. He recalls one of McCain’s services. He took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21 “render unto Caeser what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s” McCain said he and his fellow prisoners shouldn’t ask God to free them, but to help them become the best people they could be while serving as POWs. It was Caesar who put them in prison and Caesar would would get them out . Their tast was to act with honor.
Another story somewhat better known is about the Vietnamese practice of torturing him by tying his head between his ankles with his arms behind him, then leaving him for hours. The torture so badly busted up his shoulders that to this day he cannot raise his arms over his head. One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice. Shortly after on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the way, the only person he wanted to meet was that guard. Mr. Day recalls with pride McCain stubbornly refusing to accept early release even when gravely ill because he knew the Vietnamese wanted the propaganda victory of the son and grandson of Navy admirals accepting special treatment. He wasn’t corruptible then says Day and he isn’t corruptible now.
I post this to show there is another candidate out her — invisible to the media as they carry on their love affair with Obama and I as a Clinton Democrat will vote for him.
I trust John…The MSM belongs to Obama…or should I say he belongs to them…any way you look at it it is wrong….McCain gets my vote hands down…
Thanks for posting that touching story! John McCain is a very good and honorable man and I will be very happy to vote for him if Hillary is not our nominee.
Watch this rewind oil story from Glenn Becks show last night. Beck said to pass the video on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZ_4EXeyaA
good video…thanks..
This is really excellent, Susan!
great piece, thank you!!!!!
crown wants to do business in iraq and iran dont they?
http://www.nndb.com/org/037/000171521/
Franklin Raines, the Fannie Mae CEO, also was a big supporter of Obama’s Senate run.
As is well known of Raines (this is from his Wikipedia listing):
This is what power does — it corrupts. I wonder if Raines had anything to do with Obama getting favorable rates?
Franklin Delano Raines … is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae
Jim Johnson, who once headed Obama’s VP selection committee, was former Fannie Mae CEO who obtained “mega-sweet” loans from Countrywide Mortgage. He was a business partner of George Soros, whose Moveon.org boasted that the Democratic Party is now “our party, we bought it, we own it.” A vote for Obama is a vote for George Soros.
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=75FFB9A4-F6F2-48D6-A209-460BC6AE1899
The circle of Obama friends just grew…
Among the most disturbing stories of Obama’s many efforts to give political and legislative advantages to the Crown family’s holdings, Senate candidate Barack Obama promised Illinois’ Maytag workers he’d work to protect their jobs — and took campaign donations from the beleagured workers — but then met with Lester Crown, on the board of directors of Maytag, to take his campaign donations.
But, but, but….why is that disturbing? [sarcasm]
Obama’s campaign promise is “change.”
People are just beginning to figuring out WHAT OBAMA MEANT BY “CHANGE.”
To Obama, CHANGE means telling workers one thing (promising job protection) when they donate to his campaign, while talking out of the other side of his mouth to the executives when he’s taking their money.
And, of course, the important thing is not what Obama says, but what Obama does. So far, his actions all favor the corporations/executives (Rezko) and screw the individuals.
This describes Obama precisely. But as long as the MSM only concerns themselves with what he says we will have a tough struggle ahead.
Larry Sinclair is claiming he has retained Richard R. c, Jr. to be his attorney in the Delaware case.
No matter how anyone feels about Sinclair’s allegations about Obama they should be concerned with the behavior of people trying to stop Sinclair which could possibly include government officials. It will be interesting to see what Wier uncovers.
First sentence should read: Larry Sinclair is claiming he has retained Richard R. Wier, Jr. to be his attorney in the Delaware case.
I received a letter from Biden last week asking for money, I sent him an envelope stuffed with pictures of HRC and snarking pumas, along with the note: “Biden and Son, Go arrest Larry Sinclair and then ask BO for money.”
That should be “snarling pumas” but “snarking” might do it too.
If a PUMA snarked on me I’m sure I wouldn’t like it!
The “progressive” blogs are imploding over this story–nothing to see here! We’ll never get this guy vetted. Let’s just hope we don’t end up with four years of him.
WELL
WE SHOULD BE BLOGGING AT –CNN-MSNBC-FOX—
AND KEEP ON MENTIONING ALL THESE THINGS ABOUT OBAMA,,,,MAY BE THEY CAN ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE….
none of those places will post my comments….even if they are nice ones about BO…
THEN –THEY HAVE JUST BLACKED YOU AS THEY KNOW EVERYONE,S IP ADDRESS..
I AM LUCKY —
I GOT 20 COMPUTERS AT MY HUBBY,S WAREHOUSE ,SO I JUST USE ANY AND COMMENTS GO THROUGH ,….AND THEY ARE ALWAYS MEAN ONES —–OR FILLED WITH LOVE FOR HILLAND BILL—
I have another computer to use but why bother…they won’t cover the truth about BO.
I thought it was my imagination! CNN wouldn’t post my comments either the other night. Jack Cafferty’s blog I was moderated then never posted.
What country are we living in?
I try posting at all of them. MSNBC, the Swamp (homer chicago tribune) routinely delete my posts. I have better luck at ABC in Jake Tapper land. I also email my MSNBC heroes (snark) regularly.
Tomorrow folks don’t forget Hillary Independence Day and Green Rain 4 McCain. Many groups are donating $10.44 and/or $20.08 For Hillary Debt relief. Green Rain for McCain donate $5.44 or more just make sure you include the .44 cent at the end to represent Hillary supporters. McCain staffers and the RNC will make the DNC aware of our impact tomorrow.
OK..THX for the heads up ,i had forgotten .
pls post it everywhere ….fox,cnn,nytimes,huffpo,and all puma sites ….
I will put it up on my blog tomorrow also…
SusanUnpC, the Crowns are not the only ones on that board. Go figure. Back 12 months ago, I looked at this and made the connection to BO in terms of his relation with Exelon but, it takes on more import in the context of the loan he got.
.
The FBI is hoping this guy will be singing some nice tunes about Mr. and Mrs Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, This guy will make a deal he can’t do long time.
Robert J. Weinstein, 62, of Northbrook, Ill., and Delray Beach, Fla., was charged in a three-count indictment returned Thursday, as prosecutors pressed ahead with their investigation of corruption in state government.
Rezko, a prominent fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was convicted June 4 of fraud and other offenses, partly on the strength of secretly made FBI tapes of talks between Weinstein and business partner Stuart Levine.
Levine, himself an admitted political fixer and fundraiser, has pleaded guilty in the investigation and now is a key government witness.
In the fresh indictment, Weinstein was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to an FBI agent when he said Levine never told him about Rezko’s political clout.
Wow. We should expect to be run over by a herd of eager young investigative reporters any second now. Just Google the two names. What I can’t get over, given all the recent business these guys had is, is this the same Robert J. Weinstein that defrauded Hyde Park Community Hospital from 1992 to its bankruptcy in 2000? Don’t these people ever go to jail? Or get prevented from getting government contracts? Is Chicago more corrupt than Baghdad?
Worse for him, he has been Fitzgerald’d. WooHoo!
Hey, Rev. Wright, what was that shit about chickens coming home to roost? This is a sure sign of the castle wall starting to crumble. Little guys like this who are in their sixties are looking at life in prison if the counts run concurrently.
There’s some singing about to start.
All this wheeling and dealing between Obama and his friend and he is not in charge of the nations coffers as yet, can you imagine what this man will do if he becomes president, with the power to make deal, do favors at home and abroad ?
Obama and his cronies are going to make G.W look like a pussycat if he makes it to the WH, Chicago’s dirty hand and style of politics will rule Washington.
Obama is going to change Washington to Chicago politics.
It’s funny how when you peel off his plastic layers and uncover what and who he really is, it’s nothing but the same old shite of corruption, lies, backdoor deals and political pandering. He is seriously the worst politician, because he claims to want to change the way politics is done, but he is knee deep in the SAME CRAP!
Obama is a fraud and his whole campaign is made up of fakery with goofy signs and lame ass slogans. I think his sheep are worse than Shrubs.
Surrogates of Senator Hillary Clinton suggested last month that her Democratic rival faced a possible doomsday scenario before the general election, calling it an “October Surprise”. Naturally, everyone assumed she herself would be instigating Armageddon, and not in October but May.
That assumption, however, turned out to be off base. Paula Revere (as Clinton sometimes refers to herself) was more likely dropping a hint, praying there was someone left in the national press corps who could recognize an undressed emperor when he saw one. After all, there was that fraud trial going on in Chicago. Is the U.S. Attorney’s office now sitting on a felony indictment against Obama, just waiting for him to lock up the nomination? And what about the two Iraqi agents associated with Tony Rezko? How did those reconstruction funds wind up in the presidential candidate’s campaign coffers? And does he really prefer to bank with pimps, as the Chicago Tribune suggested in an article, one that for some inexplicable reason was not picked up by NBC News?
While the answers to these intriguing questions may be getting short shrift from the media, you can bet Republican opposition researchers are already versed in the particulars. Moreover, if the G.O.P. is setting a trap, then maybe elected Democratic officials (a.k.a. superdelegates) should be boning up on the Chicago underworld, not lining up at the Bank of Obama ATM machine.
For one thing, it’s not necessarily written in stone that the presumptive G.O.P. nominee will get voted in at the convention next September. Anyone who assumes McCain is the guy to beat really doesn’t appreciate Karl Rove’s ability to turn a presidential election on its head. Remember, America’s favorite dirty trickster is still out on the lam, probably whistling the old Grateful Dead tune Friend of the Devil as he forages around the Fox News Channel studios each weekday afternoon.
In short, there are plenty of good reasons to fret about the future.
Surprises, then and now…
The term October Surprise dates back to 1980, the year President Jimmy Carter ran for re-election against Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush. By most accounts, he lost as a result of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and many suspected the Reagan campaign intervened in international affairs to set that ordeal into motion. In fact, many of the names, events and places from yesteryear seem to be popping up again today. Carter, Bush, the spike in oil prices, transitioning Middle East government, a U.S. presidential election… And just like 1980, this year’s election cycle began with the assassination of a Bhutto. The daughter of Pakistan’s first prime minister was gunned down on December 27, 2007. In 1979, Benazir’s father was hanged after a military coup.
At the time of the first execution, the CIA was busy in Pakistan outfitting Osama bin Laden and his Islamic jihad to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. However, most Americans were focussed on Iran in those days. The U.S. backed Shah Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979 after a popular uprising, and in the aftermath, an ayatollah named Khomeini flew in from Paris and tried to take advantage of the situation. Shortly after that, President Carter got a call from Henry Kissinger, asking him to let the deposed shah into the United States for cancer treatment. The embassy staff in Tehran warned Carter that it was no time to play Make a Wish, but Carter did let him in anyway. The Iranians reacted with angry demonstrations (believing the U.S. intended to reinstall Pahlavi) and a group of students stormed the embassy, taking 52 Americans hostage.
Although the Pentagon disputes it, two former embassy captives insist that the country’s current civilian president, Ahmadinejad, was in charge of that operation. Like a perfectly synchronized Swiss clock, 444 days later and about 20 minutes after Reagan delivered his inaugural speech, the hostages were released. By then, Khomeini and his “supreme council” of fellow mullahs had rammed through an Islamic constitution and began purging the country of all those moderate, secular folks responsible for overthrowing the shah in the first place. (Remnants of that group, known as the MEK-NCRI, are holed up in Europe and even maintain a base in Iraq, although the United States and the U.K. bombed them in 2003.) At any rate, Reagan’s campaign manager William Casey started selling missiles to the Islamic dictatorship as soon as he was appointed CIA director.
In Washington, people wondered. Did the Reagan campaign cut a deal with Khomeini to make sure he wouldn’t free the hostages before the November election - hence Carter’s October Surprise? Congress held hearings on the subject. Chaired by Indiana Democrat Lee Hamilton, the House committee eventually ruled there was no conspiracy. (Twenty years later, this same congressman would be tapped by President Bush to co-chair the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.)
Now fast forward to this election cycle. The G.O.P. knew four years ago that winning the White House after George W. Bush’s reign of error would be an uphill climb. Especially with another Clinton coming down the pike. They needed to get creative. And in a little known state senator from the midwest they found reason to hope. As luck would have it, Barack Obama had compiled a lot of dirt under his finger nails from 17 years of Chicago machine politics. His principle benefactor, Tony R