Barack's Housing Crisis

It appears that Barack's sleazy behind the scenes banker for the purchase of his mansion - Tony Rezko - wasn't the only dirty part of the deal. The Washington Post reports that his regular bank also gave him a special deal.

The freshman Democratic senator received a discount. He locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago.

So Barack gets a loan that saves him $300 a month from what a normal rich guy would be paying. What I don't understand is why these guys sell-out for so little? When you go to the bank for the loan, you say "I'm the great Barack Obama - I represent the new kinda politics. I will only do business with you if I can pay the going rate!" Then you can appear to practice what you preach. Why give up your credibility for $3600 a year?

"The real question is: Were congressmen getting unique treatment that others weren't getting?" associate law professor Adam J. Levitin, a credit specialist at Georgetown University Law Center, said about the Countrywide loans. "Do they do business like that for people who are not congressmen? If they don't, that's a problem."

So Barack has a problem.

"It's certainly safe to say that this borrower did better than average," said Keith Gumbinger, an HSH vice president, noting that consumer rates vary widely. "It's a good deal."

The response from Barack is predictable.

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."

Why hasn't Barack's housing crisis become a campaign crisis? Kevin Whalen explores the issue at the blog Pundit Review.

The leading liberal newspapers in the country have been croaking Barack Obama on housing issues in the past few weeks. Good for them.

Pangs of nostalgia for the good old days, when reporters were reporters, apparently lead some in the media to occasionally do their jobs. It's ironic that their co-conspirators don't get sparked by the signs of life and join in.

The most recent is a Washington Post article that reveals Barack Obama was a friend of David (Fox, CEO of Northern Trust). He got a similar deal to Friend’s of Angelo (Mozillo, CEO of Countrywide). The Dems have foreclosed, so to speak, on housing as a great campaign issue for them.