Posted on 10/27/2010 1:02:47 AM PDT by Rashputin
Shortly after Labor Day, as polls continued to sink, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) realized it needed a cash infusion for the upcoming midterm elections. Its chairman, former Virginia Governor Tom Kaine, turned to the Bank of America to secure a $15 million revolving credit line. Then, in the middle of this month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) got another loan from BofA for an additional $17 million.
What was their collateral? It turns out, not much.
The DNC claims their collateral was an intangible piece of property — its donor mailing list. The DCCC only cites unnamed “assets.” Neither party organization possesses real estate even close to cover the $32 million. The DNC’s headquarters is owned by another entity. Even it was put up as collateral, its market value was last estimated at only $13.7 million.
Were the Bank of America deals legitimate, arms-length transactions, or were they cozy sweetheart deals in which nothing was really put up to secure a $32 million loan?
And if it was the latter, could it be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the largest bank holding company in America?
There also is troubling evidence that two days before closing on the loan transaction, the DNC changed its own privacy provisions to allow the selling or sharing of private donor data.
BofA has been a longtime friend of Democrats. In the 2008 election cycle, BofA gave its largest single campaign contribution to then-Senator Barack Obama. According to Bloomberg News, BofA’s new CEO, Brian Moynihan, is considered Obama’s top political ally on Wall Street.
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
It’s not illegal when the Democrats do it - just ask the MSM.
I hope that they double checked the other facts!
One does not need collateral to get a loan. The parties raise money all the time so the reasonable expectation is they would be able to pay it back. There’s no story here.
“One does not need collateral to get a loan”
“The parties raise money all the time”
Riiiiiight. $32 million dollar UNsecured loan on just your word.
If that’s the case, why do they need the loan? Just raise more money.
You mean like an individual with $20-30,000 in credit cards,right? Or a corporation with more debt than assets,right? Yeah,now i see where i was wrong.
Actually, on second thought, they could get a $32 million unsecured loan. Just have Soros as co-signer.
Illegal loan? Fiddle-de-de count my toes, now it’s legal.
Any Conservative who banks with the Bank of America has not done his homework. The second housing crash which is in the works will threaten the future of this once great banking institution, an institution that has lost its way since moving from the West Coast.
Maybe Kaine sold them his mortgage. < /s>
Yeah. Funny how that always seems to happen at just the right time. :-(
Funny. That was my first thought when I heard about the loan a few days ago.
It’s not illegal if Democrats do it, silly.
Yeah, but Tim doesn’t fit in with every Tom, Dick (Blumenthal) and Harry (Reid). ;-)
nothing new here. They get loans based on pending income, mostly from the rental of their mailing lists. They rent the lists to the candidates for about 20-30 cents per name and it should yield a few million. They can also use the bank debt as another fundraising appeal, which is probably going on right now.
Some established politicians do this using their mansions, cars and vacation properties. All that list rental and fundraising income will be coming in by the beginning of the year when their books will need to be closed. It’s not unlike when a business borrows against their pending receivables to cover fixed overhead like salary and rent.
Is it a sign of a troubled organization? yes, but I don’t think it’s illegal.
It's illegal if BofA wouldn't give the same loan to a business offering the same collateral. Look at the situation: the DNC's cash flow is less than it was in the past, their future cash flow will certainly be less, yet BofA gave them the biggest loan they have ever given them.
Would BofA give a business with diminishing cash flow a loan bigger than any loan they've ever given them in the 30 years they've been borrowing? I think not!
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