Posted on 06/09/2008 7:37:25 AM PDT by safetysign
Could Become a Political Liability
Long-standing ties between a member of Senator Obama's new vice presidential search team and a prominent mortgage executive the senator has pilloried could become a political liability that hampers the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's ability to tap into public ire over the subprime mortgage crisis.
James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company's CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The Journal said at least two of the mortgages, among a series of loans made available to people Countrywide officials called "friends of Angelo," were at rates below market averages, though it is difficult to predict a market rate without access to nonpublic information about a borrower's credit history and other factors that can reduce interest charges on a loan.
Among the loans to Mr. Johnson, according to the Journal, were a $5 million home equity line of credit against a house in Ketchum, Idaho, a 5.25% loan of $1.3 million for a home in Palm Desert, Calif., and a 3.875% loan of $971,650 for a home in Washington, D.C. The interest rates applied for the first five years of the loans.
"That reeks most high," a public relations specialist and vocal critic of Mr. Mozilo, Bonnie Russell of Del Mar, Calif., said. "Where's the 'change to believe in' if they're playing the same old game using the same old players?"
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
And Nobody Voted?!?!
Depending on when the loans were taken out, those rates are not that unrealistic. Maybe a touch low considering they are jumbo loans.
Is it time to say “Keep the Change” if this is Obama’s definition of “change”?
Don’t forget, his alter ego Deval Patrick worked for AmeriQuest.
I’m tellin’ ya, if McCain can successfully tie Obama to Deval Patrick...he’s got a better shot at winning Mass. than people realize. I’m in no way saying it’s over a 25% likelyhood, but I think McCain has a better shot than anyone since Bush 41. My wife, who grew up in MA, agrees.
A below market mortgage may not be illegal but the difference between the market cost and the sweetheart insider deal may be considered “income” for tax purposes. The IRS should be on the trail.
“That’s not the James Johnson I knew.”, B.O.
bttt
“That’s not the James Johnson I knew.”,
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