Posted on 03/09/2012 11:05:29 AM PST by VU4G10
Rick Santorum built his presidential candidacy on the premise that he is very different than wealthy, establishment front-runner Mitt Romney, that he is someone who has faced the plights of the average American. Among the hardships Santorum claims to share is an underwater mortgage, the kind that's forcing millions from their homes.
"The value of my house is a fraction of what it was when I bought it," the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania recently told Michigan supporters.
But the Republican presidential contender's housing situation is quite unlike the one so many other Americans actually face, according to experts and documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.
Santorum bought his $2 million, five-acre home in the tony Washington suburb of Great Falls, Va., in August 2007 through a trust in a deal aided by a high-profile tax lawyer who serves as an officer for one of the largest homebuilders in the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com ...
So what. I don’t care.
The Republican establishment media is in fine form today. Any hit pieces on Gingrich out there? Probably not, just a temporary ceasefire for a bit. Wonder why?
I don’t care that he has a 2 million dollar house either.
What I care about is that he lied in Michigan, talking about how the value has gone down, when the value of everything inside the greater Washington area is the only damned place in the country it has NOT gone down - and this is more indication that RS is simply an out of touch creature of Washington.
That’s what I care about.
If he did it legally and above board, it’s not an issue.
Yes, I would include getting a good deal through connections as above board. None of us here would do it differently.
Me either.
when i got my divorce, my mortgage was underwater by about 30%. i didn’t whine, holler or demand that someone else pay it for me. I made extra payments and paid it off in seven years completely.
I also did a complete remodel of the interior, a little bit at a time.
Wonder why these sudden pieces on Santorum? And why on FR?
His statement makes me doubt his fiscal sensibility. You don’t buy high - ever.
That’s not true. We live inside the beltway and our home value has gone down. We are not underwater because we have owned the house for 22 years. Before the crash the homes in my neighborhood were being sold 20% higher than they are know.
So?
Many FReepers own $2 million dollar properties.
Sounds like class envy to me.
Is this the house he was living in when he lied about his residence to get the PA on-line home-schooling program? He claimed he and his family resided in a house in the district - where he had once lived when he was first married 20 years ago but not since then - so that his kids could get free tuition as residents.
Then he let the State of PA pay the $50,000 fine imposed by the school district when his fraud was discovered. Saving to buy the $2 million dollar house for himself, I guess.
Any wonder why people think Santorum is dishonest?
You do when you need a house to accommodate a very large family, and you need to buy in Northern Virginia.
From the story about Santorum:
“That’s somebody not wanting to be transparent,” said Gant Redmon, a real estate lawyer in Northern Virginia.”
Sounds like the Santorum we all know.
I don’t want a house on Creamcup Lane.
A Ranch called “Bell E Acres” off of Ramsey Canyon Road would suit me fine.
Creamcup Lane?
Hit piece, eh?
so, does that take Obama’s Chicago mansion off the table??
Not everybody on FR likes Santorum, some for good reason like his legislative record and some for minor reasons, like he’s not Newt.
If there are real concerns about him, and there are, those issues should be brought forth. Let everybody get a good picture as to whom he is.
The fact that he has a nice house is not important, to me at least. But the fact that he may be spinning falsehoods, to gain support would be.
He doesn’t need to lie, if his positions are substantive. He just needs to give us conservative solutions to the problems facing the nation.
Nobody cares how much it’s worth. He shouldn’t whine about it and pretend he’s one step away from foreclosure, though.
What need? And, no, large families do not require a lot of space.
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