The Moderate Voice - Latest Comments in Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

AustinRoth — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:08:24 -0000

aba23 - 'might'. Funny, very funny.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

aba23 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:47:42 -0000

jwest, I think child sex might lose my vote. (Speaking of character, though, why exactly is it appropriate for someone running for president to off-handedly joke about the killing of Iranian citizens or for any mature adult to make deprecating jokes about a president's daughter? Hilarious.)

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

jwest — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:19:40 -0000

What's the difference.

Even if there was video (ala Marion Barry) of him accepting bribes, doing crack and having sex with small boys, you would still vote for him.

Democrats have never worried much about the "character" thing.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

aba23 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:27:22 -0000

That's all well and good when there is an actual controversy. To me, there's no there there here. It's not just 'dubious," it's pretty well unfounded--as further evidenced by your update and with which you seem to, in part at least, agree ("It’s a nice deal, to be sure, but nothing that any high profile customer with significant assetts and a great credit rating couldn’t land.")

However, repetition of accusations (even if rebutted) will have the natural effect of raising people's suspicions. It's a balance of which you are no doubt aware, so I guess we just differ as to whether to apply more discretion in this case.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Jazz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:08:06 -0000

I wouldn't pretend to have the time or inclination to comment on every story catching air time, but in a case like this, don't you think that pointing out the factors which make the accusation dubious is better than letting such an accusation fly across the sphere without comment? If you don't examine the charges and rebut them where deserved, you just allow the accusation to hang there and take root.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Marlowecan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:58:56 -0000

I think this story is the GOP equivalent of those upper case OUTRAGE OF THE DAY from MediaMatters or the announcement of a CREW complaint (I imagine the DOJ has an office just to process CREW complaints).

Sen. Dodd's case is far more cut and dried corruption. Still, he is beloved of the Nutroots, so they will excuse him anything. I would not hold my breath for a CREW complaint about Dodd.

Alas, good ratings get preferential treatment. One of the banks I deal with offers a whole range of perks for customers with better credit ratings ... such as gold colored debit cards, in contrast to the plebs blue or green ... and different rules for account treatment.

No silver bullet for the GOP here.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

aba23 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:55:27 -0000

I was not commenting on your reasoning, your conclusion, or even the objectivity with which you approached the matter. But if your intention is to comment on all stories catching MSM airtime, I withdraw the point.

Personally, I'd find it more illuminating to hear about those stories that aren't. To answer your question, though, in my opinion a "productive contribution" to an irrelevant story that is already getting more play than it deserves is to ignore it.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Jazz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:36:12 -0000

Thanks for the link, Polimom. Post updated accordingly.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

ChrisWWW — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:29:20 -0000

This just in:
Conservatives are trying to keep Obama from winning the election.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Jazz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:11:56 -0000

It's a story that is catching air time in the MSM already. I thought I made it fairly clear that there were differences between the Chris Dodd situation and this one, and that the propsed ethics charges are sketchy at best. I also went as far as linking to and quoting the applicable Senate ethics rules. I'm not sure what more "productive contribution" you're looking for.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

aba23 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:46:46 -0000

"Well, the definition clearly includes the words “discount” and “loan” so perhaps there is something here."

No, actually, neither word supports that a "gift" was made because the discount (and of course the loan itself) is part of a business transaction, not a gratuitous transfer. By the logic of those offering this as a viable issue, a politician would have to report the difference between the sticker price and the amount paid for a car she bought. Maybe that's something a person would want to have disclosed, but it's just not what the actual reporting requirements are about.

What is the significance of this item, anyway? What does it say about Obama that he didn't report a transaction on disclosure statements when there is no precedent or custom for reporting such a transaction? Now, if there were even circumstantial evidence that a loan agent offered somebody quid pro quo and the politician accepted the deal, then there may a story; but this story is either talking point or hackery.

Jazz, it is to your credit that you want to shed light on troublesome aspects of our presidential candidates. It would be nice, however, if you contributed something productive to the discourse; there's enough irrelevancy out there as it is.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Polimom — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:32:25 -0000

Jazz -- Nate at FiveThirtyEight.com did the best analysis of this I've seen when the story came out a week ago. (Link)

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

Jazz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:48:54 -0000

Not just good credit ratings. People who suddenly increase their income bracket by millions of dollars also get good deals, as making a little less on the mortgage may bring in other investment capital from the customer. Just the way of the world.

Re: Did Obama Get a “Sweetheart” Mortgage Deal?

djshay — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:34:23 -0000

People with good credit ratings get lower interest rates than people with less than perfect credit. Chris Dodd's is definitely suspect, but Obama? Not so much.