[Barry & Michelle] Enjoying the Good Life in a Mean Country

Power Line ^ | July 2, 2008

[2ndDivisionVet]

This morning the Washington Post broke the news that Barack Obama got a sub-market interest rate when he took out a mortgage to buy his Chicago mansion in 2005:

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. The loan was unusually large, known in banker lingo as a "super super jumbo." Obama paid no origination fee or discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their interest rates. Compared with the average terms offered at the time in Chicago, Obama's rate could have saved him more than $300 per month.

Obama's loan came from Northern Trust, whose employees have also donated $71,000 to Obama's campaign. This is, of course, the same home purchase in which Obama was assisted by his fundraiser, convicted felon Tony Rezko, who bought the adjacent lot for the seller's full asking price, while Obama paid $300,000 less than the asking price to the same seller for the house.

It has come to light that several Democratic Senators availed themselves of sub-market mortgages under circumstances that are more or less suspicious. Obama is in that rather tawdry category.

What is most striking to me, though, is not that Obama shaved a fraction of a point off his mortgage by being a politically powerful customer. It is, rather, the rapidity with which Obama was able to turn his ascension to the Senate into material wealth. The Post describes the Obamas' mansion, purchased just a few months after Obama became a Senator:

The couple wanted to step up from their $415,000 condo. They chose a house with six bedrooms, four fireplaces, a four-car garage and 5 1/2 baths, including a double steam shower and a marble powder room. It had a wine cellar, a music room, a library, a solarium, beveled glass doors and a granite-floored kitchen.

How were the Obamas able to afford this on a Senator's $162,000 salary? They weren't, of course. But in January 2005, the same month in which Obama assumed his Senate seat, Random House "agreed to reissue an Obama memoir, for which it originally paid $40,000, as part of a $2.27 million deal that included two future nonfiction books and a children's book." How does an author who has never sold many books get a multi-million dollar book deal? By being an up-and-coming Democratic Senator.

Then there is Michelle Obama, whose salary doubled to over $300,000 when her husband was elected to the Senate. It was the Random House book deal, together with Michelle's newly-discovered value to her employer, that paid for the Obamas' Chicago mansion.

You can draw your own conclusions from all of this. It strikes me that Barack Obama is a very old-fashioned politician. He is a powerful man, and he expects the world to kiss his ring and shower him with money and other good things. This is a Chicago tradition, I guess, and it's not hard to understand.

What's a bit harder to make sense of is Michelle Obama's attitude. She says that America is a "downright mean country." Is this an insight that she had while sitting in her double steam shower? Or perhaps while fetching a prime vintage from her wine cellar, or musing in her solarium, or applying makeup in her marble powder room, or treading the granite floor in her kitchen? It's hard to say. Maybe it's just another instance of liberal guilt. But since Barack is as nakedly on the make as any politician in modern American history, the Obamas should perhaps drop the pose.

[2ndDivisionVet]

World-class hypocrites.

[FES0844]

That they are!

[Polybius]

Culture of corruption.

[unkus]

The Obama’s want to impose an Amerikan style NOMENKLATURA. Look it up, people.

[ArchAngel1983]

Why can’t I ever be this oppressed?

[EggsAckley]

Great article! Are you the author?

[EggsAckley]

“....since Barack is as nakedly on the make as any politician in modern American history.....”

My favorite line of the article.

[2ndDivisionVet]

I write, but not that well...LOL

[EggsAckley]

It’s VERY well written. Very refreshing in this era of horrible journalists.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Well I’m sure Michelle Obama enjoys her mansion while complaining what a mean racist evil country this is.

And not only that, they are on a tight budget. They have to pay so much for dance lessons and things for the kids. And that $1 million+ plus mortgage carries a hefty monthly payment with it. So they have to watch their paychecks. Also, she said they had been paying back student loans till just a couple years ago. They are just struggling people in a racist country.

[EggsAckley]

Oh yeah. LOTS of Obamamamas around here. I’m a hermit and just stay in my forest and ignore the rest of this crazy county. Heheh.

[ripley]

“enjoying the good life in amean country...”

one fears that they are going to take the place of the clintons and never go away.

IMHO

[Bernard]

This is pretty standard fare for a "Reform Democrat from Chicago." My hometown is where the word "clout" came to have a special meaning, and the question, "Who sent you?" is not just a polite inquiry, it's the key to unlock the door into the magic kingdom of corruption.

This is also the same town where Mike Royko said the slogan of the City Council should be "Ubi Mea", which is Latin for "where's mine?"

Anybody who thinks things have changed is sadly naive. It's just a question of how many Americans will be surprised to find out how the City of Chicago works. The Clintons were amateurs.

[RetiredArmy]

No, they are world class scum. World class ass holes. World class socialists. And, stupid ass hole Americans are KISSING his tan butt and sucking up to this Marxist. If this country elects this ass hole, then America truly does deserve what it gets. If America is stupid enough to fall for this thug’s BS, then America is past saving. It is truly lost.

[justiceseeker93]

Surprising that it was the WaPo which broke a negative story about “Osama” Obama and Michelle Ma Belle. Could it be that the Clintonistas are out to subvert his campaign while supporting him publicly - at least for now?

[silverleaf]

But surely the world does not “hate” consumerist materialistic America because of homes like that chosen by the Obama family? (sarc)

I would have liked the author to describe the thermostat setting for the a/c in said Obama family Chicago manse.
Surely set well about 72 degrees as the great soul saver of America has admonished us typical white little people to do to avoid being “hated” by the world?

[Miss Didi]

Great post!

Brent Bozell was on with the Friends this morning reporting on the absolute swooning the Drive-Bys are doing over Michelle & Barry. He mentioned one morning show where they did a "5 Things You Don't Know About..." segment. For the Obamas it was all fabulous...while for McCain it was all negative.

The article is not available on line, but the June issue of Vogue did a nice feature on Cindy.



RUSH:...and this next poll, this next story, leads me to conclude, ladies and gentlemen, that we can expect a lot of hit pieces on Cindy McCain very soon. This is another AP story, this one by Alan Fram. "The public hasn't taken to Michelle Obama yet, especially whites."

"And it's got a question about Cindy McCain: Who is she? People are divided over whether they like the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, with 30 percent seeing her favorably and 35 percent unfavorably, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released [yesterday]." So let me summarize this for you. Basically, people are divided over whether they like the wife of Obama or whether they like the wife of McCain. "They tilt positively toward the spouse of Republican hopeful John McCain, by 27 percent to 17 percent. In other words: While the two women are about equally liked, Michelle Obama is twice as disliked as Cindy McCain." If you read this whole piece, Cindy is a mystery, and so expect some hit pieces here, because this is why the Drive-Bys do these polls. They go out and they find out who is popular. If the Republican spouse, the Republican candidate is more popular than the Democrat candidate, then it's time to rev up the smear machine. (end)

[rahbert]

Sierra Club just endorsed the Messiah..

[retrokitten]

This is a Chicago tradition, I guess, and it's not hard to understand.

No, it's not. Do people really believe he's the ONE Illinois politician who is not corrupt??