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NYT introduces us to couple Romney didn’t try to kill with cancer (Helps them to buy a house)
Hotair ^ | 08/10/2012 | MARY KATHARINE HAM

Posted on 08/10/2012 12:40:37 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

No, instead, he gave them a personal loan for a house. A house filled with cancer.

Nope, just a regular house they rented from Romney in the Houston suburbs. After Romney's initial investment in five rental properties went south, he ended up holding on to them for more than a decade, often renting them at a loss. The Times notes it's one of few miscues in Romney's investment history. When he did offload the homes, the renters were given first dibs, but Timothy and Betty Stamps were unable to get a loan for the home because Timothy had recently lost his job.

“Then I got this phone call, personally, from Mr. Romney, asking if we really wanted to buy the house,” Mr. Stamps, 63, said in an interview the other day at the barbershop he now runs. “I said, yes we did. And he said he would loan us the money. He really helped us when we needed it.”

Here's the NYT being careful to explain how this should be taken as part of its narrative of Romney as rich meanie, but the Stampses see it slightly differently:

Nearly lost among the blizzard of hedge funds, thoroughbred horses and other gold-plated investments in Mitt Romney’s personal financial disclosures, the interest from the $50,500 mortgage is loose change to Mr. Romney, whose net worth has been estimated at close to a quarter-billion dollars.

Yet for the Stampses, who have been writing $600 monthly checks to “Willard M. Romney” for 15 years, the money they borrowed from him to buy their home in 1997 was life-changing…

When Mr. Stamps took the call from Mr. Romney, he and his wife, a nurse, had all but given up hope of being able to buy the house they had been renting for five years. Mr. Romney told him it looked like the couple had been taking good care of the property and that “we would be good people to buy it,” said Mr. Stamps. Mr. Stamps said he never heard from Mr. Romney again, and only became aware of who he was when he started running for president four years ago.

“His name came up somewhere,” he said, “and my wife and I said to each other, ‘That’s the guy we bought our house from!’ ”

This story had been previously unreported, but not because no one was in touch with the Stampses:

Mr. Stamps said that he and his wife had received calls in recent months from strangers who “seemed to be looking for negative stuff” about Mr. Romney, but that the couple had nothing to say to them. (The Stampses recently refinanced the original 30-year loan; the new mortgage, still with Mr. Romney, was dated June 12 but signed just two weeks ago. Details of the interest rate were not included in the public record.)

Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, declined to answer questions about the Texas investment.

Props to the NYT for reporting on this. Many will say it’s just another Romney investment designed to benefit him, even if it did also benefit a regular American couple on tough times. But a) yes, meet capitalism— a beautiful mechanism whereby people can freely engage in mutually beneficial economic decisions every single day and b) he didn’t have to put his neck out and offer a personal loan to someone a bank deemed unqualified. He demonstrated personal faith in the Stampses and it turned into a cool story in which one American could make allowances for another American’s circumstances and take a risk a bank wouldn’t. Liberals find this noble when Freddie and Fannie do it with your money. It’s nice to keep track of all these stories to even out the icy Mitt narrative.

Exit question (Allahpundit™): Or, did he just buy them off to prevent revelations of his secret plan to inflict lots and lots of death?


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts; US: New York; US: Texas; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: bettystamps; massachusetts; newyork; newyorktimes; romney; stamps; texas; thestamps; timothystamps; wisconsin

1 posted on 08/10/2012 12:40:41 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

This is a story that needs to be told!


2 posted on 08/10/2012 12:43:36 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: SeekAndFind
I realize there are a lot of FReepers who despise Romney (and I'm not his biggest fan either), but this is just one of several stories about him that paints a picture very few people know.

I think at his core, Romney's a good guy. Here are a few more examples.

3 posted on 08/10/2012 12:50:48 PM PDT by ScottinVA (If Obama is reelected, America will deserve every mockery that follows.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Now, contrast that to 0bama, who routinely heads out on the most opulent vacations one can imagine... but doesn’t lift a finger to help his hut-dwelling brother George in Kenya.


4 posted on 08/10/2012 12:53:15 PM PDT by ScottinVA (If Obama is reelected, America will deserve every mockery that follows.)
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To: ScottinVA

Maybe George is happy in his hut...

But seriously, if you have the chance to watch the new movie by Dinesh d’Souza entitled : “2016: Obama’s America”, he actually went to Kenya to interview Obama’s brother.


5 posted on 08/10/2012 12:55:38 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (bOTRT)
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To: SeekAndFind

If Mitt Romney is elected, everyone in the US will die!


6 posted on 08/10/2012 12:57:52 PM PDT by TankerKC (If Mitt Romney is elected, everyone in the US will die!)
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To: ScottinVA

RE: I think at his core, Romney’s a good guy.

Whatever happened to the story about Romney bullying a gay guy in his high school some 50 years ago by forcibly pinning him and cutting his locks...

That seems to have disappeared, never to be heard of again.


7 posted on 08/10/2012 12:58:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (bOTRT)
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

Waiting patiently for the Romney hate brigade to show up to put their negative spin on this.


8 posted on 08/10/2012 1:03:33 PM PDT by WatchOutForSnakes
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To: WatchOutForSnakes
Waiting patiently for the Romney hate brigade to show up to put their negative spin on this.

Well, obviously Romney knew he was going to run for POTUS so he did this deliberately just so there would be a counter to his "vulture capitalist" reputation.

Now let's see, where did I store all my spam anti Mormon posts at??

9 posted on 08/10/2012 1:07:10 PM PDT by Las Vegas Ron (Medicine is the keystone in the arch of socialism)
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To: SeekAndFind

Barack (Osama) Obama was born in Kenya?

I NEVER heard Barack (Osama) Obama say that. He always claimed he was born in Hawaii (aka - The US).

You lie. Barack (Osama) Obama would NEVER lie.

Ha! So there you radical right wing nut cases.

PU (2/3’s of a PUN).


10 posted on 08/10/2012 1:08:15 PM PDT by jongaltsr
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To: ScottinVA
Brother George? In Kenya?
I think not. I think Lil Barry has one half brother and one half sister. Both are American Citizens. Both have the last name of DAVIS.
11 posted on 08/10/2012 1:16:08 PM PDT by Tupelo (TeaPartier ..... but no longer a Republican)
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To: SeekAndFind
Evil b*stard probably knew the house was infested with black mold and radon.

/s

12 posted on 08/10/2012 1:24:39 PM PDT by rmh47 (Go Kats! - Got eight? [NRA Life Member])
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To: TankerKC
If Mitt Romney is elected, everyone in the US will die!

But if Obama is elected, we'll all live forever! (Or maybe it will just seem that way.)

13 posted on 08/10/2012 1:29:52 PM PDT by Bob
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To: Forward the Light Brigade
My Morman Grandparents said help the needy and never expect thanks or want it, to help is thanks in itself. Worked well for me for me over the years.
14 posted on 08/10/2012 1:31:14 PM PDT by Little Bill
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To: SeekAndFind

Oops! The NY Slime isn’t following O-Bummer’s orders. How dare they publish good on Romney. They’ll pay for that. </s>


15 posted on 08/10/2012 1:44:47 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Or, did he just buy them off ???
_______________________________________

Well this bit also from the article is right interesting...

Mr. Stamps said that he and his wife had received calls in recent months from strangers who “seemed to be looking for negative stuff” about Mr. Romney, but that the couple had nothing to say to them. (The Stampses recently refinanced the original 30-year loan; the new mortgage, still with Mr. Romney, was dated June 12 but signed just two weeks ago. Details of the interest rate were not included in the public record.)


16 posted on 08/10/2012 2:07:19 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana (Why should I vote for Bishop Romney when he hates me because I am a Christian)
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To: SeekAndFind
The Stampses recently refinanced the original 30-year loan;

the new mortgage, still with Mr. Romney,

was dated June 12 but signed just two weeks ago.


17 posted on 08/10/2012 2:16:13 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana (Why should I vote for Bishop Romney when he hates me because I am a Christian)
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To: SeekAndFind

Whatever happened to the story about Romney bullying a gay guy in his high school some 50 years ago by forcibly pinning him and cutting his locks...

That seems to have disappeared, never to be heard of again.....That’s because they found out he actually gave the guy a Chick Fil’ A sandwich.


18 posted on 08/10/2012 2:20:46 PM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks SeekAndFind.


19 posted on 08/11/2012 2:28:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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