The leading liberal newspapers in the country have been croaking Barack Obama on housing issues in the past few weeks. Good for them. The most recent is a Washington Post article that reveals Barack Obama was a friend of Bill (Osborn, CEO of Northern Trust). He got a similar deal to Friend’s of Angelo (Mozillo, CEO of Countrywide). The Dems have foreclosed, so to speak, on housing as a great campaign issue for them. They’ve given up the high ground.
Washington Post: Obama Got Discount on Home Loan
Campaign Defends Lower Rate as Lender Competition for BusinessThe 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.
Even the New York Times can’t ignore the Dems housing hypocrisy,
New York Times: With Friends Like Angelo . . .
Time and again, the Senate is bedeviled by its own clubbiness, its lost sensitivity to how ordinary people live their lives. So it is with Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad, who turned up on the “Friends of Angelo†V.I.P. list at Countrywide Financial Corporation.
Our own Boston Globe has published an article about Obama’s housing related work as a community organizer. Mickey Kaus called the Globe article, “The most damaging article about Barack Obama I’ve read…”
Boston Globe: Grim proving ground for Obama’s housing policy
The candidate endorsed subsidies for private entrepreneurs to build low-income units. But, while he garnered support from developers, many projects in his former district have fallen into disrepair.
Obama’s camp must be wondering why these liberal newspapers are being so mean spirited. I’m wondering why this isn’t a bigger campaign issue.