The Obamas bought a house and the McCains are rich. Does any one really give crap? I don’t.

Does any one really give crap? I don’t.

Then why are you here? The very fact that you took the time to read, respond, and post shows that you care a little bit, if not about Obama and McCain, then at least about Pandagon. Otherwise, you’d be browsing Amazon or reading Yahoo or watching YouTube or doing any number of other things to waste time. Why here if you truly don’t care??

The trolls lately have been low-quality. Where is the one that posts run-on weirdness about Obama being a “sleepy terrorist” or whatever garbled nonsense they pull now.

Probably not by your standards no. I just don’t think it’s useful to bash the other side with blinders on. For the two campaigns to point out useless crap about the other has no political value except to win the votes of the numb brained who are incapable of independent thought.

I like Pandagon. Most times there are issues brought up here that actually have a meaning and not just reposts of political nonsense.

That’s right, in a time when the average interest rate on a home loan was 5.93 percent, the Obamas got an enormous discount of ... 0.305 percent, since their home loan’s rate was 5.625 percent.

Yes, over 30 years on a million-dollar loan, that’s a pretty big savings, but if Obama’s massive corruption only saved him 0.305 percent on his home loan, I don’t think he’s getting much return on his investment.

I read pretty well.

I read pretty well.

Not much on comprehension, though.

You can work on that, though…

I like Pandagon. Most times there are issues brought up here that actually have a meaning and not just reposts of political nonsense.

When I see stories that don’t interest me, I tend to pass on to the next one, rather than post pouty posts about ‘not caring’. Once again, if this article doesn’t interest you, why post at all? Why post four time in a dozen comments? Go browse Amazon and check back later to see if Pandagon posts another article more to your liking. That’s what I do.

Heh, good one, MikeEss. Fist-bump to you.

Faye, Pandagon exists only to keep Jason entertained.  Why can’t you see that?…

Oooohhh. Is that why Pandagon is around. Finally a blog with me in mind.

Meanwhile, the McCains failed to pay property taxes on one of their many properties for the past FOUR YEARS (they recently made good on it in order to avoid default: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080701-9999-1m1mccain.html

The part that gets me about this?  I bought my house in May 2005 with a 30 year loan rate of 5.6%.  Yes, my loan is lower than Obama’s and I can be certain that my house is smaller and worth less.  Of course, I wasn’t buying in Chicago either but the loan rate the Obamas got in general isn’t some incredible deal. 

At lunch today, Fox News was playing in the cafeteria and one of my co-workers was going on about how this was “going to sink” his campaign.  When I pointed out my loan rate, he replied that it might have something to do with being a white male.  I don’t disagree that it probably had something to do with it (as did my great credit rating) but this next few months are going make me drop my head to my desk so much, I’m to look like Frankenstein’s Monster.

At lunch today, Fox News was playing in the cafeteria and one of my co-workers was going on about how this was “going to sink” his campaign.  When I pointed out my loan rate, he replied that it might have something to do with being a white male.

So it’s completely normal for a white male to get a good loan rate, but the only possible way a black couple could have done it—even a black couple with a good credit history and high-paying jobs—is to cheat?

Sometimes I’m glad I moved out of the suburbs of Chicago and became a West Coast Elite.  I might have murdered someone otherwise.

Oh my god!  Obama’s saving $300 a month in mortgage on his $1.65 million home.  Since that Mortgage probably would usually be like $325 a month that’s a big deal!

And Obama’s invested money with the bank afterwards?  You mean the bank gave a good deal to a customer in exchange for increasing business with that customer?  Scandalous!

Yeah.  Maybe he went in with his mom or grandparents, and there was some kind of misunderstanding?

Evidently the lender used “internal pricing” in order to give Obama the 5.625% loan at 0 points. They probably kept the paper instead of selling it on the secondary market since they’d no doubt lose money on the deal if they did.

This is a sweetheart deal, nothing illegal about it but in you scratch my back etc., Chicago politics you again have to follow the money.

Oh, internal pricing means you can’t refer to that lender’s rate sheet to see what another loan exactly like Obama’s would have cost. By the way, rates and points vary greatly from lender to lender and day to day so you can’t use averages for any thing but general reference.

Apparently, the argument is that the free market is only a good thing if black folks aren’t allowed to take advantage of it. I wonder if it ever occurred to anyone decrying this as the end of Obama’s public life that he may have — gasp! swoon! — shopped around to find the best rate he could.

You know, like some kind of smart consumer, or something.

Dan, don’t talk about something you know nothing about.

The lender Obama used gave him a better rate than anyone else would have gotten on that day on the same loan - FROM THE SAME LENDER. We’re not talking about shopping around.

Sheesh. What part of special deal don’t you understand?

The lender Obama used gave him a better rate than anyone else would have gotten on that day on the same loan - FROM THE SAME LENDER. We’re not talking about shopping around.

Actually, we are talking about shopping around—the story says the Obamas brought in a quote from another mortgage lender and asked Northern Trust if they could do better.  You know, free market competition and all that stuff that’s good as long as it’s reserved for Republicans, but is bad once you start letting non-Republicans take advantage of it, too.

MikeEss, where have you been? Dodds? Johnson? Duh?

And Mnemosyne, “story” is the operative word. When you talk rates, you have to talk points also. Points are prepaid interest. A 5.93% rate at 2 points is a hell of a lot higher than a 5.625 at 0 points. Even at zero points it’s quite a bit higher. Throwing around numbers with out all the facts is useless.

If you’re referring to this statement “The Obama campaign called the rate “consistent with Northern Trust policies, and it reflected the base rate set for that period discounted to address the competition for the account and other opportunities, such as personal financial services, that the relationship would bring to Northern Trust.” - that’s called cya.

Common sense says loans that are discounted to reflect “other opportunities, such as personal financial services, that the relationship would bring” would not happen with someone making the money Obama and his wife do. Hell, lenders would go bankrupt in Beverly Hills if that were the case. It was the fact that he was a senator - that’s where the opportunity comes in.

As I said before, he got a deal. What he did or was expected to do in return for the deal is the real question.