Possible Obama-Dodd ticket raises questions

Barack Obama will head the Democratic Party's ticket this fall. His running mate might be Sen. Christopher "Dud" Dodd (D-CT), who like the Illinois senator, was the beneficiary of a discount mortgage. That's Obama's home on the left--seen from the perspective of the "Rezko lot." On the same day the Obamas closed on their house, Rita Rezko, wife of since-convicted felon Tony Rezko, purchased a strip of land south of the home. On the right is a recently photograph of John McCain's "Hanoi Hilton" prison cell--after it had been cleaned up.

Amanda Carpenter has more in her Friday Townhall.com column:

Obama's decision to approach Dodd presents some difficulties aside from the fallout Obama could face from passionate Clinton supporters who would like to see her become his vice president.

Rumors of an Obama-Dodd ticket highlight a recent controversy with Obama’s former vice presidential "vetter" and Fannie Mae Chairman Jim Johnson. Johnson was ousted from Obama's inner circle after it was discovered he received a discount mortgage from Countrywide. Shortly after Johnson lost his slot, Portfolio magazine found Dodd also got a sweetheart mortgage from Countrywide raising questions about his bill to extend up to $300 billion on tax dollars to purchase failed mortgages from the housing industry. If passed into law, Countrywide would be the primary beneficiary of the money as the company is the largest mortgage provider in the nation

On July 2, Obama acknowledged he too received a discount home loan, known as a "super, super jumbo" from the bank Northern Trust for $1.32 million. The Washington Post reported the loan, obtained in 2005, financed a new Obama compound that came with "six bedrooms, four fireplaces, a four-car garage and 5 1/2 baths, including a double steam shower and a marble powder room" as well "a wine cellar, a music room, a library, a solarium, beveled glass doors and a granite-floored kitchen."

The discounted rate Obama received from Northern Trust was worth approximately $300 a month. Judicial Watch, a conservative leaning legal advocacy group, has since filed complaints about Obama's mortgage loan with the Federal Elections Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee.

Back to Rezko: The political fixer's problems were already being reported on by the Chicago media at the time the Obamas closed on their mansion.

Related posts:

Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

Obama, Alexi, and Broadway Bank

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