Does anyone here not know how many houses they own?

[telcoman]

Well John McCain doesn't know?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26331222/

I guess when you don't know or understand how most Americans live it happens?

He already admitted he doesn't have a good understanding of the economy.

Telcoman

[Flicktitty]

what a knob.....

thats WHO I want running MY COUNTRY!

[rn79870]

It's pretty hard to imagine any condition where a guy wouldn't know exactly how many homes he owned, unless he owned so many that he couldn't count them all. Like Imelda and shoes. She had what, 1200 pair when she fled the Philippines?

[srellim234]

The McCain campaign will probably try to rationalize it off by saying the reporter didn't distinguish between real estate properties, treehouses, Cindy's dollhouses from when she was a little girl and the houses he owns sitting on the Monopoly game board at home.....

btw, Obama's aides told him McCain has seven houses. I saw him on CNN this afternoon talking about it.

[Eikon]

Perhaps like most wealthy Americans he pays a financial advisor to help him manager and grow his wealth. Investing in real estate is a good way to balance an investment porfolio and create tax write-offs. Buying and selling condo's and other "homes" comes with the territory and the number or stake in those properties probably changes rapidly.

I'd rather see him working on being a good congressman than spending his time becoming a real estate tycoon.

Someday I'd like to see Telco actually think something through before he posts him anti-republican media links.

[srellim234]

If he were working on being a good congressman he'd be at least showing up in Washington, D.C to cast the votes and being the congressman he's being paid to be.

If he missed even 1/4 of the votes in private industry that he's missed in Washington he'd be fired. Same thing with Obama. They are both stealing their paychecks from the taxpayers and abdicating their responsibilities as U.S. Senators. Neither one deserves to be President.

Here's the way Fox is covering it, just so you have a comfortable link to the right:http://elections.foxnews.com/2...label/

[ishkabibble]

Someday I'd like to see the right not try to rationalize their candidate's public **** ups.

I've never met someone who couldn't count the number of properties they owned. Especially when that number is a single digit.

Right wing logic:If a left wing candidate doesn't know anything, he'd make a poor president.If a right wing candidate doesn't know anything, "that's what advisers are for!"

[rn79870]

I can't imagine how good McCain would be at minding the American budget if he can't keep track of how many houses he owns. If he's so detached from reality that he can't remember how many, let alone where his homes are, he's definitely not presidential material.

If you read the linked article, Cindy filed separately so she wouldn't have to make her tax return public. Almost like she's hiding something there, ya think?

[Eikon]

Everyone tries to rationalize and come up with an idea to explain what would seem to be a point of criticism. Left wing or right wing or no wing... that's a human trait.

This thread is trying to insinuate that McCain is not an intelligent person because he doesn't know how many properties he owns. I find that completely stupid because there surely is a very good reason for why he doesn't know the answer. He doesn't have time to spend on that area of his life. But it would be stupid to not put his resources to work, so he's smart to hire an advisor to manage that for him.

I've never met someone who couldn't count the number of properties they owned. Especially when that number is a single digit.

So because you've never met this sort or person means they don't exist?How many presidential candidates have you met?

If he were working on being a good congressman he'd be at least showing up in Washington, D.C to cast the votes and being the congressman he's being paid to be.

If he missed even 1/4 of the votes in private industry that he's missed in Washington he'd be fired. Same thing with Obama. They are both stealing their paychecks from the taxpayers and abdicating their responsibilities as U.S. Senators. Neither one deserves to be President.

I completely agree with you. Both are abusing their position and screwing over their districts. They basically slap the voters in the face by saying that the position they ran for and were elected to is now not important.

I think anyone who declares a run for president should be required to resign from their government position.

[ishkabibble]

So because you've never met this sort or person means they don't exist?How many presidential candidates have you met?

I've met lots of real estate investors.

If I wanted to meet a presidential candidate, I could walk down the street and knock on his door. I don't want to deal with the hassle I'll get from the Secret Service, though, so I'll pass.

[rn79870]

Everyone tries to rationalize and come up with an idea to explain what would seem to be a point of criticism. Left wing or right wing or no wing... that's a human trait.

This thread is trying to insinuate that McCain is not an intelligent person because he doesn't know how many properties he owns. I find that completely stupid because there surely is a very good reason for why he doesn't know the answer. He doesn't have time to spend on that area of his life. But it would be stupid to not put his resources to work, so he's smart to hire an advisor to manage that for him.

I don't think anyone is saying he's stupid. I think he's hiding, or avoiding the issue. The question was "homes" not investment property. He should know because the assumption is that you live, at least part time, in your homes.

Seriously, he could have counted them on his fingers if he had given it a little thought. But, when McCain is faced with a question that his advisers haven't coached him on, he stumbles. That may be a good policy as far as not making a blunder goes, but this time it made him look a little guilty and somewhat senile.

Then it's a political campaign and either side is going to jump on anything they can. We can look forward to 2 1/2 more months of this.

[Eikon]

I can't imagine how good McCain would be at minding the American budget if he can't keep track of how many houses he owns. If he's so detached from reality that he can't remember how many, let alone where his homes are, he's definitely not presidential material.

If you read the linked article, Cindy filed separately so she wouldn't have to make her tax return public. Almost like she's hiding something there, ya think?

I think you've got a different perspective on the term "home" than McCain does. You are associating home with a personal residence, whether than be primary or vacation residences. The common American would surely make very few home purchases in their life and obviously put a great deal of time into each decision and obviously make the most out of each property.

People who use "homes" as investments are quite different. They are still homes, but not in the sense that you and I think of them. These are investment tools. McCain most likely owns quite a few investment properties. Many of these are properties that he has probably never visited or even seen more than few times in pictures. They are purely numbers on an investment portfolio and a tax return. Most of those are on his wife's tax return I'd guess.

OR.. What if his wife comes from old money? Perhaps her family has a number of residences that are tied up in estates or trusts? Perhaps Mr. McCain is not too concerned about the exact details of these properties as they are simply assets on a balance sheet and not properties that he uses or frequents.

[Eikon]

...when McCain is faced with a question that his advisers haven't coached him on, he stumbles. That may be a good policy as far as not making a blunder goes, but this time it made him look a little guilty and somewhat senile.

I agree with you here.

[AZhitman]

Thi whole thing is retarded. What a freakin' stretch.

Does Obamallama know how many shoes his wife owns? NO. Why? Because it DON'T MATTER.

What's the Messiah getting at, anyway? Class warfare? Not a great idea, since the Obamas reported $4 million + in income last year.

Here's the deal. Mac's wife has more money than she knows what to do with. They don't WORRY about money, and she probably handles all the real estate dealings anyway.

How many HOMES? One. How many HOUSES? Well, that's a different question - Do they have rentals? Investment properties? Time shares?

Ask me how many cars I own, and I might have a tough time answering as well... Running? I think I sold one last week, waiting on a title for a couple, and if they're dismantled, are they still "cars"?

Whatever.

Here's the MOST IMPORTANT PART:

I don't give a damn how many houses they have. I don't want him worrying about such irrelevant stuff. I want his brain occupied with running the country. Nothing else. At all. Period.

Anyone who says this is a reflection on how a man would run a country is a mouthbreathing imbecile. Sorry, but that's just idiotic.

At least he knows how many states are in the union.

[AZhitman]

Right wing logic:If a left wing candidate doesn't know anything, he'd make a poor president.If a right wing candidate doesn't know anything, "that's what advisers are for!"

Hmmm.

Seems your boy Telco is employing some right wing logic of his own on the wrong party.

[Eikon]

Anyone who says this is a reflection on how a man would run a country is a mouthbreathing imbecile.

See you and I are totally on the same page.. I'm just nowhere near as creative as you are at describing the other people.. lol

[AZhitman]

If you read the linked article, Cindy filed separately so she wouldn't have to make her tax return public. Almost like she's hiding something there, ya think?

We know what she's worth. What difference does it make?

Besides, we all know you libbies hate the rich... Of course, that didn't apply when Mr. Theresa Kerry was running for President.

[themadscientist]

I can count the houses I own on no hands.

[rn79870]

We know what she's worth. What difference does it make?

Besides, we all know you libbies hate the rich... Of course, that didn't apply when Mr. Theresa Kerry was running for President.

Oops, maybe some of those homes were gifts for votes in congress, (but that won't be hard to check, after all, there were very few votes cast by McWar). Wasn't there a rep. congressman who just got popped for that, ah Cunningham rings a bell.

[ishkabibble]

Seems your boy Telco

Damn, you lump me in with Telco? I've got some work to do.

[srellim234]

Oops, maybe some of those homes were gifts for votes in congress, (but that won't be hard to check, after all, there were very few votes cast by McWar).

Considering how seldom the guy actually shows up to vote, any gift of a home would have been more effective for the "donator" if was was given in exchange for kegs of beer from Cindy, not votes from John.

[AZhitman]

Damn, you lump me in with Telco? I've got some work to do.

Remember, I'm a conservative. All you [insert disparaged group] look the same to me.

[AZhitman]

Oops, maybe some of those homes were gifts for votes in congress, (but that won't be hard to check, after all, there were very few votes cast by McWar). Wasn't there a rep. congressman who just got popped for that, ah Cunningham rings a bell.

Nice.

Maybe BO missed his votes because he was helping divert attention from the cocaine dealers to hook up his homeys in Chi-town.

See, baseless insinuations are tacky, cheap, and dangerous, especially when made by someone of your intellectual capacity.

[audtatious]

Another stupid thread by Telco.

[themadscientist]

ahem.http://www.npr.org/templates/s...73913

PoliticsSenators Reportedly Got Favors from Countrywideby Peter Overby

Listen Now [4 min 20 sec] add to playlist

Morning Edition, June 17, 2008 · The housing crisis has kicked up new ethics questions on Capitol Hill. The magazine Portfolio reports that several prominent Washington figures, including two senators, got favorable treatment from mortgage giant Countrywide Financial.

Similar questions last week caused former Fannie Mae chief Jim Johnson to step down as leader of the vice presidential search team for presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Portfolio reports that Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, as well as a few other influential Washingtonians, were listed by Countrywide employees as FOAs, or "Friends of Angelo," a reference to Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide's CEO.

Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which is about to bring major housing legislation to the floor, refinanced two loans in 2003 for his homes in Connecticut and Washington, D.C. Portfolio calculated that lower rates and waived fees would save Dodd more than $75,000 over the life of the loans.

Dodd issued a statement saying that he and his wife shopped around for competitive loans. He says he never sought or expected special treatment, and he didn't know that he got any.

Which isn't to say it didn't happen, as Conrad says he found out.

Conrad, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee and serves on the Finance Committee, got four refinancing loans — three for his beach house in Delaware and one for an apartment building that includes his official residence in Bismarck, N.D.

Conrad said Monday night that he had finally seen the Countrywide e-mail that raised the questions. It concerned a refinance for the beach house. A loan officer wrote to Mozilo, the CEO, that Countrywide's standard loan rate would be 4.875 percent with a 1-point fee.

Conrad said the loan officer asked Mozilo what to do. "And the answer back from Mr. Mozilo is: Waive the 1 point," Conrad said.

"Nobody ever told me they were waiving a point," Conrad said. "I never sought a loan using points. I've had probably 12 mortgages in my life. None of them have I ever used points to reduce the interest rate."

Conrad said he paid the same rate that the loan officer proposed.

"I don't pretend to know what happened. I find it very, very curious that they would supposedly cut me a deal and never tell me," he said.

Paul Muolo, executive editor of National Mortgage News and co-author of a new book on the mortgage meltdown, Chain of Blame, explains: "Here's the big secret of the mortgage industry, and it really isn't that big of a secret: This has been going on for years."

He said plenty of mortgage companies have lists like Friends of Angelo. "These kind of favors aren't exclusive to the mortgage industry. It's a way of doing business in America," he said.

But that still leaves the question of how Dodd and Conrad got onto the Friends of Angelo list.

Dodd isn't commenting. Conrad said he is an old friend of Johnson, the Democratic establishment heavyweight who actually is a friend of Mozilo's.

Conrad said that when he called Johnson for mortgage advice, Johnson literally handed the phone to Mozilo, who then gave Conrad the name of a Countrywide mortgage officer.

Conrad said he was also consulting an independent mortgage broker. He said three of his four Countrywide loans were at market rates. One was above market.

This week, he paid off the loan on his apartment building, he said, and he sent Habitat for Humanity, the affordable housing nonprofit organization, a check for more than $10,000 — the calculated cost of that waived point.

Conrad is consulting with the Senate Ethics Committee because there are rules against senators taking gifts.

Joan Claybrook, president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said it's all pretty simple.

"Other people don't get it. You get it because you're in a position of power," she said. "They want to influence you. That's a gift."

She said there need to be public hearings on these practices, "so that the members of Congress are even more sensitized, and so that the companies that engage in this kind of behavior don't do it in the future."

As for Countrywide, its stock collapsed this winter, and it agreed to be bought by Bank of America.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/w...ticle

8 things you need to know about Obama and Rezko Tale in national spotlight, thanks to Clinton

January 24, 2008Recommend (86)

All of a sudden, seems as if everybody's talking about Barack Obama and Tony Rezko. Even Jay Leno.

Rezko already was a big story in Chicago, accused of influence-peddling in the Blagojevich administration and set to face trial Feb. 25.

» Click to enlarge image Presidential hopeful Barack Obama and Tony Rezko (left). (AP, file photo)

RELATED STORIESBrown: Time for Obama to come clean Mitchell: Why do civil rights heroes cheer 'Rezko card'? Sweet: The 'polka-dots' doctrine

FROM THE SUN-TIMES ARCHIVE Rezko cash triple what Obama says Barack Obama and his slumlord patron Why didn't City Hall stop him? Obama's letters for Rezko Rezko cash triple what Obama says Obama: I didn't know about Rezko problems Obama ducks the questions City should have cut off Rezko: aldermenBut Monday, he became national news -- and an issue in the presidential race. That's when Hillary Clinton blasted Obama for having represented "your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago."

Having a hard time keeping track of the facts? Here are eight things to know:

1. They met in 1990. Obama was a student at Harvard Law School and got an unsolicited job offer from Rezko, then a low-income housing developer in Chicago. Obama turned it down.

2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.

3. One of the firm's not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama's then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator's time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko. Rezko's company, Rezmar Corp., also partnered with the firm's clients in four later deals -- none of which involved Obama, according to the firm. In each deal, Rezmar "made the decisions for the joint venture," says William Miceli, an attorney with the firm.

4. In 1995, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Among his earliest supporters: Rezko. Two Rezko companies donated a total of $2,000. Obama was elected in 1996 -- representing a district that included 11 of Rezko's 30 low-income housing projects.

5. Rezko's low-income housing empire began crumbling in 2001, when his company stopped making mortgage payments on the old nursing home that had been converted into apartments. The state foreclosed on the building -- which was in Obama's Illinois Senate district.

6. In 2003, Obama announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, and Rezko -- a member of his campaign finance committee -- held a lavish fund-raiser June 27, 2003, at his Wilmette mansion.

7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.

8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama's run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity.

Still feeling feisty Tel?

[OriginalWheelman]

Go McCain. A lot of people can't keep the one house they own, and here is is with more than he can figure out. But seriously, His mother's house is in his name, we learned that in a previous thread. Perhaps he has purchased houses for other family members as well? Furthermore, perhaps he has rental properties. There could be a lot to keep track of. Therefore, he may be unsure off the top of his head just how many properties he "owns".

[rn79870]

I remember things as mundane as how many pair of shoes I own. I really can't imagine anyone not knowing how many houses they've bought. I wonder of he knows how many bank accounts he has in Switzerland?

[srellim234]

...So because you've never met this sort or person means they don't exist?How many presidential candidates have you met?...

I've met three...

Ronald Reagan, when he was still governor of California, while I was on a trip to Sacramento with the Covina Chamber of Commerce,George Bush (the elder) on a presidential campaign stop in Covina,John McCain in 2000, by chance while weather delayed at the Denver airport.

I can tell you that what I see on t.v., even on FoxNews, indicates to me that time has not been good to John McCain. He is nowhere close to being as sharp mentally as he was in 2000, and not close to the other two, either.

[Cold_Zero]

Telco reminds me if a guy I once knew Chris L. Chris use to fly off the cuff on everything that hit the news media. I even remember Chris claiming that I (Cold_Zero) was 'rich' because I owned a House and had two computers. Apparently the Wi-Fi sent him over the edge. I am by no means 'Rich.'

Anyway. What caught my attention was the way the question was asked. John McCain was asked how many houses do he and his wife own. Not, how many houses do YOU own. This question seems a bit loaded since Cindy McCain is rich from her father's estate. I would think he probably stumbled because either:1. As indicated before he has financial advisors to manage his finances.2. He and his wife keep their finances separate, which I guess is not uncommon in this day and age.3. He knew the answer, but didnt want to make a mistake and potentially give the Obama Campaign ammo to attack him. Like this already hasn't become ammunition.

Seriously folks, most politicians that are Senators or run for President are typically independently wealthy. I would challenge both McCain and Obama to live on my paycheck for a year and see how well they respond to the loss of their creature comforts. I find it disingenuous that Obama wants to be the voice of the working man, by bashing a man whose wife is rich. (I am sure when John McCain was staying at the Hanoi Hilton, he was probably livign in the lap of luxury.) Anyway, I guarantee you that his life in Chicago is radically different than the lives of most working middle class people working down state in Springfield Illinois.

[rn79870]

The point of the thread is twofold. McCain is uncomfortable (and maybe rightly so) answering a question his staff hasn't briefed him on, and secondly, McCain can't really think on his feet. Seriously, he married into money, so we expect him to own more houses than all of us put together. It's more how he responded than what he responded with.