Obama bought the house before Rezko bought the lot...

[IndianaJones]

Land developers buy properties around young up and coming politicians to take advantage of any real estate appreciation all the time.

The Rezko story is a big reach.

[Thrill]

1. There is nothing there. As much as Obama bashers want

it to be something. There is nothing. Sorry

[IndianaJones]

2. I am far from an Obama fan....but the Rezko crap is getting pathetic. nt.

[papau]

28. the OP is in error - the seller said his condition of sale was that the land be sold at the same

time - and Obama has confirmed this.

Rezko made the reduced price sale possible.

[BOSSHOG]

3. Hello Indy - Off topic

Yesterday the Krewe of Barkus (all dog Mardi Gras parade) had their day yesterday in New Orleans. This years theme, Indiana Bones and the Raiders of the Lost Bark.

[IndianaJones]

12. I looked at some pics of that stuff. Looks great.

I'm going to go down there before I'm too old to enjoy it. Of course, I've been saying that since college.

[Adelante]

4. Thank you, Indiana

It is indeed a big reach.

[IndianaJones]

7. I believe the deal on his house was 15% off asking price...

hardly a suspicious deal in recent markets.

[Kittycat]

Thank you Indy for being one of the more civil & level headed posters here today.

We're all this together - clinton, obama, edwards - all of us :)

[IndianaJones]

17. I'm a harsh critic of Obama. Rezko is nothing more than desperation.

There is nothing to this story.

[papau]

30. I agree that there is no legal problem and only a minor ethical problem - but the story has post

convention legs and will certainly be in a swiftboat ad that may even question if Obama's 2002 speech was influenced by his relationship with Rezko.

[Blue-Jay]

5. You should start a Rezko thread!

It's been a while since we've had one.

Perhaps you can link us to a statement from Fitz where he alleges that Obama is implicated in the wrongdoings of Rezko. That would be awesome.

[Kittycat]

6. re-read what the OP posted.

Unless I read it completely wrong... She's saying that the Rezco/Obama property "scandal" is a reach.

[IndianaJones]

he's my stalker. nt.

[Kittycat]

10. Oooh. Fun :)

I should get one of those for myself some day. Oh wait... I've really had one. I'll pass. EEK!

[Blue-Jay]

13. No I'm not. nt.

[Fredda Weinberg]

8. If I called Obama boneheaded ... you'd accuse me of racism. So, answer this

"There's no doubt that this was a mistake on my part. 'Boneheaded' would be accurate," Obama said in a telephone interview Friday. "There's no doubt I should have seen some red flags in terms of me purchasing a piece of property from him."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600729.html

[IndianaJones]

16. He bought 1/6th of the lot from him and paid exactly what Rezko paid for it...

refusing a discount to avoid any impropriety. What else can the man do?

[papau]

31. not paying the 10% appreciation that Rezko obtained when he sold the rest of the property

[IndianaJones]

32. Rezko offered Obama a discount on the property. Obama insisted on paying what Rezko had paid.

How is that wrongdoing on Obamas part? He insisted on paying more than what the seller was asking.

[Fredda Weinberg]

33. When you ignore your candidate's admitted mistakes, you're unreachable

Best wishes

[IndianaJones]

34. I support Hillary Clinton. I am a very harsh critic of Obama on many issues.

LOL.

[The Traveler]

9. Creative writing

That's what it sounds like to me, anyway. A real stretch here.

There is no one in politics who does not discover at some point in time they have been supported by someone who turned out to be dishonorable. It sucks but that is the way it is.

[ProSense]

11. Here is today's news:

Obama has been accused of no wrongdoing involving Rezko or anyone else.

[saracat]

15. And so is this to be fair

Obama Kept Contributions From Accused Fixer's Wife And Others


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4203278&page=1

[ProSense]

20. A story about returning donations doesn't change the statement in my previous response. n/t

[saracat]

42. You did alter the headline however. This is more about perception than anything

"Indicted Obama fundraiser Rezko arrested" is the headline to your link. I am merely pointing out that the news is not all wonderful, ergo the ABC story, and that the lead news story on Rezco isn't necessarily your statement which is sort of "buried" in the your linked article.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

14. I think Hillary Clinton has some good ideas

She's not my first choice as a candidate, but I admit that she does have good ideas about the economy, education, and health care, among others.

However, I don't see too many posts on DU about her good ideas. Most of the posts from Hillary Clinton advocates seem to be aimed at tearing down the other candidates.

I don't think it serves Hillary Clinton well. I think if her supporters emphasized the positives more than the negatives of her opponents, she would be seen in a better light. The smears like the Rezko affair don't help her candidacy in my opinion.

[boston bean]

18. The transactions took place on the same day. Please research, plus this is only part of his problem

[IndianaJones]

21. I have researched. Obama bought the house before any deal was made by Rezko's wife...

he had no idea that the lot would be bought and should not be expected to know. If Rezko was able to determine who was buying that house, it does not reflect badly on Obama.

[boston bean]

24. UNTRUE

[Tulkas]

19. Rezko is more than a reach, it is a clear distorion on the Clinton's part

try this link

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0127edit1jan27,0,847324.story

[Lucinda]

22. Not correct apparently:

"The senator has said he was unable to afford both the home and an empty lot next to it which were effectively being sold as a package. Rezko's wife ultimately bought the empty lot, closing the same day as Obama did on his home."


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4204413&page=1

[IndianaJones]

23. Again, Obama did not know who was buying the lot...

nor should he be expected to know. He did not buy the entire lot...only 1/6th of it...at asking price, no discount.

[boston bean]

25. you are WRONG!

[IndianaJones]

26. nope...they closed the same day...Obama began the process of buying the house before Rezko...

was involved.

I get the Chicago paper every day and watch the Chicago news every day.

[Lucinda]

38. You DO need to do your homework.

[Tulkas]

27. I Love seeing two Hillary faces arguing a point like this but...

Even if he did know there was nothing illegal about it.


It does give the appearance of impropriety, I am an Obama supporter and I admit it looks fishy.

Even so, you can't make any charges that anything illegal was done by Sen. Obama


If this is the one and only scandal that anyone can dig up on the guy he looks pretty damn clean to me.

[GalleryGod]

29. Merci Beaucoups!

:yourock:

[zulchzulu]

35. You mean the 10 foot x 20 yard piece of land Obama bought for $100K?

The Obamas bought the house that was on the market for many months listed at $2 million for $1.65 million from Obama's money he made on his books. Success....bad! How many times does a house on the market get bought for the list price? Rarely.

The piece of land was to square off the property. Obama bought the small piece of land for $100,000, which is a fair price in that part of Chicago.

He used US dollars and no Muslim chanting was made in the transaction process.

:sarcasm:

[earth mom]

36. It's TOTALLY NAIVE to think that Obama & Rezko did not talk about the deal before hand.

It was just too damn convenient and helped Obama too damn much.

Wake up and smell the corruption. :puke:

[IndianaJones]

37. How was Obama helped? He got a modest deal on the house and payed market for the land. nt.

[earth mom]

44. Obama could barely afford the house & the land so he just bought the house. Then he asked

his buddy to help him get the bit of additional land he wanted. Again, it's just "too convenient" for words.

And if that's a modest deal or price for a house I will eat my hat! :wtf:


Btw, Why do I have to explain this? It's all transparently obvious.

[Tulkas]

39. If this is the worst scandal you can find on Obama, you need to support him

pretty damn clean.

[jlake]

40. If you do not think it is a scandal that is fine. It is clear that Obama and Rezko talked and

arranged the real estate deals....and who benefited?

[ErnestoG]

41. Oh you and your silly FACTS!

[OzarkDem]

43. Its an old campaign money laundering trick

Most frequently practiced by GOP'ers, but Dems occasionally do it too. There are numerous variations of the trick.

Another version is selling an elected official some prime vacant land for a low price, then the "developer-donor" buys it for a higher price.

Still another, more riskier version is when the elected official buys favor with the donor by having the government entitity he's in charge of purchase a donor's property at inflated value. The donor's profit "buys protection" for the elected official, preventing the donor from funding a competing candidate during the next election.