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Northern Trust flew hundreds of clients and employees to L.A. and put many of them up at some of the fanciest and priciest hotels in the city. We’re told more than a hundred people were put up at the Beverly Wilshire in Bev Hills, and another hundred stayed at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Still more stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey and others at Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica.
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This what happens when we give our money to people who don’t have a clue or morals and think they are entitled for bad business decisions
Hey, some people just know to live. You’re just jealous.
Barack Obama was able to get a discounted rate on his mortgage loan he received from Northern Trust.
It’s how the world goes round in politics.
‘Thanks for the help, guys, but now we have to come down on you for publicity’s sake. You understand, right? We’ll make it up to you down the road.’
Exit question number one: Will Oliver be as disgusted when he reads stories of individual mortgage holders bailed out have nice big screen TVs in their living rooms and new SUV’s and RV’s in the driveway?
Exit question number two: Who’s going to tell those people how to spend their money?
Exit question number three: TMZ ??? Oh no, what does Perez Hilton have to say about it?
So let’s see … Northern spends the money (earmarked in previous years when business was good) to have the event and they’re wasteful. OR if they cancel the event, lose all the deposits, and pay cancellation fees, they’ll be called wasteful.
It wasn’t the bailout money. This was stuff earmarked a year before the bailout came up.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-northern-trust-open-parties-feb24,0,6894365.story
Barack Obama was able to get a discounted rate on his mortgage loan he received from Northern Trust.
Where “discounted rate” = “below the average for all loans in the area at the time.”
Anybody want to explain this to Dennis?
False equivalency: Superstar music concerts on the public dime= a $2,000 TV for someone who might have fallen on hard times later.
False equivalency: Superstar music concerts on the public dime= a $2,000 TV for someone who might have fallen on hard times later.
Yeah, but what he’s really shooting for is the updated “Welfare Queen” meme. Because he’s a douchebag.
To be fair Northern Trust is a viable bank that never requested money from the US Government. They’re part of the government’s plan because all major banks were encouraged to join. Northern Trust never got in to credit default swaps and is in a strong position.
Plus this was a charity event.
Where “discounted rate” = “below the average for all loans in the area at the time.”
Anybody want to explain this to Dennis? -Quaker
Please, Quibbie, since no one else seems up to it, why don’t you give it your best shot.
I know how this works; he’s a big figure with more money behind him and a very influential policitician locally and nationally. Northern Trust wanted his business. He got almost 3/8% of a point lower rate on a mortgage, which is huge if you’ve gone through the process even once.
From the WaPo article:
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the rate was adjusted to account for a competing offer from another lender and other factors. “The Obamas have since had as much as $3 million invested through Northern Trust,” he said in a statement.
Modest adjustments in mortgage rates are common among financial institutions as they compete for business or develop relationships with wealthy families.
———–
You know what’s also common among financial institutions, Quibbie? Sponsoring sporting events as a way for bringing in clients, clients like Mr. Obama. Lots of them. And entertaining them, within guidelines. It’s not a whole lot different. The loan officer had the leeway to give Obama a better rate, actually a much better rate, because his supervisor likely approved it on the basis that Obama would have other business to give them.
And that’s how these golf/soiree’s work, too. Likely this one was planned well before it was known NT would receive TARP money, and a lot of the expenditures were already paid for and committed to.
So, as Oliver says, ‘No More’, is Biden’s task force going to sit down and tell banks like NT how to spend dollars to drum up business? And if they are going to micromanage banks’ expenses in going after new business, wouldn’t it be prudent to ask if the same oversight will happen to individuals receiving mortgage bailout funds, because so far no one has told us anything about about how that’s going to work, either.
It’s a fair point to bring up. Your answer doesn’t begin to approach it, or the favoritism Obama received in getting his loan. I don’t say it was illegal; I just say it’s highly hypocritical to show disgust at one way of getting customer business and look the other way on the other, because when you get right down to it, it’s not a whole lot different.
Spot on.
Typical liberal road rage.
Dogbert is spot on, that is.
He got almost 3/8% of a point lower rate on a mortgage,
3/8 of a point?!
That’s it, start the impeachment process!
3/8 of a point?!
That’s it, start the impeachment process! Duros62
Read what I wrote, Duros. Or don’t, that’s fine too. But please don’t just read what you want to and misrepresent what I said. 3/8 of a point is something the loan office had to get approved. The approval came from someone who assessed that a lower rate to get his business was worth doing. Happens every day. Cost of doing business with the hopes of getting more of his business. Same thing with the golf tournament. Incidentally, cancelling the sponsorship, the concerts, everything already committed to and in many cases paid for upfront before the TARP money came, would have involved a lot of money to. And that not only results in no business, it pisses people off. So run the total rate of return on on entertainment expenses for that if you’d like.
Again, Obama got a sweetheart deal, and now he has to go before the public and berate the banks to put on a populist show that people like you can go ‘Yeah, no more is f’ing right, Barack, baby! You tell ‘em’!’
Kinda pathetic, really. But don’t let anyone like Rick Santelli ask about the people who lied to get loans they couldn’t afford getting mortgage bailout funds and how they will conduct their financial affairs going forward. That’s just Reagan’s welfare queen canard. You guys slay me, you really do.
Dogbert even gets it, Duros.
Happens every day. Cost of doing business with the hopes of getting more of his business.
Nothin’ to see here, folks. Move along.
And then you follow up and say it was a “sweetheart deal.”
Whatever, Dennis.
What would you do differently? Nothing?
P.S. I don’t give a shit what Rick Santelli thinks or says.
Nothin’ to see here, folks. Move along.
And then you follow up and say it was a “sweetheart deal.” Duros
Didn’t say it was nothing either, Duros. But you can’t make a big deal out of one if you’re Barack Obama and conveniently dismiss the fact that he got favorable treatment. Sweetheart deals aren’t necessarily illegal, either, but he did get one.
And btw, the title to this blog post is WRONG. Because Northern Trust got TARP money, it’s incorrect to say they used that money to spend it on a big party. You guys never question the bullshit, you just lap it up and argue with anyone for doing you the favor of pointing it out to you. Why is that?
For one thing, it’s TMZ, so who really cares?
For another thing, it’s TMZ and Oliver smacking Northern Trust about this, not Obama nor the White House.
So I fail to see the hypocrisy, yes. I also fail to see why you bring up Obama’s mortgage as if it is relevent.
I guess you’re just okay with Northern Trust buying Tiffany gift bags with public money, though. Your money and mine. That’s okay.
Duros-
Trying to help you a little bit in seeing the business aspect of it. If you worked for a bank or any financial firm this would be very easy to understand, but for some reason it’s not getting through to you. Yours and oliver’s logic is that if a bank receives Aid from the government, all the expenses of that bank are de facto public money. They haven’t been nationalized, yet. And the money they spent was on a prior commitment before they received the money- it wasn’t just dreamed up in the last couple of months. If you don’t see the hypocrisy of public officials berating banks and car company executives for behavior they have been feeding at the same trough of, then I’m not sure you ever will no matter how much I write here.
Tiffany bags? It’s customer entertainment. Not something I’d do, but they must have done some homework and thought it would pay off for them in the long run. If that expense paid off in ten times the business generated from those customers, would you have a problem with that? ‘Your money and mine’, as you say, just got a 1000% return on it’s investment.
You see, Obama knows this very well. I’m guessing the author of this blog post does also. But that doesn’t sound so great to throw that qualifier in there as it does to chastise them for ‘lavish spending’, does it? The clueless to business public has a foil to express their anger at when they hear these kinds of stories, and politicians know this. ‘Shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in this establishment’.
Again, Duros, only trying to help you. Try to understand that.
Well, Denny, I do appreciate your concern. I’ll be the first to admit that economics is like Ambien for me (although The Shock Doctrine kept me awake. Oh yeah).
I don’t know the ins and outs of the TARP money or the bank bailouts. I doubt anyone here does, including you. I just think it’s a little disengenuous to call hypocrisy and shenanigans when the country is in a mess and the bank brass are still living large, like they’re just doing what they should be doing.
Did you not see the guy that Obama spoke about handing out his retirement bonus to everyone at his bank?
Yeah, I know what you’ll proably say about him: Frakkin’ Socialist wealth distributor.
jesus, a below average loan is not a sweetheart deal. obama got such a loan because he aleady had about $3 million in assets with northern trust at the time the loan was granted. northern trust gave him a below average rate because they knew he was good for the principal. there is no hypocrisy there.
No, I didn’t see that story. Will try to look it up, though. I didn’t read the Shock Doctrine but I would like to hear what Naomi has to say about the current one going on and Rahm Emmanuel’s now-famous quote.
Read the link way above that Ipstnue post at 7:16. I think a better case for hypocrisy could be made for Barney Frank than what I’ve made about Obama. These guys know how the business world works. If they want to totally rework it, that’s one thing. But it’s not like they haven’t been involved in how it’s conducted themselves, it’s just that crapping on banks now is the popular and populist thing to do right now. As for this tournament, it’s not so much the bank brass living large as it is spending a lot of money on things for customers at a golf tournament. But when they do those things, yes, a lot of money is wasted, but then, the bank brass looks at the bottom line to determine it it was worth it. Those details never make it into the press.
I think a better case for hypocrisy could be made for Barney Frank than what I’ve made about Obama.
How ’bout you make it, then?
it’s just that crapping on banks now is the popular and populist thing to do right now.
And? Isn’t that how republicans roll? Train from Vegas to Disneyland anyone?
As for this tournament, it’s not so much the bank brass living large as it is spending a lot of money on things for customers at a golf tournament.
Actually, i wasn’t speaking of Northern Trust specifically. Thinking more BofA, Morgan Stanley, AIG, etc. You know, the masterminds of this whole mess. Northern Trust is small potatoes. Even I know that.
jesus, a below average loan is not a sweetheart deal. obama got such a loan because he aleady had about $3 million in assets with northern trust at the time the loan was granted. northern trust gave him a below average rate because they knew he was good for the principal. there is no hypocrisy there.–brif
Read it again. He invested the $3mm after he got the mortgage loan. The rep made that statement to let public know that he had other business and they were going for that too. So the preferential rate worked. Did the bank where you got your mortgage ask you if you had any other money to invest before you locked in your mortgage rate? I’ve done it six or seven times, and not one did. Same with my friends, at least not that anyone told me, and believe me, they would.
It is hypocrisy, brif. Obama didn’t single out Northern Trust, to my knowledge. But Barney Frank has, as has Sen. John Heinz. And Obama made a definitive statement last night about bank frivolous spending, because he knows there are a lot of people out there who will cheer it and bloggers who blindly back him up on it. They call that being ‘Reaganesque’.
And? Isn’t that how republicans roll? Train from Vegas to Disneyland anyone?
Good point. Then why if you don’t appreciate that do you just automatically condone it from Democrats?
Actually, i wasn’t speaking of Northern Trust specifically. Thinking more BofA, Morgan Stanley, AIG, etc. You know, the masterminds of this whole mess. Northern Trust is small potatoes. Even I know that.
Fair enough, except that small potatoes bank is the one Oliver decided to make an example of. What some of those investment bank CEO’s did was bad, but this story isn’t. ANd again, if you read the story linked to above at 7:16, NT didn’t use TARP money for this event.
Duros, you want to read something fascinating about the masterminds of this mess, read this.
In Geithner We Trust Eludes Treasury as Market Fails to Recover
Long, but startlingly amazing. $5 trillion in credit default swaps- everyone knew about them, but how to turn around the Titanic. I just wish these times weren’t so goddamn painful because if you were just a casual observer, you’d have to say they were incredibly fascinating.
Here’s a good one for you.
Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street
if you were just a casual observer, you’d have to say they were incredibly fascinating.
In many ways, I am. And it is.
In many ways, I am. And it is.
I’m not, but I’m getting over it.
Thanks for the article. Copied it and will read it tonight.
I’m not, but I’m getting over it.
There ya go. Keep your sunnyside up.
Thanks for the article. Copied it and will read it tonight.
Welcome.
Isn’t this the same Northern Trust that supported Barack Obama’s campaigns since 1990, and admittedly gave him a discounted loan rate that saved him $300 a month on his $1.32 million home, just because he was a senator? Why is it news that they are shmoozing customers at an event they started sponsoring before TARP ever existed, but not that they gave a presidential candidate an illegal campaign contribution?
Waddell would like to thank you all for the great party:
http://www.blables.com/comics/?id=25