Deadbeat Dem defaulted on three home loans while lending her campaign $77,500. Hellllooo, Congress?
Here’s another installment in the deadbeat Dem/defaulting Hillary superdelegate chronicles of Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) in case you missed it over the holiday weekend. It’s getting smellier and smellier. Turns out she has defaulted on not one, but three home loans–yet somehow managed to loan her election campaign $77,500. In fact, it appears there is a pattern here of cashing out her homes to fill her campaign coffers. But there has been no uproar in Congress over this lawmaker’s appalling behavior. Why? Because it would upset the bipartisan narrative that all homeowners are victims, all lenders are sharks, and that no bad incentives to walk away exist.
Quick refresher: On May 21, we learned that Richardson had bailed on a Sacramento home and walked away from her $535,000 mortgage on the property. She denied the charges. On May 22, evidence piled up that contradicted her denial; moreover, we learned that she didn’t bother to pay utility fees and property taxes on the house. On top of that, the Daily Breeze confirmed that she did, in fact, receive a per diem housing allowance from the California state government. This woman has the gall to fashion herself a spokeswoman on behalf of aggrieved homeowners and wants to testify in front of the Senate while she swims in debt:
While Richardson did not apologize for her actions, she did attempt to explain them.
In 2005, Richardson was a Long Beach councilwoman and a staffer for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. She was elected to the Assembly in 2006 and then to Congress in 2007, to fill a seat vacated by the death of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald.
Richardson loaned her Assembly campaign $100,000 in the summer of 2006, borrowing against the equity in her Long Beach home. After her election, she raised enough money to pay herself back, but immediately had to plow $77,500 in loans to her congressional campaign.
“I am not financially wealthy,” she said. “I am not a millionaire. – Based upon what I was going through, changing four jobs in less than one year, I think any American would understand what that does in terms of a person’s financial stability.”
As a member of Congress, Richardson makes $169,300 a year. As a member of the Assembly, she made about $116,000, plus a per diem for living expenses in Sacramento.
When it was pointed out that the average American makes far less than that, Richardson responded, “The average American is not responsible for maintaining several households.”
Richardson said she did not make an effort to sell the Sacramento home, even after she was elected to Congress, and still hoped to rent it out.
Richardson attempted to link her situation to the plight of others facing foreclosure, and said the experience would help make her a better advocate on foreclosure issues.
“I think this is what many Americans are unfortunately facing right now,” she said. “I am concerned that I can take what I have learned from this to help somebody else. – Many people are one step away from issues that are life-changing moments. When a person moves across the country, that is a life-changing moment.”
Richardson noted that unlike the state Legislature, the U.S. Congress does not provide for living expenses.
“On the federal level, there is no per diem,” she said. “They don’t pay for you to move.”
Richardson is renting an apartment in the Washington, D.C., area. She declined to disclose or discuss her credit score.
She has begun to pay down her congressional campaign debt, and repaid herself $18,000 of the $77,500 in personal loans. She still owes $220,000 to her campaign consultant – which is unusual for a successful campaign – and about $330,000 overall.
Watch this woman’s words and actions closely as Congress returns from the Memorial Day holiday and takes up the business of reconciling the housing aid bills. More importantly, watch the silence and inaction of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle who prefer to remain blind, deaf, and dumb to the congressional speculator in their midst.
Yet another sordid chapter in the continuing saga of San Fran Nan’s “most ethical Congress in history.”
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
- Economics Links–05.28.07 » The American Mind
- Laura Richardson, Paragon of Fianacial Wisdom « Beltway Snark
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » From the “most ethical” House in history.
- Dem defaulted on THREE home loans…while loaning her campaign $775k « Crush Liberalism
- Michelle Malkin » Deadbeat, defaulting Dem’s fishy deal with WaMu
- Housing Rescue Plan Passes Senate Smell Test | BloodhoundBlog: National real estate marketing and technology blog | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: Corruption, Subprime crisis
Legal Insurrection
» Pelosi's Abortion Land Mine Explodes
Weekly Standard
» Obama's Talking PointsSister Toldjah
» The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – and how the far left still hasn’t given upNewsBusters.org
» Politico: Conservatives Ousted Scozzafava Because She's A WomanWeekly Standard
» Ben Nelson Demands Stupak Language in Senate Bill
Democrat = pass
Nuff said
Bail Out!
Just look at the party she comes from. Congress police itself – you’ve got to be kidding. Once the banks finish the foreclosure process, hopefully they will file judgments against her and then you will see her credit score drop! Hopefully the people in California will be reminded of this in her next election – oh thats November isn’t it??????
…where she will be relected in a landslide. She is now common folk!
How can we make Congress hear? We need to call them out on all of their illicit activities. It’s time to holler!!
“most ethical Congress in history.”Vote them out.
I did a little research:
Either way – looks like we’re stuck with another Democratic idiot in Congress
4gettaboutit
Maybe she should see William Jefferson for a loan. I hear he has some cold hard cash.
Well now, why do we need illegals to pick lettuce? Seem to me that there are plenty of Americans who could use some extra cash. And with 3 homes in CA, she would not have to travel far… and with the feds picking up the bill for meals & an orange jumpsuit, sweet!
After a few years at hard labor I am sure she could be rehabilitated.
To quote an old song: She can’t even run her own life, I’ll be damned if she’ll run mine.
cry me a river…”switching jobs 4 times in a year” is something you sign up for.
maintaining two residences is something you sign up for.
this woman’s a scam artist…with a crappy credit score that a congressional seal seems to override.
Please tell me she has dancing and music lessons to pay for…and Arugula…
Ms. Richardson is model citizen, in the eyes of democraps.
Where oh! WHERE are the members of MY party (the R’s) with the spine
to expose this sleaze?
Another “toilet roll” model for the citizenry, courtesy of the Democrat party.
As my wife just stated after reading this she will get a pass because she is a minority female and a Democrat. The more I see of the criminal behavior of all the Congress Critters from both parties I am convinced we need to make them all civilians again to bring them back into the real world so they can rediscover what real life is outside the beltway of DC. To bad there are too many uniformed voters that turn around and send these criminal idiots back to their fat cat government jobs to continue to try to bribe us with our own money while redistributing wealth to those to lazy to work.
bloghooligan, re: this woman’s a scam artist…
Yeah, we got that… she is in Congress.
Now, surely if we can put a man on the moon we can find a way to put these people in
prisonre-education centers. In a populist kinda way.Now if I am elected, I will put all of these congressional critters in the greenest, most eco-friendly brown rice eatin, pedal to watch CNN, facility you have ever seen.
Well at least give her some credit (no, not that kind!) for a bit of honesty:
That is quite right, we don’t have two-three or four homes to default on and crawl away from when we screw over the lenders like her. Oh and to top it off look for her soon on late night cable hawking her new twist on “no money down, crap credit home ownership for the shifty”:
Yes, she will help anyone able to send her “three easy payments of $199.99″ for her 2 DVD plan to “become a millionaire in real estate, or screw the taxpayers while trying”!
Dems, the party of (gahhacch!) trust.
Just like the silence & inactionby both Republicans & Democrats for another Congressional crook with $90,000 in his refrigerator
She should NOT be in Congress. Someone who can’t handle their own finances has NO right to make decisions that affect others’ finances. PERIOD.
On May 27th, 2008 at 9:54 pm, nyc123me said:
She should NOT be in Congress. Someone who can’t handle their own finances has NO right to make decisions that affect others’ finances. PERIOD.
Actually, finding a way to have US pay her way is what congress is all about…
“If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
— Samuel Adams
Its time for her to go. However, the lemmings that elected her are most likely products of the public school system who can’t read, add or reason.
I agree. So when does the revolution begin ?
and we wonder why these loons can’t come up with an energy poicy like drilling for our own oil.
Solid alibi…Black; woman; victim of inscrupulous lenders; frustration at trying to figure out the “white” mentality of financial markets since she was raised with the Afro-American mindset/experience; ya’ll just don’t understand, ah-ite!
Laura Richardson: World-Class Scum-Bag.
And she’s still taking home a nice, hefty income.
Wow…
Calm down folks, she has a D behind her name, shes black and its California. Thats like a Hall Pass. Move along, nothing to see here…………………..
I see. So, to be a better advocate on the plight of thieves, one would do well to rob a few banks and steal a few cars. The war on drugs? Get some experience under your belt dealing. The plight of rape victims? You get the picture.
Congress has placed itself above the law. Our elected representatives are the epitome of “do as I say and not as I do”. They lecture professional athletes on their behavior as role models, yet would never dream of holding themselves to that standard. They enact legislation that punishes corporate America for abuses that they themselves pursue with impunity.
It is amazing when you realize that most of those in Congress would never be hired or be able to hold a job in the real world.
On the bright side, I understand that California passed some legislation a couple of years back that actually makes it a crime to walk out on a home loan. Let’s see if Richardson is treated as every other citizen of California.
Every time this story is reported she has a different answer. Typical politician.
How is it she can get mortgages on these properties, in excess to her primary residence and any indication of adequate income, and not be forced to sell the additional properties to pay off her debts?
NEITHER ARE YOU , LADY!
How can anyone anywhere justify paying this scumbag $170,000.00 per year??????
From the Daily Breeze article:
She goes in debt to the tune of $350,000 for a job that will pay her $340,000 over its 2 year term. That does not account for what the campaign spent and did not have to borrow.
If she was maintaining mortgages on 3 properties, where was she able to come up with $78,000 to loan to her campaign on a $117,000 a year salary?
And, as already asked, what bank in its right mind would make a loan of over $500,000 to someone making $117,000 a year and who was already paying two other mortgages totalling over $500,000? Last time I checked, $117,000 in income does not support loans in excess of $1 million. If any of the loans were “stated income” (the borrower tells the lender what they are making and the lender never verifies that number), did she report a higher income level on her loan application? If she did, providing false information on a mortgage loan application is a federal crime. Likewise, if she failed to disclose her other loans as debt, there is another criminal act.
We definitely are not getting the whole story here, and it is my bet that Ms. Richardson has run afoul of some laws that have criminal penalties attached to them. Wonder if Wells Fargo has filed a criminal referral?
.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH…
Doesn’t Congress have an ETHICS committee or some sort of professional standards clause?
There has got to be a watchdog group that can bring this sort of stuff out into the light.
I realize that the standards for Democrats are far lower than for the GOP but geez, even this ought to peg the meter.
All pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others.
Thanks for articulating what I’ve been thinking on this. I find it hard to believe she would qualify for the $500+K loan with her income, let alone more loans.
As for Wells Fargo, when do they take legal action to protect their shareholders?
It sure does and here is a list of it’s members:
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Chairwoman, Ohio
Gene Green, Texas
Lucille Roybal-Allard, California
Michael F. Doyle, Pennsylvania
Bill Delahunt, Massachusetts
Doc Hastings, Ranking Member, Washington
Jo Bonner, Alabama
J. Gresham Barrett, South Carolina
John Kline, Minnesota
Michael McCaul, Texas
Talk about your typical elitist mentality.
More trash in Congress. Of course, she’ll get a pass…just like the Kennedys and Jefferson. It makes you wonder when the American public will wake up…if ever.
Lies and irresponsibility = fraud
Liberals Maxims-do as we say, not as we do, rules don’t apply to us, we’re the smartest apples in the bunch. I could go on but these blowhards make themselves heard everyday. Their idiocy and their chutzpah know no bounds.
Should read “Liberal Maxims”.
Hell, I’d love to have the opportunity to own one (1) home right now, but speculators like Richardson jacked the market up here in the DC area 500% over value.
Lot down the road
There’s a bunch of these in my area. They have been on the market for more than 2 years. This one started at $1.5 million, and it has never been occupied. Now down by over $500,000, and still no serious offers.
Hopefully, by the end of the year, my wife and I will find our home. Nothing so ostentatious, but somewhere with a little land for our dogs. That is, if Congress doesn’t screw it up to bail out the likes of speculators like Richardson, Harry Reid, and all of their ilk.
Life changing moment request:
Let market conditions prevail, and let those of us who were responsible and followed the rules to have the opportunity to benefit from our patience.
We can’t. And if Obama wins, it’ll just get worse.
When you’re a Democrat and believe in moral relativity, secularism, and entitlement – this shouldn’t be a surprise. There can be no right and wrong because those are abstract terms that deny this Congresswoman’s “truth”.
Unless we all band together and file suit against our government for the misappropriation of funds, unethical practices, etc.
I don’t know if that will happen.
Crashemt, I’m here in PWC and you can get a similar home for about 400K less. Not sure if you would want to go out that far but we looked in Fairfax and couldn’t find anything we liked in our price range. We have a large house here and a big, beautiful backyard. Our shower is even nicer than that one but their powder room is the model of what we’d like to do to ours next year.
Tubby Jones. There’s your guarantee nothing will happen. Sistahs gotz 2 have each uthas back. Knowwadimesayin?
She’s a bum. Throw the bums out!
With all the ethically scandals in Congress I am beginning to think that the ethics committee is there not to punish the violaters, but in reality is a committe to figure a way around ethical rules.
* She is a Democrat
* She is Entitled
* She is a “Victim” of something
* She is a MINORITY
* The Stupid Ba$tards in her District Elected Her
After all it is California!
Our congress is full of bums but we keep voting them into office. It’s reflective of our society. Things need to change on a grass roots level. I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
You know, I work for the Government too. If I were to do what Congresswoman Richarson (DEMOCRAT-Calif.) has done, I would lose my security clearance. In turn I would lose my rating and would be forced to leave the military. Not to mention they would garnish my wages to repay my defaulted loans. Why does Congress get a pass?
This isn’t about Congress….It’s about an ignorant and undiscerning electorate. People choose their politicians like a brand of toilet paper. Rough. Tufted. Sweet smelling. Attractive. It’s why we’re left with the stinking pile of corruption we have today.
No, honey, but if you can stay in politics long enough you will be. Just look at the Clintons, the Obama’s and the McCains. There’s hope for everybody. Look at all the people who came into Congress poverty stricken and left multi-millionaires along with a generous pension paid for by taxpayers.
So, it’s one of those “Do as I say, not as I do” things, huh?
*clears throat* (Speaking in a Slick Willy-like voice)…
“I feel your pain America.”
yeah – she’s just doing this for “the people.” Such a self sacrificing, servant! Regarding her comment about “most Americans” don’t have more than one “household” to take care of. Since when is she taking “care of” more than one household. These politicans believe and it has been proven, that there is a following for them regardless of what ridiculous message they want to present. Baaaaaaaaa!!!
I dunno, maybe she should try to live within her means? I don’t try “maintaining several households”, because my income doesn’t support that lifestyle.
Then, get a real job and stick with it, instead of trying to live off the taxpayers. When interviewing new employees, I have never seen fit to hire people that job hop, like her resume seems to reflect.
Geez! Politicians and their upkeep are just like high-end welfare, IMHO.
Yes it does – it’s called a salary, provided by taxpayers.
It was YOUR choice to run for office, honey.
Well, she didn’t hide the money in her freezer, so she must be a victim.
Call me naive but,is there anyway an ordinary,working class American can sue the pants off these people.It seems that all they want to do is get as much money from the tax payers as they can.What they do has to be illegal so how can we hold them accountable.Voting them out isn’t the answer either.
Glenn Beck is having a telethon for people to send money to help this poor congressperson out. One can only imagine the stress and trauma she has been through. One man has pledged two cans of spaghetti – O’s.
If they do take gifts in kind….
More reason for wealth redistribution…any one that is a millionaire is BAD. It seems this common thread gives all Dems the right to default in numerous ways as well.
RESPONSIBLE Americans wont buy multiple houses while job hunting.
Just how long has she been in congress?
And why, WHY is it always someone else’s fault????
Shooter, its the sexist/racist angle. Shes a VICTIM. Therefore, its someone else’s fault. See ?
The really sad thing is, even if her constituents vote her out of office, this crook will get a full pension for life at the expense of honest americans.
ARRRRGH…..
Grrrrr. My husband and I make less than her combined. We are responsible for our mortgage, didn’t borrow more than we could afford, and we’ve kept the same jobs/line of work for over 10 years. And this crooked woman is living off MY DIME? Gawd, this is so infuriating.
I’m sure Obama supporters will be on board to help
This is a sadly overlooked aspect of the mortgage “crisis”. Yes, the banks did a horrible job of verifying income and credit, but the borrowers still had to have lied on the applications to get the loans. That has to be a crime.
How dare anyone pick on Laura after all she’s been through!!! She’s a human being!!! Leave Laura alone!!!
…sniff…
Oh. Waitaminute.
Do I understand correctly that she no longer lives in CA, but, up until recently, she still owned three homes there? She definitely is not an “average American.”
So it sounds like this: “My name is Laura Richardson and I’m here to represent those who buy a home or two or three and I don’t make a million dollars but my party says that people who make as much as I do aren’t paying enough in taxes though I have not paid all the taxes myself when I have the power to try to lower taxes but I bought more houses instead of renting and when I decided I couldn’t handle all the mortgages I just ignored the existence of them and when one of my houses was auctioned off I had no idea even though I own the house because moving across the country is a life-changing moment y’know so you can understand why I didn’t tend to my personal affairs before moving and I left the house a mess but that’s okay because it’s out of sight and out of mind and I get a paycheck that taxpayers pay for but it doesn’t cover my living expenses which sucks because California taxpayers used to pay my living expenses which would help explain why taxes are astronomical in California and I loaned money to myself when I didn’t really have the money so I could become a representative for people like me who deserve to be assisted for not being prepared when the housing market fell because we’re only human and irresponsible and we expect the government to get us out of the mess we created for ourselves which is going to raise everyone’s taxes because I don’t know the difference between right and privilege.”
And there are other pulchritudinous aspects to the story that I’m sure I forgot to mention. Witness the poster child to the foreclosure problem.
We’re human beings!!! Leave our money alone!!!
This is all your fault, DesertLover. I can’t shut up now. I’ll try to restrain myself, though.
1. Honest
2. Very intelligent
3. Hard working
4. Well informed
5. In touch with reality
6. A true conservative
7. Satisfies the Constitutional requirements for POTUS.
That does it, I’m writing in Michelle Malkin for president! (and just imagine how much more she can say from a bully pulpit!)
Unfortunately political office is nothing more than an investment. Why else whould people spend so much of their own money to get a job that pays so little. At work you have a pool of qualified canidated and can choose the most qualified. In politics (our so called democracy) we get to “choose” between a couple of unqualified sleezy professional politicians who are unable to tell the truth and who you wouldn’t trust to return your wallet if found it in front of 20 police officers.
You can’t trust any of them to do anything except to stuff their wallet.
Her picture makes me shudder – and not in a good way. I realize it should have no bearing on anything, but ..fugly.