Oct 11 2008
Who Owned Obama’s Home And Who Paid His Taxes? – Updated
Keep Checking Updates At The End
One of my stellar readers, SBD, has been doing some research on Obama’s home in Hyde Park, Chicago. As the story goes the Obama’s bought the home in 1993 and subsequently sold it in 2005. But if you look at the records on the property they are very confusing and suspicious. Before we dive into the details, as we see them, I want to bring in Tony Rezko and his plea dealing efforts.Â
From Hillbuzz there is news that convicted felon (and Obama associate) Tony Rezko is about to turn states evidence, and the rumor is he has an interesting target in his sights:
(2) We just spoke with someone well-connected in Chicago politics who told us that the bank Sneed is talking about has to be Broadway Bank, which is owned by the politically-connected Giannoulias family. We were told that Sneed’s column confirms rumblings people we know heard independently that Tony Rezko is giving up the Giannoulias family to Patrick Fitzgerald — Rezko and the Giannoulias family are as close and tied together as anyone in Chicago could be. If Rezko is turning on them, then Rezko is going to give up Governor Rod Blagojevich and Obama too.
…
4) The Giannoulias family was involved with Obama as far back as his first state senate campaign in 1996. It has been long rumored here in Chicago that Obama obtained a sweetheart deal on his first town home here in Chicago — which he could not have afforded otherwise — and guess who the financing came from for that house? We’ve been told it was Broadway Bank, the Giannoulias bank. Now, this sets up a scenario where the Giannoulias family helps Obama with his campaign finances and gets him deeper in their pocket with his sweetheart mortgage deal (for the first home he owned that he could not afford) – all in exchange for quid pro quo to be determined later.
This post just came out yesterday, as SBD was putting the finishing touches on his research. I don’t believe these two events are independent or coincidental. What could Rezko be singing about? Well, let’s see what SBD has developed.
Basically it is a lot of questions about a lot of conflicting records – no smoking gun (yet). We are throwing this data out to the blogosphere to bring more minds and tools to the problem. It may be nothing, and it may be the fatal October surprise that always seems to comes about. And no, I am not coordinating this with anyone, and neither is SBD who contacted me a week ago and was actually going down a different path until all the data came in.
Here is the summary of what was found in the records:
- A Lexis property search for Obama in Illinois shows the Hyde Park property in Obama’s name beginning in 1998, but Obama supposedly bought the property in 1993.
- All tax assessments from 1998-2004 are in the name of Emil – is this the person paying taxes on the property for the Obamas until they sold the property in 2005?
- Obama Records have a different Legal Description than the original owner’s documents.
- Cook County Recorder shows completely different information than Lexis:Â Emil owns the property from 1986-1989, so why is he listed as paying taxes from 1998-2004 in other records?
- The property is passed via Warranty Deed to Stephen Anderson in 1989, then via Warranty Deed to Obama in 1993, then via Warranty Deed to Elling in 2005 – which aligns with the sequence one would expect given the standard news reports.
- There is the Warranty Deed to Obama from Anderson in 1993, however release of the Anderson Mortgage is not recorded until 1998, and there is a requests it be sent to Obama’s former Law Firm.Â
- The Obama address in the 1999 records was shown as 927 W. Argyle 1W, not Hyde Park.
- The mortgage from Hyde Park Mortgage lent in 2002 is originally recorded and sent to Chase Manhattan Mortgage Company. Then assigned from Hyde Park Mortgage to Chase Manhattan Mortgage Company, Then it is supposedly Assigned again from Hyde Park Mortgage to Chase, but this last transaction says the original lender was Barbara Hill for an amount $30,000, property address 2772 E. 75th Street, Unit 3G S.
- Finally, a 2005 Release from GREATER IL TITLE CO is listed as a record of payment and there is another seperate Release from Hyde Park Mortgage, even though it had been assigned twice to Chase Manhattan Mortgage.
- The final sale by the Obamas was financed by Northern Trust, the same company that was used to purchase Obama’s new mansion which partially paid for by Rezko, who bought part of the land which he later sold to Obama.
SBD has produced various detailed reports and made copies of the materials he has gathered. The complete list of his work is linked below. We are offering this information up to the blogosphere and public in hopes they can help unravel what may be going on here with these records.Â
To be fair, this could be nothing more than bad record keeping – but somehow given the Rezko connections and all these interesting names on the record of this one house it would seem worth investigating. There may be information other people have which may tie into this as well.
What is clear is we only have a few weeks to do the job the lazy and smitten news media should have done vetting our presidential candidates regarding possible corruption. SBD and I look forward to hearing from folks on what this might be and what other information they may have to add to this picture as it finally comes into focus.
SBD detailed reports: [Folks, meant to test the links before posting, they all work now!]
Full Chronology Of Property Records
1993 Purchase Anderson-Obama File 1
1993 Purchase Anderson-Obama File 2
2002 Obama Mortgage with Hyde Park Mortgage
2002 Mortgage Assignment Barbara Hill
2005 Elling Mortgage From Northern Trust
Update: Some details on the Rezko-Obama dealings regarding Obama’s first house.
Update: It seems Obama’s friend, the State Treasury Secretary, has a history of making bad loans – which in the current financial meltdown is the kiss of death.
Udpate: This paragraph at the end of the Hillbuzz post linked above caught my eye because now there is a 3rd Obama property deal in the mix:
Just thinking that last paragraph out, Obama’s defense in the Rezko business was that he never did anything for Rezko so there was no quid pro quo. What the Giannoulias and Broadway Bank stuff proves is that Obama sits in people’s pockets for a while before the favor is given. He bought that town house sometime between 1997-2000 or so, since he lived there for a few years before trading up to the Obama Mansion with Rezko’s help in 2005, after he was in the United States Senate.Â
Hmmm…
Update: Seems even Bill Ayers isn’t exempt from this mess. One of the financial institutions tying Obama to Rezko was also used by Ayers and Obama for the Woods project.
Update: From this Free Republic post we find that Joseph and Rowena Emil appear to be legitimate, and sadly deceased:
EMIL, JOSEPH
Chicago Tribune – August 23, 2002
Joseph Emil , 82, beloved husband on Rowena; adored father of Carla Emil (Rich Silverstein) of San Francisco, CA, Jeffrey (Barbara) Emil of Tampa, Fl, Pamela Emil of New York City and Glen Emil of Chicago, IL; loving grandfather of Benjamin Emil and Matt Rogers; dear brother of William. Everyone who knew him, loved him and he will be greatly missed. Contributions made in his memory to a charity of your choice will be appreciated. Memorial to follow.//
EMIL, ROWENA
Chicago Tribune (IL) – March 13, 2006
Rowena Emil, nee Clyman, 79, loving wife of the late Joseph Emil ; beloved mother of Carla (Rich Silverstein) of San Francisco, Jeffrey (Barbara) of Tampa, FL, Pamela of New York City and Glenn Emil; grandmother of Benjamin Emil and Matt Rogers; sister-in-law of William (Sandy) Emil. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Please send donations to the charity of your choice.
This lets State Senator Emil Jones pretty much off the hook.
The way you just described the MSM as altruistic and that they think they know what is best for us is exactly how the “Road to Serfdom” describes it.
Why the worst get on top
A further point should be made here: collectivism means the end of truth. To make a totalitarian system function efficiently it is not enough that everybody should be forced to work for the ends selected by those in control; it is essential that the people should come to regard these ends as their own. This is brought about by propaganda and by complete control of all sources of information.
The most effective way of making people accept the validity of the values they are to serve is to persuade them that they are really the same as those they have always held, but which were not properly understood or recognized before. And the most efficient technique to this end is to use the old words but change their meaning. Few traits of totalitarian regimes are at the same time so confusing to the superficial observer and yet so characteristic of the whole intellectual climate as this complete perversion of language.
The worst sufferer in this respect is the word ‘liberty’. It is a word used as freely in totalitarian states as elsewhere. Indeed, it could almost be said that wherever liberty as we know it has been destroyed, this has been done in the name of some new freedom promised to the people. Even among us we have planners who promise us a ‘collective freedom’, which is as misleading as anything said by totalitarian politicians. ‘Collective freedom’ is not the freedom of the members of society, but the unlimited freedom of the planner to do with society that which he pleases. This is the confusion of freedom with power carried to the extreme.
Perhaps the most alarming fact is that contempt for intellectual liberty is not a thing which arises only once the totalitarian system is established, but can be found everywhere among those who have embraced a collectivist faith. The worst oppression is condoned if it is committed in the name of socialism. Intolerance of opposing ideas is openly extolled. The tragedy of collectivist thought is that while it starts out to make reason supreme, it ends by destroying reason.
SBD
Wow, this post has really run the gamut of debate. The background info on Rezko is just staggering and the work that’s gone into it is mind-boggling.
But like all the rest, it’s all still preaching to the choir. It still fails to finger Obama.
Obama is running for office, not Rezko, not Auchi.
I know it’s all important to building the case against him but time is running out. If we can’t get to the point of all this, and pretty damn soon, we better all start learning to like the taste of Kool-aid.
As for the MSM, they’re now so shrill it’s a wonder anyone can hear themselves think. Then again, I guess that’s the whole point. Sadly, one of the people who’s listening too attentively is McCain. He’s totally lost focus now on how to win this election in my view.
The danger of Obama is he’s everything and anything people want him to be.
The magic of Obama is he’s everything and anything people want him to be.
In defense of John McCain, he’s fighting a wraith that’s been manufactured and is being manipulated by forces few of us can even begin to fathom. But fight it, defeat it, and win he must, for all of us.
It’s true he doesn’t have the razzle dazzle of Obama. His art of persuasion is at best, old school. But what he does have that he seems to lose sight of is integrity. The problem is he’s packaging it all wrong.
It’s what lay behind his “decent man” speech but unfortunately it wasn’t the message conveyed. It’s also what makes it so hard for him to come out and actually accuse Obama of anything, even Obama’s lack of judgment.
If anyone is a “decent man” in this campaign, clearly it’s John McCain.
But if all the findings about Rezko, Auchi, Alinshky, Ayers, Khalidi, Odinga, ACORN, Fannie & Freddie, Jim Johnson, Reverend Wright, Father Pfleger, and Franklin Raines aren’t enough to convince Americans that Obama is a man too full of “mis-associations” to be given the keys to the greatest country on earth, then America is lost.
But then if Obama has what it takes to MIS-LEAD America then clearly, Obama has proven to Americans he has what it takes and everything it takes, to LEAD America.
In light of that, what becomes glaringly and painfully clear is, if McCain doesn’t have what it takes to LEAD Americans away from their own misconceptions, even with all this material, plus a rock solid, actively participatory, “decent’ record, then clearly, despite all his “decency”, he lacks the LEADERSHIP needed to protect Americans from socialist subversives with do-nothing records like Obama; in which case, America is truly lost.
Fight man, fight! And LEAD! Don’t insinuate. Don’t imply. Don’t debate. Get to the point, and LEAD!
If it means overloading America with the overload that is Obama’s constant mis-associations, or prepare to let Obama overload America with ALL of his mis-associations, past, present, and future.
21 Days.
Here’s another example of the MSM and others hammering away at the Kool-aid rhetoric:
REUTERS: World looks for new leaders as crisis outgrows G7
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-CreditCrisis/idUSTRE49B3H220081012
“If you ask me for my view about the problems we’re seeing right now, it’s the absence of strong, visible leadership capable of driving change ….” Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s finance minister…
It’s subtle but it’s right there in the middle of the article. It’s not directed at anyone in particular, just like “change” isn’t about anything in particular. But you know what Americans will hear without even thinking about it. And Obama scores another point.
Btw, isnt’ it amazing given how much “change” America has undergone in the last few weeks. Is is harsh? Well yes, sometimes change is harsh. Isn’t it frightening? Well yes, sometimes change can be frightening. Well, what are you going to do about it? Well clearly, change is all you need.
Wow. The wingnuts grasping onto the weakest of concepts that they can possibly find.
Serioiusly – you all are pathetic. I hope you do realize that.
As soon as I see an article just as deep on McCain’s 7+ houses, and who pays the mortgage on them, I’ll take you seriously. Until then – get comfortable in the “we laugh at you” section of the political spectrum.
Are you all ready for President Obama? Because you do realize it’s inevitable, right?
To really understand polls, watch this. The final two minutes at the very end tacks way left without really justifying what it claims while clearly affirming the liberal bent of the BBC, but it doesn’t invalidate the incredible story it has to tell about opinion taking and opinion making.
A must watch.
“The Century of the Self”
(4 parts, 4 hours – it’s long but you’ll be loathe to stop)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-678466363224520614&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6111922724894802811&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1122532358497501036&hl=en
Just watched the new RNC ad: Guilt By Participation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E3Vhnfhk-c
Better! But still doesn’t drive the point home, and way too long.
If people don’t get the point about Bill Ayers in 10 secs by now after all the other ads, spending the better part of a minute on it won’t change their minds. Ayers alone won’t flatten Obama.
Stop wasting time on the cards when you should be stacking the deck. Stop jabbing at his love handles when you should be going for the long hard punches that crush bone. Time to start mixin’ it up. This ain’t no tea party!
I’d like to ask a question here about something that’s been gnawing at me for weeks now. I hope I’m not the only one thinking it but it’s hard to think otherwise given how it hasn’t come up in anything I’ve heard or read.
Maybe it’s utterly racist, or maybe it’s utterly stupid, or maybe it’s utterly both. I honestly can’t tell anymore.
But when the liberal leftist Democrats keep screeching, “racist” at everything and anything remotely questionable about their messiah, what are they really saying?
Are they accusing the conservative right Republicans of being racist against blacks, whites, or bi-racials?
21 days.
Now For something completely different,
AJ, this story may interest you,
speculation that the Iranian ship now held by Somali pirates
was the world’s first dirty bomb attack, probably meant for Israel, for Yom Kippur
before the pirates messed it up.
http://radarsite.blogspot.com/2008/10/poetic-justice-irans-dirty-bomb-attack.html
Interestingly, also on Yom Kippur, there was a Russian naval task force
docked in the Syrian port of Tartus. Peter The Great is a guided missile
cruise armed with S-300 anti aircraft missiles. Coincidence?
It’s presence in a Syrian port would have seriously hindered any
Israeli attempt to launch a retaliatory strike.
??
Sorry it’s off topic, but I wanted to see your opinion about this.
Dodgy Obama Stuff
One of AJ’s favorite sites (not) has the breaking story
that Obama was not born in Hawaii but in Kenya.
This is sourced from Court documents attendant to the
Berg lawsuit currently under way.
The implications are obvious.
The site is that texasdarlin . wordpress . com site
Obama’s Home but other party payes property taxes?…
Strata Sphere has original research on Obama’s home that he got a sweet heart deal on. The sweet heart deal is not the end of the story … Emil owns the property from 1986-1989, so why is he listed as paying taxes from 1998-2004 in other records? ……
I’ve top posted an excerpt to your article from Obama’s Home but other party payes property taxes?
Strata Sphere has original research on Obama’s home that he got a sweet heart deal on. The sweet heart deal is not the end of the story … Emil owns the property from 1986-1989, so why is he listed as paying taxes from 1998-2004 in other records? ..
[…] his original research into the interesting public record associated with Obama’s homes. In his first analysis SBD analyzed Barack Obama’s first home (1993-2005) and found some interesting names on the […]
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