POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Democrats Create Exotic Financial Instrument To Fund Campaign

Over at PJM, Richard Pollack had the most interesting article of the day, on the possibility that the Democrats have collateralized their donors list in order to secure campaign funding from Bailed-Out America:

Shortly after Labor Day, as polls continued to sink, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) realized it needed a cash infusion for the upcoming midterm elections. Its chairman, former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, turned to the Bank of America to secure a $15 million revolving credit line. Then, in the middle of this month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) got another loan from BofA for an additional $17 million.

What was their collateral? It turns out, not much.

The DNC claims their collateral was an intangible piece of property — its donor mailing list. The DCCC only cites unnamed “assets.” Neither party organization possesses real estate even close to cover the $32 million. The DNC’s headquarters is owned by another entity. Even it was put up as collateral, its market value was last estimated at only $13.7 million.

Were the Bank of America deals legitimate, arms-length transactions, or were they cozy sweetheart deals in which nothing was really put up to secure a $32 million loan?

And if it was the latter, could it be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the largest bank holding company in America?

There also is troubling evidence that two days before closing on the loan transaction, the DNC changed its own privacy provisions to allow the selling or sharing of private donor data.

If that's so, then maybe Olivia Wilde ought to be making future dystopia vids about DemocraCorpse.

It's not that Michelle Malkin's round-up of whitewashed Democrat voter fraud isn't excellent. It is:

For the past two years, Democratic leaders have had nothing to say about the militant New Black Panther Party goons who took it upon themselves to police a Philadelphia voting booth in 2008 wielding billy clubs and shouting anti-white slurs to suppress votes. Now, they’re treating citizen election monitors as if they are the jack-booted thugs. When I lauded efforts like the Minnesota Majority, which is training volunteers to watch polls and report on voter fraud, liberal critics accused me this week of “fascism.”

Silence dissent. Criminalize watchdogs. Whitewash fraud. Discourage grassroots engagement. Deny, deny, deny. These are the signature tactics of the left in the age of Obama. On November 2, Americans get their chance to say: Enough.

The news that Obama had a meeting with high-profile lefty bloggers is kind of interesting, too. It's also funny that the UN has been hit by bedbugs. But the extent to which the Obamaists will reach to try to retain and accumulate power is well represented by the FOIA requests to the US Army:

The Democratic National Committee has asked the Pentagon to provide records of correspondence between the Army
and nine potential challengers to President Obama in 2012, Fox News has confirmed, giving a unique glimpse of part of what appears to be the Democrats' opposition research strategy.

ABC News first reported an internal Army e-mail that indicates the DNC filed Freedom of Information Act requests for "any and all records of communication" between military agencies and Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Mitch Daniels and Bobby Jindal, all of whom are considering campaigning for the White House.

There is simply no US governmental institution that these guys won't politicize if they think it gives them an advantage. The idea of using the Pentagon to conduct oppo research is bad enough, but when you consider that they are hiring people at substantial salaries to create Treasury exemptions to FOIA requests, you understand. Transparency.

At the same time, the DoJ just can't be bothered to ensure those military guys get the chance to vote.

Among those things that seem to have gotten lost in all this election news is the announcement from Crain's Chicago Business that Chicago mall Water Tower Place, owned by General Growth, Inc., just emerging from Chapter 11 reorganization, has secured a $200 million loan. The writer at pains to quote people saying that even at this time it's not unusual for such a top-value piece of property, but the skepticism kind of leaks out:

General Growth Properties Inc. has secured a $200-million loan to refinance the Water Tower Place mall on Michigan Avenue, reflecting the much-improved lending climate for trophy properties unscathed by the recession.

The new loan from Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. is even bigger than the $188-million loan it replaces, a rarity today as lenders have become more conservative and property values remain well below their peak of a few years ago. Yet lenders have become increasingly aggressive in recent months, offering attractive terms for top properties in big cities like Chicago.

“For the very best properties, I would call it a frenzy,” says David Hendrickson, a managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. “You've got the haves and the have-nots, and Water Tower is a have.”

The loan represents another task Chicago-based General Growth can check off its to-do list as it prepares to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next month. The old loan matured Sept. 1, and the General Growth joint venture that owns the 818,000-square-foot mall had sought an extension of the due date, something it no longer needs now that it has a new loan.

The Water Tower joint venture, which is not included in the Chapter 11 case, obtained the MetLife loan Sept. 28, according to a mortgage filed with the Cook County Recorder. A General Growth spokesman declines to comment, and a spokesman for New York-based MetLife did not return a phone call.

Insurers have donated more heavily to Democrats than Republicans, recently, in large part in order to have the clout to take part in the very messy health care negotiations that Obama cut Big Pharma into:

The top three Senate recipients for insurance industry contributions -- all Democrats -- are Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., according to the center's research. And in the House, it's another trio of Democrats: Reps. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Barney Frank, D-Mass. All have played key roles in federal insurance matters.

The guy behind a lot of General Growth's moving and shaking is one Bill Ackman, "activist investor" and Founder/CEO of Pershing Capital Management

General Growth Properties is an example. His $50 million stock investment is worth about $1.3 billion today, making General Growth the most successful investment of his career "by far," Ackman said.

Ackman began buying shares of the company in late 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. Where others saw a company careening toward bankruptcy, Ackman saw equity.

Ackman's political donations for 2008 are posted here.

MetLife has been in negotiations for bailed out AIG's American Life Insurance (ALICO) division.

Now, I'm not saying that anyone's done anything wrong here. I'm just saying it's Chicago, and most people who follow the news are focused on other things, and I sure wish that someone with a business reporting background would take a look at this deal, because my spider sense is tingling.

UPDATE: Thanks for the Malkilanche, Michelle!

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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