This is my first post, so please be gentle. I just saw a story at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/... which uses their "Democrats do it too" technique, popularized in the indian gaming/Abramoff scandal. This time, they are comparing the mortgages of Rick Santorum, who has a mortgage that violates senate rules (and I think, the law as well) since it is not available to non-customers of the bank, which requires a large investment portfolio. Mr. Casey seems to be guilty only of having a mortgage. The Post states that the bank's officers have donated to his campaign, but I don't think that is a problem, as long as the loan is available to anyone who meets the bank's criteria. I have excerpted some of the article below the fold.
Democrats thought they smelled favoritism. But their hopes diminished when Santorum released details of the mortgage: a five-year, interest-only balloon loan at 5 percent, which were not unusual terms in 2002.
According to the WaPo,
"The potential partisan implications of the controversy were further dulled when likely Democratic nominee Robert P. Casey Jr., the state treasurer, revealed that his $120,000 mortgage is from First National Community Bank, whose politically active board members have contributed to his campaigns.
"It doesn't sound like either of them got a particularly good deal," Keith Gumbinger, vice president of mortgage information publisher HSH Associates, told the Philadelphia Inquirer."