Tea Party Rep: Bank Should Have Known I Wouldn't Be Able To Repay $2.2 Million Loan

[Chimichurri]

Tea Party aligned Georgia Rep. Tom Graves (R), who castigates Washington for fiscal irresponsibility, reached an out of court settlement Wednesday after he was sued for defaulting on a $2.2 million loan -- which his attorney argued is the bank's fault for lending him the money in the first place.

Graves and his business partner Chip Rogers -- who is the state Senate's Republican majority leader -- took out a $2.2 million loan from the Bartow County Bank in 2007 to buy and renovate a local motel. The project soon went belly-up.

The bank, which has since failed and had its assets taken over, sued Graves and Rogers for defaulting. The two Republicans then countersued, "accusing of improperly declaring the loan in default after reneging on a promise to refinance it at more favorable terms,"

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/tea_party_rep_bank_should_have_known_i_wouldnt_be_able_to_repay_22_million_loan.php



The hypocrisy is so profound, I don't even know where to begin.
First, the banks loose lending standards that gave this Tea Bagger the money is a direct result of massive deregulation - which Republicans love. Second, whatever happened to "fiscal responsibility" these right wingers regurgitate over and over. Next, the audacity of demanding better terms to a loan he KNEW he could not afford is the biggest hypocrisy of all.

[Oceansaway]

1. k & r..nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. What happened to taking personal responsibility?

[tk2kewl]

11. Yeah... acording to the Tehadists wasn't...

the popped mortgage bubble the fault of people who bought houses they couldn't afford? :shrug:

[SpiralHawk]

3. Soooo typical of RepubliBaggers (R)

Whine whine whine - never ever accept any responsibility for their own lowlife thoughts and actions. Pathetic.

No wonder Americans hold the honorless RepubliBaggers (R) in such low regard.

[gristy]

4. My understanding is that's how lending used to work.

You gave a bank all the financial information they asked for, and they would only lend to you if they were certain (or at least nearly certain) that you could pay it back.

The good old days...

[Chimichurri]

7. Indeed. Deregulate and these are the egregious practices you get. Oh and, rules were put in

because of stuff like this.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Is there a list of this type of irresponsibility and hypocrisy by tea partiers? n/t

[Lance_Boyle]

6. Wait, isn't that the same refrain TONS of people here have sung

when the "victim" of the evil bank is someone (anyone!) other than a Tea Partier? The banks SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! The banks SUCKERED people into these outlandish loans!

Hypocrisy, thy name is DU.

[Chimichurri]

14. Tea Baggers scream free market and deregulate, sighting too much gov't oversight

so when they turn around and denounce the very thing they promote, that's hypocrisy.

Not coming to this guy's defense (as you suggest we do) is not hypocritical, it's schadenfreude. People like him helped usher in this era of loose money and laissez-faire capitalism. Now that he got stung by it, he want's to forgo the consequences. Average Americans who got suckered in to risky loans or more often than not, lied into ARMs, were preyed upon and are the victims. This guy is a typical Tea Bagger looking to game the system.

[JoeyT]

23. Pointing out hypocrisy isn't hypocrisy.

It *is* the bank's fault for not realizing he couldn't pay back a loan that large. (Assuming he didn't lie on the application. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt.)

Where hypocrisy comes in is that he's using an argument he and his ilk aren't willing to grant other people. In their minds other people are irresponsible while teabaggers were taken advantage of by a predatory bank.

[kentauros]

8. Actually, I agree that it was the bank's fault.

Really now, they should know better than to ever loan money to a teabagger! Had they asked him about his politic affiliations, the loan-process never would have made it past, "Hi, I'm Ted, your loan officer." }(

[otohara]

16. 2007

pre-tea-bagger

[kentauros]

17. Yeah, but I bet a psychological profile

would have indicated everything that makes up a teabagger today ;)

[DenverDad]

9. But, you see, Rep. Graves is a rich, white guy.

It's only the individuals fault if the individual is: A)Middle-class, B)Immigrant and/or C)Minority.

See, this is "different".

[Javaman]

10. so in other words...

the tea party ball lickers only hire poor risks.

That's my take away.

[dkf]

12. A business venture like this is a risky proposition.

If it had worked maybe it would have provided jobs. It didn't so that is that.

[Bandit]

13. There is such a thing as "Character", we heard all about it during the Clinton Administration.

:shrug:

[DotGone]

15. More Hypocrisy from the Teabaggers. Surprise. Surprise.

When normal everyday people default, it's their fault for taking out a loan they could not afford. When they default, it's the bank's fault. Not knowing they signed a personal guarantee? Must be that contagious amnesia that's still getting passed around from Ollie. I'll bet they'll showcase this as an example of their personal responsibility.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. Another "personal responsibility" Republican

:eyes: :puke:

[myrna minx]

19. K&R n/t

[Quantess]

20. time for kickage

[Ruby the Liberal]

21. And Rec'age

K&R!

[bluestate10]

22. Notice how the Obama bashers have NO comments in an OP like this?

Save one, who gave a half assed response. Notice the same pattern in future OPs that bring republicans to task.

[JoeyT]

24. Apparently the selective blindness that prevents people seeing how bad an idea centrist policies are

eventually spreads so you can't see half the replies on a thread.

[MadMaddie]

25. See if it a Black man it's all the Black mans fault

but hey this guy is special it's the banks fault.....these people make me sick.

[Blecht]

26. "You fucked up. You trusted us."

I think it was Otter who said that.