You Can't Make This Stuff Up

People often ask me how I can stand covering Congress for so long, as if I report on the same story every month of every year.  Sometimes, you can't make up the news that comes along.

Last week we had a Congressional Love Child, as Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) confirmed that he not only was running around on his wife, but also produced a three year old child.

This week's winner - hands down - comes from California, courtesy of the Capitol Weekly in Sacramento, which reports that a newly elected Congresswoman simply walked away from her house and let it slip into foreclosure.

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) of Long Beach is the human face on the foreclosure crisis, as she evidently couldn't keep up on her mortgage while she was a state lawmaker, so she just stopped making payments on it.

Kudos to reporter Anthony York, who dug into tax and real estate records to ferret out this story. 

The best part of this story though may lie in how Richardson bought the house, because this may raise additional questions (this was when she was in the state legislature, not in Congress.)

It seems that in early 2007, she took out a 100% mortgage for the entire $535,000 sale price of the Sacramento home - no down payment at all.

That will probably get a closer look now.

As for voting on issues related to the mortgage crisis, foreclosures, etc., Richardson has recused herself on those issues.

She did not vote on May 7 and 8 when the House was considering legislation on the foreclosure and other housing issues.

Like I said, you can't make this stuff up.



People often ask me how I can stand covering Congress for so long, as if I report on the same story every month of every year.  Sometimes, you can't make up the news that comes along. Last week we had a Congressional Love Child, as Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) confirmed ...