A map of Oklahoma showing foreclosure rates by county RealtyTrac The New York Observer's Foster Kamer has a great post on why Oklahoma's Attorney General refused to join into the mortgage settlement.

There are, expectedly, diverse opinions on the settlement, from both sides of the debate and a comfortable middle.

Wherever you land on that spectrum, when 49 states go along with a decision and one holds out, there's something going on.

Kamer does a great job debunking Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's claim that Oklahoma homeowner's will get the same amount of money as those in the other 49 states and tosses aside the claim that the state didn't need to participate because it has an acceptable foreclosure rate.

So what's up with Pruitt? It's impossible to know his motivations with any certainty, of course, but this doesn't make things look good:

In Pruitt’s words, he did it for the community banks. And on principle, of course.

For what it’s worth, the article provides some samples from Pruitt’s 2010 donation cycle:

JP MORGAN CHASE & CO: $10,000.00

ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF OKLAHOMA: $5,000.00

ERC LAND DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC: $5,000.00

AMERICAN FIDELITY CORP: $5,000.00

KOCH INDUSTRIES: $5,000.00

OKLAHOMA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS: $4,000.00

OKLAHOMA BANKERS ASSOCIATION: $3,500.00

And some broader totals:

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate: $175,172.00

Lawyers & Lobbyists: $142,835.00

General Business: $125,546.00

Read the full post at the New York Observer here > >



