Further blog fodder...

"Those who blog, blog. Those who can't, cut & paste. "
I guess that would be me emulating the aforementioned form.

Anyway, from James Taranto of the WSJ:

President Obama gave the commencement address Wednesday at Arizona State University, and blogger Jim Hoft notes what he describes as a rather audacious passage from the president's speech:

We've become accustomed to our economic dominance in the world, forgetting that it wasn't reckless deals and get-rich-quick schemes that got us where we are, but hard work and smart ideas--quality products and wise investments. We started taking shortcuts. We started living on credit, instead of building up savings.

Uh, what do you mean "we," kemo sabe? Two weeks ago New York's Daily News ran an op-ed by "an elected official in California"--not Nancy Pelosi, we'd guess--writing under the pseudonym Richard Henry Lee. "Lee" evaluated Obama's personal finances and found that for several years the future president lived just the way he decried in Tempe:

A close examination of their finances shows that the Obamas were living off lines of credit along with other income for several years until 2005, when Obama's book royalties came through and Michelle received her 260% pay raise at the University of Chicago. This was also the year Obama started serving in the U.S. Senate. . . .

In April 1999, they purchased a Chicago condo and obtained a mortgage for $159,250. In May 1999, they took out a line of credit for $20,750. Then, in 2002, they refinanced the condo with a $210,000 mortgage, which means they took out about $50,000 in equity. Finally, in 2004, they took out another line of credit for $100,000 on top of the mortgage.

Tax returns for 2004 reveal $14,395 in mortgage deductions. If we assume an effective interest rate of 6%, then they owed about $240,000 on a home they purchased for about $159,250.

This means they spent perhaps $80,000 beyond their income from 1999 to 2004.

A less charitable observer, or one less inclined to paralipsis, might characterize Obama's book royalties as more of a "get-rich-quick scheme" than a "quality product." But in any case, they passed the marketplace test, so more power to him.