Virginia Senator�s Mortgage Raises Interest

Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife were approved for a $500,000 mortgage for their Leesburg home. The interesting part is that the small company that provided the mortgage has a policy to lend only to �affluent� investors � which the senator is not.

The Philadelphia Trust Company�s mortgage raises serious questions about Santorum�s conduct while he is the Senate GOP�s man for ethics reform, according to government experts. They said that it would be unethical for the Senator to receive a product that is not available to the public. Though a public statement from the re-election camp of Santorum said the mortgage was �market-driven� no further clarification was given. A further look into the senator�s accounts showed that a committee founded to give direct aid to GOP candidates actually had expenditures for hardware stores and supermarkets. A spokeswoman for Santorum stated that the charges were campaign related, and that the senator prefers to meet political aids outside of Senate property.

The biggest problem for the Senator may not be Starbucks, but his home loan. A former federal prosecutor remarked that any time Santorum gets an item for a price that a regular person would not receive it raises ethics questions. The Philadelphia Trust have been supporters of Santorum since the private bank opened in 1998. The bank confirmed that the loan Santorum received is for investors only, and are not open to the general public. An investigation is being considered.