How to Spell Irony? D-O-D-D
Connecticut Senior Senator Chris Dodd is in the news today for tasking the Senate Banking Committee – of which he is the Chair – take up its own investigation of former Wall Street hotshot Bernard Madoff. Madoff is alleged to have been a varsity level swindler who ran an old school ponzi scheme and took a cool $50 billion off of his investors.
While there is no doubt that the Madoff thing should be scrutinized closely to see how and who dropped the ball, he isn’t the only one that deserves to have a thorough examination by the Senate Banking Committee. Senator Dodd should consider an investigation into his own dealing on the two sweetheart mortgage deals from Countrywide Financial.
Mr. Dodd could lead the investigation into how the Senate’s key powerbroker on financial services matters could end up with two “jumbo” mortgages at 4.5% and 4.25%, waived fees, free floatdowns, and nearly $70,000 saved over the life of the loans.
He could determine why Countrywide Financial – a company whose name became synonomous with ignominy for subprime mortgages and predatory lending practices – would want to butter up a Presidential candidate and powerful Washington insider.
Best of all, Dodd could finally get some answers out of the man who has, after 209 days, still not answered the key questions related to the incident. He would, after all, be staring at him in the mirror every morning.
The Wall Street Journal took up Senator Dodd’s problems today, berating him for his continued silence on the topic:
Just before Mr. Dodd made his promise [to release the mortgage documents], Bank of America closed its acquisition of Countrywide and Mr. Dodd has continued to oversee BofA and the rest of the mortgage industry as Chairman of Senate Banking. He will now play a lead role in drafting legislation affecting the very business that gave him preferential treatment, yet he still refuses to release the mortgage documents that would illuminate this treatment.
We will continue to keep our vigil until Senator Dodd comes clean, or we defeat him. Both would be fine, too.
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Just had quite the talk with my plumber on Main St in front of the Post Office. His wife teaches dance.
How American is that!
If this guy is any measure of the anger on Main St, Dodd is toast.
This guy is fully up to speed and knows more economic theory as practiced in the real world than I’ve seen out of Dodd’s or Nancy’s or Harry’s mouth or Barney’s mouth (bad image, sorry!).
There is a lot of smarts on Main St, these guys make it work every day of the week, they take the calls at 2:00AM, they deliver the goods or they don’t get paid.
And they are really mad.
Senator Dodd (D-Iowa) I don’t know if you read this, but people on Main St are calling you dishonest, (my words I cleaned it up a bit). And they blame you for not watching the store while chasing a dream on the taxpayers dime. Not you solely, that’s for sure, but you own a large part of it.