Still coverin' after all these years

Chris Dodd: bye.


WaPo article reporting on Dodd’s retirement duly notes his “faltering poll numbers” but waits until the very last paragraph to (oh, by the way) mention Dodd’s scandalous involvement with Countrywide Financial.

The L.A. Times by comparison is a yellow rag by jumping on the Countrywide gravy train half-way through their Dodd retires article.

The obligatory "most ethical Congress in history" update.

From the AP:

House Democrats have declined to subpoena available records that might reveal whether other members of Congress got discounted VIP mortgages from subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. similar to the sweetheart deals given Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad.

Republicans were willing to press for this even though it might expose members of their own party as receiving sweetheart deals.

And this is a shame because…

Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation's largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.

Both senators have said that at the time the mortgages were being written they didn't know they were getting unique deals from Countrywide Financial Corp., the company that went on to lose billions of dollars on home loans to credit-strapped borrowers. Dodd still maintains he got no preferential treatment.

Knowing precisely what interest rate we were paying or fees we were on the hook for was not something we paid a whole lot of attention to either. Honestly, what's a point or two between "friends"?

"Uh, sorry about that whole 'nationalize' thing"

Sen. Chris Dodd is apologizing today for his comments Friday suggesting that it might be necessary to nationalize some banks for a short time.

The Connecticut Democrat, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, told reporters in Washington that he was surprised by the market’s reaction.

If Chris “Onions” Dodd does not possess the common decency to at the least, step down from the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee, would it not be too much to ask then that one of the stalwarts of “the most ethical Congress in history” keep his freaking mouth shut?

Just asking.

The Dog Ate my Fixed Rate and now I'm Stuck with this lousy Adjustable One.

The latest cottage industry in the real estate world is web sites targeting distressed homeowners facing foreclosure. In story here involving Countrywide Financial Chairman Angelo Mozilo who provides a cautionary tale regarding that pesky little “Reply to All” button, it would appear that the form letter writing guidance given to homeowners petitioning their lenders entails 3 consistent themes: 1) claiming ignorance/confusion in interpreting the fine print, 2) injury in a physically demanding job implying loss of income and 3) potentiality of suicide.

As the homeowner states, he didn't go to college so web sites like this are a valuable tool in helping achieve that subtle balance between contrived desperation and buck-passing.