How stupid do unscrupulous borrowers Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad think you are?
Unscrupulous Democrat borrower Sen. Kent Conrad claims he didn’t know he was getting special preferential loan treatment from scandal-plagued subprime lender Countrywide Financial and denies doing anything wrong.
He didn’t know–even though he phoned up Countrywide’s CEO Angelo Mozilo himself to ask for the loan.
He didn’t do anything wrong–but he’s going to donate money to Habitat for Humanity and get the loan refinanced, anyway.
Unscrupulous Democrat borrower Sen. Chris Dodd, meanwhile, is playing the indignant card:
”As a United States senator, I would never ask or expect to be treated differently than anyone else refinancing their home,” Dodd said Friday afternoon in a statement e-mailed to reporters. “This suggestion is outrageous and contrary to my entire career in public service.
”When my wife and I refinanced our loans in 2003, we did not seek or expect any favorable treatment. Just like millions of other Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates.”
Dodd and his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, took out a $506,000 loan to refinance their Washington townhouse, and a $275,000 loan to refinance their home in East Haddam, Portfolio reported, citing company documents. Countrywide officials agreed to reduce the Washington rate to 4.25 percent and the East Haddam rate to 4.5 percent without cost, the article said, with the potential to save the Dodds as much as $75,000 over the 30-year life of the loans.
A spokesman for the senator could not say whom the Dodds conferred with when refinancing the two homes, but said definitively that “neither Senator Dodd nor Jackie spoke to Angelo about their loan.”
Word of the deals raised eyebrows around Washington and among the senator’s critics back home in Connecticut.
”It is a low-tide moment for Chris Dodd,” said Chris Healy, the chairman of the Connecticut Republicans, who called for Dodd to “completely offer himself to the media for a full explanation of this very troubling insider deal.”
”To even a casual, indifferent observer,” Healy said, “this doesn’t pass the smirk test or the smell test.”
How stupid do unscrupulous Democrat borrowers Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad think you are?
Really, really stupid.
***
Where do your congressional reps stand? Ask them: 202-224-3121.
The WSJ recommends a course of action. Three words: No more bailouts:
Fannie should immediately launch an internal investigation into the terms offered to Countrywide, and exactly what role Messrs. Johnson and Raines played in the negotiation of these terms. Did these men exert any pressure on Fannie employees to do business with Countrywide?
Congress also needs a full accounting of the contacts between Countrywide and the politicians receiving favors from the lender. Did Countrywide ask for and receive assistance from the Friends of Angelo? With Senate Banking Chairman Dodd at the center of the scandal, ranking member Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) will have to lead the inquiry.
But taxpayers should not have to wait for the results of an investigation. Democrats in Congress are trying to pass a bailout for mortgage borrowers and lenders like Countrywide, and they have been holding reform of Fannie Mae and its cousin Freddie Mac hostage to get President Bush to agree. Mr. Dodd is one of the main hostage-takers. It is time he and Mr. Frank dropped this political ransom-taking and finally subjected Fannie and Freddie to tough oversight. This means giving a regulator the power to set their capital ratios and portfolio securities limits, so that taxpayers have some protection against their potential losses.
Meanwhile, until it is clear how much Countrywide will benefit from Senator Dodd’s proposed $300 billion mortgage rescue – and exactly how Mr. Dodd came to do business with Countrywide – Congress should call a halt to legislating bailouts. Taxpayers deserve no less.
***
More from the NYPost:
The pols, for their part, claim they’re as pure as the driven snow in all this. Dodd calls any suggestion of impropriety “outrageous he and his wife “did not seek or expect any favorable treatment.”
No, of course not. Perish the thought, senator.
But already the FOA scandal has ensnared Barack Obama’s veep-selection committee chairman, Jim Johnson, an ex-boss at Fannie Mae. He had to quit the committee after The Wall Street Journal reported that he got a low-rate loan from Countrywide.
With all this, who can be surprised if borrowers stretched the truth on their mortgage applications or if officials in the industry played fast and loose here and there to boost sales?
Just look at their role models.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Dodd And Conrad Think You’re Dumb « Beltway Snark
- WSJ Blowing The Lid on Dodd, Countrywide and The Democrat Mortgage Scandal | 186 k per second
- COUNTRY WIDE CEO GIVES CHRIS DODD SWEETHEART DEAL……..AND SOME FREE SPRAY TAN COUPONS « Chicagoans Against Obama
- Michelle Malkin » Where in the world is Chris Dodd?
- Michelle Malkin » Dodd knew since 1993
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: Subprime crisis
Patterico
» Parenting and Politics
TigerHawk
» Rank sexismGateway Pundit
» Todd Palin Speaks Out For First Time Since His Wife Became the Republican VP Candidate (Video)TigerHawk
» Deconstructing the speeches of the seasonPoliPundit.com
» Yesterday’s SampleNewsBusters.org
» 'American Morning' Fact Checks Palin But Not Obama or BidenJawa Report
» Might as Well Put it to MusicWeekly Standard
» Required Reading: I Take It All Back, Part IIDavid Frum
» Why Bother?The Sundries Shack
» Gutless Gutman
I wish I could use the, “I didn’t know” defense every time the sh*t hit the fan in my life. Suck it up kid.
Isn’t this redundant?
In fact, a majority of our elected officials are unscrupulous - Republicans and Democrats alike.
No. That may be true but you didn’t turn it down either. You accepted what amounts to a bribe and now seek to play the ‘that’s not the terms I knew’ card à la Obamessiah.
Wonder if he would say that under oath?
Sure would like to find out…
No doubt Duke Cunningham would still be in office instead of PMITA prison if he had only thought to be indignant at the suggestion that those bribes influenced his actions as committee chairman.
Well, indignant plus membership in the Democrat party.
Surely you have to understand by now that conflict of interest does not pertain to anything the democrats (and far too many republicans) do.
There certainly is no call for, need to request or belief that an actual and factual inquiry by the drain dream media will ever occur.
He is a politician above the people, he can do no wrong! It’s time that the Conservatives fall in “lock, stock and barrel” behind the rest of the nation so they too will understand this fact.
… on the other hand
Maybe while we are there, we can light a fire under some of their tails and get them to actually answer to we the people. If not, it may be time to utilize the lock, stock and barrel a bit more.
Don’t expect Dodd or any Dhimmicrap to answer truthfully. They are the party that keeps on reelecting criminals.
“How stupid do unscrupulous borrowers Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad think you are?”
Gee, I don’t know. How many times have they been re-elected?
Bingo! Time and time again voters prove them right! After all, the left believes in killing babies and fights for the rights of murders and terrorists. How dumb are “we”?
Wow. In 2005 we got 4.25% on a 7 year adjustable. If only we’d know that the average CT citizen could get that same rate on a 30 year loan we wouldn’t be sweating out the next four years!
first troll to denounce the behavior gets a prize. lgm, thats your queue!
and its 15 times now
Of course these people got special treatment. it makes me sick that businesses dont want to treat all of their customers like they want their business this badly.
Most ethical Congress, ever…..
How stupid do Democrats think we are? Extremely stupid. I guess that’s because they get away with this stuff time and time again. MSM always covers their fannies for good measure. Money in freezers, lying to the public, voter fraud…no big deal if you are a Democrat. Comes with the territory.
Of course, one has to consider the stupidity label is earned by the voters who keep electing these stellar politicians. Apparently they condone their crooked politicans’ behavior.
Guess Sen. Dodd learned noting from the experince of his father, also a U.S. Senator, who was censured by the Senate way back.
the Barbara Streisand detector went to 11 on this..
That’s not the Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad that I knew.
They’re Democrats. Rules don’t apply.
In the DOD those of us working in Contracting and Financial Management career fields are required to go to recurring ethics training to prevent such conflicts of interest in the performance of our duties. Nice to know our betters in Congress can get away with the “do as I say not as I do” school of operations if it was just one of use plebian dogs doing this we wouldn’t be in the grey bar hotel we would be under it. Most ethical Congress ever indeed!
they are all thieves and they like to think we are stupid out here but we all have had mortgages for the most part and are well aware that WE rubes could not get what they get because we don’t have the phone number to the CEO!
abstract… what you are going to get from lgm is simply moral equivalence… Rusty may be a more suitable
trollreplacement.AM, you know he will bring up some Republican and/or Christian who is “worse”.
ROYALTY- the “ELECT” really believe they are above us in the U.S.
Did the Founders NOT ESCHEW artistocracy and democracy?!!!
When are we going to ACT upoon the notion of ENOUGH of this special treatment of those who are to SERVE us–and not themselves?!!!!!!
while it may look like an exercise in futility, Rusty on some levels can be reasoned with and usually makes at least a decent argument.
There’s a method and reason to the madness, i assure you
Oh I completely agree which is why I believe he (Rusty) may actually denounce the practice. lgm, on the other hand… I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Notice that Chris Dodd refuses to say who he called at Countrywide to initiate his two loans. Conrad admitted that he phoned Angelo Mozilo but Conrad says that any other borrower could do the same thing!!!! Chris Dodd has excoriated Mozillo in the press but apparently that didn’t stop him from asking Mozilo to take care of him. And Dodd did not even meet the Countrywide standard for borrowing money on two loans. Dodd won’t say if Countrywide waived a prepayment penalty for him. Countrywide sticks the average customer with a three year prepayment penalty. And Dodd won’t release the HUD RESPA form from his closings so that we could compare his closing costs with what Countrywide usually socks customers with. If Dodd has nothing to hide, why doesn’t he release all the loan documents from his closing and why doesn’t he authorize Countrywide to release all the internal documents pertaining to his closings? Nothing to hide, right Chris?
Amazing on this post MM. When WIFE and I were eating breakfast Friday, saw this story in the local RAG. Mentioned to my WIFE, how both claimed NO SPECIAL CONSIDERATION AS SENATORS. Than mentioned how one sent a letter to the CEO of COUNTRYWIDE. The other was PUT IN TOUCH with the CEO. No special treatment indeed. As if my WIFE and I could get access to the CEO by letter or direct contact. Both of us said “how stupid do they think the voters are?” Well, PRETTY STUPID I would guess…
Well, its more of an experiment to see how far one individual can push moral relativism.
and no fair if you just say “i dont like it” lgm, without really meaning it
Warning: UberGeekAlert
I always equated moral relativism to the same kind of mentality as True Neutrals in AD&D. People who can see all the facts, but never really take a solid stance on anything, and often cannot make decisions based on their own mentality.
We need to give these guys a break. They probably have really high credit scores and good ratios!
1.) Their income is very stable; morons will continue to elect them no matter what.
2.) If their income needs to increase, they can vote to increase it themselves.
3.) Their debts are low since everything in their lives, including their damn MEALS, is bought and paid for with taxpayer dollars.
4.) If they were to ever have a debt or “negative item” on their credit report, they can call the CEO of the creditor and “clear up the misunderstanding”.
Most
EthicalCorrupt Congress in History!Congress = den of thieves.
This will come as no surprise, but as I was reading the AP article yesterday on Kent Conrad, I sensed that something was … missing!
What was missing was any mention of his political party.
Culture of corruption.
The Democrat Marxists think you are pretty dumb and will let this slide on by.
Since there seemingly are no consequences for this immoral, unethical action, why should we expect anything to change? Unless the people act (even with violence) these people will continue to give the public the bird.
It wasn’t just missing in that article, it was missing in the NY Times news story and Caucus blog story on Saturday. Miraculously, the reporter discovered the party affiliation in time for the Sunday story.
Wow, someone gave me a great loan and I had no idea that I really didn’t qualify for this loan that was given to me, so you can understand my shock and dismay at having been on the receiving end of this wonderful loan. This must be the mindset of Conrad and Dodd. Evidently, they believe we’re all stupid and will swallow this story hook, line and sinker. Unfortunately, they’re probably shoe ins for their next elections too.
Where are you lgm? Come out, come out wherever you are!
/lgm mode on
Well President Bush is busy destroying Iowa.
/off
*my head hurts
Only as stupid as their dedicated constituency.
Soap, you had better be careful trying to channel lgm that way. It could have a lasting effect on you.
I’m shocked that two men who have given up a few years of their otherwise productive lives to serve their nation in the Senate as public servants would be involved…
No wait, that’s part of my new novel “Deleriums of a Voter”.
I suppose it is safe to say that we will be able to find that in the non-fiction section, AG?
Didn’t the last governor of Connecticut get sent to jail for accepting free business from contractors his office was dealing with, and then lying about it?
Why shouldn’t Senator Dodd’s circumstance of receiving sweetheart deals from an organization that he oversees get the same scrutiny? At best, Senator Dodd can clear his name. At worst, Dodd can go to jail, just like the former Governor of Connecticut did.
I wonder if that excuse would work for William Jefferson: “I didn’t know they were going to leave $90,000 in my freezer - even though I called them up and asked them for it. I thought it was found money…”
Dodd, and Conrad are right. Senators and other “high” governmental officials ar always treated like normal every day citizens. They never get preferential treatment. Just like Hollywood’s movie stars, they have to pay for everything themselves. Do you think they give those multi-thousand dollar gift bags to the actors at the Academy Award shows for free?
/sarc off
It is amazing to me that those MOST capable of paying, always seem to be the ones catching the deals, or getting stuff for free. And, mentioning Hollywood…they are the ones at fault for creating this problem. Look at ALL the movies they have made since movies were invented, that perpetuate the notion that (especially) Senators get freebies, and are treated preferentially.
Of course not! All Americans are equal, right. It’s just that some are more equal than others.
How come the Countrywide V.I.P. program only went to Democrats? Doesn’t this violate campaign contribution laws? Besides, I thought Dems were opposed to special treatment for the Rich and Powerful. I guess it’s OK when the “rich gettin richer” are all Democrats.
Nothing to see here sheeple. Move along. Continue grazing. The end will be swift and painless.
Signed: The Cleptocrats.
The question is what morons put these criminals into office and why do they keep voting for them?????
They think you’re as stupid as they want or need you to be. And since you keep voting for them and their ilk, who’s to say they’re wrong?
Does Sen. Conrad get an IRS deduction for making a “charitable contribution” with the $$$ that he “donated” after he got caught taking a deal under the table? If so, I’m sure Willie Sutton would gladly have “donated” everything he got from the banks he robbed in exchange for being let go by the cops that caught him. Most North Dakotans are honest, hard working people. I wonder how they are going to look upon one of their senators acting like he is better than his constituents, when he earns more than 99% of them?
“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” — George Bernard Shaw
It may be of interest (but no surprise) to all to know that this is NOT being covered on Connecticut television, or so minimally that I missed it, and I watch the CT news every day.
And you wonder how he gets reelected?
In 1967, Dodd’s father was censured by the Senate for using campaign funds for personal purposes.
No, you can’t blame the son for the sins of the father, but you can surely see that he learned well at his knee.
And further more than that, I have some ocean front property in Arizona I’d like to sell to pay of this perfectly honest loan.
And how dare you hoi-poloi question anything I do? You think i work for you or something? Of all the nerve.
This is another reason i’m pretty much done with voting. This graft and corruption is evident at all levels of government, there’s really nobody worth voting for. I dont expect honesty from politicians but I’d like to at least see the appearance of it. After voting a conservative ticket for 37 years I’ve watched this country in steady decline. So tell me, what exactly was my vote worth? It’s the same ol’ same ol’ on both sides of the fence. The culture of corruption is rampant in government.
I retired from DOD in R&D and we had to go to the same training. At one of the sessions somebody asked if this was going to be presented in Congress and the White House. This was back in the 90’s when Sweet Willie Clinton was president. The facilitator didnt answer.
Like father like son. So Dodd inherited his seat, much like Kennedy. There’s too much of this. Term limits now.