Chris Dodd

[Anna]

Does anyone else here wonder why Christopher Dodd isn't under investigation for his VIP loans from Countrywide? Being the number 1 recipient of Fannie and Freddie monies? I think he should be impeached; instead he is on C-SPAN chairing a hearing on Financial Institutions use of Government Assistance Funds. It's a farce.
Is anyone going to vote this ciminal in another 6 years when he is up for re-election? CT should be embarrased!

[alwaysright]

Does anyone else here wonder why Christopher Dodd isn't under investigation for his VIP loans from Countrywide? Being the number 1 recipient of Fannie and Freddie monies? I think he should be impeached; instead he is on C-SPAN chairing a hearing on Financial Institutions use of Government Assistance Funds. It's a farce.
Is anyone going to vote this ciminal in another 6 years when he is up for re-election? CT should be embarrased!


hey- up in palincountry- they are re-electing a multi-felon. so why not here???

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

Impeach Dodd, start an investigation, are you kidding. You must be listening to WELI in New Haven to much.

There are other persons in higher offices that need to be impeached before you get to Dodd.

So what if Dodd got a little off the interest rate, so what if he got a little off the fees. Look at the big picture, the housing market is in bad shape, people are losing their houses and all you care about is that dodd got a little favor from countrywide.

We give 2 trillion to the banks and financial markets with no accountability and you care that Dodd got a little favor on his loans. AIG has 2 big parties
(400,000.00 and 300,000.00) after receiving 80 billion from Paulson and you want to impeach Dodd. Blackwater received billions from the defense department with little accountabilty and you want to impeach Dodd.

Stop listening to the idiots at WELI from 5-7 pm.

The way to get even is don't vote the the guy.

[S_Meriden60]

Dodd is under investigation by the ethics board for his Countrywide dealings.
The report isn't out yet but I'm sure he'll wiggle out of any trouble.

[Anna]

Impeach Dodd, start an investigation, are you kidding. You must be listening to WELI in New Haven to much.

There are other persons in higher offices that need to be impeached before you get to Dodd.

So what if Dodd got a little off the interest rate, so what if he got a little off the fees. Look at the big picture, the housing market is in bad shape, people are losing their houses and all you care about is that dodd got a little favor from countrywide.

We give 2 trillion to the banks and financial markets with no accountability and you care that Dodd got a little favor on his loans. AIG has 2 big parties
(400,000.00 and 300,000.00) after receiving 80 billion from Paulson and you want to impeach Dodd. Blackwater received billions from the defense department with little accountabilty and you want to impeach Dodd.


Stop listening to the idiots at WELI from 5-7 pm.

The way to get even is don't vote the the guy.

Will you vote for him when his term is up?
It matters. It all maters. He's not a little fish. He's a senior member of the Senate. He should be held accountable. Go after business too if their behavior was criminal. Walk and chew gum at the same time.

WELI 5-7? I don't listen.

[Anna]

Dodd is under investigation by the ethics board for his Countrywide dealings.
The report isn't out yet but I'm sure he'll wiggle out of any trouble.


I hope he doesn't wiggle out. I'm glad someone is at least looking into it.
Thanks for the update.

[RC12L4]

Why do you Democrats keep electing him?

[BillCarson436]

Hello...

Dodd just came out today SUPPORTING his friend Joe Lieberman....

That alone should be enough to replace him.

These Democrats are a rare breed...lol

[Anna]

The Nutmeg State...forget the meg, we're just nuts!

[flatrat]

Hello...

Dodd just came out today SUPPORTING his friend Joe Lieberman....

That alone should be enough to replace him.

These Democrats are a rare breed...lol

I agree, they are a rare breed. Dodd even supported restoring habeas corpus. What was he thinking?

Dodd is claiming innocence. There was an investigation by the US Justice Dept. Results are pending. There's a good possibility the DOJ investigation caused Obama to pick Biden rather than Dodd as his VP.

Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide’s “V.I.P.” program in 2003 and 2004, according to company documents and emails and a former employee familiar with the loans.

Other participants in the V.I.P. program included former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. Jackson was deputy H.U.D. secretary in the Bush administration when he received the loans in 2003. Shalala, who received two loans in 2002, had by then left the Clinton administration for her current position as president of the University of Miami. She is sc
Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, about $700, on the second, according to internal documents. Both loans were for 30 years, with the first five years at a fixed rate.

The interest rate on the loans, originally pegged at 4.875%, was reduced to 4.25% on the Washington home and 4.5% on the Connecticut property by the time the loans were funded. The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home. The former employee says the float-downs were free. Senator Dodd’s wife, Jackie Clegg, said in a brief interview that two other lenders they checked with offered comparable interest rates. The senator’s office said Thursday afternoon that it is preparing a response.

Countrywide has also contributed a total of $21,000 to Dodd’s campaigns since 1997. While a presidential candidate last year, he filed a bill to ban lenders from charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans—both practices in which Countrywide reportedly engaged. He also called for criminal charges for such predatory lending.

Senator Conrad borrowed $1.07 million in 2004 to refinance his vacation home with a balcony and large porch in Bethany Beach, Delaware, a block from the ocean. Mozilo instructed a subordinate to “take off 1 point,” or $10,700, according to a March 17, 2004, email.

Later that year, Conrad refinanced an eight-unit apartment building that he and his brothers owned in Bismarck, North Dakota. According to the former employee, the loan violated Countrywide’s normal policy of providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer. In an April 23, 2004, email, Mozilo encouraged an employee to “make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator.”

Senator Conrad acknowledged in a statement that he received financing from Countrywide. “I never met Angelo Mozilo,” he said. “I have no way of knowing how they categorized my loan. I never asked for, expected or was aware of any special treatment…From what we have been able to determine, it appears that we were given a competitive rate.”

A spokeswoman for Countrywide, which is slated to be acquired by Bank of America, declined to comment. A Bank of America spokesman said that senior executives there “do not get involved in the origination of mortgages,” but will refer inquiring friends to the right loan programs.

Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and helped build it into the nation’s largest home mortgage lender. While interest rates were dropping in the first half of this decade, prompting widespread demand for refinances and home-equity loans, Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment. Account executives at Countrywide’s call center in Rosemead, California, handled the bulk of the loan applications, which were processed by a separate V.I.P. underwriting unit that had its own branch number in Countrywide’s record-keeping system.

Jackson, the former H.U.D. secretary, borrowed $346,331 from Countrywide in June 2003 to refinance his Alexandria, Virginia, townhouse. That December, he applied for a $308,000 mortgage to buy a vacation home on a golf course in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The loan came through on January 21, 2004, a week before President Bush named him to the H.U.D. post. He resigned in March 2008 amid unrelated cronyism allegations.

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/06/12/Countrywide-Loan-Scandal#page1

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

“Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment.”

Dodd’s interest rates are 4.25 and 4.5 percent…..this is what Anna want to impeach him for. He got a couple of tenths off his interest rate, big deal, how many other government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities got the same deal but yet your not calling for an investigation into them. The interest rate on my house is 4 3/8, may I should be investigated, (my loan is not with country wide). If Dodd’s interest was around 2 percent may there is alarm, but at over 4 percent it is just another loan, and it will to reset after 5 years, 5 years must be up so his interest rate is most likely higher seeing as he refinanced in 2003. Where is the harm?

Time to let go and move on and debate the bigger problems facing this country

[RC12L4]

“Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment.”

Dodd’s interest rates are 4.25 and 4.5 percent…..this is what Anna want to impeach him for. He got a couple of tenths off his interest rate, big deal, how many other government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities got the same deal but yet your not calling for an investigation into them. The interest rate on my house is 4 3/8, may I should be investigated, (my loan is not with country wide). If Dodd’s interest was around 2 percent may there is alarm, but at over 4 percent it is just another loan, and it will to reset after 5 years, 5 years must be up so his interest rate is most likely higher seeing as he refinanced in 2003. Where is the harm?

Time to let go and move on and debate the bigger problems facing this country

I believe the issue at hand isn't about the interest rates but more about the fees that were waived. Consider he's a member of the Senate Banking Committee and the biggest recipient of donations from CountryWide than any other Senator.

If this is a non issue for you then you will agree to not complain when a politican at the local or federal level gets some form of kick back.

[S_Meriden60]

I watched an interview with Dodd on TV. He said that he and his wife shopped around for refinancing before picking Countrywide.
At this point in time he hasn't publicly said which banks he compared rates with.
;)

[Anna]

“Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment.”

Dodd’s interest rates are 4.25 and 4.5 percent…..this is what Anna want to impeach him for. He got a couple of tenths off his interest rate, big deal, how many other government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities got the same deal but yet your not calling for an investigation into them. The interest rate on my house is 4 3/8, may I should be investigated, (my loan is not with country wide). If Dodd’s interest was around 2 percent may there is alarm, but at over 4 percent it is just another loan, and it will to reset after 5 years, 5 years must be up so his interest rate is most likely higher seeing as he refinanced in 2003. Where is the harm?

Time to let go and move on and debate the bigger problems facing this country


Dodd is held to a higher standard. What he does matters. You may give him a pass, I don't. Ethics and the lack there of, has created many of the problems were are experiencing. He should be removed or at the very least censured. Take away his chairman seat. Then hopefully, we'll vote the bum out.

[flatrat]

Dodd is held to a higher standard. What he does matters. You may give him a pass, I don't. Ethics and the lack there of, has created many of the problems were are experiencing. He should be removed or at the very least censured. Take away his chairman seat. Then hopefully, we'll vote the bum out.

I'm not defending Dodd, if the investigation finds him wrong, let the chips fall where they may. I am grateful that he was one of the few Senators with the testicular fortitude to stand up for our constitution during the Bush frenzy.

This para implies that maybe there was no Countrywide influence on his decision making:

Countrywide has also contributed a total of $21,000 to Dodd’s campaigns since 1997. While a presidential candidate last year, he filed a bill to ban lenders from charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans—both practices in which Countrywide reportedly engaged. He also called for criminal charges for such predatory lending.

[Anna]

[QUOTE=flatrat]I'm not defending Dodd, if the investigation finds him wrong, let the chips fall where they may. I am grateful that he was one of the few Senators with the testicular fortitude to stand up for our constitution during the Bush frenzy.

This para implies that maybe there was no Countrywide influence on his decision making:

Countrywide has also contributed a total of $21,000 to Dodd’s campaigns since 1997. While a presidential candidate last year, he filed a bill to ban lenders from charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans—both practices in which Countrywide reportedly engaged. He also called for criminal charges for such predatory lending.
[/QUOTE

How about his attitude toward Fannie and Freddie? He was the no. 1 recipient for political donations and he let them go on their merry way, when some were sounding alarm bells. I just wish, we had some integrity in Washington. I guess it's too much to ask for.
I think we should have term limits, one term for Senators. It should not be a career choice. If you know you don't have to worry about re-elections, maybe you'll vote on what is right for everyone and not just you're future. Too much power is concentrated in Washington. It isn't supposed to be that way.