U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd got a special deal on mortgages from Countrywide Financial in 2003. Now he's playing games with reporters regarding the issue.
From The Wall Street Journal:Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd has finally, sort of, kind of, ended 193 days of stonewalling about his sweetheart loans from former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. At least he did if you were a fast reader and were one of the few reporters he invited to his Hartford office yesterday to review — but not copy or take — more than 100 pages of documents related to his 2003 mortgage financings through Countrywide's "Friends of Angelo" program.
These are the files that Mr. Dodd pledged to make public after the news broke last summer that the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee had received preferential treatment from Countrywide. At first, Mr. Dodd denied everything. Later, he conceded that he'd been given special treatment but thought it was "more of a courtesy."
Heck, we'd all love the kind of courtesy that would have saved Mr. Dodd $75,000 over the life of the two loans he refinanced to the tune of $800,000, according to an analysis by Portfolio magazine. The savings came from rock-bottom interest rates and a free "float-down" — the right to borrow at a lower rate if interest rates fall before you've closed on the loan.
On Monday, with interest rates — even for non-VIPs — near historic lows, Mr. Dodd announced that he would refinance the sweetheart loans with another lender. ...
We don't know whether the documents Mr. Dodd briefly showed yesterday illuminate this mystery or not, because he didn't release them to us, or to the public or his constituents.
Update: I've covered Senator Dodd's "Friends of Angelo" loans in the past here. Wikipedia has details here, here, and here.
U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd got a special deal on mortgages from Countrywide Financial in 2003. Now he's playing games with reporters regarding the issue. From The Wall Street Journal:
Posts
and the people of CT will re-elect him term after term after term after term...
ReplyDeleteThe last I checked lots of people get access to "cheaper" financing due to everything from employer sponsored financing to belonging to a credit union. The fact of the matter is, if you're not getting a so-called 'special' deal ... well, maybe you need to look around a little harder.
ReplyDeleteThis is an unjustified attack on a senator who has been one of the biggest defenders of the average homeowner and, yes, you BHs: home seekers.
Got to agree, this is just more GOP poo-flinging. "A Demon-crap Senator finagled a market-rate mortgage from one of the nation's largest mortgage lender!!! OUTRAGE!!!1!"
ReplyDeleteNot like he got any better terms than anyone else with a decent credit rating could get. Sadly, the fact that we're republishing lunatic ravings from the WSJ Editorial page says more about this blog than it does about Dodd.
You have to be kidding me! What does it take to wake us up? We have cabinet members who don't pay their taxes. We have a senator on the Ways and Means committee who claims he didn't understand the tax law. We have others like Dodd who accept special deals. THESE GUYS ARE SUPPOSE TO SET THE EXAMPLE FOR THE REST OF US! Instead, they pass laws that only apply to us and then violate those few laws that apply to them. Until we wake up and denounce this behavior, it will continue. We need to forget that we are Republicans and Democrats and remember that we are all Americans. This behavior (and our allowing it) is destroying this country.
ReplyDelete"We need to forget that we are Republicans and Democrats and remember that we are all Americans."
ReplyDeleteMeh, Its hard to be proud when everything has been going down the toilet for the past 10 years. Its inevitable for a full flush to happen before the crap is finally out.
ibc said...
ReplyDelete"Not like he got any better terms than anyone else with a decent credit rating could get."
But that's just it. He DID get a better deal than anyone else with a decent credit rating could get. And let me point out, he's not just any old senator, he's the Chairman of the Senate BANKING committee!
Finally, for the record, I am not a Republican and never have been.
How can pieces of shit like this still get away with it? This is truly unbelievable. If it were you or I, we'd be screwed.
ReplyDeleteNoz ... He didn't get any better deal than anyone else in his position. Because of his position, his risk of default is far less than those paying "full price", hence he gets a discount because he's by definition a far less costlier customer than the average customer. Nothing underhanded occurred here ... other than the press looking for an issue to sell papers with. Now if only they'd done there job during the election and scrutinized Obama rather than deify him. But the American press long ago stop acting like professionals so that they could sell more papers.
ReplyDeleteLance,
ReplyDeleteYou really do live in a dream world....that's all I really can say at this point.
VOTE THIS THEIF OUT,VOTE FOR VINNY FORRES ( INDEPENDENT)2010.
ReplyDelete