Bailouts

As you may have read, last night the U.S. Senate voted to defund ACORN in the wake of their "whores R us" scandal.

Many of the 83 Senators who voted "yea" are going now to desperately sweep all their close ties with the troubled activist group into the 'ole memory hole. But one Senator is going to have an especially hard time doing this.

Chris Dodd

Seems the Senator is warmly praised on ACORN's own website!

Sen. Dodd Meets with ACORN to Discuss Foreclosure Prevention

Senator Chris Dodd and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch with ACORN members March 28. Donna Pearce, on right, worked out a loan modification to save her home through ACORN's housing counseling.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch met to discuss strategies for fighting foreclosures March 28 at the home of ACORN member Donna Pearce.Pearce thanked the senator for his support of NeighborWorks, which helps provide funding for foreclosure counseling services. She was able to work out a loan modification to save her home from foreclosure by working with ACORN’s housing counselors."I think we're all just a bit jealous of the great work ACORN does," said Finch. He later added, “We should make sure everyone who signs that paperwork to buy a house has ACORN’s number tattooed on their wrist.”Dodd recently unveiled draft legislation, the “HOPE for Homeowners Act of 2008,” that would set up a mortgage refinancing division of the Federal Housing Administration to aid homeowners overwhelmed with unaffordable mortgages. Similar legislation has also been drafted by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank.“This proposal will help provide much-needed relief for people on the brink of foreclosure,” Dodd said. The bill, which extends only to owner-occupied houses, is aimed at “keeping families in their houses and neighborhoods financially stable.”

   Now that Dodd is running behind in his bid for re-election, time to try and make people forget he tried to divert tens of billions of dollars from the TARP bailout to fund ACORN and their allies, even if the taxpayers lost money on TARP . Thankfully, this was headed off, but Dodd got a smaller slush fund tacked on the earlier mortgage relief bill. 

Chris Dodd's various bailouts haven't done much for the overall economy,but's he's made sure they've done plenty for ACORN.

And now, time to cut them loose. Like they haven't been a rogue outfit for years. Please.

Perhaps we ought to add this picture next to the definition. 

My Senator is going to take some time off from manhandling the financial services sector and auto industry to do some campaigning among the common folks who were not blessed to be fathered by a U.S. Senator.

He will be in the small town of Somers today attending a Chili Cook-off 

You know, not among lobbyists and financiers--just "average people" whom you can't explain the working of finance to. Since only 21% of the voters approve of how you are managing the Banking Commitee, looks like you've given up on that, eh? But you'll still eat their chili. How noble.

Any release of pungent hot air from the Senator on tomorrow's televised gabfests will be purely coincidental, I'm sure.

Of course, we've been told the Senator has retooled his staff to prepare for a real re-election campaign, not the clueless dolts who could only find enough local donors to fit in a Honda Fit.

The Politico reports Dodd's new major domo will be Edward Silverman . Here's the read

Edward Silverman will become chief of staff for the Senate Banking Committee, according to several lobbyists close to the committee. Silverman currently heads public policy for Connecticut-­based firm RBS Securities and serves as treasurer of Dodd’s leadership political action committee. .....Silverman brings the type of experience that could prevent such media firestorms from igniting in the future, said lobbyists. He spent nine years working for Dodd in the 1980s, serving as banking committee counsel, legislative director and finally chief of staff.In 1989, he joined RBS, where he currently works as managing director and head of public policy.

Hmm, who exactly is RBS Securities?

RBS Securities (formerly RBS Greenwich Capital) is the Royal Bank of Scotland Group's U.S. investment bank/broker-dealer based in Greenwich, Connecticut that specializes in fixed income arbitrage and other fixed income strategies......In 2007, RBS was named Currency Derivatives House of the year by RISK Magazine

Hmm, Royal Bank of Scotland---the AIG of the UK!

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LSE: RBS) is a majority part-nationalised British banking and insurance holding company in which HM Treasury holds a 74% controlling shareholding, through the UK Financial Investments Limited. The group is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the world's largest company by assets.

And what happened to RBS? Well their CEO, Fred Goodwin was fired by the Gordon Brown government who had to de facto nationalize the firm. Why? Because the bank had too much deriviative exposure!

However the business (now RBS Greenwich Capital) started making money, and under pressure of comparison with rapidly-growing competitors such as Barclays Capital, saw major expansion in 2005-7, not least in private equity loans and in the sub-prime mortgage market.[10] It became one of the top three underwriters of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).[21] This increased exposure to the eventual "credit crunch" contributed to RBS's financial problems

Yep, Dodd thinks a guy tied in to the AIG of the UK is going to plot a path out of the mess he made with AIG, Fannie Mae and every other financial firm he's gotten within a kilometer of over the past two years.

Dodd may be eating chili today, but he's still selling the same crap sandwich.

Dodd's Troubles Open Debate on Congress' Ties With Special Interests

 Dodd has become the poster boy for critics who say the inevitable ties between longtime members of Congress and special interests are undermining efforts to revive the economy.

"He literally thinks he's going to play a critical role from saving us from ourselves," Christopher Healy, the Republican Party chairman in Connecticut, said of the Democratic senator.

"It's like putting the arsonist in charge of the volunteer fire department. He knows where the fire is because he set it. But beyond that, he can't offer much help."........

Ross Baker, a politics professor at Rutgers University and a congressional scholar, said the ties between lawmakers and special interest groups have bothered him for a long time.

"No one leaves Congress living at the same level they came in," he told FOXNews.com.

"More than anything else, it's getting insider information, getting special deals that on the face are not illegal. But they're in a privileged position."......

Critics are seizing on that now, saying Dodd should have been paying more attention to red flags in the economy.

"He wasn't asleep at the switch," Baker said. "He wasn't even at the switch."

There's really not much more than I can add. Sleazy, self-centered and incompetent. The trifecta of failure all packaged together in one article. Perhaps this sums up the worst problem with Dodd.

"They're trying to weave things together that have been reported on widely over the years," Dodd said. "They are taking some items that are frankly, old news, routine transactions, and trying to make more out of it."

For Wicca's sake, you've spent a career hanging out with grifters like Ed Downe Jr. and abandoned the helm of the Banking Committee right when the financial tsunami appeared on the horizon, and you don't realize you did anything wrong.  

You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!

Looks like Senator Chris Dodd and his family go back quite a-ways with financially rewarding ties to fallen insurance giant AIG. Here's what the relentless Kevin Rennie posted yesterday on Real Clear Politics

From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG. IPC, which provides property casualty catastrophe insurance coverage, was formed in 1993 and currently has a market cap of $1.4 billion and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IPCR.....

Clegg was compensated for her duties to the company, which was managed by a subsidiary of AIG. In 2003, according to a proxy statement, Clegg received $12,000 per year and an additional $1,000 for each Directors' and committee meeting she attended. Clegg served on the Audit and Investment committees during her final year on the board.

So the Mrs. was part of the management team at an AIG subsidiary. There's not problematic for a member of the Senate Banking Committee, now is it?

This leads Rennie to conclude "Dodd is likely more familiar with the complicated workings of AIG than he was letting on last week"

There's a local angle here Rennie misses, however. Bermuda is a notorious tax haven for foreign corporations. Bermuda does not levy income tax on foreign earnings, and allows foreign companies to incorporate there under an "exempt" status.  The insurance industry has aggressively incorporated affiliates there to skirt US and EU corporate tax rates.

In 2002 one of CT's leading manufacturers, The Stanley Works, announced plans to reincorporate in Bermuda for tax purposes,  When the hardware icon made this announcement, it because a huge issue around the firm's headquarters in the hotly contested 5th District.  Public outcry caused Stanley to back off from its plan.

The point here is I well remember Rep. James Maloney and Rep. Nancy Johnson, as well as Attorney General Dick Blumenthal scolding Stanley, but I don't recall Dodd saying boo about the plan and his name does not readily surface in web searching today on the topic.

Is that because Mrs. Dodd was running a firm that had done the same thing? Guess former Congressman Maloney would have called her firm "unpatriotic" and compared their management to "Benedict Arnold" had he paid attention.  So Dodd hid out, and let the brass at Stanley get harangued for doing something his wife's firm had already done.  

Another further layer of chutzpah is Dodd eagerly advocates a "corporate carbon tax".   while his nearest and dearest ran a company that skirted the business taxes we already have.

The more you think about it you'd rally have to be a meathead not to see these conflicts of interest.. I guess "those were the days" for Dodd-- when folks weren't turning over his rocks and not liking what's underneath.

 http://www3.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/newword_search.php?word=tox

Today two events occurred roughly ten miles apart in suburban Connecticut outlining where people stand in their outrage over America becoming Bailout Nation.

I'm sure the MSM won't report this, but the far bigger demonstration was of fiscal conservatives , not anti-business radicals

Flags-wavers, bell-ringers, some in colonial military get-up, others wearing American flags as capes: angry Americans gathered 200 to 300 strong at Ridgefield’s Ballard Park Saturday morning to vent their frustration.

“Dump Dodd now!” and “We’re not Europe!” and “It’s not your money!” they chanted.

Passing drivers honked, waved or gave them the thumbs up sign.

They came from Ridgefield, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Bethel, and other towns for what had been billed as a modern “tea party.” They carried signs: “Give me liberty, not Europe,” “Obama lies and America dies,” “Socialism is trickle-up poverty,” “Wanted: Loving families for released GITMO terrorists -- Call 1-800-I-Voted-For-Obama,” and “Support Our Troops.”

Organizer Chris Murray’s school-age son Peter carried a sign that said, “Broke before my turn.”

“I went to one in Hartford, this is twice as much,” said former Ridgefield School Board Chairman Keith Miller. “This is three or four hundred. Hartford had 150.”

While the protesters had a range of grievances, from illegal immigration to worries that the country was turning to socialism, the dominant themes seemed to be mis-spending of tax dollars, piling up debt, and the growth of government.

“If you talk to these people, most of it is fiscal irresponsibility,” Mr. Miller said. “People cannot fathom the level of debt -- for their grandchildren.”

Particular politicians were also targeted -- particularly Connecticut U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and President Barack Obama.

“I want to dump Dodd and I want to dump Dodd and get rid of Obama as soon as it’s legally possible,” said Jamie Shafer of Wilton Road West. “I’m very worried about my country -- it’s an outrage a day.”

Now, let me remind you. This is suburban CT on a not so warm day we are talking about. We don't do protests and ginning up a crowd of any size is tough. But they showed in Ridgefield today.

And I can't remember ever hearing about Dodd being protested before.

Of course,this got national news attention. ACORN scared up a mere busload of folks to hassle the greedy--but no doubt shellshocked--AIG brass at their homes on a Saturday. How charming.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A busload of activists — outnumbered 2-to-1 by reporters and photographers — are paying visits to the homes of American International Group Inc. executives in Connecticut to protest tens of millions in bonuses awarded by the company.

About 40 protesters parked at a cul-de-sac Saturday afternoon and walked to the Fairfield home of Douglas Polling. They were met on the curb by two security guards, and one activist read a letter detailing the financial struggles that many Connecticut residents have faced. The group then left the note in Polling's mailbox.

Poling already turned in his bonus but of course, that didn't spare him being used as a prop for the sort of "guerrilla theatre" the Left has specialized in since the days of Saul Alinsky 

We have 300 folks outraged at Dodd. They got 40 upset at AIG executives.

I like our odds

Today's "tale of the tape" Dodd is flailing away, but seems to be getting whacked by some press people throwing chairs into the ring.

Dodd visited Enfield today to give away some federal dough. The fact it was the largest town in Rob Simmons' old district I'm sure was a mere coicidence. Anyway, what was a routine photo op attracted a media circus.

Channel 3 reported

Dodd Delivers Heated Response To Critics

 "I'm going to do my job," Dodd said

 As I've pointed out on this blog numerous times, we are here facing financial meltdown because Dodd couldn't be bothered to show up for work in 2007 and abandoned his banking chairmanship to campaign for President in Iowa.

andCNN had Dodd thickening the plot about who wrote the "mystery amendment" that enriched the AIG FP employees.

Dodd, who was visiting constituents in Enfield, Connecticut, said he was disappointed that the Treasury officials who asked him to make the legislative changes had not identified themselves.

Jeex, and I thought Geithner had no staff. Now he has anomymous operatives changing bills. Perhaps the Treasury has a branch office at Area 51.

Dodd never practiced law very long, but I suggest he talk to the public defender's office at the local courthouses about how well the "SODDI defense" usually works. It's usually good for a short stay at one of CT's overcrowded correctional facilities.

Dodd did take a more focused shot in the Courant.

Dodd Criticizes Treasury Officials

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd launched sharp criticism of Treasury Department officials today as he continued to try and extract himself from a political furor after his admission that he played a role in crafting a legislative amendment that paved the way for the controversial AIG bonuses.Dodd, a Democrat who chairs the Senate banking committee, has said he agreed to an amendment to the stimulus legislation that had the effect of authorizing the much-criticized bonuses.But Dodd said he agreed only after being persuaded by the Treasury Department that the changes were necessary to speed a national recovery. And he said he was not informed that the amendment would affect AIG specifically.

So lots of whining but no hits on Geithner. That shiner he is sporting came from a backbench Democrat from Queens, NY named Joseph Crowley, whom it was discovered, knew all about the AIG bonus debacle on March 3 and scolded Geithner about it at that day's hearing. 

Too bad Geithner is sticking to March 10 as his date of revelation about the issue. Oops

I don't think either Geithner or Dodd want to deal with the issue that the TARP oversight board is not holding meetings.   Once the oversight provisions in the TARP bill were Dodd's "finest hour", now even though "his fingerprints are all over the bill" neither Dodd nor Geithner seem  the least interested in tracking the hundreds of billions of bailout bucks that have already left the building.

This, of course , is all leading to an inexorable conclusion to observers who have put up with the Senator's incessant "the Dodd ate my homework" excuses for one mishaps after another.

The New Haven Register, in utter exasperation, lambasted Dodd today as a "lying weasel"

I'll keep you posted if the weasel lobby lodges a protest.

 ===Update===

Evidently a bill is kicking around to remove the appointment power from the Governor to cover senate vacancies

This may have been drawn up to keep a Blagomart from occuring in CT. But a) no one thinks Jodi Rell is going to play that game and b) who thought there was going to be a midterm senate vacancy after Lieberman's cabinet bid fizzled election night?

Is there another reason not to allow Governor Rell to fill a senate vacancy? 

The journal has an excellent editorial today called The Real AIG Outrage that argues the Obama administration is using AIG as a conduit of taxpayer money to make whole AIG counterparties like TARP recipient Goldman Sachs, European banks and others.

When the true scope of this fraudulent use of taxpayer money becomes clear to the US taxpayer/voter, the outrage about the bonuses will seem like a tempest in a teapot.

Yet, the GOP, gropping for months now to differentiate itself from the Democrats, continues to ignore this explosive opportunity. Here is an issue that is politically white hot, that the opposition is mishandling and that has real traction with the American people. Having newly rediscovered our "fiscal responsibility" we and our leaders sit idly by while the Democrats pump billions of taxpayer funds through AIG and into the coffers of their largest campaign contributors; our ire stoked reflexively by a few high profile bonuses.

When this sorry chapter of American history is written, the GOP will be seen as playing compliant handmaid to the Democrats' fiscal malfeasance--the party of No, indeed.

Leadership implies making hard choices and getting out of one's comfort zone. Sadly, our "leaders" do not appear ready to lead on the most important issues of the day.

This evening's news

Freddie Mac seeks $30.8B in US aid after 4Q loss

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Freddie Mac, facing mounting damage from the U.S. housing crisis, said Wednesday it will ask the government for nearly $31 billion in additional aid after posting a gargantuan loss of more than $50 billion last year.....

The Treasury Department has pledged up to $400 billion in aid for the duo. But as losses mount, many analysts see the companies remaining under government control, perhaps indefinitely. Until officials know the final bill for the housing crisis, it will be tough to figure out whether they can be spun off as private companies, said debt analyst Jim Vogel of FTN Financial in Memphis, Tenn.

Now, this wasn't supposed to happen!

“To suggest somehow that [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] are in trouble is simply not accurate,” Dodd replied.

The facts are that Fannie and Freddie are in sound situations,” Dodd said. “They have more that adequate capital, in fact more than the law requires

Why IS this man Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee?

This was from a post last summer I wrote entitled

Reality v. Chris Dodd

Now, back to today's reality

Washington prepares for big bank failure

A bill introduced in the Senate would give FDIC chief, Sheila Bair, a huge loan to handle 'emergency situations' in the banking sector.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The government is bracing for a big bank failure.

A bill introduced in Congress would give the FDIC, the agency that stands behind Americans' bank deposits, temporary authority to borrow as much as $500 billion from the government to shore up the deposit insurance fund.

The bill -- the Depositor Protection Act of 2009, backed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn. and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho -- wouldn't change the status of individual bank accounts, which through the end of this year are insured up to $250,000.

But the Dodd-Crapo bill acknowledges what the financial markets have been signaling for the past month -- that the government must take the lead in a costly cleanup of the mess in the financial sector.

Looks like reality won, my friends. Let this be a lesson the next time a liberal tries to pretend our problems are already behind us. They are still trying to tell us TO

REMAIN CALM!!!!!

P.S. Why IS Dodd still Chairman of the Banking Committee?