Just a reminder

"At the end of my tenure on this committee, I want it to be said that the safety and soundness of our financial institutions was not weakened on my watch," Dodd said.

Chris Dodd, February 15, 2007

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501555_2.html

The Dow Jones that week was trading at approximately 12,647.

Today........

Dow finishes below 7,000 for first time since '97

More unstoppable selling on Wall Street takes Dow to lowest point since 1997

Investors were worried anew about the stability of the financial system after insurer American International Group posted a staggering $62 billion loss for the fourth quarter, the biggest in U.S. corporate history -- and accepted an expanded bailout from the government.

But beyond daily headlines, Wall Street seems to have given up the search for a reason to believe that the worst is over and the time is ripe to buy again.

The banking sector helped drive the market lower. Citigroup stock lost 20 percent of its value and fell to a paltry $1.20 per share. HSBC lost 19 percent. Bank of America lost 8 percent.

and in other news......

 The D-word: Will recession become something worse?

The cataclysmic devastation of our financial markets today reminds me vividly of another disaster of nearly biblical proportions

Heckuva job you're doin, Doddy!!!!

  No wonder the usually cautious Michael Barone suggested Dodd is "ripe for the picking" if the Connecticut Republicans nominate a decent opponent near year.