Culture of Corruption

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. 

Five to one, baby...one in five....

No one here gets out alive...

The late Jim Morrison wrote and sang this over 40 years ago, and it seems rather poignant now that we have passed the anniversary of the Woodstock Nation and consider the divisive national health care debate.

For one thing, it does point out the limitations of salesmanship. Medicine will never fully solve the fact life is a terminal condition. It may prolong life, and improve life, but mere mortals are not "partners with God"; and only He can grant life beyond the here and now.

And the term Five to One applies clearly to the imbalance in media spending between the unions and industries looking to pass the government health care takeover, and the relatively impoverished opposition.

The lyrics of "Five to One" depict rebellion against a distant establishment :"they got the guns, but we got the numbers" which sure seems like the attitude of angry citizens screaming at smug incumbent officeholders eager to label their own constituents a mob. 

One of the major problems I think that the Obama team and the Hill Democrats have is they fundamentally don't understand the mentality of most of the 1960's protesters, who are now today the 60-somethings opposing Obamacare with fervor reminscent of that era.

Perhaps Bill Ayres wanted a "revolution"; but most Americans agreed with John Lennon that if you were carrying pictures of Chairman Mao you weren;t gonna make it.  The rebelliouness of the 1960's was largely spurred by opposition to a "mandatory government program"--to wit--the Draft. 

Sure ,some people of that era wanted communes and socialism--but a huge number--especially bikers and druggies--wanted the government to "leave them alone".

Don't send then to Vietnam. Don't bust them for pot. Don't tell them how to live their lives.

So when the military draft ended in 1973  much of the fuel of the counterculture was taken away. Free from government coercion, young people were then accused of becoming part of  a "me decade"

True, there was a huge cadre of earnest lefties who entered government as a result of the "Watergate election". But the relentless expansion of government demanded by the likes of Chris Dodd. Henry Waxman, David Obey, and Tom Daschle  was dealt a huge setback by the decisive 1980 election.

Some observers have noted that while voters under 30 in 1972 were slightly inclined towards McGovern (as he lost nationally by 21 points)   the same age cohort of voters (i.e. voters DOB 1942-1954) were inclined towards McCain as he lost to Obama by 7 points.  Clearly in the interim these voters became less entralled with "change" candidates.

I would suspect a substantial part of this has to do with the fact these Americans rebelled against statism and much as they may support "their" entitlement programs, they will never sign on to new forms of big government without profound skepticism.  Remember, they saw with their own eyes the extravagant promises and expensive failure of the Great Society. Those eyes are jaundiced now.  

If the government told you 40 years ago you had to go fight in Vietnam, you might not be too keen on having your kid told by the government what kind of health insurance he is required to have. We are taking people open to the "leave us alone" coalition.

Remember, Dennis Hopper was the prototypical hippie in "Easy Rider". He is a Republican now.

So, it appears the Obama team has started an era of divisive national unrest over a program which it cannot sell, promises to bankrupt the nation, and where there is no definition of victory. Sounds, hmmm like a quagmire.   

Back to "No one here gets out alive". I think this will end in one of only two ways. 

The Obamacare fiasco will collapse in a heap, and then next phase will be investigations into the sleazefest employed to try and sell the debacle, including a "pay to play'"scheme between Billy Drugbucks and David Axelrod.  and Axelrod's improper e-mail spamming. 

Note to Mr. Axelrod. Transactions your firm performed in northern Illinois are within this gentleman's legal jurisdiction.   Perhaps you ought to acquaint yourself with this law   .   or this law.  Some politicians around here  found out it's not good to mix business and politics. Don't worry. These laws run a lot less than a thousand pages to read. You'll have plenty of time to call white collar counsel.

The alternative will be Obama and his allies win an absolutely  Pyyrhic victory  decimating the ranks of Democratic moderates in 2010 elections and creating a huge radicalized political movement even more and more ardent to fight the socialization of American culture. Perhaps the Greater Great Society is enacted; only to rip  to shreds the nation it was meant to heal. Or maybe we become France, except with more debt.. Which might be worse.

I've had my differences with Peggy Noonan, but now she's spot on.  A prudent leader would pull the plug   and stop sinking deeper into the health care quagmire

But our President is insistent on making the worst mistakes of 1960's Democrats, accusing critics of merely being  irresolute . History lesson, folks.  No one there got out alive, either. 

Chris Dodd's effort to commandeer the health care system so as to provide a trillion dollar memorial to his BFF Teddy Kennedy hit a little speed bump this afternoon.

Remember Robert Feinberg, Angelo Mozilo's go to guy at Countrywide Mortgage about greasing VIP's

Well, his testimony before the Senate Ethics Committee and a House Committee  got leaked to the AP. And it's not pretty.

Countrywide VIPs, Feinberg told the committees, received discounts on rates, fees and points. Dodd received a break when Countrywide counted both his Connecticut and Washington homes as primary owner-occupied residences -- a fiction, according to Feinberg. Conrad received a type of commercial loan that he was told Countrywide didn't offer.

Hmm, Dodd got the owner-occupied mortgage rates on BOTH the Connecticut house and the DC house even though obviously only one could be a "principal residence".  And who said they didn;t get a "sweetheart deal"? 

Maybe that was the "enhanced customer service" Dodd talks about.  And maybe it's time Dodd post the actual loan documents and loan applications on the Internet. But then again, if both applications said they were for a "principal residence" they the good Senator better hope he didn't mail or fax them.

Dodd spent a million dollars to firm up his party base support and lose ground in the ballot tests in recent weeks. And that was with Countrywide and the Irish Cottage being pretty much in remission.  Now , once again "it's all further proof that Sen. Dodd's candidacy remains toxic."

I haven't seen Rob Simmons's reaction , but Sam Caligiuri was all over this

  Connecticut cannot afford to once again endure the scandals of a leader who has been corrupted by the trappings of power.  If this testimony is true, Senator Dodd's resignation is in order, because he not only did wrong, he covered it up.   

The Republican State Chairman is all over thist too, pointing out this little gem.

Asked by a House investigator if Conrad, the North Dakota senator, "was aware that he was getting preferential treatment?" Feinberg answered: "Yes, he was aware." Referring to Dodd, the investigator asked: "And do you know if during the course of your communications" with the senator or his wife "that you ever had an opportunity to share with them if they were getting special VIP treatment?" "Yes, yes," Feinberg replied.

 Grab the popcorn! One blogger tonight suggested "Nutmeg State Democrats are likely to get even more nervous about Mr. Dodd’s chances in November 2010"

We are about to see a political windfall occur that would turn the head of Tammany Hall's George Washington Plunkitt.

Consider this little feature of the "cap and trade" bill..

 .. the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's mouth is watering at the prospect of a huge new derivatives market.

Yep, the big financial winner from Waxman-Markey is not likely to be solar energy entrepeneurs; it is likely to be derivatives traders gaming the emissions trading markets.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is ready to set up its own "Gas House Gang" CME's Chairman, Terrence Duffy, recently told a House committee his firm is all ready to go to implement the process. 

 This is going to be massive if implemented. I mean, like trillions of dollars massive. And this means mind- boggling commissions and bonuses for traders, and huge profits for the CME itself. Remember how much money Enron used to make doing this sort of stuff? 

Now,hmmm, who's on the Board of Directors of the CME? 

Jackie Clegg Dodd, Chris Dodd's wife. (there's no conflict of interest , here , as per hubby)..maybe he didn't read this.

And she is well compensated  for a post where she is thinly qualified.

So if Cap and Trade passes Jackie Clegg Dodd's corporation stands to make a windfall?

(they also stand to make a windfall from OTC derivative regulation underway)

And presumably the board members will share in the added revenue.

And it gets better. Guess who's drafting the yet unfinished parts of the Waxman-Markey bill governing derivative regulations?

Chris Dodd's old buddy Barney Frank

So how this is going to work is that ordinary electric customers will see their rates "skyrocket"; some well connected businesses have already gotten exemptions; and the whole deal will be manipulated by commodity speculators.  Who made sure to put the spouse of the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee on their Board of Directors.

It seems like what "Hope and Change" really means is that the political insiders can add another decimal point to the "honest graft" they were accustomed to receiving. Meanwhile "Connecticut's middle class" will get hosed.  (They'll need to use credit cards to pay their CL&P bill, Chris)

Really, this is going to make the Countrywide mortgage and the Irish cottage look like chump change as far as the potential windfall to the Dodd family.   And  no one seems to connect the dots. Amazing.

I didn't catch this, but apparently Senator Chris Dodd was on Fox News Sunday and defended the aptitude of his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, to serve on numerous corporate boards. Even claimed raising the issue was "offensive"

Boards which represent about $500,000 in annual income to the Dodd household.

Well, if Mrs. Dodd is so brilliant, surely these firms are all very profitable.

Not.

A review of the five active boards  on the Muckety list which Mrs. Dodd serves on indicates only one such corporation--the CME Group---is a profitable corporation. (whether the world's largest financial future exchange should have the spouse of the Banking Committee Chairman on their board in the first place deserves its own post)

The others are --much like the banking system under hubby's oversight--in various forms of financial duress.

Blockbuster---which has had Mrs. Dodd on its audit committee for many years---denies it is about to file for bankruptcy. . It claims to have made money last quarter (despite declining revenue) after a long stretch of losses going back years.

Now for the various health care firms Mrs. Dodd helps to manage. The blatant conflict herein has not gone unnoticed by the press, but let's look at performance. Is Mrs. Dodd capable of running a successful business?

Maybe not.

Brookdale Senior Living claims to be the "largest owner and operator of senior living communities throughout the United States",  How are they doing at that?

Brookdale lost $13.6 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a loss of $55.1 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier. The company mostly benefited from a much smaller change in the fair value of derivatives and amortization.

See as follows Brookdale's long run of red ink.

Now we catch Javelin Pharmaceuticals

Guess what. Javelin is losing money

But the real knee slapper is Cardiome Pharma Corp.  

 We recorded a net loss of $60.5 million ($0.95 per common share) for the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to a net loss of $85.5 million ($1.36 per common share) for the year ended December 31, 2007

and the red ink isn't ending

We recorded a net loss of $12.0 million ($0.19 per common share) for the three months ended March 31, 2009 ("Q1-2009"), compared to a net loss of $22.2 million ($0.35 per common share) for the three months ended March 31, 2008 ("Q1-2008")

OK, it's a medical start-up and maybe the place is about to turn the corner, earn money for their investors and employ lots of highly skilled people.

Only one problem. The firm will be doing all this wonderful stuff in Vancouver, Canada.

Is competing with CT's pharma industries how you plan to "defend Connecticut's middle class", Chris?  

What makes this all the more nauseating is that in 1992 Chris Dodd ran saturation TV attack ads against his opponent for buying a textile firm in Canada; implying that was bad for the U.S. worker.

Is it now OK when your wife does it, Chris?

Let's look at this again. Mrs. Dodd is a great businesswomen who just happens to be on boards of five firms. Four of which are money pits.  Why then, is she such a brilliant businesswoman? She doesn't keep firms from losing money, now does she? 

Of course, if I was running a money losing firm in the health care field, the wife of a powerful U.S. Senator is exactly the right person for my company's Board of Directors at this critical time.   

----

Ed Note: I learned Mrs. Dodd is supposedly on the board of Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals. They appear to be a privately held spinoff from Javelin, and therefore, earnings information is not quite as transparent as the publicly traded firms previously mentioned..

On October 16, 2008, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens testified as follows in his corruption trial.

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens testified at his trial on charges of hiding more than $250,000 in gifts that he never intended to lie on his Senate financial disclosure forms and thought they were accurate.

Immediately after taking the witness stand today, Stevens answered, ``Yes, sir,'' when asked by defense lawyer Brendan Sullivan whether he believed the Senate forms at the heart of the case were correct when he signed them.

Asked if he ever intended to file a false statement, the senator said, ``No I did not.''

You see, the Senator was charged with submitting false statements on his U.S. Senate disclosure forms.

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd is required to submit the same financial disclosure forms. And in a stunning reversal, late Friday he admitted to the Connecticut press that his Irish vacation estate was worth three times what he had been telling the U.S. Senate.

A new appraisal of the Irish cottage owned by Sen. Christopher Dodd concludes that it is worth about three times as much as Dodd has been reporting on his financial disclosure forms.The new value of the cottage, on Inishnee island in County Galway, is $658,000, according to Dodd's 2008 financial disclosure form released Friday.The two-page appraisal was done by the same man who did the original one in 2002 when the 1,200-square-foot cottage was valued at about $190,000.The new appraisal comes two years into a historic crash in property values in Ireland, which suggests that it might have been worth even more in recent years when Dodd never reported its value at more than $250,000 in annual Senate financial disclosures. 

Every year Dodd submitted a financial disclosure form to the Senate. And every year he submitted a demonstrably false statement as to the value of his Irish vacation home.  He has yet to produce the alleged 2002 appraisal setting the value at a risibly inadequate number.

I'm not going to think people like me got Dodd off the dime.  And even the scandal about how Dodd obtained and financed this house might not have caused the belated disclosure.  No, what prompted this is to pay the nation's bills the Irish Republic is about to reinstitute a tax on residential property, and this appraisal was a pre-emptive strike against the Galway County assessor coming out with an even higher number right before the '10 election.

But, my question is this: How many times did Chris Dodd submit materially false information on his finances similar to the false information submitted by Ted Stevens?

Chris Dodd pretends he was unaware of the Irish property boom. And he claims to be an expert on global finance. Doesn't pass the smell test, Chris.  He knew these numbers were wrong and submitted them anyway.

I doubt the Eric Holder Justice Department is going to rattle the cage of the President's point man on nationalization of banks, car companies and health care. (Why not?....politicised justice?) It would be fun to hear not old stories of Daddy at Nuremberg, but hearing this guy use the "Ted Stevens defense" on the stand. 

He didn't mean to lie on the form. It just turned out that way. 

Rumor is there are going be fireworks on Fox 61 for Shelly Sindland's "The Real Story" Sunday.

I have heard Republican State Chairman Chris Healy may have some "Blockbuster" revelations about the business career of Ms. Jackie Clegg Dodd,professional corporate board member.  

Grab your popcorn!

A group of seemingly unrelated stories are actually linked. And once again it is bad news for Senator Chris Dodd (D- Countrywide)

See, he really IS the "Countrywide Senator" since he attracted a grand total of FIVE contributors this year from the state he claims to represent in the Senate.

Five donors. From a state with five congressional districts. There's a groundswell of local support if I ever saw one. Makes the 3,000 at the Hartford Tea Party look large now.

By way of comparison, Dodd had fewer local donors this quarter than UConn woman's basketball coach Geno Auriemma has national titles.  

Dodd did raise a million; but most likely from people who can't vote for him and he may wish he didn;t raise money from.

Remember the auto bailout that Dodd's done such a wonderful job with?

The new Obama "auto czar" is Wall Street financier Stephen Rattner.

Mr. Rattner made the news today as the Wall Street Journal links him to a "pay for play" scandal involving the NY State pension fund. where it is alleged Rattner's firm made improper payments in exchange for receiving state investment funds.  This scandal is related to the demise of the former NY State Comptroller, Democrat Alan Hevesi.

So the man responsible for saving GM and Chrysler and protecting their pension funds played games with the NY State pension fund? Boy, that's encouraging. NOT.

But who is yet another "Friend of Chris Dodd"?

Stephen Rattner.  

Yep, he contributed the legal maximum to Dodd's 2004 re-election race.

====UPDATE====

Rattner's firm is now implicated in ANOTHER "pay to play" pension scam, this involving the New Mexico pension fund and Governor Bill Richardson

Another day, another sleazy Dodd contributor. (Downe, Madoff, Stanford, Cassano....) I ought to do a macro for these posts.

It looks like Dodd has "friends" on Wall Street; back here in CT, well, there's a different reaction.

What  started this morning at the Washington Times has become a huge local story for Chris Dodd.

Joseph Cassano, the "Patient Zero" of the global financial meltdown, supposedly demanded huge contributions from AIG employees to fund Senator Chris Dodd's campaigns.

 According an email obtained by the Times, Cassano urged executives at American International Group's Wilton-based Financial Products division to donate to Dodd in Nov., 2006, as he was poised to assume the chairmanship of the critical Senate banking committee."As he considers running for president in 2008, Senator Dodd has asked us for our support with his re-election campaign and we have offered to be supportive," stated the email quoted by the Times. 

The executives were reportedly asked to write checks for $2,100 from themselves and their spouses, and to send them to Mr. Dodd's campaign. The Times said the executives were, in turn, supposed to pass the message down the line to senior members of their management teams. 

This leads cynical old me to wonder if AIG reimbursed their executives for these large donations. Perhaps, among Mr. Cassano's other talents, he was running a successful money laundry from his Wilton, CT offices.

This all seems very reminscent of the hi jinks that sent Randy Cunningham to jail.  

Maybe Mr. Cassano might want to do some singing--and not for Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.  Seems he's being investigated for fraud in bankrupting AIG. 

Right now Joey is hiding out at his London mansion. But I suspect the UK authorities will be happy to send us something a bit more valuable than useless DVD's....perhaps a witness in custody?

Were this to happen, the details of what Dodd offered Cassano for the nearly $200,000 in campaign funds might make for, hmm, entertaining reading.

What  started this morning at the Washington Times has become a huge local story for Chris Dodd.

Joseph Cassano, the "Patient Zero" of the global financial meltdown, supposedly demanded huge contributions from AIG employees to fund Senator Chris Dodd's campaigns.

 According an email obtained by the Times, Cassano urged executives at American International Group's Wilton-based Financial Products division to donate to Dodd in Nov., 2006, as he was poised to assume the chairmanship of the critical Senate banking committee."As he considers running for president in 2008, Senator Dodd has asked us for our support with his re-election campaign and we have offered to be supportive," stated the email quoted by the Times. 

The executives were reportedly asked to write checks for $2,100 from themselves and their spouses, and to send them to Mr. Dodd's campaign. The Times said the executives were, in turn, supposed to pass the message down the line to senior members of their management teams. 

This leads cynical old me to wonder if AIG reimbursed their executives for these large donations. Perhaps, among Mr. Cassano's other talents, he was running a successful money laundry from his Wilton, CT offices.

This all seems very reminscent of the hi jinks that sent Randy Cunningham to jail.  

Maybe Mr. Cassano might want to do some singing--and not for Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.  Seems he's being investigated for fraud in bankrupting AIG. 

Right now Joey is hiding out at his London mansion. But I suspect the UK authorities will be happy to send us something a bit more valuable than useless DVD's....perhaps a witness in custody?

Were this to happen, the details of what Dodd offered Cassano for the nearly $200,000 in campaign funds might make for, hmm, entertaining reading.