Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 7:24 AM
Hand in Cookie Jar
We’re going to enjoy this report, coming out today on the Friends of Angelo program. Here’s an excerpt from the latimes.com:
Most recipients of VIP loans have said in news accounts that they had no idea they were receiving a special deal. But the report states that Countrywide clearly indicated to borrowers they were getting special deals, usually by including business cards indicating the loan came from a VIP unit.
Robert Feinberg, a 12-year Countrywide employee who processed VIP loans, told investigators that it was standard practice to tell borrowers, “Your loan was specially priced by Angelo.”
Chris Dudd is likely to be taking some more heat on this one. Did you see him deny on CNN that he re-structured the legislation to protect the AIG bonuses, and then admitted that he did it 24 hours later?
This was his quote on his Countrywide loans last month:
“No. I don’t think so at all,” Dodd told The Associated Press, when asked if the mortgages he received would affect his high-profile role in seeking to stem the nation’s housing foreclosure crisis.
Here’s the link to today’s latimes.com article:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-countrywide19-2009mar19,0,4389863.story
Posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 7:24 AM in Bailout | 16 Comments » | 
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The current politicians have to go. They’re all corrupt to the core. Both sides of the isle.
Earmarks
Omnibus spending bills
Pork Pork and more Pork
The entire time they’re giving money the banks. The exact same entities that caused this problem in the first place. You don’t give a gambling junkie more money because they’ll just gamble it all away again.
And for good measure screw the federal reserve. The private banking institution that tries to call itself a government agency. Printing money like no tomorrow killing my savings while at the same time diminishing banking debt. Must be good to control a currency.
shadash | March 19th, 2009 at 8:10 amYou can find a detailed but easy to read discussion of why Dodd only put this language in in response to whitehouse pressure here.
And that whitehouse pressure surely came from Geithner and Summers.
Dodd does have his own conflicts and problems, but let’s just get the story straight.
Daveg | March 19th, 2009 at 8:39 amShadash, You’re right about the politicians, and while we’re at it remember the media labeled, financial genius, Barney Frank. He received $40,000 in contributions from his boyfriend’s employer, Fannie Mae, a government sponsored entity.
We need term limits, and a strict prohibition of lobbying and influence peddling by those once elected and employed by the Federal Govt.
Bill in KC | March 19th, 2009 at 8:48 amI like the alternative spelling of Dodd (right below the latimes.com quote).
Alex | March 19th, 2009 at 8:52 am+1
It’s a theme that expresses itself throughout human history-justice. It has been the underlying arc that has defined progress in recorded civilization. Without it, what are we really? A bunch of savages hell-bent on destruction.
It’s called the Justice Dept., not the “let’s keep the criminals in business Dept”.
The criminal Bush/Cheney Administration would not do it, but Obama has to start indicting and arresting many of the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who were involved in this epic, criminal Ponzi scheme. Wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. Those are the crimes to start with. Any junior DA could build a case with all the massive fraud that took place and is still going on.
Right now Obama’s political capital is melting faster than snow here in Atlanta, Georgia. And I’m a life long Democrat who strongly supports Obama. Once your base gets upset at you, you’re finished.
Obama has got to fire Summer, Geithner AND Eric Holder. If he doesn’t, there goes his political capital and along with it education and healthcare reform and new energy policies.
I’d say he’s got until July ’09 to create some change we all can believe in.
Consultant | March 19th, 2009 at 8:52 amThanks Daveg for the link, a good synopsis of the Dodd involvement. He looked like a flip-flopper on TV though.
Jim the Realtor | March 19th, 2009 at 9:49 amDodd and angelo will be sharing a prison cell soon.
arizonadude | March 19th, 2009 at 10:31 amSen. Dodd Admits Adding Bonus Provision to Stimulus Package
In a dramatic reversal Wednesday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., confessed to adding language to the stimulus bill last month that exempted all bonuses that bailed-out companies had promised to employees before Feb. 11, 2009.
Dodd told FOX News that Treasury officials forced him to make the change.
“As many know, the administration was, among others, not happy with the language. They wanted some modifications to it,” he said. “They came to us, our staff, and asked for changes, and the changes at the time did not seem that obnoxious or onerous.”
shadash | March 19th, 2009 at 10:35 amDoes Dodd work for the people that elected him or for the Treasury?
Also, I wonder how the Treasury “forced” him to make changes in the stimulus bill? For some reason I keep getting the image of a midnight rendezvous in an empty parking structure where suitcases full of money change hands.
shadash | March 19th, 2009 at 10:39 amThis is getting juicey now. But this AIG is a diversion to what is really happening. Dodd needs to go and the Administration and Dodd are trying to throw each other under the bus. Spin, spin, spin and this also includes the Fed printing press. First a run on White-out now green ink =P
3clicks from da Beach | March 19th, 2009 at 10:54 am@Bill in KC,
Yeah too bad the GOP has its head up a crucifex and won’t recognize gay marriage. Otherwise the relationships between Barney’s partner and his employer and the donations would have been disclosable and possibly barred by the rules. But, because they aren’t married, the contributions are legal. Score a victory for unintended bad consequences of bad policies.
As for Dodd, if he was actually told “this is a personal favor” its problem for him. If they didn’t tell him and he didn’t have reason to know, its not really his problem, its their problem.
Former RB Resident | March 19th, 2009 at 11:49 amDo terms like “VIP,” and “special deal” really have any meaning anymore? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve thrown away junk mail announcing various “VIP customer services,” and “deals,” and I don’t think a note telling me that someone named “Angelo” had “specially priced” anything I bought would cause me to think I was getting anything that wasn’t being hyped to 10,000 other people that week.
GeneK | March 19th, 2009 at 11:58 amSo that is like the 800lb gorilla nobody sees in the corner ehhh?
3clicks from da Beach | March 19th, 2009 at 2:07 pmI am not really trying to defend Dodd, but rather identify the true source of the language, which was the Whitehouse dynamic duo.
I think it is clear that they do not have the interest of the general public or national well being in mind. They are too close to the perpetrators of this crisis.
daveg | March 19th, 2009 at 2:57 pmDodd’s a clown. I’ve thought he needed to go for a long time now. He may or may not be the guilty party with regard to the AIG bonuses, but he’s been in bed with the banks for a long time. It’s guys like him that are driving this country into the ground.
sdcellar | March 20th, 2009 at 12:16 amExactly, this was Geithner’s doing and Dodd simply played into it. Geithner was responsible for the AIG bailout in the first place! He’s also in charge of the IRS even though he doesn’t pay his taxes.
Obama has plenty of strengths, but Geithner is definitely not one of them. Geithner is the Donald Rumsfeld of the war on money, the Michael Brown (Katrina) of financial incompetence. This imbecile thought cutting the latest AIG bailout from $30 billion to $29.850 billion would “get back the $150 million in bonuses being paid”. Is he really that stupid? He needs to be frog marched out of office like Rumsfeld and all the other idiots who’ve run our country.
sdbri | March 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pm