Chris Dodd, Kent Conrad Tied To Countrywide Scandal

Conde Nast Portfolio:

Two U.S. senators, two former Cabinet members, and a former ambassador to the United Nations received loans from Countrywide Financial through a little-known program that waived points, lender fees, and company borrowing rules for prominent people.

Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide's "V.I.P." program in 2003 and 2004, according to company documents and emails and a former employee familiar with the loans.

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Comments

[johnnygoodwud]

hey chris you can kiss the v.p. spot good by

[Andman0121]

lord, the man probably didnt know he was even getting preferential treatment. also, kiss the VP slot goodbye? Why? This is a nonevent. Simple as that.

[Gordon]

The Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee doesn't know when he gets sweetheart deals and special rates on loans?

Does that sound believable to anyone? I should hope not. If you do believe this explanation, I would argure that you are tacitly enforsing the idea that Dodd is not fit to chair the Banking Committee.

[KMKY]

He knows, and he shouldn't be the chair. I mentioned this the other day when HuffPo was speculating on his VP chances, but he was one of the lone voices in the Senate pushing to protect Arthur Andersen during the Enron scandal.

[ClassyT]

People with money or excellent credit often receive deals from various commercial entities. The real issues keep missing the headlines, while we watch the media throw people under the bus. Why are we talking about who got a good mortgage rate when most middle class people have lost homes or can't get one? What we want to know is what these people are going to do to help US get a decent loan that is NOT plagued by loopholes. Seems to me they are in the best position to make that happen for the ordinary guy!

[Gordon]

Hey Senators, way to avoid a massive conflict of interest!

[edwcorey]

Where's the quid pro quo? That's the measure of corruption.

[Gordon]

I said "conflict of interest," not "corruption." Try reading better next time.

[jpcline004]

ARGH conflict of interest!!! it was on the tip of my tongue and I couldn't think of the phrase. And I used to be an auditor too, I hate that!

Well anyway yeah exactly that is the point.

[rollingdivision]

I didn't know. Not much of an excuse. Will everyone buy this excuse when we find out which Republicans got special deals on loans? And from the looks of things there will be some Republicans.

[bygollymissmolly]

We won't find out that Republicans got sweetheart deals. The MSM is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC and they will not report on the sins of their brethren.

[rollingdivision]

It's the "Culture of corruption". How does this excuse Dodd or Conrad who got special deals from Countrywide the biggest subprime mortgage criminal operation while Dodd and Conrad were writing laws regulating Countrywide? Obama flat out called these guys at Countrywide criminals,“That’s why nearly two years ago, I introduced legislation to treat those who commit mortgage fraud like the criminals they are.". And Dodd and Conrad were getting special deals from the criminals. No excuses.

[LARRYB28]

except the part of the media whose legs get all tingley when listning to obama

[ajax2]

Everyone who received a Countrywide mortgage got a special rate.

[sheikwil]

What happen to my special rate. I didn't get one. dang.

[ratcityreprobate]

It would be easier to count the influential people in DC who do not have preferential interest rates on their mortgages than those that do. The former could be counted on the fingers of two hands; the latter would require a high end computer.

Preferential interest rates are not illegal and have been the norm in the banking business since coins were first minted. Bankers have been granting preferential interest rates to anybody they thought could help them, would bring more business, is influential in the community, sits in the same pew on Sunday, plays in the same foursome and to each other since time began. Many recipients of preferential interest rates probably don't even know they are getting them because the practice is so common that it wouldn't be mentioned.

[rollingdivision]

But Obama said about Countrywide "“All across this country, we’ve seen how it’s becoming harder and harder for working families to make ends meet. That’s because for far too long, the rules in our economy have been written to benefit Wall Street at the expense of Main Street...

“We saw this again today when we learned that two executives at Countrywide, the nation’s top subprime lender, are set to walk away with nearly $20 million in payouts. This is an outrage. Top mortgage lenders spent $185 million in recent years lobbying Washington to look the other way, while they tricked families into buying homes they couldn’t afford, forcing millions of Americans to face foreclosure and pushing our economy toward recession." Dodd and Conrad got direct cash benefits from Countrywide.

“That’s why nearly two years ago, I introduced legislation to treat those who commit mortgage fraud like the criminals they are. And it’s why in a speech last week, I called for realigning incentives and compensation packages, so that both high level executives and employees better serve the interests of shareholders.

“We have to restore balance to our economy, and make sure that we have rules of the road that work for ordinary Americans, not just the wealthy and well-connected" like Dodd and Conrad. "And that’s what we’ll do when I’m President of the United States.”

[bygollymissmolly]

So. He was talking about mortgage fraud, you know, lending money to people you know can't repay it. So how was giving a famous person a good deal on a loan mortgage fraud. Do you think they couldn't afford the loan?