KEVIN RENNIE ON CHRIS DODD: Dodd’s Agenda Backfired Right Before His Eyes.

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ON Chris Dodd’s poor personal decisions. “Far more troubling was Dodd’s relationship with mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, which appears to have given him a sweetheart deal on a pair of loans under a VIP program called “Friends of Angelo,” named for former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. Though Dodd was cleared of wrongdoing by the Senate Ethics Committee, he should have known better than to accept special terms from a company whose regulation he oversaw. And then there was Dodd’s cottage in Ireland.”

UPDATE: A reader notes that the L.A. Times waited until Dodd withdrew and the seat looked safe for the Dems to level this criticism. I think that’s right — at least, I don’t remember any LAT editorials condemning Dodd earlier. Did I miss something?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Kevin Murphy notes:

The LA Times editorial ends, however, with an incredible falsehood:

“This failure to properly account for what looks very much like a gift from a wealthy acquaintance is similar to the shenanigans that ended the political career of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.”

IIRC, the “shenanigans” that ended Stevens’ career were those of the federal prosecutors.

Good point.

BLUMENTHAL doesn’t want to talk about TARP. Well, can you blame him? I’ll bet Chris Dodd didn’t want to talk about mortgages, either . . . .

RUMOR: Chris Dodd for Treasury Secretary?

Might as well go with Peter Orszag as Families Czar.

UPDATE: “Integrity.”

CHRIS DODD as a “Tea Party success story.”

WHY CHRIS DODD pulled the plug. “The healthcare bounce was showing no signs of making an appearance. The imminent passage of the behemoth bill is hardening, not easing, the public’s hostility to incumbents.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd to Step Aside. “Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.” Angelo Mozilo was not available for comment.

UPDATE: Roger Kimball: “Well, 30 years with his lips sewn to the public teat was probably enough.” Ouch.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “Maybe Harold Ford Jr. can run in Connecticut, too. Will the last person at the DNC please turn on the lights.”

LOSING THE FANNIE AND FREDDIE CAPS: WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE?

Sometimes I’m amazed at the speed with which highly provocative information like this GSE business can be converted into distracting propaganda in this country. In the right hands Pinto’s analysis of the GSEs — just like the revelations in the past few years about practices at AIG, Moody’s, Countrywide, Goldman Sachs, the Fed, and, hell, let’s add the offices of Senator Chris Dodd — would have been a starting point for a deeper investigation into a financial system that is clearly a complex and intimate symbiosis of state and private corruption.

I’m noticing an increasing overlap in themes from people on the left and the right here.

CHRIS DODD TOPS THE LIST of most corrupt politicians of 2009.

UPDATE: Oops, didn’t notice that the list he’s topping is alphabetical. But hey, I’d give him top billing even if his name were Zwilnik!

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd Cut Aviation Security Funding In July.

CHRIS DODD RETURNS HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, only to be heckled at the airport.

READERS WRITE IN CHRIS DODD for “financial villain of the decade.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: NPR: Connecticut Senator Fights “Dump Dodd” Sentiment.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: HARTFORD COURANT: Do The Dump Dodders Matter? Well, they’re certainly not a good sign.

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

The Insta-Wife On New Trends Among College Women.

Ann Althouse on Health Care Cost Containment. “Although women tend to love the notion of government control more than men do, it is women who will be told they’ll have to cut back. On treatments. And years. You know we’ve been taking more than our share.”

Reposting my recipe for Thanksgiving Leg Of Lamb.

Andrew Breitbart smacks the Columbia Journalism Review.

My love for the Universal Package Opener and the handy light-bulb changer.

Chris Dodd slips through the back door to avoid protesters.

Political advice from Robert Heinlein.

Rewards for prosecutors who do wrong.

Charlie Martin explains the unfolding ClimateGate scandal.

And Saturday Night Live parodies Obama in China.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd Dodges Protesters:

Rather than face a crowd of protestors who jeered at his appearance, Sen. Chris Dodd entered LaCupola’s restaurant through the back entrance Saturday for a luncheon with Democrats.

Lining Route 202 and carrying signs that read “Dump Dodd,” more than 80 protestors underscored the political perils the senator faces as he runs for a seventh-term.

Quinnipiac polls released earlier this month show 54 percent of Connecticut voters disapprove of Dodd’s job performance. Polls have him trailing Republican challenger Rob Simmons by more than 10 percent ahead of next year’s election.

Seems that whole health-care thing isn’t buying him much popularity. . . .

LIMITED ENTHUSIASM FOR Barney Frank and Chris Dodd’s banking “fix.” “You have to hand it to the ethically challenged Dodd, he of the sweetheart mortgages from Countrywide. He possesses a unique ability to overlook the role he played, turning a blind eye to problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two former government- sponsored enterprises that were placed in conservatorship last year.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE:

Dodd’s lengthy record of ethical questions has clearly taken its toll.

Among his transgressions:

* In 2003, Dodd received two cut-rate mortgages totaling nearly $800,000 from subprime-mortgage lending giant Countrywide Financial.

The special mortgages apparently came about because the senator was dubbed a “Friend of Angelo,” Countrywide co-founder Angelo Mozilo.

A Senate ethics committee determined last summer that Dodd violated no rules. But home-state voters appear unwilling to let Dodd off that easily.

* In 1994, Dodd purchased a one-third share of an Irish vacation home; the other two-thirds were bought by businessman William Kessinger, partner of one Edward Downe, who pleaded guilty to insider trading the same year.

In 2001, Dodd successfully lobbied the Clinton White House for a presidential pardon for Downe. A year later, Dodd took full ownership of the Irish property from Kessinger — at a mere fraction of its appraised value.

* In February, Dodd introduced an amendment to the stimulus package that guaranteed that executives from firms receiving government bailouts — including AIG — remained eligible for bonuses.

With such baggage, no wonder 53 percent of Connecticut residents say Dodd doesn’t deserve re-election.

Ouch.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Poll: Chris Dodd In Trouble. “Perhaps the real story is about President Obama. According to poll director Douglas Schwartz, PhD, ‘Barack Obama is still popular with independents, but voters say that his support of Dodd won’t affect their Senate vote.’ While Obama’s personal popularity remains high, it doesn’t appear he’s able to nudge candidates up in the polls. Despite endorsing and campaigning for New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie still won handily. A last-ditch effort to help Creigh Deeds in Virginia had no visible impact on Republican Bob McDonnell’s blow-out victory.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Poll: Dodd Approval Rating Drops. “A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd’s approval rating has declined again, and two Republicans would beat him in head-to-head matchups in next year’s election. The poll released Thursday says 54 percent of registered voters surveyed last week disapprove of the job Dodd is doing, up from 49 percent in September. Dodd’s approval rating had inched up in the polls for several months before the latest survey.”

BREVITY, BY CAPITOL HILL STANDARDS: Chris Dodd’s financial “reform” bill is 1136 pages long, and “impenetrable.” No word on whether it bans sweetheart mortgage deals for members of Congress . . . but I know the way to bet.

OBAMA RIDES TO CHRIS DODD’S RESCUE: Dodd Getting Presidential Help in Reelection Campaign.

Embattled Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Ct.), whose low approval ratings make him one of the most vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election next year, gets help from President Obama tonight.

Obama will appear at a $1,000-per person fundraising event for Dodd in Stamford.

Dodd is crucial to Obama’s hopes for getting the overhaul of the regulation of financial services passed. The House Financial Services Committee is currently marking up the measure. Yesterday it approved the component that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. . . .

Dodd’s low approval ratings stem from several factors, including the sluggish economy and questions raised about favorable treatment he received on a mortgage from Countrywide Home Loans.

Dodd will need all the help he can get, though Obama’s record with Corzine and Deeds may worry him.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: A bumpy ride for Democrats. “Five-term Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut remains on the toss-up list as a result of the sweetheart mortgage loans he received from Countrywide Financial. The Senate ethics panel cleared him of wrongdoing, but the Countrywide investigation has been reopened by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, which keeps the damaging issue alive. Former Republican Rep. Rob Simmons is leading him in the polls by five points.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: The Countrywide Files: A revolt forces Ed Towns to subpoena the ‘Friends of Angelo’ documents. “As the largest subprime lender and valued partner of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Countrywide was at the core of the mortgage meltdown. The political class wants to blame the mania and panic on the bankers, but the bankers couldn’t have made the subprime lending mess without plenty of political help from Congress. To ensure that this disaster is never repeated, it is critical that Congress uncovers the facts about the extraordinary efforts by Countrywide and Fannie and Freddie to influence federal housing policy.”

But, of course, the phone records are “lost.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: U.S. House Committee To Subpoena Countrywide Records. Of course, some of those records have been “lost.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd: It’s time to “move on” from talk of VIP loan. I’m sure he feels that way . . .

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Scandals, But No Censure.

Two years ago, after a scandal that centered on the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the House created an independent ethics office as part of what Speaker Nancy Pelosi called an effort to end the “culture of corruption” in Washington. The Senate also took action, setting up what it described as tough new regulations.

Since then, however, no member of Congress has been censured, the toughest punishment short of expulsion, despite a number of recent scandals involving sexual impropriety, financial dealings and conflicts of interest. The record illustrates how Congress has struggled to police itself after years in which its ethics committees were often derided as ineffectual.

I don’t think they’re “struggling.” I don’t think they’re even trying very hard to look as if they’re struggling.

Read the whole thing, but here’s the bottom-line quote: “Congress will protect its own, no matter what.”

A “PINCH-SULZBERGER-APPROVED REPUBLICAN” running against Chris Dodd? If so, that suggests that the Dems are really worried about that seat . . . .

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd tops Politico’s list of Senators Who Could Lose in 2010.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: President Obama to Appear at Fundraiser for Sen. Dodd on October 23. Wonder if any Tea Partiers will show up?

CHRIS DODD’S EXTREME MAKEOVER. Which is genuine? “Friend of Angelo” or Tribune Of The People? I’m guessing number one, here . . . .

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: More on those “lost” Countrywide phone tapes.

More on that here.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Secret Countrywide Phone Tapes Destroyed:

The discovery that Countrywide Financial Corp. recorded phone conversations with borrowers in a controversial mortgage program that included public officials — and that those recordings have been destroyed — has prompted new congressional calls for more information about the program.

Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is trying to subpoena the remaining records of Countrywide’s VIP loan program. So far, the committee’s chairman, New York Democratic Rep. Edolphus Towns, has turned down that request. . . . Among the prominent VIP program borrowers were two Democratic senators, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota. Both men have denied wrongdoing, and said they never asked for favorable loan terms from Countrywide. . . .

In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Towns, the oversight committee chairman, had received two mortgages from Countrywide — one on his home in Brooklyn and the other on a house in Florida. The loan documents indicated that both had been processed through the VIP unit. At the time, a Towns spokeswoman said his decision not to subpoena the VIP records had “nothing to do with his mortgages.” If the mortgages, which were originated in 2003, came through the VIP unit, Mr. Towns was unaware of that fact and never asked for special treatment, the spokeswoman said.

Sure is convenient that those tapes are gone. . . .

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Let’s Get Ready To Rumble. “With Chris Dodd keeping his seat as Senate Banking Committee Chair, the players for the battle royale on regulatory intrusion are set. When not explaining his Countrywide-related actions to the Senate Ethics Committee, the good senator has made good sport out of arguing that when it comes to financial markets, government he knows best.”

DEALBREAKER: Chris Dodd prepares for the beard. “Now that the Senate Ethics Committee has opined that Chris Dodd’s status as a VIP friend of A-Moz and associated discounts does not violate the moral high road, the Senate Banking Committee Chairman can get back to his bread and butter- playing Monday morning quarterback for the financial crisis. The Countrywide circle of trust member now wants to make it known that the Beard can expect a ‘thorough and comprehensive’ renomination hearing during which Dodd will prominently display his ability to recount revisionist history.”

What about that Irish “cottage” of Dodd’s?

POLITICO: Chris Dodd Says Obama Needs to “Step Up.”

WILL CHRIS DODD OR BARBARA MIKULSKI TAKE OVER THE HEALTH COMMITTEE?

Now, in what would be a unique parting gift, there is a chance that Kennedy’s death could elevate Mikulski to the chairmanship of a major committee for the first time in her 23-year Senate career. For her to inherit his job, though, Kennedy’s closest friend in the Senate would have to turn it down first.

The odds of that happening are difficult to gauge. They depend on a complex blend of seemingly unrelated factors, including President Barack Obama’s legislative priorities, arcane Senate rules and the political calculations of one of the most endangered Democratic senators in the country.

That man is veteran Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. The Connecticut senator hasn’t tipped his hand, but if he decides that shoring up his shaky re-election prospects is his top priority, Mikulski would remain the most senior Democrat without a major committee chairmanship.

Dodd told reporters Wednesday that he had not given “a second’s worth of thought” to whether he would take over for Kennedy as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The same day, Dodd spoke by phone with Mikulski, according to a Mikulski aide.

I question whether getting involved in the healthcare debacle will help Dodd’s reelection prospects. But he and Kennedy were certainly close.

GQ: A Sober Look At Ted Kennedy. By the late Michael Kelly. With supporting roles by Chris Dodd and a waitress.

UPDATE: Memories.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: “Gosh, what a surprise: A committee of their fellow senators has decided that Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad did nothing unethical when they took out loans from Countrywide Financial on the kind of favorable terms not available to us mere mortals without their financial or political standing – or a personal connection to the head of Countrywide. . . . The senators on the committee have a point: This VIP program – called Friends of Angelo after Angelo Mozilo, the head of Countrywide at the time – wasn’t restricted to U.S. senators; it seems to have been open to a wide, bipartisan range of politicians with pull as well as anybody Angelo Mozilo took a liking to. . . . Something else seems to have escaped these two U. S. senators – namely, that they are U.S. senators. Which means their getting a loan at a preferential rate through the head of a corporation like Countrywide, which was very much dependent on favorable treatment by the government before it came crashing down at great expense to the taxpayers, is quite different from a private citizen’s getting a mortgage at the same preferential rate.”

EDITORIAL: THE NEED TO CONTROL PRIVATE PERKS FOR POLITICIANS:

Election to Congress should be an opportunity for public service, not personal enrichment. But given the examples of Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad, Congress needs to strengthen disclosure rules to help prevent special-interest favors from subverting the public interest.

The Senate Ethics Committee this week dismissed complaints against Dodd and Conrad regarding preferred mortgage terms they received from Countrywide Financial. Ethics rules bar legislators from accepting mortgage terms “not generally available to the public.” Yet, on orders of Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, the company in 2003 cut a half-point off the interest rate on Dodd’s $750,000 loans, saving him $75,000. Also on Mozilo’s orders, Countrywide loaned Conrad $96,000 in 2004 to buy an apartment building — a breach of company rules on residential loans.

The mortgages put off a strong whiff of unethical conduct. Dodd heads the Senate Finance Committee, which develops legislation to regulate the mortgage industry and to subsidize home ownership. Conrad leads the Budget Committee, which sets spending targets for home-ownership programs. Both were in a position to grant preferred treatment to Countrywide in exchange for mortgage favors. But the ethics committee decided that special deals were also available to “Friends of Angelo” outside of government, and so Dodd and Conrad did not violate the rules.

Seems kind of iffy to me, but the Senate Ethics Committee is a toothless watchdog. Plus this: “The ethics committee’s decision was an indictment of the rules, not an exoneration of Dodd and Conrad.” Indeed.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: He and Kent Conrad have been cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee. But there’s this: “Oh and by the way, it’s been 378 days since Chris Dodd promised to release all his mortgage paperwork to the public for examination. He still hasn’t made good on that promise. Regardless of whether the Ethics Committee has cleared him, if Dodd really had nothing to hide he’d release the mortgage documents already.”

HARTFORD COURANT: Protesters Confront U.S. Representative At Simsbury Supermarket Meeting. “Chanting ‘Dump Chris Dodd’ and ‘No national health care,’ scores of angry constituents confronted U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy at a meet-and-greet outside the Super Stop & Shop Wednesday afternoon.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Influence with U.S. Senators Easy to Buy.

If I had an eight-unit apartment building, Countrywide representatives would have refused to provide a refinanced mortgage for me. But for Sen. Conrad, they said they’d make an “exception.”

I own two homes, one owner-occupied and the other a rental. I cannot afford to refinance my rental because the rate, points and fees on a rental are too high. Not so for Sen. Dodd. Countrywide made an “exception” and allowed him to claim his first and second homes as “owner occupied” so he could get a great rate, points and fees and he was able to refinance both homes.

These two senators did sit on very powerful committees that deal with legislation affecting the mortgage industry and Countrywide Mortgage, and they still do. Does any American really believe that Countrywide provided these special deals to these two senators and others just to be nice?

Read the whole thing.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Mortgage Issue Sticks With Dodd.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Democrat resists subpoenaing VIP mortgage records. “House Democrats have declined to subpoena available records that might reveal whether other members of Congress got discounted VIP mortgages from subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. similar to the sweetheart deals given Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad.”

CHRIS DODD AND THE STORY HE CAN’T SHAKE.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: AP IMPACT: Dodd, Conrad told deals were sweetened. “Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.” Oh come on — a politician lying about his finances? You expect me to believe that?

But lawhawk offers the perfect defense:

I think I have the answer.

They signed the paperwork without reading.

We already have proof of all that with every new massive piece of legislation that has been passed of late – without anyone reading for details, and members of Congress like John Conyers bellyaching about having to read for understanding being too difficult to do.

Sadly, that’s plausible . . . .

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

Planet-killing climate-changers brag.

Chris Dodd snubs lobbyists, but not their cash.

ACORN holds pro-Obamacare rally, Tea Party breaks out. Similar event here. Also, how to ruin a professional agitation group’s day.

Energy-wasting bureaucrats at the Department of Energy.

Robert Byrd is down on cap-and-trade. But can he withstand the giant-puppet assault?

News reports on the Richmond and Asheville tea parties.

Latest polling not looking good for Obama. Plus the CBO rains on the Obamacare parade again.

And, finally, this. Preacher: InstaPundit needs more sex. I respond with this post.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: AP: Dodd May Snub Lobbyists, But Not Their Cash. “Facing the toughest re-election fight of his nearly 30 years in the Senate, Sen. Christopher Dodd boasts about snubbing lobbyists. Yet even as he touts his independence, the embattled Connecticut Democrat is still cashing lobbyist campaign checks and rubbing shoulders with them at fundraisers and party gatherings.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: “Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a likely Republican challenger 48 – 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, but he is inching up in his job approval to a negative 42 – 52 percent approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd Looks to Distance Himself From Financial Firms. But not, you know, from their money.

THE HILL: After bashing K Street, Dodd mingles with lobbyists. “After distancing himself from lobbyists in campaign ads, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) was on Martha’s Vineyard this weekend meeting with some of the most well known names on K Street. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) hosted its annual retreat this weekend at the high-class getaway. Designed for candidates to meet with senators for campaign advice and policy guidance, several high-powered lobbyists also attend and network with lawmakers during the retreat. Dodd’s attendance at the retreat follows a series of web videos his campaign released promoting his populist credentials and highlighting the frustration some lobbyists are feeling with the senator, including quotes from anonymous lobbyists in news reports. . . . According to an invitation list for the retreat obtained by The Hill, several influential lobbyists were invited to the event. For example, Ben Barnes of the Ben Barnes Group, former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) of the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group and Ed Black of the Computer & Communications Industry Association are on the list. Almost 30 senators were expected to attend the retreat, according to the invitation list, including Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) and newly swore-in Al Franken (D-Minn.). Senate candidates invited to the event were Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D). Rep. Charlie Melancon (D), who is considering mulling a bid against Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), was also invited.”

It’s like the whole thing is just a bunch of lame-ass posturing. . . .

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: HARTFORD COURANT: NRSC Asks Sen. Dodd To Return Contributions To Lobbyists. “Since Sen. Christopher J. Dodd has been criticizing lobbyists lately, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is now asking Dodd to return campaign contributions that have been given to him by lobbyists.”

RISIBLE POLITICAL LIE OF THE WEEK: Chris “Friend of Angelo” Dodd posing as the Scourge Of The Lobbyists.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Mozilo Meets MacBeth.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: “Dodd Continues To Mislead People About the Value of His Irish Property.”

WHO WOULDN’T BELIEVE CHRIS DODD? “Given Chris Dodd’s existing problems, you really have to wonder how smart it is to have him release the news of yet another could be health care plan said to cost much less than previous estimates at $610 billion over ten years. In another item below, it took the Washington Post less than 24 hours to throw water on the news and reveal even more troubling problems for the Obama administration as regards health care reform.”

ANOTHER CHALLENGER FOR CHRIS DODD: “Poll results released today show Libertarian businessman Peter Schiff has a realistic shot at unseating corrupt Connecticut Democrat Chris Dodd as his numbers stack up well against Dodd as well as potential GOP challenger Rob Simmons.”

CHRIS STIREWALT: Sanford can’t save Democrats on ethics woes.

Obama is a pragmatic politician, and while it took good-government promises to win office as a reformer, winning his next term demands playing the game the Washington way. That includes signing bills rewritten by lobbyists in the dead of night.

Ask Sen. Chris Dodd how that can come back to haunt you.

Dodd is drowning under bad polls in Connecticut because of his insertion of the AIG bonus amendment, a sweetheart mortgage, boatloads of cash from the mortgage companies he was supposed to be regulating, and dubious real estate deals.

And even Dodd looks like a solid citizen compared with Rod Blagojevich’s man in Washington, Sen. Roland Burris. On the House side, Rep. Charlie Rangel has been under investigation for 10 months for tax issues and other alleged misconduct. But that didn’t stop him and many of his Congressional Black Caucus colleagues from going on a Citigroup-funded getaway to St. Maarten last fall.

And everyone on Capitol Hill is still waiting to see what happens to Reps. John Murtha, Peter Visclosky and Jim Moran — the top recipients of donations from a lobbying firm since busted by the FBI in a pay-to-play investigation.

Indeed.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: “The Kent Democratic Town Committee is the perhaps the first in the state to jump off the Chris Dodd bandwagon. The town committee issued a vote of no confidence in the state’s senior senator at its meeting Monday night. The vote is rooted in dissatisfaction with Dodd’s acceptance of campaign contributions from the financial industry, which he oversees as chair of the Senate banking committee.”

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: The Secret ‘Friends of Angelo’.

THE SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEE: A black hole where investigations go to die.

The committee never took action in the case of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), despite abundant evidence that an oil contractor rebuilt his house and gave him other gifts never reported on his financial disclosure forms. The overturning of Stevens’ guilty verdict — owing to prosecutorial misconduct — does not erase the Ethics Committee’s dismal failure to police what seems an obvious violation of Senate rules.

More than a year ago, the committee got a complaint from CREW concerning unusually favorable mortgage terms accorded Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) by the now-defunct Countrywide Financial. Not a word has been heard about that probe.

Dodd is also the subject of a complaint, filed in April by yet another watchdog group, Judicial Watch, growing out of his purchase of — and apparent profit on — property in Ireland from the business partner of a person convicted of stock fraud for whom Dodd secured a pardon.

I’m not expecting much.

WSJ: Lawmakers Tussle Over Mozilo Probe.

Mr. Issa said he understands there is some resistance within the committee to issuing a subpoena, but he still hopes one will go out.

The Friends of Angelo program has proved embarrassing for some loan recipients, whose ranks included two U.S. senators, Democrat Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Democrat Kent Conrad of North Dakota. Both men, subjects of a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, have denied wrongdoing and said they didn’t do any favors to Countrywide.

Mr. Dodd has said his mortgage was at a market rate. Both senators, who also have said they weren’t aware of receiving special treatment, are cooperating with the ethics probe. The ethics committee didn’t return a call for comment.

I’m not expecting much from the Ethics Committee.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: He’s “offended” at suggestions that his wife doesn’t deserve the big corporate bucks she’s hauling in.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Chris Dodd’s Irish Luck: The Senator Sure Knows How to Pick an Investment. “The Senate’s financial disclosure forms are supposed to be a tool of honest government, and former Senator Ted Stevens was indicted for allegedly false disclosures. Mr. Dodd’s miraculous property reappraisal is further grist for Senate and Justice investigators — and especially for voters in 2010.”

CHRIS DODD, OBAMA’S WEAK SOLDIER:

Mr. Dodd’s ability to carry the regulatory bill has been weakened by his political standing in Connecticut, Democratic officials say. His support has fallen in part because of his perceived closeness to American International Group Inc., a big campaign contributor. He also was pilloried for receiving a low-interest loan from failed mortgage giant Countrywide.

Indeed. I’m guessing that this won’t help:

On both Dodd loans, someone at Countrywide had scrawled “VIP” and “FOA” on documents. “FOA” is a reference to Friends of Angelo Mozilo, then the chief executive of Countrywide. Mozilo built Countrywide into a financial powerhouse, but in recent years allowed the business to be undermined by losses on unsustainable, high-risk loans.

Dodd has said repeatedly he doesn’t know Mozilo and got loan terms that were generally available to the public.

Well, that’s credible.

HARTFORD COURANT: GOP Could Get Dodd Mortgage Documents. “The Countrywide loan has been a continuing irritant for Dodd since Portfolio magazine alleged a year ago that he and his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, benefited from improper VIP treatment when Countrywide gave them $781,000 in loans on homes in Washington and East Haddam. Dodd denies he received favorable treatment.”

Related: Chris Dodd’s Irish Getaway Won’t Go Away.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Looking at Jackie Clegg Dodd’s professional record.

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED, if you were out, you know, having a life over the weekend:

A Dick Durbin insider-trading scandal?

Reports from the Houston Tea Party Pelosi Protest, where over 600 showed up.

Plus, other rallies in Columbia, Missouri (hundreds) and New Richmond, Ohio (over a thousand).

Obama folks worried that his enormous spending might hurt Democrats in 2010.

Disappointment with the Justice Department on gay marriage.

Don’t try National Health until you can fix Medicare first.

Some inappropriate laughter.

Posts on underwater scooters and digital cameras. Plus, the lameness of The Sims 3.

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA), lousy neighbor.

And, of course, more problems for Chris Dodd.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Hartford Courant: Loans Probe, Value Of Cottage Bedevil Dodd.

A year ago, Portfolio magazine reported that Dodd was enjoying more than $800,000 in favorable loans from subprime mortgage titan Countrywide Financial as a member of the “Friends of Angelo.” That was the exclusive club of borrowers given special treatment at the behest of Countrywide co-founder and president Angelo Mozilo.

In 2007, Countrywide, based in southern California, was the first major lender to collapse in the upheavals of the financial industry. Many expensive troubles followed and continue. Fingers continue to be pointed, blame apportioned and explanations floated.

Dodd trotted out myriad excuses for not honoring his early pledge to release his mortgage documents to the public last year. He held a snap press conference one Monday morning last winter and flashed a pile of papers purported to be his mortgage documents at some reporters. No copies were allowed and, curiously, no list was provided of what was in the stack to the few who were invited to Dodd’s office and the many who were not. . . .

With the political atmosphere heavy with suspicion, Dodd obtained a new appraisal on his 10-acre waterfront home in Ireland after the unusual circumstances around his ownership of it were raised in this column in February. . . . Last month, Dodd told Newsweek he paid Kessinger $207,000. While Dodd continues to revise the details of that 2002 deal, an immutable, nagging fact remains: Dodd appears to have received from Kessinger a gift of hundreds of thousands of dollars, which he never reported, in the year after Dodd obtained a presidential pardon for their friend Downe.

Read the whole thing.

I WISH I WERE A SENATOR, SO I COULD GET THIS KIND OF HOUSING-MARKET APPRECIATION: Dodd’s Irish Cottage: Was $190,000. Now $658,000. “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. . . . Dodd has been criticized for low-balling the worth of the cottage in his disclosure forms. Questions also have been raised about his original purchase of the cottage with a Kansas City businessman William Kessinger, who he met through long-time campaign contributor Edward Downe.”

DODD-KENNEDY HEALTH-CARE BILL NEWS: Dodd’s wife serves on health care company boards. “The wife of a senator playing a lead role on a national health care overhaul sits on the boards of four health care companies, one of several examples of lawmakers with ties to the medical industry. Jackie Clegg Dodd, wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, serves on the boards of Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cardiome Pharma Corp., Brookdale Senior Living, and Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals, a financial disclosure report the senator released Friday shows. . . . Dodd, who as Senate Banking Committee chairman also has been an architect of the nation’s financial industry and housing rescue plans, did not file a new disclosure report outlining his personal finances as most other senators did in May. The Senate was releasing those reports Friday. Dodd sought a 90-day extension to file his report covering last year, giving him until mid-August to submit his report, but released his report Friday to The Associated Press.”

It’s like he was trying to keep this under the radar until after the bill was done.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Schiff Discusses Potential Dodd Challenge on Daily Show.

The opportunity to send Dodd home, Schiff said, is “the most attractive part of running.”

“He’s been living in the Senate his whole life. He thinks he’s in the House of Lords.”

“He’s got a very nice house. I happen to know he got a very good deal on his mortgage, as well,” Stewart Joked, in a nod to the controversy surrounding the VIP treatment Dodd received on his mortgage with Countrywide, which has since collapsed in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Seizing the opportunity to test out attack lines, Schiff noted that the man who helped Dodd with his mortgage, Countrywide co-founder Angelo Mozilo, was charged with fraud and insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

If Schiff does decide to run, he would first have to get through a crowded Republican primary.

Unless, you know, he decides to run as a Democrat.

TRANSPARENCY: Congress Hedges on Disclosure:

As the government spends billions bailing out cash-strapped businesses and homeowners, Americans might wonder whether their lawmakers are refinancing their own mortgages or benefiting from relief they backed.

Good luck finding out.

Congress has made a big deal about getting tough on itself with stronger ethics rules, but when it comes to details of lawmakers’ personal finances — and any potential conflicts of interest they may pose — the law lets in as much shadow as sunlight. The government financial disclosure reports that Congress is expected to release Friday will be no exception. Lawmakers can still keep important information private. . . .

Lawmakers do not have to reveal homes they own unless they are rental properties. They also do not have to say whether they have mortgages or home equity lines of credit on their non-rental residences, who holds the debt, how much it is or what the terms are. Often, it’s only when scandal occurs that the public learns of financial arrangements that pose potential conflicts of interest.

That was the case when the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Kent Conrad, D-N.D., received preferential treatment on mortgages. Dodd was an architect of last year’s multibillion-dollar housing rescue plan. The scandal involved a Countrywide Financial Corp., “VIP” program for “friends of Angelo,” Countrywide’s then-chief executive Angelo Mozilo. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit this month accusing Mozilo of civil fraud and illegal insider trading.

Dodd’s mortgages don’t appear in his public financial disclosure reports; Conrad disclosed a Countrywide mortgage on a rental property but not one for a vacation home. Both have denied wrongdoing.

Of course they have.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: “Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) seems to attract friends who, in turn, attract scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION:

Rep. Barney Frank has already been leaning on GM to favor his Massachusetts district, and the first round of dealer closings prompted an outcry about favoritism.

Democrats already got their first case of bailout indigestion over the AIG bonuses in March. Authorized in the stimulus bill, the bonuses have pushed Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., to the brink of electoral defeat and have left simmering resentments in their wake.

With so many banks and insurance companies now part of the $700 billion bailout family, the AIG pratfall was more likely foreshadowing than culmination.

Meanwhile, Democrats are dragging their feet on dealing with congressmen like John Murtha, D-Pa., [Pete] Visclosky, D-Ind., and Jim Moran, D-Va., who were the biggest recipients of campaign cash from the PMA defense lobbying firm at the center of a pay-to-play investigation. Last week, House leaders caved a bit to Republican pressure by promising to make public the work of the Ethics Committee on the issue, but they again blocked a move for a special investigation.

Rather than learning from the Republicans’ mistakes and rooting out wrongdoing by wayward party members, House Democrats are still looking to protect their own. When the FBI finishes its work on PMA, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will regret the see-no-evil strategy.

I think that’s right.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Feds Charge Countrywide Execs.

Or, if you prefer, SEC Busts Dodd’s Friend.

CONNECTICUT DEMOCRATS encouraging Chris Dodd to quit? “The Connecticut State Senate is rushing through legislation to strip (Republican) Governor Jodi Rell of her power to appoint a successor to Senator Chris Dodd, if he should resign his office.”

EVEN CHRIS DODD OR JOHN MURTHA WOULD HESITATE AT THIS: UK Tory MP added a servant’s wing to his house at taxpayers’ expense.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd Shows Signs of Life in Connecticut.

Plus, Why Dodd is Still Trailing.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Angelo Mozilo’s defensive options.

As the man allegedly behind an unofficial effort to provide discounted loans to favored borrowers, which is now under federal scrutiny, he knows which politicians and others may have received special treatment. He could use that information to bargain with prosecutors. . . . Salerno said the Justice Department appeared to be investigating whether the program amounted to improper influence peddling by Countrywide and whether the politicians had failed to publicly report favors from Mozilo.

And that, legal experts said, could give Mozilo another strategy: a chance to cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony. “He’s in a position, potentially, to say who else Congress had their hands out to,” Levenson said.

Which could be interesting.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Rank-and-file Falling Away From Dodd. “During his long Senate career, Dodd has happily and legally taken millions of dollars from the big businesses he and his banking committee are responsible for regulating. He insists and may even believe that their dollars have not influenced his votes, but no opponent, especially a Rob Simmons or one equally experienced, will ignore those appearances.”

HINDSIGHT ISN’T ALWAYS 20/20:

But what do you say about a book that approvingly quotes the wisdom of Bernard Madoff, published the same month he was arrested for running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history?

How can you not wince at his decision to include the opening statement of Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd at hearings looking at the “mortgage market turmoil,” after Dodd became involved in his own turmoil, allegedly helping Countrywide Financial – one of the biggest subprime culprits of them all – after the company allegedly provided him with below-market mortgages on his property?

Nobody’s perfect.

TIME TO retire Chris Dodd?

AT CNBC, SKEPTICISM ON BIG BANKS:

Mega institutions (financial institutions and insurance companies come to mind) that become TOO BIG TO MANAGE are likely to become TOO BIG TO FAIL.

It is impossible for top management to effectively monitor what is happening in all the nooks and crannies which have proven themselves able to bring down the largest Goliaths. And the Boards of Directors? Too friendly, too close, not independent enough, chosen as “buddies” rather than for skills needed. They have for the large part failed to perform. Chris (“I still can’t find my Countrywide mortgage documents”) Dodd’s wife serves on many boards. Her consulting company has NO clients. Just one of many many possible examples of inappropriate Board appointments.

I tend to agree that institutions that are too big to fail are too big to exist.

POLITICS DAILY: Will Chris Dodd Bail Out His Buddy at Countrywide Financial?

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

Chris Dodd supporters’ rally turns out to be a small, intimate affair.

How America is vulnerable to bio-attacks.

Selling barbecue with fake boobs.

Yuan to replace dollar as world’s reserve currency?

The joys of the Flip Mino HD camcorder. Plus, why I’m lame.

Obama’s new terror policies, and the problems they pose for Bush critics now serving in the Obama Administration.

Plus, Nancy Pelosi and the pro-torture Democrats.

CHRIS DODD HOLDS A MEETING — and family and press cameras show up!

Not much of anyone else, though, it appears . . . But note how much more impressive a photo editor can make it look!

Patrick Ruffini notes that the top photo led the story this morning, but by this afternoon it had switched to the bottom photo. But to be fair, the story does refer to “a small group of supporters.” And this is small!

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch emails: “I almost feel sorry for Dodd. Almost.”

THE HILL: Reinventing Sen. Chris Dodd:

The Chris Dodd reclamation project is in full swing, but even Dodd admits it’s an iffy proposition. Facing all-time low approval ratings as he heads into the 2010 election, Sen. Dodd (D-Conn.) is reinventing himself to the voters he’s represented for almost 30 years.

The old Chris Dodd would have been on all the cable news and Sunday morning talk shows and shaking hands at glitzy D.C. events. The new Chris Dodd is doing more local events, keeping a low national profile and hoping that he has enough time to recover before Election Day. But he also candidly admits it could be too little, too late. He acknowledges he’s been beaten down pretty hard, and while others say the party is rallying around him, Dodd said he hasn’t made significant progress yet with Connecticut’s voters.

I hope a lot of Connecticut “Tea Party” folks start showing up at those local events.

COULD BE EMBARRASSING FOR HIS “FRIENDS:” Report: SEC may charge Angelo Mozilo with fraud.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to recommend that the agency bring civil fraud charges against Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., according to a published report Wednesday.

Those “friends” from the Countrywide sweetheart loan scandal include Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Richard Holbrooke, and Donna Shalala, among others.

POLITICS DAILY: 5 Dead-Weight Democrats for 2010. Chris Dodd made the list. (”Dodd has more financial blood on his hands than any other Democrat in Washington.”) Also John Murtha! (”It’s hard to clean up Washington when your party can claim the greatest source of political pork this side of Alaska. Murtha has wasted untold millions of taxpayer dollars on airports named after himself, and it doesn’t help that he called his own constituents a bunch of racists.”)

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Hoping the credit card bill will save him:

Dodd’s popularity among Connecticut voters has sunk in the wake of several issues dogging him — including mortgages from Countrywide, a troubled lender.

Dodd’s role in the financial industry relief legislation was later tainted when it was revealed he had a hand in writing provisions that allowed bonuses to be paid to AIG executives.

Dodd and his staff have been pushing the credit card legislation heavily in recent weeks — and it has been mentioned prominently in appearances around the state.

But Dodd, who faces re-election next year, says this is far from a new issue for him, having campaigned for more consumer protections for more than 20 years, beginning with disclosures about credit card terms and fees.

On the other hand, the bad publicity just keeps coming:

Since her marriage, Mrs. Dodd, whose name also appeared on those infamous sweetheart mortgages from Countrywide Financial, has seen her income quadruple thanks to her recruitment for lucrative positions on corporate boards, including CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange. Those jobs have enriched the Dodd household while netting Sen. Dodd’s campaigns at least $40,000 in contributions, according to a published report. In addition, from 2001-04, she was a director for IPC Holdings, an off-shore company controlled by AIG; Sen. Dodd’s political and financial entanglements with AIG are well documented. Today, she also is designated, as required by federal law, as the highly paid “financial expert” on two of her boards’ audit committees, even though she has neither auditing nor accounting credentials or experience. As for Clegg International, she admits she hasn’t had a client since 2005.

Mrs. Dodd protests her husband didn’t help her get these jobs. But with actual business credentials so thin, does she really believe corporations would want her if she wasn’t the wife of a five-term U.S. senator?

And don’t forget that Irish “cottage” . . . .

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: He’s going after . . . wait for it, wait for it. . . fishy lending practices. And calling his presumptive opponent a tool of Wall Street:

On one hand, it’s interesting that Democrats have chosen to attack Simmons on his connection to lobbyists and special interests — Dodd’s greatest weakness and the reason the five-term Senator is performing so horrendously in the polls.

In September, the Hartford Courant wrote that Dodd had collected nearly $6 million over the past two years from PACs and employees of finance-related firms. Since then, the incumbent Democrat has been linked in unflattering ways to disgraced mortgage lender Countrywide Financial and even to American International Group, the embattled insurance and financial services company.

You might think that it’s crazy for Democrats to bring up ethics, lobbyists and Washington insiders where Dodd is concerned. Shouldn’t Democrats want the Connecticut Senate race to be about something where Dodd actually looks good? No, say a number of consultants I spoke with about the tactic.

They note that the DSCC’s strategy is right out of the campaign textbook: Convince voters that there is no difference on ethics and lobbyists between Dodd and Simmons, and voters will make their vote choice on other matters, including party, where Dodd has a significant advantage.

Ah, politics.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Must Senators Disclose Good Deals on Property Sales? There seem to be a suspiciously large number of them.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

Olympic Gender Discrimination.

Your enlightened mainstream media.

Bill Whittle offers a history lesson for Jon Stewart.

Questions about Chris Dodd’s wife’s finances.

Terry McAuliffe’s business background.

Charges of White House bankruptcy thuggery.

And, Obama snubs Visclosky.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Hartford Courant: Jackie Clegg Dodd Making Big Money As Corporate Director.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd has long had a reputation as a politician of limited means — a reputation underscored, for good or bad, by recent disclosures about his dependence on friends to finance his homes.

The reputation could prove difficult to sustain as Dodd begins what political operatives predict might be the toughest campaign of his 35-year congressional career — considering the dramatic uptick in his wife’s income since they married.

Since the low-profile family wedding on a rise above the Connecticut River in 1999, Jackie M. Clegg Dodd’s income has quadrupled to the mid-six-figure range. All of the increase is due to her appointment as a highly compensated member of multiple corporate boards of directors.

Funny how that kind of thing tends to happen. Plus, a “consulting” business with no clients, or phone number. And this: “The official, who asked not to be identified for fear of offending Dodd, said he does not believe that Clegg Dodd’s legislative and banking experience qualified her as an audit committee expert.”

CHRIS DODD GETS more constituent criticism:

After some rather self-congratulatory remarks by Sen. Dodd and Chris Murphy, the U.S. congressman from the district (and a former intern in Dodd’s office), the questions were chosen and read.

Nothing about the banking crisis. Nothing about Countrywide or AIG. Nothing about Sen. Dodd’s lovely seaside “cottage” in Ireland, which has led to some intriguing questions about mortgage financing and property transfers. Not a word about any of it.

My question for Sen. Dodd was this: Shouldn’t you consider, in light of the compromising information that has been reported, resigning as chairman of the Senate banking committee?

It was not read. Nor were any questions submitted by the other journalists read. Meanwhile, Dodd and Murphy held forth at length on the benefits of single-payer health insurance (good), global warming (bad), and the beliefs and practices of the previous administration and Congress (really bad). The hours passed slowly.

I’m sure they did.

TAINTED MONEY FROM POLITICIANS:

Ellen Roman, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeastern Connecticut, said her organization got $4,000 from Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT), who received the funds as a donation from fallen mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corporation. Roman said if she had known where the contribution originated she might have asked her charity’s national office to review it, but added that “it’s very challenging times right now [and] I do have to look at what kind of resources I have.” . . .

Deciding which donations to accept, especially at a time when public sensitivities about financial improprieties are running high, can be a complicated calculus for charities and nonprofit organizations. “Organizations weigh how much of an assault on their integrity this is, and whether they have the credibility to withstand that assault,” said Gene Tempel, president of the Indiana University Foundation. “You either damage your integrity a little bit, or you don’t serve some people.”

What’s a little damage to integrity, if there’s money in it? Nothing that bothers our leaders!

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: “Already weakened politically by his quixotic presidential candidacy in 2008 and his ties to the failed mortgage giant Countrywide, Dodd found himself at the center of the storm caused by the massive bonuses given to AIG executives. His poll numbers in reliably Democratic Connecticut have tanked badly and he is certain to face serious Republican opposition — in the form of former Rep. Rob Simmons or former Ambassador Tom Foley — in 2010. The good news for Dodd? The bleeding has stopped (for now).” And don’t forget the Irish “cottage” scandal!

Meanwhile, I note that John Murtha, Pete Visclosky, Jim Moran, and Charlie Rangel seem to be keeping a low profile.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Nobody Wants to Be Part of the ‘Friends of the Indicted Guy’ Program. “So if, hypothetically, Mozillo were to be indicted, what could he tell prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence?”