Mortgages and Christopher Dodd

Where was Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, while the mess in the mortgage market was brewing? The easy answer is that he was ignoring his job and his constituents while attempting to beat the margin of error in presidential polls. Despite the problems happening on his watch, he moved his family to Iowa in a bid that even at the time everyone (except possibly him) knew was futile.

But it turns out he wasn't simply stroking his ego in Iowa. While Countrywide Lending was involved in predatory lending and charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans, Senator Dodd got preferential treatment from them on not one, but two loans. Yes the chairman of the banking committee was getting lower interest rates than were available to the public, as well as $21,000 in campaign donations, from the poster child for the mortgage crisis.

According to Portfolio.com "The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home." Additionally, he received services form the bank, like a float-down to a lower interest rate for free, where regular customers have to pay for these services.

The only response to these allegations from the Senator's office at the time of this writing is that they are preparing a statement.

Ignoring his job was bad enough. This moves Dodd to a whole new realm. It's time for him to retire from public office and spend more time in those homes he saved so much money on.

Votes vs. Soundbites

Congress has passed an increase to the minimum wage. Workers who now make $5.15 an hour will see their paychecks go up by 70 cents per hour before the end of the summer. Another 70 cents will be added next year, and by summer 2009, all minimum-wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, called the increase one of Òthe proudest achievements of this new Congress.Ó

Kennedy said. ÒDemocrats stood together, and stood firm, to say that no one who works hard for a living should have to live in poverty.Ó

So what's the problem with this? What Kennedy isn't saying is that he voted against the bill. So did Senators Clinton, Obama, and Dodd. Why? The minimum wage was raised as part of the bill that funded our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to a CBS/New York Times poll, 87% of Americans said we should finance the war and 69% said we should have benchmarks. So we have a bill that 87% of Americans support, that provides funds for our troops AND raises the minimum wage, and four of the most vocal Senators, three of whom are running for President, voted against it.

They voted against "the proudest moment of this new Congress." We should not forget this.

To vote or not to vote?

Democratic presidential hopefuls are wavering in their support for our troops. They know that not passing a funding bill will put our troops in graver danger than they are already in, but they are more concerned about how their vote will affect their election chances.

Democrats have to weigh doing what is right with doing what is popular. The main problem is that they're not sure they want to vote for funding that doesn't tell the enemy when we're leaving. If this is confusing for them, I don't want them in the White House.

Damn The Security, There's An Election To Win

Yesterday, three Democratic senators who are running for President showed us just what they are made of. Unlike the majority of the Senate (Democrats and Republicans alike), Senators Clinton, Dodd, and Obama voted to abandon our troops in Iraq and cut off their funds completely. Never mind that it would put our troops in more danger than they are in. Never mind the fact that it would abandon the Iraqi people again. (Is it any wonder that people don't believe we can see things through with cut and run policies like this?) Never mind the fact that it would give Al-Qaeda a new home from which to plan the next 9/11. They voted to suck up to organizations like Moveon.org, who represent their own agenda, not that of the American people.

As President, your job is to represent the country. If Clinton, Dodd, and Obama seriously want the job, they should start by not voting to throw our soldiers under a bus.