Maybe it was for Boardwalk and Park Place
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd…Oops, Chris Dodd…Oops again. Try again…Dodd. Okay, start over…..Senator Christopher Dodd (he’s the fuzzy, snake-eyed public-servant tycoon on the right, not the rubbery clod to the left) issued the following statement on Friday, June 13th, concerning his VIP mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp…
As a United States Senator, I would never ask or expect to be treated differently than anyone else refinancing their (sic) home. This suggestion is outrageous and contrary to my entire career in public service. When my wife and I refinanced our loans in 2003, we did not seek or expect any favorable treatment. Just like millions of Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates.
Competitive rates indeed. Read on…
After his statement he left the scene. He scuttled out of DC and was unavailable for comment. But on Tuesday, Diamond Dodd had to admit that he received VIP treatment (that he was “special”) from Countrywide, but believed it was just because of his repeat business. Repeat business? Competitive rates?
$800,000 in mortgages - one for $506 Grand on his Washington townhouse at 4.25% rate, another for his precious little Old Schoolhouse pad here in East Haddam, for $275 Grand at 4.5%. Fees and charges were also waived, saving Dodd a bundle. The green eye-shade goons of Big Predatory Lending at Countrywide passed the Dodd processing expense on to some poor yuppie shmuck in a McMansion outside of New Milford.
Prior to the mortgages, Dodd, as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, had been relieving himself of righteous gas about predatory lenders, and apparently someone at Countrywide ratted him out to the Conde Nast publication Portfolio.
There’s more to this story, especially the taxpayer-backed Countrywide bailout recommended by Dodd’s committee, and the Countrywide takeover by Bank of America. That’s for another post.
No tags for this post.June 26, 2008 at 4:35 pm | Trackback
5 comments
Gee….
….According to this chart, (http://www.hsh.com/natmo2003.html)
you and I paid about 6% for an average 30 year mortgage in 2003…Did anyone here have fees and charges waived when they took out theirs?
What’s that? No? The bank didn’t waive them for you?
Nope. And Dodd’s refinancing alone at those rates saved him $80,000 over the life of the mortgage. If he didn’t know he was doing anything questionable he’s either (a) an idiot, or (b) a pol who’s been in power too long, with a likely parlay of being both.
The best you can say is that these arrogant loafers spend so much time gaming one system or another, and Dealing with a capital “D”, that they lose any moral direction they might have had before taking office.
When Dodd was implicated in some financial mischief as chairman the DNC, he claimed he wasn’t in attendance when the deals went down…someone from CT who donated $50,ooo said Dodd was present, Dodd explained it this way:
“I would not argue I was there, and I would not argue I was not there. I wouldn’t deny I was there, now.”
This is the best CT can do?
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You have to remember, He’s important. Ask him, he’ll tell you!
Right, VW. I’m wondering if comment #3 was from Countrywide.