Dodd’s Guide to Clean Livin’

National Review ^ | January 29, 2009 | Mark Hemingway

[george76]

Stall, and hope they forget.

It’s been over seven months since it was revealed that Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) got a sweetheart deal on his Washington, D.C., townhouse directly from Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of troubled subprime-mortgage lender Countrywide Financial. Participating in the “Friends of Angelo” program saved Dodd about $75,000 on his mortgage, and raised more than a few eyebrows about whether Dodd should be accepting such hefty gifts from entities he’s tasked with overseeing and regulating.

Since the scandal broke last June, no action has been taken by the Senate to formally ascertain if Dodd engaged in any wrongdoing.

Nor has Dodd tried to clear his name in any way. What’s troubling about Dodd’s scandal isn’t so much that it remains unresolved but that it’s a textbook example of how scandals in Washington are swept under the rug.

Indeed, Dodd’s behavior follows an utterly predictable pattern.

last month Dodd registered his lowest approval rating in 14 years. However, with no strong contender for his seat and almost two years until the next election, Dodd is unlikely to be held accountable....

Just ask Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.). “It’s interesting you only hear about Dodd. Conrad had two mortgages with those people [the ‘Friends of Angelo’ program],” ...

And indeed, Senator Conrad’s role in the scandal has gone straight down the memory hole. So next time you wonder how members of Congress get away with lining their pockets as they run the country into the ground, remember it’s a simple four-step formula—and one that relies on your forgetting you knew it existed in the first place.

[steelyourfaith]

A most contemptible congress critter.

[pankot]

He’s the Sultan of Sleaze and the Prince of Pork.