Right Pundits

Chris Dodd

On Friday the Senate “Ethics” committee cleared Sens. Dodd and Conrad of any ethical violation in relation to the Countrywide Bank scandal. As a refresher, the accusation (indeed, it has been admitted to now) was that Countrywide Financial had a “special” lending program for senators and those who have influence and power. Under these special loan programs Dodd and Conrad got sweetheart deals in terms of the loans they got on their houses. Despite the fact that the only reason Dodd and Conrad got these deals was because they were senators and could be in a position to help Countrywide, the Democrat controlled Ethics committee found no violations:

After a year-long investigation, the committee told Dodd and Conrad that it found “no substantial credible evidence” that they had violated the Senate’s ethics rules. The committee found that the senators’ loans were processed through a special, controversial program, but that they did not appear to profit financially from it.

But the committee also criticized the senators, telling them they “should have exercised more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid the appearance that you were receiving preferential treatment based on your status as Senator.”

Nuance. Clearly this is the most ethical congress ever, just look at this great example of justice being served and Piglosi and her ilk cleaning up the congress after those filthy, ethically challenged Republicans defiled the place for so long. Ethics. You keep using that word. I do not thing that word means what you think it means. /snark

Let’s be clear, Dodd and Conrad got a deal that none of us could have gotten. They didn’t get this deal because they have great credit ratings or because they put down extra cash as a down payment, they got this deal because they are US Senators. You can try to defend this with whatever nuance you want, but clearly this is a bribe. It is especially important because Countrywide was one of the top US lenders of sub-prime mortgages, which just adds a degree of impropriety to the fact that two Democrats, who constantly rail against “predatory lending practices” are taking bribes from the largest of the predators. Hypocrisy, thy name is Democrats. The only solace I’m taking from this is that it is increasingly likely that Dodd is going to loose his re-election bid. In some ways this would all be worth it to finally get rid of him.

Video of Chris Dodd Cleared of Ethics Violations