Shocked, SHOCKED at Such Mortgage Terms

Not a.r.m.'s or balloon payments this time. It seems that Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), in addition to millions in campaign contributions from the industry he purports to regulate, also received a couple of sweetheart mortgages totalling $800,000 from Countrywide Financial. Kevin Rennie in Sunday's Hartford Courant:

Sen. Christopher Dodd's bewildering odyssey of entitlement, evasions and deceptions continued last week. He shed more credibility as he staggered through new excuses for concealing from the public documents related to his cut-rate mortgages of nearly $800,000 from subprime giant Countrywide Financial.

On Wednesday, Dodd announced he wants to wait until the Senate Ethics Committee completes its investigation of his mortgage deals. There's no Senate rule requiring Dodd to remain silent during the investigation. There's no legitimate reason for Dodd to withhold from the public the array of documents, e-mails and letters from the mortgage swag bag Countrywide gave him.

The Senator from Connecticut has also been moving money between his campaign accounts - from presidential to senatorial - so that he can legally spend such funds on attorneys' fees. Were supporters aware of such a prospective use of their contributions?

Dodd has put forth the same weasley, non-believable defense as two other members of Congress, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) who is currently on trial for corruption and Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), who probably ought to be. From Wednesday's Hartford Courant:

Dodd said he was unaware that he was getting special treatment.

"I never sought any special treatment," Dodd said. "I was never offered special treatment. I was never aware of any unique or special treatment. Had I been so, believe me, I would have terminated the relationship with that institution immediately."

On a more serious note, we now have to ask: what other members of Congress are "unwittingly" receiving gifts and preferential treatment as a result of their official power?