Posted on 06/24/2008 11:20:13 AM PDT by STARWISE
Scroll down for updates…
Ethics, schmethics. Despite the cloud over Countrywide pals Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad, the latest mortgage bailout boondoggle has cleared another congressional hurdle. The Senate voted 83-9 to move forward on Dodd’s housing aid bill. Final vote is scheduled for later today. We’ll see if the White House upholds its veto threat.
Meanwhile, Politico asks Senate members to show them their loans. Check out the results here.
http://www.politico.com/homeloans/
It’s so, so tough to be a U.S. Senator, isn’t it?
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTY3ODA3NmMwZGJjNjVkYTllNWE5ODE0MjAwMzJhNWY=
Sniff.
***
Update: Here’s the cloture motion roll call vote. Look who’s AWOL again…
http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00155
***
Update: Just received from Sen. John Cornyn’s office:
As part of a continued effort to strengthen public disclosure and increase transparency in Congress, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice-Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, announced today that he and Senate Ethics Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Ca., have introduced an amendment to the housing reform bill, currently under consideration in the Senate, which would require Members of Congress to disclose residential mortgages as a liability on their financial disclosure reports.
In addition to Sens. Cornyn and Boxer, the amendment is cosponsored by Senators Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, Pat Roberts, and Johnny Isakson, who together compromise the full Senate Ethics Committee.
Currently, there is an exception to the disclosure requirement for residential mortgages. The Cornyn amendment provides that this exception will no longer apply to Members of Congress.
“Accountability in government is only an empty promise without transparency and disclosure. The more information that we can put in the hands of citizens and journalists, the stronger our democracy will be, particularly as we take the necessary steps to rebuild the confidence of the American people in their government,” Sen. Cornyn said today.
“This amendment would close an unwarranted loophole and provide citizens and journalists with more complete information on financial disclosure forms. I appreciate the bipartisan support this amendment has received and I am hopeful it will be included in the housing reform bill.”
Chairman Boxer said, “Ethics in government is something that needs to be revisited continually. This update will help make our disclosure rules stronger, and I believe it is an important step forward.”
Under the Cornyn amendment, Members of Congress will have to make a “full and complete” disclosure of residential mortgages. This will require Senators to disclose the date that the mortgage was entered, the range of the amount, the interest rate, the term, and the name and address of the creditor. It will take effect as Members of Congress file their financial disclosure forms next year.
OK ... Do we still have a chance to change the final vote by calling and screaming at our congresscritters?
You can add me to your list! Just d@mn!
It ends the discussion, prevents a filibuster, and leaves the details of the Bill intact for a final vote.
BOHICA
Was this on PPV*?
*Pay Per Vote
Correct. I think that vote comes later today. But I must say I am worried about it being veto proof. I surely hope not.
K...your point is a good one and stopped the steam from coming out of my ears!
We ALL need to contact our Congressmen to STOP this insanity. And Dodd should be put on trial!
Of which they will never pay it back, requiring another bailout from the government.
This is outrageous!!!! Nobody bailed me out when I was in deep doodoo, I had to scrimp and scratch my own way out. Damn my keyboard is steaming.
What’s the use. With everything else going on, I just don’t know what to do.
When I hear "financial disclosure" I think of "Profit and Loss Statement" aka "Income Statement" and "Balance Sheet" aka "Statement of Net Worth". These should be the minimum requirement. The "Balance Sheet" should disclose all liabilities, including mortgages. Does this comment mean they aren't required to report all liabilities in the Balance Sheet? Just what are they required to disclose?
I almost lost my house after a lay-off in 2002. Why didn’t the government bail me out?
What happened to “free markets”???
I almost lost my house after a lay-off in 2002. Why didn’t the government bail me out?
What happened to “free markets”???
I’ve been calling my two dufus senators about this bill for days- (Martinez and Nelson)- they’re all for it :(
Any ideas, other than calling- what we can DO to let them know this bill is a DISASTER?
It’s time to get rid of the foxes guarding the hen house?
In CT, Dodd’s mortgage would be recorded on the land records. Anyone who wants to could read the entire thing.
This change is window dressing to make it seem they did something.
Why are we still paying taxes for all this crap again?
300 BILLION? This is a freaking CRIMINAL abuse of our legislative system.
oh my- what in the world happened to that post? eeek- It SHOULD read:
http://corner.nationalreview.com
Hoyer Hosts Fundraiser for “Deadbeat” Dem [Stephen Spruiell]
As the Senate continues to debate the Chris Dodd-Bank of America Lender Bailout Act of 2008, another of the Dems’ poster children for housing-market mischief pops up in the news: House majority leader Steny Hoyer is hosting a fundraiser for “deadbeat congresswoman” Laura Richardson — less than a week after calling for an investigation into her financial chicanery:
Richardson was elected to the House last August in a special election to replace the late Democratic Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald.
Subsequently, Richardson lost her Sacramento home to foreclosure after failing to make payments. She also reportedly owed Sacramento County about $9,000 in property taxes and defaulted on loans six times on two other California homes.
On top of that, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Richardson failed to pay an auto mechanic for hundreds of dollars’ worth of car repairs and then abandoned the car at another body shop.
None of this was detailed — as some of it probably should have been, according to critics — on Richardson’s legally mandated financial disclosure forms.
The liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) dubbed Richardson a “deadbeat congresswoman” and filed a complaint. Both Hoyer and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said that Richardson’s woes might merit an ethics inquiry. [...]
But Hoyer’s policy didn’t deter him from going ahead with the fundraiser to help his beleaguered colleague pay off the $330,000 she owed as of last month. The event is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 tomorrow evening, in rented space at a private residence on Capitol Hill.
06/24 02:10 PM
Truer words were never spoken. See my tag line.
Carolyn
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