Posted on 07/14/2008 11:51:27 AM PDT by Rufus2007
U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has remained largely unhurt by the controversy over his “sweetheart” deal with mortgage lender Countrywide. But CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla finally bucked the media trend of ignoring the scandal and brought the loan up in an interview with the former Democratic presidential hopeful July 14.
Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in the wake of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s July 13 announcement that the federal government would take actions to prevent the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) from failing.
“Squawk Box” co-host Quintanilla asked Dodd if his association with Countrywide, now owned by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), compromised his ability to lead on the housing issue.
“Not at all,” Dodd said. “In fact, we’re more than happy to talk about that and since we’ve talked about having a – refinancing a house some years ago. And those rates we were given were exactly within the band of rates that were available to people.”
...more (w/video)...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessandmedia.org ...
And he’s on the short list for Obama’s VP!! ROFL!!
“I'm just the guy who called 911.......”
You lyin SOS!
If you don't know that public statements on a specific, publicly traded company, have the potential impact that we've now seen, you have demonstrated that you are incapable of handling the public trust.
Who cares, really?* The guy isn’t up for re-election until 2011, and by then this will be such old, stale news that his reelection is a foregone conclusion.
*Not to say that what happened is ethical, just that for a Democrat it’s very small potatoes in the scandal category and there’s no benefit to the MSM to bring it up. Therefore, who cares?
That was Charles Schumer(NY), not Dodd.
Schumer didn’t cause the collapse, I must admit - that firm’s wheel were derailed long ago.
He’ll always be remembered as the other slice of bread on Ted Kennedy’s “waitress sandwich” where he and Teddy sandwiched a waitress on the floor of a DC restaurant and were humping her like a couple rabid dogs.
Are you joking?
Do you have any more details on the Waitress Sandwich incident?
How do you explain the withdrawal of 1.3 BILLION in deposits within a short period of time between when Schumer released the letter and the run took place?
"The OTS has determined that the current institution, IndyMac Bank, is unlikely to be able to meet continued depositors’ demands in the normal course of business and is therefore in an unsafe and unsound condition. The immediate cause of the closing was a deposit run that began and continued after the public release of a June 26 letter to the OTS and the FDIC from Senator Charles Schumer of New York. The letter expressed concerns about IndyMac’s viability. In the following 11 business days, depositors withdrew more than $1.3 billion from their accounts.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/feds-cite-schum.html
You may want to rethink your position on this.
No, Chris is right - IndyMac was up to their necks in subprime and option arm loans in the California, Nevada, and Florida areas and was absolutely insolvent months ago. In fact, the FDIC de facto took over IndyMac months ago - they’ve been a zombie bank since.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/84685-fdic-comments-imply-big-haircut-for-indymac-loans
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/greenberg/2008/01/more-countrywide-what-about-indymac/
IndyMac was a mortgage lender masquerading as a bank.
IMO Schumer did depositors a favor by telling the truth.
Why do you think the bank should be allowed to continue lying about its assets/liabilities to deceive shareholders, bond holders, and depositors ???
It’s really quite simple. Schumer made a public statement and started a run on the bank. What may have been an orderly process, with the Fed stepping in and finding a buyer for the bank, instead turned into a blood bath for some of it’s depositors who lost a ton of money.
Take your pick.
While I believe he cast light on the subject their failure was inevitable. They laid off one-third of their employees months ago. And they laid off about 50% of their employess in the last week - that was going to happen whether Schumer spoke about IndyMac or not. And they still had over $17 billion in deposits remaining.
I’m no Schumer fan - I actually can’t stand the guy. But the mortgage implosion was ultimately behing the collapse. Many lenders are failing every day - IndyMac is no different - they’re just bigger than most.
I’m not trying to be argumentative - just saying that this was going to happen anyway due to market risk, not the words of Chuckie Schmuckie.
Cheers,
C
While I believe he cast light on the subject their failure was inevitable. They laid off one-third of their employees months ago. And they laid off about 50% of their employess in the last week - that was going to happen whether Schumer spoke about IndyMac or not. And they still had over $17 billion in deposits remaining.
I’m no Schumer fan - I actually can’t stand the guy. But the mortgage implosion was ultimately behing the collapse. Many lenders are failing every day - IndyMac is no different - they’re just bigger than most.
I’m not trying to be argumentative - just saying that this was going to happen anyway due to market risk, not the words of Chuckie Schmuckie.
Cheers,
C
Well golly gee - do ya think that these idiots who lost their uninsured deposits might have bothered to find out what the FDIC symbol on the door of every friggin’ bank in this country means ???? Just whose responsibility is it to determine how to keep your money safe ?
When someone on a supposedly CONSERVATIVE forum suggests that a person who has saved over $100k isn’t capable of understanding the limits of INSURANCE and how that applies to their bank deposits, then this country is truly screwed.
All hail the nanny state. /s
Due diligence, folks, due diligence. Either than or go back to diapers and a pacifier.
Besides, who’s responsible ? The fools who didn’t understand what the FDIC is/does, or Schumer for speaking the truth.
When we can’t speak the truth because someone who is imprudent might lose some money, then we all are looking at an Emperer without clothes.
Due diligence, or lose it. No mercy-be happy the first 100k was “insured”.
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