Replies

Good job, maggie...

I just have a hard time believing that Dodd isn’t going
off into the sunset with a big smile on his face, as he
might get melancholy and poetic on camera.

Look at what he got away with ... they raped and stole
us blind. And he was right there, lying his lib face off
for years, along with Kennedy and all the other vote buying
lib bums, while skating on the VIP mortgage fiasco and
numerous other questionable ethical forays.

Meanwhile, if this diabolical healthcare program goes thru,
who knows what future positions of power he, Dorgan,
Nelson, and any other accommodating Rat and their families
could just be eased into in the party or in the hundreds of
new govt bureaucracies that will be formed.

He’s no spring chicken, has a youngish wife and 2 young
daughters, AND STILL has his ‘cottage’ in Ireland, his
fortune, including the pension.

How could they not know that their marxist positions
and choices would insult the electorate and leave a mark?
It’s almost a setup conveniently staged for an exit, a very
rich exit in their later years, so their monstrous
legislation will be installed, forever changing the face of
this country.

Then, they’ll be lionized, feted and memorialized by their
crook colleagues and funders for their ‘years of noble
service, blah blah blah.’

~~~

“The top campaign contribution to Dodd in 2007-2008 was
$315,894 from employees of Citigroup Inc. Christopher
Dodd’s net worth was between $629,019 and $2,118,999 in
2007, according to Dodd’s mandated financial disclosure
statements. For more information, see the Center for
Responsive Politics’ page for Dodd.”

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300034

~~~~

And those financial reports, with the ranges, show nothing
close to the true net worth from affiliations, boards,
trusts, insider stock investments, and their wife’s
financial connections, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Money Summary:

Dodd has raised a total of $46.5 million since 1989 and has
spent $45.5 million. His large war chest can be attributed,
in part, to his presidential bid in 2008, which he
abandoned after receiving less than 1 percent of the vote
in the Iowa caucus that kicked off the primary season. He
raised $18 million in his attempt to win the White House.

Overall, Dodd has received 62 percent of his contributions
from individuals (rather than the political action
committees of unions and corporations) and is a popular
beneficiary of Wall Street money, collecting $5.4 million
from donors in New York City — more than any other metro
area. He’s given other lawmakers and candidates 23 percent
of the total $2.3 million that his leadership PAC, Chris
PAC, has raised since the start of the 2004 election cycle.

Campaigns Donors:

Not surprisingly, Dodd’s most generous sector is finance,
insurance and real estate, which is filled with companies
directly affected by legislation shepherded by the Banking
Committee. The finance, insurance and real estate sector
has given Dodd a total of $13.9 million since 1989 —
nearly 3.5 times more than the next sector.

In a distant second place, lawyers and lobbyists rank as
Dodd’s second most generous backer, giving him $4 million
since 1989.

The securities and investment industry, insurance
companies, real estate industry, commercial banks,
accountants and finance and credit companies all rank
among his top 20 industry donors.

Between 2005 and 2008, Dodd was among the top five
recipients of money in the Senate from 19 industries, many
of which are finance-related.

He’s currently the top recipient in the Senate of money
from mortgage bankers and brokers, and the Senate’s second
highest beneficiary of money from insurance companies and
finance and credit companies.

The $819,950 he has received during the past 20 years from
hedge funds, which are a big industry in Connecticut, ranks
him as the largest beneficiary of the industry currently
serving in the Senate. In 2007, Dodd expressed concern over
a bill that would have increased taxes on private-equity
firms and hedge fund managers.

Dodd’s most generous donors include many of the companies
that have filed for bankruptcy or sought government help
during the last year and a half: Citigroup ($427,700), Bear
Stearns ($347,350), AIG ($281,000), Goldman Sachs
($274,450), Morgan Stanley ($211,300), Lehman Brothers
($185,100) and Merrill Lynch ($185,000).

Not all of Dodd’s financial supporters, however, come from
Wall Street.

Law firms, lobbyists, pharmaceutical companies, health professionals and the entertainment industry also rank among his most generous industries. During the race for the White House, the International Association of Fire Fighters endorsed Dodd and spent $202,300 independently to help him win. Dodd has sponsored bills to provide more funding to fire stations for equipment, training and staff.

*snip*

Industry Favors:

The U.S. Senate was called on in January to release the
second half of the $700 billion bailout money. Despite
strong financial backing from Wall Street interests, Dodd
pushed for stronger oversight provisions and limits on
executive compensation for the companies receiving a
handout.

Yet he also amended his executive pay limit provision at
the time — at the direction of the Obama administration
and U.S. Treasury. The resulting change allowed some
retroactive bonuses for bailout recipients, including
insurance giant AIG.

Dodd says this effect was unintentional and that he did not
know that AIG would benefit from the amendment, but it
still made him the target of significant public ire.

Invests in:

Compared to the rest of the Senate, Dodd is middle class.

In 2008 he was worth between $534,018 and $1.7 million,
ranking him 66th among all senators. Like many lawmakers
and investors during the recent economic crisis, his
personal fortune has taken a hit.

Between 2007 and 2008, his net worth fell by 15 to 20 percent. According to his most recent personal financial disclosure reports, the largest stock holding of he and his wife was $100,000 to $250,000 invested in company that runs the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ((Kennedys)).

They further own between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of holdings in both Blockbuster and Brookdale Senior Living. They also have a few smaller investments in drug manufacturers including Pear Tree Pharmaceutical (worth between $1,001 and $15,000), Cardiome Pharma (worth between $0 and $4,000) and Javelin Pharmaceuticals (worth between $0 and $3,000).

Dodd also owns a cottage and a 10-acre estate in Ireland, which he purchased with a long-time friend whom he met through a Bear Stearns principal who was convicted of insider trading and later pardon by President Bill Clinton,
reportedly at Dodd’s urging.

According to the 2008 filing, this estate is valued at
470,000 euros — a value that puts it in the range of
between $500,000 and $1 million on the same form.

Other Money Matters:

When mortgage buyers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were in dire financial straits last year and seeking help from the government, Dodd came under some fire for having received more money from the two companies’ employees and political action committees than any other lawmaker over time — at $165,400. Dodd helped push through a rescue plan for the two companies last year, including better regulatory oversight in the measure.

The Senate Ethics Committee recently investigated Dodd over allegations that he received preferential treatment by Countrywide Financial when, in 2003, he refinanced his home mortgages.

Dodd benefited from a VIP program, known as “Friends of Angelo,” named after the Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo. In August, the ethics probe cleared Dodd of any wrongdoing, saying there was “no substantial credible evidence” that the refinanced mortgages violated ethics rules or that Dodd used his position for personal gain.

In His Own Words: “We need to take action to restore Americans’ confidence, their sense of optimism — and their financial security — by reforming a regulatory system that still contains far too many gaps, loopholes, and redundancies,” Dodd said during a committee hearing earlier this fall.

“The 20th century regulatory structure has been outpaced by the 21st century innovations in the financial services industry, and if we don’t fix it, we could be right back where we were a year ago, facing a another dreadful choice between a massive outlay of taxpayer dollars or an unimaginable economic disaster for our nation and others around the globe.”

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/11/banking-chairman-chris-dodd-a.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Couldn’t you just throw up?? He’s hugely responsible for
the deceptive and reckless financial industry regulation,
takes full advantage of it and makes money off it, then
wants us to believe he’s a hero because he’s now FOR
stricter govt regulation.

AND THEY’RE ALL THE SAME! All those leaving,. and probably
more will, will hardly be departing as charity cases. It’s
a sick racket.

Take a gander ...

Richest Members of Congress

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&year=2008

Term limits ... an idea whose time has come.