Free Republic

Gosh, what a surprise: A committee of their fellow senators has decided that Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad did nothing unethical when they took out loans from Countrywide Financial on the kind of favorable terms not available to us mere mortals without their financial or political standing -- or a personal connection to the head of Countrywide. The very Select Committee on Ethics did recognize that the whole deal looked bad, and gave its colleagues a gentle pat on the wrist for creating "the appearance that you were receiving preferential treatment based on your status as a senator." But in...

In the political surprise of the summer, Chris Dodd—cleared in the Countrywide scandal and fresh from cancer surgery—is on the verge of saving his career. An exclusive interview with Lloyd Grove. Ailing Connecticut senator Chris Dodd, who underwent successful prostate surgery Tuesday at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, appears to be on the mend politically as well. In what might be the political surprise of the summer, Dodd is on the verge of saving his career. “I think so—we’re getting them back,” the 65-year-old Dodd told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview the night before he went under...

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd underwent surgery for prostate cancer on Tuesday and was recuperating at a New York hospital. Dr. Peter Scardino of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center said the surgery was successful and Dodd was resting comfortably. "It is anticipated that he will be able to return to full activity within a few weeks," Scardino said in a statement released by Dodd's office. Dodd, 65, is expected to remain at the hospital for a few days before returning home to Connecticut. The five-term Democrat announced last month that he had been diagnosed with an early, treatable stage of cancer. He...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may now be the most endangered incumbent Seantor running in the 2010 cycle. In a state where Barack Obama won by 12%, Reid has only 34% support for re-election, and trails a possible GOP challenger by 6%. Connecticut Senator and Countrywide Financial favorite son Chris Dodd, also trails his likely GOP challenger, former Congressman Rob Simmons, by a similar high single digit margin.

The donors who poured millions into Ron Paul's presidential campaign coffers aren't done yet. On Saturday, libertarian financier and commentator Peter Schiff raised more than $200,000 in a 24-hour "money bomb" as he continues to explore a bid for the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Having now collected more than $790,000 in campaign contributions since mid-July, the Ron Paul Republican Schiff is competitive financially with the frontrunners for the GOP nomination. Former Congressman Rob Simmons raised $754,000 through June 30 while former ambassador Tom Foley has taken in $528,000 since mid-June. Schiff's fundraising haul wasn't the...

... Americans in vast numbers are abandoning cable news networks because of stunts like this. Throughout the interview the host badgers and belittles Schiff who is barely able to open his mouth before the host interrupts him again.

Politics: Democrats say Rush Limbaugh is running the Republican Party. Better Rush than George Soros, who is running the Democrats. At least Rush believes in freedom, capitalism and letting you keep what you earn.The cover of the March 7 issue of Newsweek shows a picture of conservative icon Limbaugh with a piece of tape covering his mouth and the word "Enough!" So much for disagreeing with what you say but defending to the death your right to say it. Voltaire could never be a contributor to Newsweek. But David Frum is, and his inside cover story, "Why Rush Is Wrong,"...

Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd received a better mortgage deal from subprime lender Countrywide, simply because Dodd was a United States Senator. Today, the United States Senate cleared Dodd of wrongdoing. According to CNBC: In the end, it takes a lot for the country's most elite club to turn on one of its own. Senators Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad have been cleared of any ethics violations for accepting sweetheart, "Friends of Angelo" mortgages from Countrywide. The Senate's deciding to clear Dodd comes just a couple of days after the SEC gave a sweet heart deal to Bank of America -...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Two key Democrat senators were cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee on Friday from year-long investigations about whether mortgages they obtained from Countrywide Financial Corp. violated the senate's rules on gifts. The bipartisan committee, which supported the decision unanimously, did scold the senior lawmakers, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., for not being more careful in their dealings. "While the committee finds no substantial credible evidence as required by committee rules that your Countrywide mortgage violated Senate ethics rules, the committee does believe that you should have exercised...

A powerful House Democrat who has turned down a Republican's call to subpoena records of a mortgage program at Countrywide Financial Corp. received two home loans from the lender. Some information in the lawmaker's mortgage documents raises the possibility they were made through the program, which provided loans to public figures and other favored borrowers often at lower interest rates or with lower origination fees than were available to the general public. The loans were made to Rep. Edolphus Towns of New York, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform committee. The panel's ranking Republican, California Rep. Darrell Issa,...

Connecticut investment advisor Peter Schiff (R) is up with a new website for his exploratory Senate campaign (www.schiffforsenate.com), and the site reports he has already raised $465,000 online for his bid. Schiff is one of four Republicans running for the right to face Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) next year, and he looks to be successfully tapping many of the libertarian-leaning donors who helped long shot presidential candidate Ron Paul raise big money for his campaign. Schiff served as an adviser to Paul's campaign. Like Paul, Schiff has been the beneficiary of a series of one-day fundraising moneybombs, in which donors...

Supporters of Peter Schiff's nascent bid for U.S. Senate plan to unleash another money bomb, or one-day donation blitz, tomorrow. The goal, according to the money bomb website, is to raise $1 million in a single day. Schiff has formed an exploratory committee as he contemplates a run for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic incumbent Chris Dodd. Known for his outspoken opposition to federal bailouts and stimulus efforts, Schiff has made frequent appearances on CNBC and other networks and is credited with having foreseen the current financial crisis. He served as economic adviser to Ron Paul, who sought...

Countrywide's strategy to regulate the mortgage industry included favoring influential people by offering sweetheart loans. That included senators Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd.

EVERYTHING you need to know about false Hope and Change can be found in one picture: the image of President Obama embracing embattled Sen. Chris Dodd. The troubled Democrat is in deep over his sweetheart Countrywide home-loan deals, corporate bailout cash and crony associations. New revelations by Countrywide whistleblower Robert Feinberg confirm what more and more of Dodd's Connecticut constituents are coming to realize: He's a lying weasel. Dodd denied knowledge of the special treatment the subprime-mortgage company had given him and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad on home loans. (Dodd's were worth more than $800,000.) Feinberg flatly contradicted...

Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut announced Friday that he has an early form of prostate cancer. "I feel fine; I'm going to be fine. We caught this early," he said at a news conference in Hartford with his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd.

U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. Dodd is scheduled to undergo surgery during the Senate's August recess and said he expects to be back at work after a "brief recuperation" at home. "It's something that's very common among men my age,'' said Dodd, who is 65 and the father of two young daughters. "In fact, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their life.''

News has broken today that Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, Acting Chairman of the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. Our best wishes and hopes for speedy treatment and a successful recovery of course go out to him. We wonder, though, how Senator Dodd, who is 65 years of age, would fare under provisions contained within several of the health care “reform” proposals or bills currently circulating in the halls of Congress. We also wonder if he would be willing to subject himself to the vagaries and outright mandates already outlined...

News conference 2PM Eastern.

POLITICO Breaking News: ----------------------------------------------------- Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has told the Hartford Courant that he has early-stage prostate cancer. For more information...http://www.politico.com

TWO cut-rate mortgages from failed subprime giant Countrywide Financial continue to cost Sen. Christopher Dodd, shredding the Connecticut Democrat's credibility as he faces re-election next fall. This week, news of the secretive Senate Ethics Committee investigation into Dodd's unusual mortgage deals leaked to The Associated Press. AP reported that at least one witness, Robert Feinberg, starkly contradicted Dodd's account of what favors he knew he was getting from a company that, as a member of the Banking Committee, he helps regulate