Free Republic

Michael Moore basks in Dodd's retirement By Jordan Fabian - 01/07/10 09:51 AM ET Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore on Thursday basked in Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-Conn.) decision to retire. After targeting him in his latest documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story," Moore has called on Dodd — who officially announced his retirement Wednesday — to step down. Splashed across Moore's website is a banner that reads, "There Was No Other Decision to Make: Four months after our request for him to retire, Senator Christopher Dodd agrees." Moore claimed that, in order for Democrats to keep the longtime senator's seat, Dodd had...

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), a leading Democrat whose political star fell along with the nation's economy, is expected to announce Wednesday that he has decided against running for reelection this November, according to sources briefed on the decision. Dodd, in his fifth term, chairs the Senate Banking Committee. His retirement would be the second such announcement by a Senate Democrat in 24 hours; North Dakota's Byron Dorgan said Tuesday that he would not run this fall.

It would be next to impossible to fact-check everything Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd says. Lord knows the endeavor would be worthwhile; after all, politicians such as Sen. Dodd inspired the joke: "How do you know politicians are lying? Their lips are moving." Sen. Dodd's reason for staying on as chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee, rather than taking over the late Ted Kennedy's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is one of his more recent statements that fails the smell test. "We have important work to do on the Banking Committee, and I intend to...

Perhaps it's the Russ Feingold influence. Feingold, when he served in the Wisconsin Legislature before traipsing off to Washington, was the bulldog behind legislation that outlawed gifts and other perks to legislators, things like free dinners and drinks, pen sets and the like, or even a cup of coffee. The idea was that legislators ought not be beholden to anyone except the people who elected them. Conversely, lawmakers are not to lavish favors on lobbyists and other influence peddlers. So by law they are to pay for their own meals and reimburse their hosts when they get something of value...

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...

n the middle of a difficult re-election campaign, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., on Friday was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee from a year-long investigation about whether mortgages he obtained from Countrywide Financial Corp. violated the senate's rules on gifts. The committee, however, did scold the senior lawmaker for not being more careful in his 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 more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid...