In speaking of the most ethical party thaf has ever graced the floors of Congress

You may have heard about St. Barry and the questionable vetting wizards.

The same people who St. Obama was vilifying not two years ago (but that's history, and we all know how well Barry remembers that). Which happened to be everyone involved in the ARM mortgage mess. One of which happened to be Jim Johnson (ex-chief of Fannie Mae [the Fed mortgage regulator])-who by the luck of the draw ended up working to vet the Obamanators VP picks.
Except, he wasn't *really* working for the most articulate black presidential candidate in this race, because he was volunteering....or something.

That's just a background for this example of Frank Dodd's (D-Conn AND chair of the Senate Banking Committee) complete B.S. dissembling about special privileges commonplace in the offices of power.

OR you might (if you really believed this Bravo Sierra) end up realizing just how absolutely out of touch with *real* America most Congresscritters are.

Anyway, here's Frank explaining his loan rates (and his credit history is only mentioned 2/3 of the way through the article).



WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, a leader of Congress' efforts to help homeowners ensnared in the subprime mortgage meltdown, reportedly got special treatment on his own mortgages from the CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., a company whose practices he has called ``abusive.''

At least one other lawmaker, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., also benefited from the VIP treatment after placing a personal call to Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo seeking a mortgage.

Both senators say they weren't aware they were getting special deals.
~snip~

It could be especially damaging for Dodd, D-Conn., one of four Democrats who pursued his party's 2008 presidential nomination, given his high-profile role in crafting a broad housing rescue. It comes as Dodd is engaged in intense behind-the-scenes negotiations with lawmakers and the Bush administration to complete that measure.

``As a United States senator, I would never ask or expect to be treated differently than anyone else refinancing their home,'' Dodd said in a statement. [bullchit! you think you're a king.]

Lawmakers' participation in the VIP program is coming to light just days after similar revelations prompted Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, to ax one of his vice presidential vetters, Jim Johnson, who also apparently benefited.

~snip~
Conrad, the Budget Committee chairman, said it was Johnson who referred him to Mozilo [CEO of Countrywide] in 2002 when the North Dakotan was seeking a loan to buy a vacation home in Bethany Beach, Del.

`I called (Mozilo). I said, 'I'm buying this property. Would you be interested in the mortgage?', and he said, 'Yeah. Call these people and we'll take a look,''' Conrad said.

``I deal with the heads of companies every day, and I didn't find it at all unusual. I did not think for one moment - and no one ever suggested to me - that I was getting preferential treatment,'' Conrad said. [Of course, you are so used to getting the royal treatment that you don't even see it anymore]

~snip~
`When my wife and I refinanced our loans in 2003, we did not seek or expect any favorable treatment. Just like millions of other Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates,'' Dodd said. [No, your people made calls to pressure loan officers.]

Conrad obtained a $1.16 million loan from Countrywide in 2002 to buy his vacation home, then refinanced twice through the company. Portfolio reported that an internal e-mail from Mozilo instructed an employee to give Conrad a 1-percent discount off his interest rate on his 2004 refinance of $1.07 million, a savings of about $10,000 a year in interest payments.

~snip~
`If they did me a favor, they did it without my knowledge and without my requesting it,'' Conrad said. ``It's an appearance issue, but in terms of substance, I have not done one single thing wrong here.'' [I didn't request but I'd be surprised if I didn't get a good rate.]
~snip~

Countrywide also made an exception in lending Conrad $96,000 in 2004 to buy an 8-unit apartment building from his brothers. The company had a policy of only providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer.

``They said they frequently made exceptions, especially for good customers, and I was a very good customer,'' Conrad said.

An internal e-mail from Mozilo, however, said the exception was ``due to the fact that the borrower is a senator,'' according to the Portfolio report. [Finally the money quote!]

The rest of the article is just as enlightening about out political processes.