Also a "friend of Angelo": Sen. Chris Dodd

To quote my favorite comment of recent days, "You cannot stop Angelo Mozilo, you can only hope to contain him."*

From Portfolio.com today: "Two U.S. senators, two former Cabinet members and a former ambassador to the United Nations received loans from Countrywide Financial through a little-known program that waived points, lender fees and company borrowing rules for prominent people."

Backstory: This appears to be the same "friends of Angelo" program in which former Obama campaign adviser Jim Johnson participated. Angelo being, of course, Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo.

More from Portfolio: "Senators Christopher Dodd (pictured), Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide’s 'V.I.P.' program in 2003 and 2004, according to company documents and emails and a former employee familiar with the loans.

"Other participants in the V.I.P. program included former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. Jackson was deputy H.U.D. secretary in the Bush administration when he received the loans in 2003. Shalala, who received two loans in 2002, had by then left the Clinton administration for her current position as president of the University of Miami. She is scheduled to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 19."

Crazy, huh? Say this for Angelo Mozilo, the butcher's son: He learned how the game is played in Washington, and he played it well.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
*For those who don't know, that line from ESPN's Sportscenter, for reasons to juvenile to go into, is considered by many American males to be the wittiest line of the past generation.

Comments

[anon1137]

And you thought this kind of stuff happens only in third world countries?

Welcome to American Democracy, my friend, a system of government that is so advanced we bomb other countries into piles of rubble to get them to accept it.

[Cal]

Who is dropping the dime on all these people, that is just as interesting.

[CD]

Do you ever have this feeling that we are just a bunch of suckers, that we only exist to pay for" those guys" our political leaders, that in fact we are just the peons, the cerfs,the consummers, the untouchables, just a social security number to pay the IRS and that there is this big diner party going on and that we will never be invited..... Remember 1789, there is only that much people can take, Europe right now is paralyzed by strikes and civil unrest due to inflation and price of gas, we are next I hope.Lets kick those guys out......enough !!!!!

[William Jones]

What is more amazing...that Angelo Mozilo would have any friends, or that Christopher Dodd would be one of them? Debate amongst yourselves...

[jaded]

is every last person in DC a greedy, "I'm entitled" scumbag?

[Doug]

Funny, but I tried to post the below item on the recent hit piece on Obama, but it mysteriously did not appear. Let me try again now that you toss another couple Democrats to the wolves (I like how the Republicans are buried down into the piece, even though there are more of them in the original story).

Seems to me this has a much, much larger impact on the average American: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/
2008/05/26/daily15.html

U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign faces questions regarding a top economic adviser's work for Swiss banking giant UBS Warburg. Economist and former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm is vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank and has lobbied Congress on the company's behalf. UBS has been hit hard by the U.S. housing and mortgage meltdowns. The investment banking and mortgage industry has lobbied for less regulation in past years and is worried about potential federal actions to address the housing subprime bust. ... McCain counts Gramm as one of his top economic advisers. Gramm advocates tax cuts, supply-side economics and less government regulation.

Although many individual people, Dems and Repugs included, are implicated in this mess personally, in one way or another, the root cause is related to the big boys like Gramm, who worship at the alter of deregulation (i.e. no regulation, at least for their clients).

I Googled this story in 5 seconds. It was never mentioned on this blog. When I searched LA Times for this story, I received back a hit piece on Hillary at the LA Times Land Blog. I see a pattern...

I'm curious to see if this makes it into the comments this time...

[TakeFive]

From NRO:

"Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut"

"Chris Dodd is, of course, the Chris Dodd of the Dodd-Shelby housing bailout ..."

"Needless to say, Countrywide — the biggest mortgage lender in the country — has a lot of problem mortgages on its books right now, and Dodd-Shelby would be a massive subsidy for the company. I'd call that a pretty serious conflict of interest. "

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=
ZTM2NmYwMGI3N2MxMjIwNmE5YjAxNzRlM2Q2
MmMzMDY=

[VM]

This story is ridiculous. I had fees waived and percentage points dropped at Countrywide because I have good credit and was a repeat customer. The mortgage companies try to keep your business and this is normal practice. If this article is to be believed, I would have received "special treatment" as well, and I am a nobody! Whoever wrote this has no comprehension of how mortgages actually work.

[CD]

All of them, right left center, all of them, there is no messiah here...... They are all crooks. We are so screwed !

[Uncle Silly Dimes On Mt. Pelerin]

Yah... who's doing the leaking. I'm one of the biggest HoC's (Haters of Countrywide), but I really don't that these guys got any special deal from CW. If anything, maybe they were given these loans to "taint" them and make them a little more usefull in the future -- without even having to give them anything really special.

[Laker]

Chris Dodd a friend of Mizilla and got below market rates and fees....
What a surprise????
WTF? This crook should be sitting in jail and not in congress designing and voting for bailouts for his sponsors....

[Robert in Palm Springs]

Is anyone surprised at this?

I must admit I am disappointed in Senator Dodd, though this certainly explains his bailout bill. The incestuous relationship between Washington and big business created the worldwide financial crisis we now face. Our government provided business with (1) no regulation or oversight, (2) cheap money, and (3) tax cuts, so they could screw you and me with no regard for long-term consequences. Their motto: Ask not what I can do for my country; ask what I can do for my friends and myself.

This is the true nature of all the bailouts for housing, banking and Wall Street. As the Dodd story clearly illustrates, all these people are connected and only care about themselves and will spend your money and mine to prove it.

Does anyone seriously believe that our federal government represents the people? Does anyone remember what Jefferson said the people should do in cases like this? Tar and feather party anyone?

So much for free markets, so much for freedom period.

[David]

I am in the middle of reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. This news sounds so familiar to the story of the book. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it.

[Milton Friedman's Worst Nightmare]

David, are you a college student? If not, how did you come across the book? Was it recommended by someone, or did you just remember it from years ago?