AIG

The CT Republicans have posted a fun, interactive one stop location for the various Chris Dodd scandals

It's called "Calling Chris Dodd"

Pick up the phone and enjoy!

What  started this morning at the Washington Times has become a huge local story for Chris Dodd.

Joseph Cassano, the "Patient Zero" of the global financial meltdown, supposedly demanded huge contributions from AIG employees to fund Senator Chris Dodd's campaigns.

 According an email obtained by the Times, Cassano urged executives at American International Group's Wilton-based Financial Products division to donate to Dodd in Nov., 2006, as he was poised to assume the chairmanship of the critical Senate banking committee."As he considers running for president in 2008, Senator Dodd has asked us for our support with his re-election campaign and we have offered to be supportive," stated the email quoted by the Times. 

The executives were reportedly asked to write checks for $2,100 from themselves and their spouses, and to send them to Mr. Dodd's campaign. The Times said the executives were, in turn, supposed to pass the message down the line to senior members of their management teams. 

This leads cynical old me to wonder if AIG reimbursed their executives for these large donations. Perhaps, among Mr. Cassano's other talents, he was running a successful money laundry from his Wilton, CT offices.

This all seems very reminscent of the hi jinks that sent Randy Cunningham to jail.  

Maybe Mr. Cassano might want to do some singing--and not for Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.  Seems he's being investigated for fraud in bankrupting AIG. 

Right now Joey is hiding out at his London mansion. But I suspect the UK authorities will be happy to send us something a bit more valuable than useless DVD's....perhaps a witness in custody?

Were this to happen, the details of what Dodd offered Cassano for the nearly $200,000 in campaign funds might make for, hmm, entertaining reading.

What  started this morning at the Washington Times has become a huge local story for Chris Dodd.

Joseph Cassano, the "Patient Zero" of the global financial meltdown, supposedly demanded huge contributions from AIG employees to fund Senator Chris Dodd's campaigns.

 According an email obtained by the Times, Cassano urged executives at American International Group's Wilton-based Financial Products division to donate to Dodd in Nov., 2006, as he was poised to assume the chairmanship of the critical Senate banking committee."As he considers running for president in 2008, Senator Dodd has asked us for our support with his re-election campaign and we have offered to be supportive," stated the email quoted by the Times. 

The executives were reportedly asked to write checks for $2,100 from themselves and their spouses, and to send them to Mr. Dodd's campaign. The Times said the executives were, in turn, supposed to pass the message down the line to senior members of their management teams. 

This leads cynical old me to wonder if AIG reimbursed their executives for these large donations. Perhaps, among Mr. Cassano's other talents, he was running a successful money laundry from his Wilton, CT offices.

This all seems very reminscent of the hi jinks that sent Randy Cunningham to jail.  

Maybe Mr. Cassano might want to do some singing--and not for Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.  Seems he's being investigated for fraud in bankrupting AIG. 

Right now Joey is hiding out at his London mansion. But I suspect the UK authorities will be happy to send us something a bit more valuable than useless DVD's....perhaps a witness in custody?

Were this to happen, the details of what Dodd offered Cassano for the nearly $200,000 in campaign funds might make for, hmm, entertaining reading.

Dodd's Troubles Open Debate on Congress' Ties With Special Interests

 Dodd has become the poster boy for critics who say the inevitable ties between longtime members of Congress and special interests are undermining efforts to revive the economy.

"He literally thinks he's going to play a critical role from saving us from ourselves," Christopher Healy, the Republican Party chairman in Connecticut, said of the Democratic senator.

"It's like putting the arsonist in charge of the volunteer fire department. He knows where the fire is because he set it. But beyond that, he can't offer much help."........

Ross Baker, a politics professor at Rutgers University and a congressional scholar, said the ties between lawmakers and special interest groups have bothered him for a long time.

"No one leaves Congress living at the same level they came in," he told FOXNews.com.

"More than anything else, it's getting insider information, getting special deals that on the face are not illegal. But they're in a privileged position."......

Critics are seizing on that now, saying Dodd should have been paying more attention to red flags in the economy.

"He wasn't asleep at the switch," Baker said. "He wasn't even at the switch."

There's really not much more than I can add. Sleazy, self-centered and incompetent. The trifecta of failure all packaged together in one article. Perhaps this sums up the worst problem with Dodd.

"They're trying to weave things together that have been reported on widely over the years," Dodd said. "They are taking some items that are frankly, old news, routine transactions, and trying to make more out of it."

For Wicca's sake, you've spent a career hanging out with grifters like Ed Downe Jr. and abandoned the helm of the Banking Committee right when the financial tsunami appeared on the horizon, and you don't realize you did anything wrong.  

You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!

Goldman Sachs cash-out boy Jim Himes narrowly ousted Chris Shays from the 4th District after the financial meltdown last fall. Now he's being blamed by those sorts of voters for pouring his own gasoline on  the fire. 

About 65 residents of area communities gathered at the Wilton public library Sunday for what turned out to be a heated town hall-style debate headed by freshman Congressman Jim Himes...

Himes called last week's outcry in Washington over the $200 million bonuses, "a week-long distraction," which sidetracked legislators from working to fix the broader economy. Still, residents, many of whom admittedly work for TARP recipient companies, wanted to know why Himes voted for the bill, which the Congressmen himself admitted was hastily introduced and emotionally approved."This legislation had all the hallmarks of something that wasn't thought through,'" said Himes, of the tax bill. He voted on it, he said, because he is confident that the bill passed last Thursday would not become law..

One Greenwich resident, who said he works for a TARP recipient, said the market downturn last week was evidence that the tax bill wasn't the way to go. "This country has done as well as it has for so long because of contract law being upheld," said the Greenwich resident, who didn't wish to be named. "If we move away from contract law, that will significantly weaken this economy."Himes, a former Goldman Sachs executive, tried to regain control over the forum as concerned residents shot back over the AIG bonuses. "What about our contracts as voters?" said one concerned resident. "I thought as an American citizen, I could rely on our system of checks and balances in everything our government passes."

As Francis Cionfrrocca points out, the proposed limit on TARP firm compensation is now proposed to be only $250,000, which is not a lot of money in high cost areas like suburban New York. 

Like we've been trying to tell the yuppies with "Bush Lied" stickers on their Infinitis, when the Democrats talk about rescinding "tax breaks for the rich", they mean you. Not the firm in Bermuda  Mrs. Dodd managed.

I also note 65 folks showed up to dress down Himes in Wilton, while only 40 showed up to hassle AIG executives, hmmm. Jim Himes. The next cycle's "3 M".  Screwing your own consituents isn;t a good political move, Jim. You'll have lots of time for reflection after the next election. 

Looks like Senator Chris Dodd and his family go back quite a-ways with financially rewarding ties to fallen insurance giant AIG. Here's what the relentless Kevin Rennie posted yesterday on Real Clear Politics

From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG. IPC, which provides property casualty catastrophe insurance coverage, was formed in 1993 and currently has a market cap of $1.4 billion and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IPCR.....

Clegg was compensated for her duties to the company, which was managed by a subsidiary of AIG. In 2003, according to a proxy statement, Clegg received $12,000 per year and an additional $1,000 for each Directors' and committee meeting she attended. Clegg served on the Audit and Investment committees during her final year on the board.

So the Mrs. was part of the management team at an AIG subsidiary. There's not problematic for a member of the Senate Banking Committee, now is it?

This leads Rennie to conclude "Dodd is likely more familiar with the complicated workings of AIG than he was letting on last week"

There's a local angle here Rennie misses, however. Bermuda is a notorious tax haven for foreign corporations. Bermuda does not levy income tax on foreign earnings, and allows foreign companies to incorporate there under an "exempt" status.  The insurance industry has aggressively incorporated affiliates there to skirt US and EU corporate tax rates.

In 2002 one of CT's leading manufacturers, The Stanley Works, announced plans to reincorporate in Bermuda for tax purposes,  When the hardware icon made this announcement, it because a huge issue around the firm's headquarters in the hotly contested 5th District.  Public outcry caused Stanley to back off from its plan.

The point here is I well remember Rep. James Maloney and Rep. Nancy Johnson, as well as Attorney General Dick Blumenthal scolding Stanley, but I don't recall Dodd saying boo about the plan and his name does not readily surface in web searching today on the topic.

Is that because Mrs. Dodd was running a firm that had done the same thing? Guess former Congressman Maloney would have called her firm "unpatriotic" and compared their management to "Benedict Arnold" had he paid attention.  So Dodd hid out, and let the brass at Stanley get harangued for doing something his wife's firm had already done.  

Another further layer of chutzpah is Dodd eagerly advocates a "corporate carbon tax".   while his nearest and dearest ran a company that skirted the business taxes we already have.

The more you think about it you'd rally have to be a meathead not to see these conflicts of interest.. I guess "those were the days" for Dodd-- when folks weren't turning over his rocks and not liking what's underneath.

Today two events occurred roughly ten miles apart in suburban Connecticut outlining where people stand in their outrage over America becoming Bailout Nation.

I'm sure the MSM won't report this, but the far bigger demonstration was of fiscal conservatives , not anti-business radicals

Flags-wavers, bell-ringers, some in colonial military get-up, others wearing American flags as capes: angry Americans gathered 200 to 300 strong at Ridgefield’s Ballard Park Saturday morning to vent their frustration.

“Dump Dodd now!” and “We’re not Europe!” and “It’s not your money!” they chanted.

Passing drivers honked, waved or gave them the thumbs up sign.

They came from Ridgefield, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Bethel, and other towns for what had been billed as a modern “tea party.” They carried signs: “Give me liberty, not Europe,” “Obama lies and America dies,” “Socialism is trickle-up poverty,” “Wanted: Loving families for released GITMO terrorists -- Call 1-800-I-Voted-For-Obama,” and “Support Our Troops.”

Organizer Chris Murray’s school-age son Peter carried a sign that said, “Broke before my turn.”

“I went to one in Hartford, this is twice as much,” said former Ridgefield School Board Chairman Keith Miller. “This is three or four hundred. Hartford had 150.”

While the protesters had a range of grievances, from illegal immigration to worries that the country was turning to socialism, the dominant themes seemed to be mis-spending of tax dollars, piling up debt, and the growth of government.

“If you talk to these people, most of it is fiscal irresponsibility,” Mr. Miller said. “People cannot fathom the level of debt -- for their grandchildren.”

Particular politicians were also targeted -- particularly Connecticut U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and President Barack Obama.

“I want to dump Dodd and I want to dump Dodd and get rid of Obama as soon as it’s legally possible,” said Jamie Shafer of Wilton Road West. “I’m very worried about my country -- it’s an outrage a day.”

Now, let me remind you. This is suburban CT on a not so warm day we are talking about. We don't do protests and ginning up a crowd of any size is tough. But they showed in Ridgefield today.

And I can't remember ever hearing about Dodd being protested before.

Of course,this got national news attention. ACORN scared up a mere busload of folks to hassle the greedy--but no doubt shellshocked--AIG brass at their homes on a Saturday. How charming.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A busload of activists — outnumbered 2-to-1 by reporters and photographers — are paying visits to the homes of American International Group Inc. executives in Connecticut to protest tens of millions in bonuses awarded by the company.

About 40 protesters parked at a cul-de-sac Saturday afternoon and walked to the Fairfield home of Douglas Polling. They were met on the curb by two security guards, and one activist read a letter detailing the financial struggles that many Connecticut residents have faced. The group then left the note in Polling's mailbox.

Poling already turned in his bonus but of course, that didn't spare him being used as a prop for the sort of "guerrilla theatre" the Left has specialized in since the days of Saul Alinsky 

We have 300 folks outraged at Dodd. They got 40 upset at AIG executives.

I like our odds

Courtesy of StoneZone:

Spitzer Responsible For AIG Crash Now Criticizing Bonuses 

Spitzer: Responsible for crash

By Roger Stone The idea of former New York Governor and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer criticizing the AIG bailout and bonus in a recent column for SLATE is ironic: Spitzer is responsible for the economic condition of the company for which they need a bailout. In fact, Spitzer's crackdown on Wall Street caused the firms to increase leverage because he took away the ability for them to make money in research and underwriting, and they looked for other ways to make money-like securitizing subprime mortgages. In fact, if Spitzer hadn't removed Maurice "Hank" Greenberg from AIG, the company would never have crashed. Greenberg was a much more conservative investor and had tighter risk management rules that were suspended by the company only after Spitzer drove Greenberg out over charges that proved bogus in the courts. The billion dollar investment in credit default swaps which were not hedged brought the company and the economy down. This insurance was written only after Greenberg was forced out and never would have been written under Greenberg's risk management rules. Thus, Eliot Spitzer is partially responsible for the current economic crisis, not some Boy Scout crying an early warning. This is so typical of his reign as Attorney General where he blackmailed companies by press release, threatening to destroy your company's value unless you pled to infractions you hadn't actually committed. Most saw the futility of winning in court after Spitzer had destroyed their company so they settled. When cases actually went to trial most were dismissed or those Spitzer apprehended were acquitted. Spitzer's assault on the New York Stock Exchange's Ken Grasso, Ken Langone and Greenberg, while not also pursuing NYSE board member Carl McCall for fear of offending key African American political leaders, stands out as the kind of perverted justice Spitzer pursued. Spitzer made base-less charges against Greenberg, drove him from the company and set the stage for AIGs collapse. Now, Spitzer criticizes the AIG -bail-out. Now that's chutzpah!

The Democrats are trying to funnel the public rage regarding the expense and inevitable irrationalities of the bailout into an anti-business populism.  There is no reason why conservatives should allow this strategy to prevail.  The populist outrage is real.   It comes from people feeling that they are getting screwed by the powerful and the connected.

The Democrats are trying to define the villains of this narrative as dishonest, greedy businessmen  and trying to pass off government activism (we'll tax their bonuses good) as the solution.  Conservatives have a better and truer story to tell.  The provision protecting AIG bonuses was  snuck into a pork laden stimulus bill that no one had a chance to read.  The reason no one had a chance to read it was because the Obama administration and its allies were afraid that giving the public a chance to read the bill would doom the bill.  The rush to bigger government helped beget this problem.

One challenge for conservatives is to get into the public mind the idea that Big Government is not the enemy of business corruption of the government but an ally of corrupt and connected business elites.  Obama's cap and trade proposal would be and exellent place to try out a strategy that takes on both bigger and more expensive government and rent seeking companies.  The cap and trade proposal would increase energy cost and government power over the economy.  The Obama administration will try to portray the proposal as a way of standing up to the evil oil companies.  If Obama can frame the issue as consumers paying a little more now in order to pay less later (when the great new green technologies are on line) and as a way of standing up to the oil companies, then the proposal has at least a fair chance of political success.  Given a choice between Big Government and Big Business, the public could go either way. 

Conservatives could frame cap and trade not merely as a regressive tax on consumers and an expansion of government power (the anti- Big Government arguments) but also as a payoff to the companies that will be getting direct or indirect subsidies from the program.  Not only will consumers be paying more, some companies will be making profits (because their products will be profitable at the higher energy prices).  So the government  hurts you and someone else makes a buck. 

My feeling is that the public is less mad at business than at privilege.  The prevailing question is "Where is my bailout?"  If conservatives can convince the public that Big Government is an ally rather than an enemy of privilege, they will have gone a long way toward connecting the current populist frustration with limited government politics.

Today's "tale of the tape" Dodd is flailing away, but seems to be getting whacked by some press people throwing chairs into the ring.

Dodd visited Enfield today to give away some federal dough. The fact it was the largest town in Rob Simmons' old district I'm sure was a mere coicidence. Anyway, what was a routine photo op attracted a media circus.

Channel 3 reported

Dodd Delivers Heated Response To Critics

 "I'm going to do my job," Dodd said

 As I've pointed out on this blog numerous times, we are here facing financial meltdown because Dodd couldn't be bothered to show up for work in 2007 and abandoned his banking chairmanship to campaign for President in Iowa.

andCNN had Dodd thickening the plot about who wrote the "mystery amendment" that enriched the AIG FP employees.

Dodd, who was visiting constituents in Enfield, Connecticut, said he was disappointed that the Treasury officials who asked him to make the legislative changes had not identified themselves.

Jeex, and I thought Geithner had no staff. Now he has anomymous operatives changing bills. Perhaps the Treasury has a branch office at Area 51.

Dodd never practiced law very long, but I suggest he talk to the public defender's office at the local courthouses about how well the "SODDI defense" usually works. It's usually good for a short stay at one of CT's overcrowded correctional facilities.

Dodd did take a more focused shot in the Courant.

Dodd Criticizes Treasury Officials

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd launched sharp criticism of Treasury Department officials today as he continued to try and extract himself from a political furor after his admission that he played a role in crafting a legislative amendment that paved the way for the controversial AIG bonuses.Dodd, a Democrat who chairs the Senate banking committee, has said he agreed to an amendment to the stimulus legislation that had the effect of authorizing the much-criticized bonuses.But Dodd said he agreed only after being persuaded by the Treasury Department that the changes were necessary to speed a national recovery. And he said he was not informed that the amendment would affect AIG specifically.

So lots of whining but no hits on Geithner. That shiner he is sporting came from a backbench Democrat from Queens, NY named Joseph Crowley, whom it was discovered, knew all about the AIG bonus debacle on March 3 and scolded Geithner about it at that day's hearing. 

Too bad Geithner is sticking to March 10 as his date of revelation about the issue. Oops

I don't think either Geithner or Dodd want to deal with the issue that the TARP oversight board is not holding meetings.   Once the oversight provisions in the TARP bill were Dodd's "finest hour", now even though "his fingerprints are all over the bill" neither Dodd nor Geithner seem  the least interested in tracking the hundreds of billions of bailout bucks that have already left the building.

This, of course , is all leading to an inexorable conclusion to observers who have put up with the Senator's incessant "the Dodd ate my homework" excuses for one mishaps after another.

The New Haven Register, in utter exasperation, lambasted Dodd today as a "lying weasel"

I'll keep you posted if the weasel lobby lodges a protest.

 ===Update===

Evidently a bill is kicking around to remove the appointment power from the Governor to cover senate vacancies

This may have been drawn up to keep a Blagomart from occuring in CT. But a) no one thinks Jodi Rell is going to play that game and b) who thought there was going to be a midterm senate vacancy after Lieberman's cabinet bid fizzled election night?

Is there another reason not to allow Governor Rell to fill a senate vacancy?