.... o.O

The rich get richer...

A below market loan which saves the politician tens of thousands of dollars sounds like a bribe to me.

I wonder if there will be an 'investigation'.

Corrupt assholes!!

Weren't aware of it my ass. Talk about a deep hole to dig yourself out of: admit to taking the equivalent of a bribe, or admit to being completely ignorant. Stupid fools should be chained to the ocean floor either way.

@Johnny_Roastbeef: Oh absolutely. All of those guys who recieved the below market loans will get together and look into the possible bribes. They will make sure that they are on the news saying that they are looking into these possible bribes (bribes they took). Then that will be the end of it.

Charming.

"James Johnson (formerly the head of Fannie Mae and who has just resigned from Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee)"

How many people linked with Obama have shady things in their past. At least the Clintons had the decency to kill those that were about to embarras them.

More proof that ALL politicians are corrupt.

They're probably even getting discounted gas from Chevron and Exxon...

I think we finally have a post worthy of blaming the consumer (the consumer being the corrupt senators).

Pieces of shit. I hope they get fucking sent to jail. Its assholes like these that keep the poor poor and the rich rich.

"At least the Clintons had the decency to kill those that were about to embarras them."

Yeah, the Clintons certainly had a down home "Git-R-Done" charm about them. They'll be missed.

Mozilo, corrupt? No frackin' way! Seriously though, I still dont understand how when BoA gave them that life support loan it wasnt on the condition that Mozilo seek other opportunities.

Say what you will about BoA, I sure do, but they are ususally good about protecting their bottom line.

@sir_pantsalot: Don't speak that way about the Messiah.

@Jbball: I understand your anger, but we both know nothing will happen, right?

Reminds me of the Eddie Murphy skit on SNL, where he puts on peach makeup and dresses like a white person. Walks into a bank, the bank manager laughs at the idea of collateral, and just hands him piles of money.

@Bladefist: The new socialist messiah or the old Clinton machine messiah? I just need to know which one is off limits.

Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

This is ridiculous and more reason why Countrywide is the worst company in America. Horrible customer service that views homebuyers as cattle. Now this with granting favors for the upper class. I'd punch the CEO in the face for all the problems his company has put me through.

And the Democrats said that they would bring in the most ethical Congress ever!

@sir_pantsalot: yeah but if you say that, it means you're a racist!!!

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton.

I just sent a message to Mr. Dodd, my senator, about how I feel about what I just read. I doubt i'll get a response, but at least I complained to the source. If any of these guys are your senators, let them know what you think!

The rich get richer...

@GA Hill: Popular mis-quote. The quote is:
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I don't see how any of this is a problem. Who is more likely to pay back a mortgage, some guy making 40k a year, and making stupid sub-prime decisions or a U.S. senator? It is a private organization, and if they see a senator or anyone else as lower risk because of their position / friends of the CEO, then good for them. It is a risk business, and those who are of less risk are of less cost.

I wonder if Tony Rezko got one of these loans when he and his wife helped Obama do that "boneheaded" little land deal thingy? Funny that one can even joke about such a scenario.

(Yes, would-be flamers, I do know that both parties have exceedingly corrupt members.)

@taney71: They didn't claim they would actually be ethical, just the most ethical ever. Sort of aiming to do a high jump over a 2x4 laying on the ground.

@sir_pantsalot: so ya, the Messiah is Barrack Obama. The only man who has visited all 57 states, has a uncle who is a hero, is definitely not associated with any american terrorist, and definitely has never cheated in getting his house or adjacent land. The same man who is amazing at giving speeches w/o a teleprompter. The Messiah. The man of hope, change, progressivism, to lead this pitiful, wasteland of a country, to be back as the #2 country. (#1 is reserved for ussr).

@GA Hill: +1

@sir_pantsalot: The Clintons killed people? Wow. I wonder why they aren't in jail.
Oh yeah. Because they didn't.

How many people linked with Obama have shady things in their past.

Counting Johnson?
One. None of the other people you're thinking of have anything but the most tenuous connection to Obama.

Nice try though.
Say it with me: "Pres-i-dent O-ba-ma."

/ Look, I can be a dick too!

@Bladefist: Ah, my favorite game!
"Let's See How Many Debunked Talking Points We Can Squeeze Into One Paragraph"

You win!

@Paul D: yayayaya what do I win?

(For the record, I was all set to come in here and justifiably rail against Dodd and Conrad for this. But then the stupid wingnuts had to go and be stupid.)

@AtomicPlayboy: You question the Messiah? You're a racist.

Of course they were all democrats too

just makes one wish they were politically connect..

Hookers, Private special bank loans, interns, and private military weapons contracts.

Sign me up!

@Bladefist: And a heretic!

@coold8: I agree. This isn't news. Aside from your excellent point, are there really people who think Countrywide is the only mortgage company handing out exclusive deals to its favorite customers? Name any bank at random, go investigate it, and I'm sure you'll find the same thing. Countrywide might be evil for foisting predatory loans onto dumb and/or delusional customers, but this whole "Friends of Angelo" thing is a non-issue.

Jail them all, it's the only way to be sure

@TexasBelle: I have no problem with them giving Matt Damon a fantastic deal on a house because they think the Bourn Identity is awesome. It is. But, these our senators. If you do a favor for them, that opens up for a favor to be returned. That is scarey. These Senators need to be 100% clean. But like I said above, all politicans are corrupt.

Aside from the politicians bit (because of possible bribes), what's wrong with charging somebody less?

Just because they're famous and/or rich means they have to pay more?

I'm not saying he went about the right way of doing this, but I'm tired of hearing all you poor people online in the middle of the day instead of at work (where I am), whining that the rich are inherently evil!

@Bladefist: Err, not so much. The DNC and Obama campaign's ban on ALL lobbyist money, versus the RNC and McGrumpypant's not only soliciting these monies, but packing their staffs with lobbyists.

And, I'll bet my cat that if you do a run-down on the number of Dems vs Rupubs getting favorable treatment, the latter did much better on that regard. Just like tracking down the degree to which Big Oil makes their donations to each party.

The GOP can't help it. It's who they are.

Hey Consumerist -

You forgot to attach this to the names in the article: "(D)"

@Trai_Dep: I'll take that bet. Because I'm pretty sure every rich Democrat has their money hidden in tax-free areas. And I don't want to take your cat, then you won't have anyone who believes your conspiracy theories.

I know McCain has lobbyist. Find a post of mine on consumerist where I support McCain.

All politicians are corrupt.

@Bladefist: Let's just ignore Trai_Dep. Others on this site argue the same positions with a much better command of logic and reason and without the same hackneyed repetition of the "Big Oil"/McEvil/Bushitler/etc. nonsense. Better to focus on rational debate with them than to waste the bytes on this tedious troll, no?

@Bladefist: Dude, do you realize that you have a red-white-and-blue elephant as your avatar?
And, I'll take that bet. Again, with much - well, everything, pretty much - that you say, your wildly-hurled points have no reputable, factual basis. Repeating it even louder doesn't change this simple, lamentable fact. Nor does wishing it were so.

@Bladefist: See?

@AtomicPlayboy: I'm in. With people like JohnVa and Michael Belisle around here, we can have rational debates with people who don't wear tin foil hats.

Guys, there're sites for the wingnuts to chat amongst themselves without pesky facts crashing the party: Red State, Little Green Footballs, ronpaul, etc. Perhaps take your conversational circle-jerk there?

I hope it doesn't surprise anybody that Chris Dodd is corrupt.

@savvy999: I thought of the same thing. That was one brutally honest SNL skit.