Academic

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Hoping the credit card bill will save him: Dodd?s popularity among Connecticu?

By Glenn Reynolds

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Hoping the credit card bill will save him:

Dodd’s popularity among Connecticut voters has sunk in the wake of several issues dogging him ? including mortgages from Countrywide, a troubled lender.

Dodd’s role in the financial industry relief legislation was later tainted when it was revealed he had a hand in writing provisions that allowed bonuses to be paid to AIG executives.

Dodd and his staff have been pushing the credit card legislation heavily in recent weeks ? and it has been mentioned prominently in appearances around the state.

But Dodd, who faces re-election next year, says this is far from a new issue for him, having campaigned for more consumer protections for more than 20 years, beginning with disclosures about credit card terms and fees.

On the other hand, the bad publicity just keeps coming:

Since her marriage, Mrs. Dodd, whose name also appeared on those infamous sweetheart mortgages from Countrywide Financial, has seen her income quadruple thanks to her recruitment for lucrative positions on corporate boards, including CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange. Those jobs have enriched the Dodd household while netting Sen. Dodd’s campaigns at least $40,000 in contributions, according to a published report. In addition, from 2001-04, she was a director for IPC Holdings, an off-shore company controlled by AIG; Sen. Dodd’s political and financial entanglements with AIG are well documented. Today, she also is designated, as required by federal law, as the highly paid “financial expert” on two of her boards’ audit committees, even though she has neither auditing nor accounting credentials or experience. As for Clegg International, she admits she hasn’t had a client since 2005.

Mrs. Dodd protests her husband didn’t help her get these jobs. But with actual business credentials so thin, does she really believe corporations would want her if she wasn’t the wife of a five-term U.S. senator?

And don’t forget that Irish “cottage” . . . .

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on May 09, 2009 (boomark / email).