Dodd was a presidential candidate who excited dozens of Iowans before folding his campaign tent after an abysmal showing in the Hawkeye State caucuses. But he was pretty good at raising money, financial firms thought it was worth their while to donate to Dodd's hopeless presidential effort. Why? Keep reading.
The recession began with a meltdown in the financial sector.
What Senate committee is Dodd a chairman of?
The Connecticut Republican Party knows, and scolds Sen. Dud in a press release:
HARTFORD−U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd should return the $175,000 his campaigns received from AIG International employees or donate it to charity, according to Republican State Party Chairman Chris Healy Monday.
According to opensecrets.org, AIG executives and employees were very generous to Sen. Dodd's U.S. Senate campaigns and presidential bid in 2008.
"Sen. Dodd was asleep at the switch as our financial markets crashed and burned," said Healy. "It's easy to see why Sen. Dodd didn't or wouldn't notice because AIG bought his attention."
Sen. Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking and Urban Affairs Committee.
Published reports over the weekend indicated that AIG was rewarding many of its executives with $450 million in bonuses after receiving $173.3 billion in taxpayer subsidized aid. The federal government now owns 80 percent of AIG assets, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"AIG executives have stolen millions from taxpayers through their arrogance and incompetence," said Healy. "Where is the outrage from Sen. Dodd? Isn't he supposed to be in charge of protecting the taxpayers from these modern day financial pirates?"
Healy said Sen. Dodd's attempts to rehabilitate himself won't work as the public begins to see the close relationship the senator has with many of the financial institutions which made bad deals and risky investments and then sought aid from the federal treasury.
"Connecticut voters see which side Sen. Dodd has been on−−and it is the side that pays," said Healy. "Sen. Dodd should send this tainted money to people who need it−−either the taxpayers or those in need because he wasn't paying attention to the financial crisis when it was happening."
While Dodd has been silent on the AIG abuses, the ranking member of the Banking and Urban Affairs Committee, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, was furious.
Shelby said Congress must do everything it can to make sure the government money going to AIG is handled appropriately. "We ought to explore everything that we can through the government to make sure that this money is not wasted," Shelby said. "These people brought this on themselves. Now you're rewarding failure. A lot of these people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. This is horrible. It's outrageous."
And what about those AIG bonuses that have Americans stamping their feet? The Absurd Report reports:
On February 11, 2009 Senator Chris Dodd (slipped) in a last minute amendment to the "stimulus bill"; that amendment provides an "exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009," which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are seeking to tax. The amendment is in the final version and is law.
Oh, call me stupid, it wouldn't be the first time, but aren't those bonuses already be subject to taxation?
Dodd is up for relection next year. He looked like a shoe-in just a month ago, but Dodd is now vulnerable, former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) has thrown his hat into the ring. Recent polls have Simmons and Dodd almost tied.
Related post:
Hey Congress: Investigate Sen. Chris Dodd now
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