Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

June 24, 2008

Rich Lowry on Dodd, Conrad and the Countrywide VIP Program

National Review editor Rich Lowry reminds us that while times may be tough for the average American, U.S. Senators have it much worse:

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, both Democrats, fell victim to the machinations of Countrywide Financial, which gave them breaks on mortgages as part of the “Friends of Angelo” program; the “Angelo” in question is Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.

Most alleged victims of Countrywide were gulled into taking loans with onerous interest rates and excessive fees. But they don’t know the agony of life as a U.S. senator, when at any moment a powerful, well-heeled interest might take advantage of you with cut-rate loans.

Read the whole thing here. And keep a hanky handy for the tears you are sure to shed over the plight of these hapless senators, who obviously were taken advantage of by that nasty old mortgage company. As Lowry says, "Shame on these unscrupulous people!"

Dodd is up for reelection in 2010. Will the press bring this incident into the election year limelight? Will his Republican opponent use it during the campaign? Will the people of Connecticut remember? Or will it be considered a "distraction," like so many other inconvenient truths when certain politicians are running for office?