 “I’m Angelo Mozilo and I personally approved this mortgage” |
Amid a brewing scandal over special mortgage deals given to two U.S. senators, Politico last week asked the offices of all 100 senators to describe the circumstances under which they obtained their own home loans. Seventy-seven senators have complied so far. Twenty-three have not.
Senators are not required to report in their disclosure forms any financial information about their homes unless they draw rental income from the home. But in the wake of questions regarding mortgages obtained by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) — loans they received through a VIP program run by Countrywide Financial Corp. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that the disclosure rules should be changed so that senators’ mortgage details are made public.
Many senators who did not provide mortgage information contend that the details are private. Elly Pickett, a spokeswoman for Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), wrote in an e-mail to Politico: “Sen. Enzi’s mortgage isn’t with Countrywide, and since that company is at the center of this issue, I fail to see how having a loan with another company is at all relevant.”
Similarly, a spokesman for Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) e-mailed that his boss did not need to disclose details: “The senator was a private citizen when he and his wife obtained their mortgage through a local bank, which was not Countrywide,” wrote Thune spokesman Kyle Downey. Senate ethics experts say the controversy over the special mortgages received by Dodd and Conrad has opened a window into the clubby world where senators can dial up major banking executives and discuss their financial needs, as Conrad did.
“This short list of senators who did not disclose is where I would start an investigation,” said Keith Ashdown, a vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. By failing to disclose, he said, senators are “not only in the cross hairs of investigators, but they’re also making this a political issue in an election year, because it looks like they have something to hide.”
I think those who received the “VIP” treatment have an obligation to disclose. After all, WE are going to pay for the 300 Billion dollar cleanup.
If they’re willing to risk their political credibility for a measly 100 basis point discount on their mortgage then you gotta wonder how much on the take they really are. It boggles the mind.
So no privacy for Senators? Maybe everyone should just be forced to put all their documents in the public record so we can see if there’s any wrongdoing. Next we’ll let police come in and search.
#3. No, no privacy for those who got special treatment, or the ones who vote our privacy rights away.
all puplicly elected offcials, as well as as apointed repes, should be required to give up all worldly possesions,(oh so many like to flaunt how god guides them,let them live poor like jesus, if it was good enough for him, it is good enough for them), get paid minimal wage (equal pay for equal work) live in public housing for their duration of their term, and if they do a good job!!!!, they get elected out of office…
Do you think maybe they get favorable rates because they have a guaranteed salary for life? Not much risk involved there for the lender, I’d say.
And the idiot comment from Keith Ashdown in there about their failure to disclose the information making it a political issue in an election year… uh, excuse me? Who made it an issue?
I’m happy to see all “private” information revealed in order to assess job performance.
BUT BEFORE THAT — I’d moreso like to see the private information revealed on the multi-million dollar tax supported earmark legislation that is still 95% unavailable to the public. I’d like to see annotated bills on the internet in real time showing who changed what provisions at 3:00 AM the day of the vote==etc.
All real stuff. All unavailable. And so it shall remain.
Since the government has decided that it needs access to all credit card transactions, then, in the interest of fairness, all elected officials of the federal government should be required to turn over every last detail of their financial records, including mortgages, credit cards, checks, SIN#, etc.
Actually, the don’t need to voluntarily turn over the information. Since the NSA is already collecting it, the NSA should just make the records of elected officials available to the public.
Let’s make it a new law: any time the government decides it needs the personal information from the public, it should be required that elected officials make the same information available.
I agree with Chuck. We need to pass an amendment to the Constitution that disallows the government (executive, legislative and judicial) from exempting itself from the laws it passes. Never mind … they will just ignore the Constitution.
I agree with 7 & 9
I agree with 7 & 8
I agree with #11