Obama supporter Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), admitted Saturday that he received a discounted mortgage from Countrywide under the same "friends of Angelo" program as Johnson, although he claimed not to have had knowledge of the special deal. "Angelo" is Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozillo. "It appears Countrywide waived one point on my mortgage,'' Conrad said in a statement. "Although I did not ask for or know that I was receiving a discount, and even though I was offered a competitive loan from another lender, I do not want to have received preferential treatment.'' That claim seems a little specious, since Conrad would have seen the rate and paid the points at the loan closing. Either he did not read the details of the papers he was signing, or he is not telling the whole truth. Conrad also said that he received a loan on an eight-unit apartment complex in Bismarck from Countrywide, although the lender typically only writes loans on buildings of four-units or less.
Another Obama backer, Sen. Chris Dodd, may have more explaining to do. Dodd (D-CT), a former presidential candidate himself, is the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and the sponsor of a major piece of housing relief legislation slated to be sent to the president for his signature soon. According to reports, Dodd benefited from Mozillo's Countrywide largess, too; and his position on the Banking Committee creates the appearance of a conflict of interest over the mortgage bailout he is sponsoring.
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According to the report, Dodd took two loans from Countrywide in 2003 to refinance properties in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. Dodd received a total of five eights of a point in reductions on the two loans, saving him about $3,000. But the bigger problem for Dodd is the interest rates. Dodd was given free interest rate reductions totaling one point across both loans at the time of closing. Normally, an interest rate "float down," as it is called, costs the borrower money. Those reductions amount to about $75,000 in savings for the Senator over the life of the loans. Furthermore, Dodd has received about $21,000 in campaign contributions from Countrywide since 1997.
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When asked about Johnson's dealing with Countrywide last week, Sen. Obama first referred to the allegations as a, "kind of game," that people can play with campaign officials
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This year liberals are voting for hope and change. And the same old fashioned socialist style of Democrat party corruption.
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