Should U.S. Senator Dem. Christopher Dodd be placed on the endangered species list?

We are all familiar with the movie Network where news anchor Howard Beale says “I’m mad as hell and am not going to take this anymore.” In fact it might have been felt by President Obama based on all the heat his administration has received of late as it relates to that household name, AIG.

The following article, written by Aaron Kennon, comes from the Connecticut Post. My advise to GOP leadership in that state is to immediately mobilize to take this New England seat while the iron is hot. If he doesn’t do the honorable thing and resign the Honorable Senator from CT. should be defeated in 2011.

Other than his name being stated in the media what do we really know about him and his major campaign donors?

Dodd’s actions speak louder than his words
By Aaron Kennon
Updated: 03/20/2009 04:29:11 PM EDT

Washington D.C. has failed us on many levels over the last many decades. We have allowed our elected officials to serve as politicians instead of principled leaders. Far from being “statesmen,” they embarrass themselves and mock our democracy by spending time raising money across the nation, instead of indicating interest in their job, which is to govern, not constantly run for office. Why does this happen? Most of them have such a strong desire to win re-election that they will corrupt the system and abort their duties as stewards to see to it that this happens.

Let’s take our own U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd as a prime example.

As a ranking member of the all-important U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs between 2003 and 2008, Dodd accepted donations from the nearly defunct insurance giant American International Group totaling nearly $225,000. In 2008, while we looked to him to represent our best interests, he received $157,194 from a now-quasi-nationalized Citigroup Inc., part of his total annual take of $854,200 from all TARP recipients, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

How can he truly represent his constituents’ best interests when he is accepting vast sums of money from organizations that the government has assisted through the infusion of federal tax dollars? While legal, an objective observer should question the judgment and ethics of our state’s senior senator.

His poor judgment does not stop there. The senator was one of the most significant recipients of money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now nationalized due to poor oversight and years of legislative mismanagement. According to his office as reported just two weeks ago, Dodd has agreed to return campaign donations from TARP recipients since the government began infusing the companies. What an honorable decision considering that his hand was caught in the cookie jar!

Further, Dodd received from Countrywide Financial, an entity that was sold to Bank of America in order to avoid bankruptcy, a special below-market mortgage rate on his two personal residences. He called a “V.I.P.” number at Countrywide and in so doing abused his position as a lead oversight legislator in the U.S. Senate.

The list goes on and on for Dodd. Many people caught acting in equally unethical ways would quit their jobs out of shame, or be immediately dismissed from their employer. Dodd has not quit, and his employer is the voting public here in Connecticut.

So while he at once cultivates a public image of outrage, he privately accepts funds from the very companies that have created a great deal of the current credit debacle. This sheds light on his true allegiance — to himself — and this activity can and must be stopped by the voters of Connecticut.

Our country is experiencing the most significant economic crisis since the Great Depression, and Dodd is exposed, weakened and rudderless. Connecticut deserves more in this time of crisis. Connecticut deserves a break from political partisanship and self-interested service. The central issue before the 2010 senatorial election, then, is obvious: the economy.

Has Dodd provided us with any solutions that will mend the current crisis and propel us onto a firmer foundation for recovery and sustainable growth? Has he proposed a reduction in our federal income taxes? Has he discussed ways in which some — but not all — environmental efficiency reforms can benefit consumers in the form of lower monthly utility bills? The not-so-rhetorical answer to all of these and many other critical questions is: No!

Dodd has spent the last several decades in Washington, D.C., and has lost touch with our state, our communities, and our desire to determine our own destiny as individuals and families. We demand a good deal from ourselves, and should demand the same from our elected officials.

It is time to try something new. It is time for this state to add some fresh faces to the political scene. I am referring to the ascent of citizen soldiers who live and work among us, raise families, and care about their schools, the environment and their communities. I am referring to those who represent the raw material of “statesmen.” This is not the moment to waver in our desire for real leadership and real change.

The future is uncertain. Straight talk and a little bit of tough love is what we demand from our elected officials. In order for this to become a reality, Dodd must move on, and the torch must be passed to a new generation of Americans who care deeply about the political discourse and the path on which it sets our great nation.

Aaron Kennon, a resident of Old Greenwich, is an investment manager in New York City. His e-mail address is aaron.kennon@gmail.com.

Gilbert comments. While we are angry about the $165 billion paid out in bonuses by AIG, and whereas I question using the tax code as a weapon to punish the recipients, the key players deserving to be tarred and feathered are Senator Chris Dodd and Treasury Sec Timothy Geithner.  At this point in American we have been dumbed-down to accept billions of dollars as “chump change” when our president speaks of “investing” trillions (of our grandkids money) at every opportunity. In fact I only recently learned that one trillion is the number one followed by a dozen zero’s.