1. Dodd's Dud
Senator Chris Dodd (D., Conn.) has decided to make a serious run to become president of the United States. Sen. Dodd's Connecticut constituents include some of the savviest financial players on the planet, ranging from hedge fund managers to CEOs of major financial firms. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, these firms have largely
funded his campaign for president.
Therefore, it was stunning to see Sen. Dodd make this clueless comment on the mortgage crisis and
Goldman Sachs(GS Quote - Cramer on GS - Stock Picks):
"I am deeply concerned about the questions raised by Mr. Stein's story in The New York Times yesterday about the activity of Goldman Sachs in aggressively pushing subprime mortgages that they knew to be of concern while simultaneously shorting collateralized mortgage obligations. If these facts are indeed true, the Administration's inaction when this crisis began to emerge earlier this year is increasingly suspect."
The first problem with Sen. Dodd's statement comes from relying upon the analysis and opinion of Ben Stein. This is pretty dumb.
Worse, Dodd seemed to not understand how Wall Street works. Firms like Goldman Sachs are both underwriters and traders making money in a variety of ways. If they want to get short the subprime crap they underwrote, so be it.
2. Cheney's Big Stick
Vice-President Dick Cheney rarely appears in public anymore and as such has been nicknamed "Darth Vader." But he did manage to provide an
interview to Politico.com this week.
The interview covered a variety of topics. When it turned to the leadership of the House and the Senate, Cheney didn't exactly play nice. He expressed his concern for the lack of forcefulness of some Democratic congressmen and their adherence to the views espoused by their leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.).
John Fout
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