Dodd MIA as Bank Chair

Chris Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. That gives the Connecticut Senator jurisdiction over some pretty important issues, including the recent subprime mortgage meltdown.

Dodd also has another job--mounting a longshot bid for the presidency.

It seems the latter is taking precedence over the former, which is really too bad.

According to Bloomberg News, Dodd's committee "has failed to fill two seats on the Federal Reserve Board, including one vacant for more than a year...relied on another panel to press for an overhaul of the credit-card business...and it has yet to push legislation on subprime mortgages even as markets have been shaken by the industry's collapse."

Dodd's held fewer hearings than his GOP predecessor and only a small fraction of his House counterpart, Rep. Barney Frank. Dodd promised to unveil legislation to clean up the subprime mortgage industry in early September. Yet the American Banker reports that "little evidence has emerged to suggest that Dodd...is doing the bipartisan coalition-building that it would take to pass such legislation. Instead, he has been busy campaigning for president, which appears to rankle fellow lawmakers."

Moreover, even in absence (and at 1% in the polls) Dodd's raising a boatload from the very industries he's supposed to be overseeing. The banking, insurance and financial services sector, the Washington Post reports, "applauds his light-handed approach to financial regulation and considers him a reliable friend."

Why do I mention this now? Because of late Dodd's become a hero to the netroots and writers for this magazine for vowing to filibuster unpopular FISA legislation. While they are cheering his defense of the constitution, the netroots should ask why Dodd hasn't been similarly aggressive on behalf of the thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the wake of the subprime crisis.

Dodd isn't the only senator to chair a powerful committee and attempt a highly implausible presidential run. Joe Biden heads the indispensable Senate Foreign Relations Committee--and has routinely been absent for committee hearings and votes. I know every senator wants to be president, but isn't one tough job enough?

Comments (4)

1. "Why do I mention this now? Because of late Dodd's become a hero to the netroots and writers for this magazine for vowing to filibuster unpopular FISA legislation. While they are cheering his defense of the constitution, the netroots should ask why Dodd hasn't been similarly aggressive on behalf of the thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the wake of the subprime crisis."

   Battle of the Ari's?!?!!?

   DODD LEADS ON SPYING, CLINTON & OBAMA FOLLOW...---Posted by Ari Melber at 10/24/2007 @ 02:23am

   Wow, poor Chris Dodd...darling to "lazy bum" in one week at "The Nation"!

   heheh

   Posted by Mask at 10/25/2007 @ 12:29pm

2. Posted by RIO BRAVO 10/25/2007 @ 1:08pm

   nope, we should lower interest rates and offer bailouts so those that made loans to people with no paper trail can get out of their losses.

   Moron. Especially considering you are an insurance salesboy.

   Posted by MASK 10/25/2007 @ 12:29pm

   Give it a rest. When will you ever get it through your skull that every one does some things people like, and other things people don't like. Do you have to find fault with everything posted here? Do you have to pick at every little discrepancy? Why do you bother?

   Posted by crabwalk at 10/25/2007 @ 5:52pm

3. Posted by CRABWALK 10/25/2007 @ 5:52pm

   CRAB, you're as close to a RESE-style spammer as anybody here (just small posts).

   Hardly in a position to lecture. Plus, you don't think it's ironic that within a day of each other the two "Ari's" come out on opposite ends of poor ol' Chris Dodd?

   Posted by Mask at 10/25/2007 @ 9:50pm

4. I don;t think it is "opposite". I think it is two separate issues.

   Posted by crabwalk at 10/26/2007 @ 09:57am