Clipmarks | merrie's 'democrats' clips

Did Valerie Plame Wilson Commit Perjury?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:14:28 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: But, that is no excuse for the Valerie Wilson-Plame to sit in front of a Congressional Committee and LIE like she did.
This is what Valerie Plame said sworn testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:

Plame also testified that she played no part in deciding to send her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, on a mission to Niger in 2002 to assess the reliability of reports that Iraq's then-president, Saddam Hussein, was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from that country for use in a secret nuclear weapons program.

Some CPD officials could not recall how the office decided to contact the former ambassador, however, interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife, a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip. The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador's wife "offered up his name" and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002.

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

It's been a rough go for the "so covert they know not if she is covert" Plame-Wilsons ever since her husband started hustling for the democrats and giving speeches on his African poolside adventures...

Plame also testified that she played no part in deciding to send her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, on a mission to Niger in 2002 to assess the reliability of reports that Iraq's then-president, Saddam Hussein, was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from that country for use in a secret nuclear weapons program.

Here's a closeup of the document...

Notes: Niger/Iraq uranium meeting CIA 2/19/02

Meeting apparently convened by Valerie Wilson, a CIA WMD managerial type and the wife of Amb. Joe Wilson, with the idea that the agency and the larger USG could dispatch Joe to Niger to use his contacts there to sort out the Niger/Iraq uranium sale question. Joe went to Niger in late 1999 in regard to Niger's uranium program, apparently with CIA support.

Tags: joseph wilson, valerie plame, niger, iraq uranium, cia support

Obama vs. Obama

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:53:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: finds much comfort in these increasingly peculiar neck-snapping reversals.

Despite the evident dishonesty of these moves, though, those of us with whom Obama is suddenly discovering so many points of agreement should certainly make the most of his awkward dance. Will other prominent Democrats agree with their candidate's newly discovered views? If not, why not?

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

To the growing list of Barack Obama’s tactical moves to the right on terrorist wiretapping, gun control, trade, Iraq and the like we can now add abortion as well. In this case as in the others, he has moved in what would be the right direction on the substance, but in a way that strongly suggests he is trying to play voters for fools.

As with his other recent “refinements,” his substantive move here would certainly be a welcome one, even an important one from such a prominent Democrat, if there were any reason at all to believe him. But given how quickly and seamlessly he has appeared to switch positions on so many prominent issues in the last few weeks, and how he has tried to present each new position as what he has always believed (rather than, in this case for instance, make a point of having come to disagree with at least the most extreme views of the abortion lobby) it is hard to imagine that either side on any of these issues

Tags: obama, late term abortion

Obama's Okie Doke

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:15:09 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Obama voted against a ban on partial birth abortions. Americans support a ban by a margin of 66% to 28%.

Obama supports affirmative action in public employment, contracting and university admissions. Americans oppose giving an advantage in these areas on the basis of race by a margin of 82% to 14%.

Obama voted against a ban on partial birth abortions. Americans support a ban by a margin of 66% to 28%.

Obama opposed the Induced Birth Infant Liability Act while in the Illinois state legislature, to prevent abortion providers from withholding medical care and sustenance from infants born after surviving an abortion attempt.

Despite his equivocal statements regarding the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the D.C. gun ban, Obama has never met a gun ban he didn't like.

While in the Illinois state legislature, Obama voted against parental notification requirements for abortions for minors. Americans support parental notification laws by a margin of 79% to 17%.

Clip Source: www.townhall.com

Clip Source: www.americanthinker.com

The person running the okie doke is Obama, who, with media acquiescence, has changed his rhetoric if not his positions on issues such as campaign finance, gun control, troop withdrawal, welfare reform, NAFTA and terrorist surveillance -- just to name a few.

Yet even with his recent attempts at moderation he retains positions on several significant issues indistinguishable from those of Dennis Kucinich. Most of those positions are opposed not only by overwhelming majorities of all Americans, but in several cases, majorities of Democrats as well.

Obama opposes offshore drilling for oil. Voters support drilling by 67% to 18%.

Obama supports giving driver licenses to illegal immigrants. Americans oppose this 76% to 23%

Obama says that he will cut funding for research and development of missile defense systems. 89% of Americans support development of or research for missile defense -- 8% don't.

It's worth noting that Obama's closer to a pre-9/11 view of missile defense.

Tags: obama, parental notification requirement, partial birth abortions, gun bans, affirmative action, cut military funding, driver licenses to illegals

Democrats Think Gasoline Prices Are Too Cheap

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:25:21 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: NOW, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE DEMOCRATS ARE LYING ABOUT ANWR?

REMEMBER WHEN AL GORE SAID THAT
THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD WORK TO ARTIFICIALLY RAISE GAS PRICES
TO $5.00 A GALLON?
WELL…

AL GORE AND HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS HAVE ALMOST REACHED THEIR GOAL!

NOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN LYING,
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Clip Source: www.americanthinker.com

NOTE WHERE THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AREA IS…

THIS IS WHAT THE DEMOCRATS, LIBERALS AND “GREENS” SHOW YOU WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT ANWR

…and they are right… these ARE photographs of ANWR

WELL… THAT’S NOT EXACTLY THE TRUTH

Do you remember the map?
The map showed that the proposed drilling area is in the ANWR Coastal Plain
Do those photographs look like a coastal plain to you?

THIS IS WHAT THE PROPOSED EXPLORATION AREA ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE WINTER

AND THIS IS WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IN THE SUMMER

HERE ARE A COUPLE SCREEN SHOTS FROM GOOGLE EARTH

OH… AND THEY SAY THAT THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE EFFECT ON THE LOCAL WILDLIFE…

HERE IS A PHOTO (SHOT DURING THE SUMMER) OF THE
“DEPLETED WILDLIFE” SITUATION CREATED BY
DRILLING AROUND PRUDHOE BAY *…
DON’T YOU THINK THAT THE CARIBOU REALLY HATE THAT DRILLING?

HERE’S THAT SAME SPOT DURING THE WINTER.

HEY, THIS BEAR SEEMS TO REALLY HATE THE PIPELINE NEAR PRUDHOE BAY *…
*The Prudhoe bay area accounts for 17% of U.S. domestic oil production

Tags: anwr, domestic oil production, prudhoe bay, al gore hoax, nancy pelosi, democrats

McCain: Pump This!

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:51:13 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Meanwhile, the centrists McCain spent years impressing with his outraged denunciations of conservatives, Swift Boat Veterans and Christians will be voting for Obama. They think he's cute.

The irony is, the only people McCain can count on to vote for him are the very Republicans he despises -- at least those of us who can get drunk enough on Election Day to pull the lever for him. In fact, we should organize parties around the country where Republicans can get drunk so they can vote for McCain. We can pass out clothespins with his name as a reminder and slogan-festooned vomit bags. The East Coast parties can post the number of drinks necessary for the task to help the West Coast parties. For more information, go to getdrunkandvote4mccain.com.

This year, moderate Republicans have hit the jackpot. John McCain is the Platonic ideal of a "moderate Republican."

Clip Source: www.redstatesusa.com

The vote on ANWR was almost entirely along partisan lines, with all Republicans, except a handful of "moderates," voting for drilling, and all Democrats, except a handful of sane Democrats like Zell Miller, voting against drilling.

John McCain opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because he polled soccer moms and found out they were against drilling.

Even Sen. Chuck Hagel voted for drilling in ANWR. But John McCain, "our" candidate, voted against it.

Two weeks ago, McCain skipped the capitol prayer breakfast in California, instead appearing with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at an environmental event in nearby Santa Barbara. Schwarzenegger's absence marked the first time a governor skipped what has come to be known as "the governor's prayer breakfast." I guess in the world of moderate Republicans an environmental event qualifies as a religious observance.

Not being ignorant "centrists," we know what a world-class disaster B. Hussein Obama will be.

Tags: anwr, mccain, schwarzenegger, moderate republicans, "centrists", environmental event, religious observance

Senate Leader Losing It

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:45:02 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: It offers pretty stunning evidence of how personally petty Reid is, as well as his penchant for defining “partisanship” as anything that keeps him from getting his way.

The Senate was voting on a Medicare bill bloated with new spending. The bill was also an attempt to prevent cuts in payment rates to doctors who treat seniors on Medicare, and Democrats wanted to pay for that by taking the funds from Medicare Advantage, a private fee-for-service plan. The president would likely have vetoed the bill in its current form and Senate Republicans opposed the gutting of Medicare Advantage, so Senate Republicans blocked the bill. The trouble is that if the Senate doesn’t resolve the issue very soon, doctors will stop receiving Medicare funds. So Republicans proposed a 30-day extension to allow more time to hammer out a compromise. Democrats blocked the proposed extension. The impasse here caused Reid to go apoplectic on Mitch McConnell (I’ve highlighted the juicy parts):

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: harry reid, medicare, mitch mcconnell, presidential veto

Obama’s Weakness With Voters: Democrats Problem With White Voters

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:20:34 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: has become the hot topic among many who say racial bias explains it. Of course it would be naive to believe that race is not a factor in America today. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Mr. Obama’s relative weakness among white voters is solely, or even mainly, due to the fact that he is black and that three quarters of voters this year will be white.

In 1991, when I wrote a book about how the Democrats were failing to deal with their white voter problem, I ran into a number of editors who wanted to know why anyone would care — and not too subtly wondered whether looking at the reasons for their disaffection might be too politically touchy.

White voters, as a group, are more likely to favor a limited role for government here at home and a more aggressive posture overseas. In general, polls show Democrats — and a disproportionate share of black voters — favor a smaller, less adventurous military and a larger role for government on the domestic front.

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

Suddenly, the topic du jour on television and radio talk shows, at water coolers and the most exclusive cocktail parties is how well Sen. Barack Obama can do among whites, especially the demographic group pundits call the “white working class.”

They’re “The Silent Majority,” “Jill and Joe Six-Pack” and “Reagan Democrats,” and whatever the name, they have given Democratic presidential candidates the back of their hands since 1964.

Neither Jimmy Carter nor Bill Clinton, the last Democrats to occupy the Oval Office since then, won a majority of white voters.

For those voters, especially ones without college degrees, the fact that Sen. Obama is black may not be as much a disqualifier as his background as a Democrat from the Frost Belt with no national security or executive experience and a voting record judged by the nonpartisan National Journal as the Senate’s most liberal during 2007.

Yet, the focus on Sen. Obama’s relative weakness among the white working class

Tags: obama, demographics, white working class, limited government, strong military, liberal voters, big government, small military

Obama's Entire Illinois Legislative Record Built In A Single Year

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:31:36 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: He became Obama’s kingmaker.

Several months before Obama announced his U.S. Senate bid, Jones called his old friend Cliff Kelley, a former Chicago alderman who now hosts the city’s most popular black call-in radio program. Cliff Kelley recollected the private conversation as follows:

“He said, ‘Cliff, I’m gonna make me a U.S. Senator.’”

“Oh, you are? Who might that be?”

“Barack Obama.”

Jones appointed Obama sponsor of virtually every high-profile piece of legislation, angering many rank-and-file state legislators who had more seniority than Obama and had spent years championing the bills.

State Senator Rickey Hendon, the original sponsor of landmark racial profiling and videotaped confession legislation yanked away by Jones and given to Obama, complained to me at the time. “Barack didn’t have to endure any of it, yet, in the end, he got all the credit.

Clip Source: sweetness-light.com

… But what’s interesting, and almost never discussed, is that he built his entire legislative record in Illinois in a single year.

Republicans controlled the Illinois General Assembly for six years of Obama’s seven-year tenure. Each session, Obama backed legislation that went nowhere; bill after bill died in committee. During those six years, Obama, too, would have had difficulty naming any legislative achievements [sic].

Then, in 2002,

Democratic sweep of nearly every lever of Illinois state government. For the first time in 26 years, Illinois Democrats controlled the governor’s office as well as both legislative chambers.

Republican Illinois Senate Majority Leader James “Pate” Philip was replaced by Emil Jones Jr., a gravel-voiced, dark-skinned African-American known for chain-smoking cigarettes on the Senate floor.

Jones had served in the Illinois Legislature for three decades. He represented a district on the Chicago South Side not far from Obama’s.

Tags: obama, illinois senator, emil jones jr., majority leader,

Florida Gov.Crist Calls For End To Feds Moratorium On Drilling

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:56:07 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Public opinion started to move in favor of oil drilling off Florida after Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 forced many Floridians to wait in long lines for gas, said David Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, a lobbying group.

Jeanne and other powerful hurricanes that battered Florida in 2004 and 2005 left millions of Floridians struggling to fill their gas tanks because of a lack of electricity to pump the fuel and difficulties getting fresh supplies into Florida.

A business group that supports oil drilling release a survey on Thursday saying 61 percent of Florida respondents support increased exploration and production of oil and natural gas off the Florida coasts.

"Public opinion is supportive .... ['I]t's time to give it a try (drilling) and watch it very closely,'" Mica said.

Environment Florida, an anti-drilling advocacy group, said it got an unprecedented response from supporters to a write-in campaign after Crist changed his position.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

PENSACOLA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - For decades opposition to oil drilling off Florida's coast was one of the few issues uniting the state's Democrats and Republicans, who agreed that shielding the environment and the huge tourism industry came first.

Last week Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican who often sounds like a Democrat, shattered the consensus by calling for an end to a federal moratorium on oil and gas drilling along the country's outer continental shelf.

What some see as a crack in the protective shield for Florida's $57 billion tourism industry has drawn howls of protest from Democrats and environmental groups.

They worry that the long battle against oil drilling in the Sunshine State has entered a new phase as spiraling gas prices threaten the status quo.

For coastal oil drilling to resume, the U.S. Congress would have to lift a national moratorium and then Florida's legislature would have to approve drilling in state waters.

Tags: pensacola beach, florida, gov. charlie crist, offshore oil drilling, u.s.congress, national moratorium, florida petroleum council,

Dubai's Favorite Senators

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:38:37 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Senator Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) has been threatening to hold up appointments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission until the CFTC increases regulation of oil trading.

According to the Almanac of American Politics, [Sen. Cantwell] "successfully worked the phones" in 2005 to round up enough colleagues to block drilling in the Alaskan wilderness.

Her counterpart in the House is Michigan's Bart Stupak, who claims special credit for a permanent ban on drilling in the Great Lakes and has also cast votes against exploration in Alaska and off the California coast.

Then there's New York Senator Chuck Schumer, another staunch opponent of new domestic oil supplies. Mr. Schumer has egged on the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting binge that has contributed so much to the oil price spike.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

The first refuge of a politician panicked by rising prices is always to blame "speculators." So right on time for this election season, Congress has decided to do something about rising oil prices by shooting the messenger known as the energy futures market. Apparently this is easier than offending the Sierra Club by voting for more domestic energy supply.

Futures markets aren't some shadowy dangerous force, but are essentially a price discovery mechanism. They allow commodity producers and consumers to lock in the future price of goods, helping to hedge against future price movements. In the case of oil prices, they are a bet about supply and demand and the future rate of inflation. Democrats nonetheless now argue that these futures markets are generating the wrong prices for oil and other commodities.

Not ironically, the leaders of Capitol Hill's shoot-the-messenger caucus are among those most culpable for the lack of domestic oil supplies.

Tags: "speculators", future markets, sen cantwell d., wash., bart stupak, mi., sen schumer, ny., dubai merchantile exchange

You Can't Fool All of the People All of the Time

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:32:11 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Instead of Drill! Drill! Drill!, their motto could be: Kill! Kill! Kill!

In response to skyrocketing gas prices, liberals say, practically in unison, "We can't drill our way out of this crisis."

What does it mean? Finding more oil isn't going to increase the supply of oil?

It is the typical Democratic strategy to babble meaningless slogans, as if they have a plan. Their plan is: the permanent twilight of the human race.

Liberals complain that -- as Obama put it -- there's "no way that allowing offshore drilling would lower gas prices right now. At best you are looking at five years or more down the road."This is as opposed to airplanes that run on woodchips, which should be up and running any moment now.

Clinton proposed a 26-cent tax on gas. John Kerry said it should be 50 cents. Gore endorsed the Malthusian proposal of Paul and Anne Ehrlich in "The Population Explosion"
[t]hat taxes gas gradually

Clip Source: www.humanevents.com

Say, you know what we need? We need a class of people paid to anticipate national crises and plan solutions in advance.

If only we had had such a group -- let's call them "elected representatives" -- they could have proposed drilling five years ago!

But of course we do pay people to anticipate national problems and propose solutions. Some of them -- we'll call them Republicans -- did anticipate high gas prices and propose solutions.

Six long years ago President Bush had the foresight to demand that Congress allow drilling in a minuscule portion of the Alaska's barren, uninhabitable Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In 2002, Bush, Tom DeLay and the entire Republican Party were screaming from the rooftops: Drill! Drill! Drill!

We'd be gushing oil now -- except the Democrats stopped us from drilling.

The other party -- plus John McCain -- ferociously opposed drilling in ANWR, drilling offshore or drilling anyplace else.

Tags: oil, domestic production, anwr, congress, exploration restrictions, obama, carter, clinton, al gore, paul ehrlich

A Clear Majority Of Americans Want To Drill Here

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:11:49 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Al Gore, philanthropist, Climate activist, and winner of the Nobel Peace prize, is the single greatest advocate in the war against humanity. Millions of innocent lives, people whose only crime is being poor. We need to protect not only others wellbeing, but our own freedoms, our own rights. We need to defend ourselves from Eco-Terrorist ideas, perpetuated by cheap theatrics and scaremongering. We need to defend ourselves against Eco Evangelist Al Gore.

Energy Independence: President Bush asks Congress to lift the 1981 drilling ban on offshore oil. The no-drill Democrats will call it flip-flopping. We call it change you can believe in.

The Democratic response to Republican determination to end our dependence on foreign oil has been to call for more taxes on oil companies and to pressure, even sue, OPEC. A group of 10 Democratic senators on Tuesday called for Bush to file a complaint against OPEC.

http://www.smartgreenusa.com/

Clip Source: www.smartgreenusa.com

Good energy policy is easy to distinguish from bad energy policy: Good policy leads to more supplies of affordable energy, and bad policy leads to less. The recently rejected American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S. 2958), sponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell R–KY), sought for the most part to make it easier to access domestic energy supplies by undoing past constraints, including restrictions on domestic oil production.

Though intended to help consumers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the ethanol mandate has done just the opposite, contributing to high food and gas prices with little environmental benefit. Representative Jeff Flake (R–AZ) has introduced H.R. 5911, the Remove Incentives for Producing Ethanol Act of 2008, which would eliminate the mandate and other benefits for ethanol, and other measures may soon be introduced.

Heritage Foundation Condemns Bush Administration's Polar Bear Decision

Gore Financially Invested in Climate Cause

Exposing Eco Hysteria!

Tags: energy independence, lower gasoline prices, sen. mcconnell, sen. mccain

Webb Splits With Obama Over Drilling

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:12:40 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York dismissed any concerns about Webb’s stance, saying they did not notice his proposal Wednesday. Durbin, however, pointedly rejected Webb’s argument that states should have the right to make drilling decisions.

The legislation “offers a preliminary step toward exploration and development of one of our domestic energy sources,” Webb said. “In order to address our nation’s energy crisis, all options need to be on the table.”

One of Virginia’s most prominent environmental groups also opposes Webb’s idea, saying there is no plausible environmental distinction between gas and oil drilling and that any environmental damage would spread far beyond Virginia’s coast.

“This puts the camel’s nose under the tent,” said Glen Besa, director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club.

Clip Source: thehill.com

By pushing a bill that distances himself from the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate on offshore drilling, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia is picking a curious time to exercise his well-known independence.

Yet by attaching his name to the bill, sponsored by Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), Webb is taking a step away from Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the party’s presidential candidate, who opposes offshore drilling, and one closer to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the GOP standard-bearer who recently called for lifting the federal ban.

Webb rejected the suggestion that his position differs from other Democrats’, saying that the bill calls for “a very careful approach,” state leaders would be a key part of the decision, and Virginia desperately needs the revenue stream for cash-starved transportation needs. Such decisions therefore should be made by Virginia, not Washington, he said.

“It’s time we had some leadership to really grab the larger picture and solve these problems.”

Tags: sen. webb va., sen. warner va., sierra club

Bush Calls Out the Dems

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:45:49 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Next was ANWR, which can be exploited with "virtually no impact on the land or local wildlife." Finally, refining capacity:

It has been 30 years since a new refinery was built in our Nation, and lawsuits and red tape have made it extremely costly to expand or modify existing refineries. The result is that America now imports millions of barrels of fully refined gasoline from abroad. This imposes needless costs on American families and drivers. It deprives American workers of good jobs.

Finally, Bush laid the problem once again at the Dems' door:

I know Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past. Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. If congressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act.

Excellent stuff. We need to do this every single day.

Clip Source: www.powerlineblog.com

In his radio address this morning, President Bush went after the Democrats on energy:

The fundamental problem behind high gas prices is that the supply of oil has not kept up with the rising demand across the world. One obvious solution is for America to increase our domestic oil production. So my Administration has repeatedly called on Congress to open access to new oil exploration here in the United States. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. Now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction. So this week, I asked Democratic congressional leaders to take the side of working families and small businesses and farmers and ranchers and move forward with four steps to expand American oil and gasoline production.

Bush pressed the Dems to open up the Outer Continental Shelf, then added this:

The President went on to talk about shale oil development in the Rockies:

Tags: president bush, radio address, oil supply, democrats, obstruction, u.s. exploration, families, business, farmers, ranchers

Three Broadcast Networks Earned A Big Fat Zero

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:51:58 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke also benefited, as did one prominent Republican — former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson.

Shalala and Holbrooke had left public office when they got their deals. But it was reasonable for Mozilo to think they'd serve again in another Democratic administration.

And what, many wonder, was the quid pro quo for all this?

Just a month ago, in unusually harsh language, Dodd ripped into President Bush on the subprime mess and defended a $400 billion plan that would bail out the subprime lending industry — including Mozilo.

The Democrats' initial response has been to stall. They hope the problem will disappear until after the election. They need to investigate it fully, immediately and without prejudice — or risk having it blow up in their faces.

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

The firing of Democrat insider and money-man Jim Johnson a week ago as head of Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee came as no surprise.

Obama has railed specifically against Mozilo's company

At one point, he even demonized Mozilo for "infecting the economy and helping to create a home foreclosure crisis."

Now it turns out that Johnson wasn't the only Democratic F.O.A. — friend of Angelo.

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, head of the Senate Banking Committee that oversees Countrywide, also was a recipient of Mozilo's mortgage largesse. So was Kent Conrad, the North Dakotan who chairs the Finance Committee and sits on the Budget Committee.

Dodd's case is illustrative. He took out two mortgages with no closing costs attached, at fixed rates of 4.25% and 4.5%.

Conrad didn't even know Mozilo. But he phoned him anyway, and got a great deal: a low-interest, virtually no-cost loan to buy a $1 million beach getaway. Favoritism? No way, says Conrad.

Nor were Conrad and Dodd alone.

Tags: obama's vp "vetter", jim johnson, chris dodd, senate banking committee, countrywide, kent conrad, finance committee, budget committee