Stories related to: Christopher Dodd

The Senate voted 94-1 to move a housing legislation package into formal consideration today, reports the New York Times . Banking committee chair Chris Dodd and ranking Republican Richard Shelby now have until noon tomorrow to work out a compromise acceptable to both parties. “Inaction is not an option," said Dodd. "Failure is not an option." More »

Small banks, credit unions, states, and assorted politicians wasted no time ripping into the Bush administration’s plans to rework federal regulation of the financial industry, calling it an amateurish attempt by a “bunch of guys from Wall Street,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “It’s because none of those guys ever worked in a regulated, chartered bank," said one lobbyist for small banks. More »

The controversial acquisition of Bear Stearns by rival JP Morgan Chase, aided by billions of dollars of government credit, is about to become one of the most scrutinized deals in Wall Street history. Two separate Senate investigations will soon be under way, one by the Banking Committee and another by the Finance Committee, reports the New York Times . More »

Chris Dodd endorsed Barack Obama today in Cleveland, praising his ex-opponent for his "ability to reach and touch the hearts and souls of Americans," the Plain Dealer reports. The first former candidate to make an endorsement in the race, Dodd told the Hartford Courant he was "back and forth" between Obama and Hillary Clinton ahead of Connecticut's February 5 primary. More »

Democratic candidates Chris Dodd and Joe Biden are packing in their presidential campaigns after poor showings in Iowa. Biden polled a distant fifth, behind Bill Richardson, and Dodd came in seventh. Voters' sixth choice was "uncommitted." For Dodd the defeat is especially stinging. The Connecticut senator relocated his family to Iowa and put his children in new schools, reports the Hartford Courant . More »

Legislation that would have granted retroactive immunity for phone companies that cooperated in the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program was abruptly withdrawn by Senate majority leader Harry Reid late yesterday. The legislation, favored by the White House, had deeply divided Democrats. Reid said the Senate would deal with the bill in the next session. More »

As Barack Obama draws into a tie with Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire polls, the New York senator looks to be leaning more and more on the relationships she and her husband established back in Bill's campaigning days. Clinton officials shrug off the tightening polls, but some find her camp's lack of energy "scary," reports the Washington Post . More »

Dem lawmakers vow to finally rein in credit card companies after years of consumer complaints, the Washington Post reports. They want lenders to scrap random rate hikes and inscrutable fees, and plan to tackle it in a hearing next week; one rep has already drawn up legislation. But industry lobbyists are crying foul. “They’re getting oversight, and they don’t like it,” said one advocate. More »

Obama accused Hillary of dodging questions and running a "poll-driven" campaign before a crowd of thousands at an Iowa fundraising dinner yesterday, the New York Times reports. “Not answering questions because we’re afraid our answers won’t be popular just won’t do it,” Obama said. “Triangulating and poll-driven positions because we’re worried about what Mitt or Rudy might say about us just won’t do it.” More »

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama turned up the heat on frontrunner Hillary Clinton last night on "Saturday Night Live" when he appeared in the opening sketch—a Halloween party thrown by a faux Bill and Hillary and attended by faux Democratic candidates—as himself.  Everyone was in costume, including Barack, who wore an Obama mask, then ripped it off to reveal the real thing. More »

Average Joes moonlighting as political bloggers are wielding the power of kingmakers in tiny New Hampshire, and candidates—at least the second-tier—are noticing. Says a high school Latin teacher of his Blue Hampshire blog: “One minute I'm in the teachers' lounge making copies and the next I'm spending 30 minutes on the phone with Bill Richardson,” the Journal reports. More »

A vote that could send the nomination of Michael Mukasey as US attorney general to the full Senate will come Tuesday, the Democrat in charge of the Senate Judiciary Committee said today. Once thought certain, Mukasey's confirmation now appears to hinge on his refusal to classify as illegal torture the technique known as waterboarding, the Washington Post reports. More »

Iran is beginning to dominate the campaign rhetoric of White house hopefuls of both parties as Iraq once did, reports CNN. Tough US sanctions against Tehran and growing indications of some kind of military intervention to halt the development of nuclear weapons are being compared with the steps taken in the run-up to the war with Iraq. More »

Dem presidential hopeful Chris Dodd said yesterday he will place a “hold” on a bill that would grant retroactive immunity to telecom companies who handed over phone records to the feds without warrants. The White House and the Senate Intelligence Committee had made a deal to clear carriers Wednesday, but Dodd vows to block its coming to a vote, Election Central reports. More »

None of the three leading Democratic White House contenders were willing last night to guarantee that they would get US troops out of Iraq by 2013. During a Democratic debate at Dartmouth College, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards—who all support a timetable for troop withdrawal—each declined to commit to an exit deadline, even one five years hence, reports the Washington Post . More »

Chris Dodd is not only running for president, he's on a mission to fix his father's reputation. Dodd's late father, Thomas, also a US senator, was censured in 1967 for making personal use of campaign funds. Years earlier, he made his name at the Nuremberg trials, and his son's new book paints him as a decisive defender of civil liberties. More »

Democratic hopefuls took part in a Spanish-language debate in Miami yesterday, having questions translated UN-style from Spanish to English, and answers back again into Spanish. Though he'd agreed to the ground rules, bilingual contender Bill Richardson couldn't resist  asking in Spanish if he could continue in Spanish, and Sen. Chris Dodd also took the opportunity to flaunt his fluency. More »

Bloggers contemplating the off-again, on-again appearance of Hillary Clinton at tomorrow's YearlyKos convention can't quite get over how much more respect—would fear be an exaggeration?—they're inspiring in Democrats this year, compared to the last go-round. Joe Gandelman at the Moderate Voice asks whether it means the Democratic center really has “swung to the left.”  More »

John McCain is lagging far behind his GOP primary rivals in fundraising, in part because he's alienated so many big corporate donors in his Senate career. All that straight talk about minimizing the influence of money on politics has taken its toll, the New York Times notes. One defense industry lobbyist called McCain a "one man wrecking crew." More »

The Bush nominee for surgeon general is under fire over a 1991 academic paper in which he argued that  gay sex is unnatural and unhealthy. In the report, ridiculed by other doctors for imposing politics on science, Dr. James Holsinger compares sexual body parts with pipe fittings and concludes, "when the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur." More »