Congressional Democrats came to power after the 2006 elections on the heels of a campaign that bashed the GOP for a “culture of corruption,” but it seems the shoe has shifted to the other foot. Two more examples came out this week.
First, it seems that Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Countrywide) has been a shrewd investor in Irish property. A vacation home that Dodd’s 2007 financial disclosure report valued at between $100,001 and $250,000 is now worth $660,000 according to his most recent disclosure filed last week. In 2002 the cottage was appraised at $190,000; however, Dodd has also renovated the cottage heavily during the last several years, making the accuracy of Dodd’s disclosures questionable at best.
Also interesting is the former owner who sold his two-thirds interest to Dodd in 2002. William Kessinger is an associate of Edward Downe Jr., who with Dodd’s assistance was pardoned by President Bill Clinton on his final day in office. Downe served as a witness to the legal documents for the property sale. All in all, it’s a nice quid pro quo.
The same can be said for insider trading information. Also coming to light last week were some timely stock transactions by another Democrat, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. On September 18, 2008, Durbin was briefed by then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The next day Durbin sold over $40,000 worth of mutual funds and bought a similar amount of stock in Berkshire Hathaway, a company controlled by billionaire Democrat contributor Warren Buffett. All told, by early October Durbin had dumped $116,000 of stock, investing over $98,000 of the proceeds into Berkshire Hathaway. While Buffett’s company hasn’t been immune from recent market trouble, it has not suffered as much as the rest of the market.
Naturally, the Leftmedia has shown no interest in these questions of impropriety. The letter “D” after one’s name shouldn’t serve as a free pass.
