BUSINESS
March 12, 2010 | By Jim Puzzanghera
Congressional attempts to pass the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression suffered a potentially devastating blow Thursday as the lead senator working on the legislation vowed to move forward next week without Republican support. With the legislative clock ticking and bipartisan talks stalling, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) said he needed to press ahead without the consensus legislation he has been seeking during weeks of intensive negotiations with Republicans.
OPINION
January 8, 2010
Apolitical obituary for Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who has announced that he won't seek a sixth term, would have to note that for a man who was so often right about political issues, it's remarkable that he could be so frequently wrong about his personal finances. Dodd, 65, is one of several prominent Democratic politicians who have recently opted to retire, including Sen. Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. Most of those bowing out are centrists in traditionally conservative states where voter anger over healthcare reform and the federal stimulus program have produced a backlash against Democrats.
BUSINESS
January 7, 2010 | By Jim Puzzanghera
In deciding not to seek reelection, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd became perhaps the highest-profile political casualty of the deep recession and public outrage over the financial industry bailout. His rapid fall -- from 2008 presidential hopeful to lame-duck legislator -- parallels the arc of the nation's economic downturn. Long associated with Wall Street, Dodd saw his chances for winning reelection clouded by disclosures that he was among the "Friends of Angelo," who received preferential mortgage rates at Angelo Mozilo's troubled Countrywide Financial Corp.
BUSINESS
November 15, 2009 | DAVID LAZARUS
As Sen. Christopher J. Dodd unveiled a sweeping plan last week to overhaul regulation of the banking industry, and as the banking industry complained loudly that this would be a horrible idea, I couldn't help but think of Silver Lake resident Jonathan Leahy. Leahy, 31, had shared with me a couple of letters he received recently from Chase Bank regarding his two different Chase credit cards. Both letters arrived the same day. One said that "we are pleased to let you know that your revolving credit access . . . has been increased to $10,300" -- a reward for Leahy being such a good credit risk.
BUSINESS
November 14, 2009 | David Lazarus
As Sen. Christopher J. Dodd unveiled a sweeping plan last week to overhaul regulation of the banking industry, and as the banking industry complained loudly that this would be a horrible idea, I couldn't help but think of Silver Lake resident Jonathan Leahy. Leahy, 31, had shared with me a couple of letters he received recently from Chase Bank regarding his two different Chase credit cards. Both letters arrived the same day. One said that "we are pleased to let you know that your revolving credit access . . . has been increased to $10,300" -- a reward for Leahy being such a good credit risk.
BUSINESS
November 12, 2009 | Brady Dennis and Binyamin Appelbaum, Dennis and Appelbaum write for the Washington Post.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd this week joined the generations of dreamers who have called for eliminating the nation's muddle of banking regulators, arguing that a single agency would be more efficient and would end the ability of banks to choose the most lenient supervisor. "The financial crisis," Dodd (D-Conn.) said, "exposed a financial regulatory structure that was the product of historic accidents, one after another, over the past 80 years, created piece by piece over decades, with little thought given to how it would function as a whole and unable to prevent threats to our economic security."