Dodd Bashes Lobbyists, Then Spends Weekend With Them on Martha's Vineyard

Chris Dodd ought to be a charter member of the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame. The oily Democrat from Connecticut has zero shame.

After distancing himself from lobbyists in campaign ads, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) was on Martha's Vineyard this weekend meeting with some of the most well known names on K Street.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) hosted its annual retreat this weekend at the high-class getaway. Designed for candidates to meet with senators for campaign advice and policy guidance, several high-powered lobbyists also attend and network with lawmakers during the retreat.

Dodd's attendance at the retreat follows a series of web videos his campaign released promoting his populist credentials and highlighting the frustration some lobbyists are feeling with the senator, including quotes from anonymous lobbyists in news reports.

Facing a tough campaign, Dodd has been aggressive in running on his recent legislative moves — such as passage of the credit card reform bill and his support of a consumer financial products agency.

"You almost have to feel sorry for the poor lobbyists. They just can't get Chris Dodd to listen to them," says Dodd's campaign website introducing one of the videos.

So I guess Dodd doesn't listen to his wife.

Influential senators working to overhaul the nation's health care system have investments and family ties with some of the biggest names in the industry. The wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, the lawmaker in charge of writing the Senate's bill, sits on the boards of four health care companies.

Members of both parties have industry connections, including Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Tom Harkin, in addition to Dodd, and Republicans Tom Coburn, Judd Gregg, John Kyl and Orrin Hatch, financial reports showed Friday.

Jackie Clegg Dodd, wife of the Connecticut Democrat, is on the boards of Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cardiome Pharma Corp., Brookdale Senior Living and Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals.
...
Other publicly available documents show Mrs. Dodd last year was one of the most highly compensated non-employee members of the Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc. board, on which she has served since 2004. She earned $32,000 in fees and $109,587 in stock option awards last year, according to the company's SEC filings.

Mrs. Dodd earned $79,063 in fees from Cardiome in its last fiscal year, while Brookdale Senior Living gave her $122,231 in stock awards in 2008, their SEC filings show. She earned no income from her post as a director for Pear Tree Pharmaceuticals but holds up to $15,000 in stock in Pear Tree, which describes itself as a development-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the needs of aging women.

Yet this clown pretends he has nothing to do with lobbyists.

Ironic how the Democrats flocked to Martha's Vineyard on the 40th anniversary Ted Kennedy going into the drink and killing Mary Jo Kopechne.

Aww, Poor Chris Dodd Is Offended

No discounts for snakes

You would think a guy up to his eyebrows in ethical problems would know better than to whine about alleged unfair treatment. Then again, we're talking about Chris Dodd, the man who keeps snakes supplied in oil. Knowing Dodd, it's a good bet the snakes pay above-market rate.

Sen. Chris Dodd, the dubious Democrat from the Nutmeg State, told a recent interviewer that it was "offensive" that the media would suggest that his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, has potential conflicts of interest because she sits on the boards of four pharmaceutical firms.

With Sen. Ted Kennedy ailing, Dodd is the Democratic point man for upcoming health-care legislation.

Of course, this is the 21st century. Spouses of powerful pols have their own -- often quite successful -- careers.

Of course, everybody knows that Mrs. Dodd received no special consideration because of her powerful spouse -- because Sen. Dodd says so.

That's the same Chris Dodd who "just happened" to get sweetheart mortgage loans as a "Friend of [Countrywide Financial founder] Angelo [Mozilo]" -- a relationship that is the subject of a Senate Ethics Committee probe.

That's the same Dodd who "just happened" to buy out a friend's share of an Irish cottage -- for well below what should have been the appraised value.

Only after a public-interest group raised questions did the Dodds finally have the cottage re-appraised -- whereupon the property's value jumped to $660,000, from between $100,001 and $250,000 just last year.

How about that: In the midst of a worldwide recession, his vacation home doubles in value in just one year -- as property values across Ireland plunged 40 percent.

If it weren't for that protective shell of having the (D) after his name, Dodd not only would have been booted from office long ago, it's a good possibility he'd be cooling his heels in a federal penitentiary.

Instead, he'll be the point man on a potential multi-trillion dollar boondoggle we'll all be saddled with in the name of change.

Not a comforting thought.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Heh: Dodd's Wife Worked for AIG Subsidiary

When I suggested the other day that the socialist bus tour take a ride past Chris Dodd's house, I had no idea his wife once was a director for one of their subsidiaries.

Dodd may want to seriously consider retirement.

No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG. Dodd has been one of the company's favorite recipients of campaign contributions. But it turns out that Senator Dodd's wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well. From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG. IPC, which provides property casualty catastrophe insurance coverage, was formed in 1993 and currently has a market cap of $1.4 billion and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IPCR. In 2001, in addition to a public offering of 15 million shares of stock that raised $380 million, IPC raised more than $109 million through a simultaneous private placement sale of 5.6 million shares of stock to AIG - giving AIG a 20% stake in IPC. (AIG sold its 13.397 million shares in IPC in August 2006.)

Clegg was compensated for her duties to the company, which was managed by a subsidiary of AIG. In 2003, according to a proxy statement, Clegg received $12,000 per year and an additional $1,000 for each Directors' and committee meeting she attended. Clegg served on the Audit and Investment committees during her final year on the board.

IPC paid millions each year to other AIG-related companies for administrative and other services. Clegg was a diligent director. In 2003, the proxy statement report, she attended more than 75% of board and committee meetings. This while she served as the managing partner of Clegg International Consultants, LLC, which she created in 2001, the year she joined the board of IPC. (See Dodd's public financial disclosure reports with the Senate from 2001-2004 here.)

Read the rest.

Via LGF links.