Democrats Are Stupid Too

Gawd, what a moron. And to think Chris Dodd was my original choice in the Democratic primary.

The Connecticut senator, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, admitted Wednesday that, yes, he did, in fact, have something to do with language inserted in last month's stimulus bill that effectively exempted AIG's bonuses from limitations. This after he flatly denied it on Tuesday.

But CNN caught him in the lie, getting a Treasury Department official to say they'd wanted the change made to an amendment being added to the bill in conference, and Dodd's committee made it happen.

But before we condemn Dodd for that -- and before we condemn the Treasury for throwing Dodd under the bus -- let's look at what actually happened.

First, let's be fair -- Dodd didn't say that he personally put the language in. He said -- and it's obviously true when you follow the bill's movements through Congress -- that the language was inserted during the reconciliation process after discussions between his staff and Treasury staff.

See, back in February, Dodd wanted to put tight restrictions on bonuses paid out by companies that got TARP money. That's what the amendment in question actually did, adding those restrictions to the stimulus bill. It was Dodd's amendment. But then Treasury came in and said, y'know, we don't think this is a good idea because these bonuses are contractual, and we might get hit with some nasty lawsuits.

Dodd decided to go ahead and make the change that Treasury wanted, because, he said, he feared if he didn't, there'd be no restrictions at all on bonuses. Both Dodd and the Treasury official who spoke with CNN say precisely the same thing: Treasury thought Dodd's amendment was too strict because of the lawsuits and pressured him to change it. He did. End of story.

And the date specific in the bill that some folks are pointing to, saying it proves it was aimed at OKing AIG's bonuses? That just happened to be the date the conference committee met to hammer out a final version of the bill.

Dodd's original amendment, by the way, had no such date in it.

Keep in mind, of course, that the original TARP bill -- the one that GW and his boys created -- contained absolutely no restrictions on compensation of any kind. Also keep in mind that the very people who are now setting fire to Dodd and the Democrats for creating a loophole in the amendment are the same people who argued against any limitation on compensation at all.

That would be the Republicans.

Pretty hypocritical, dontcha think? Fight tooth and nail to prevent any compensation limits and then come back and slam the guy who put some in for not putting enough in. They're hoping we forget that earlier part. My colleagues, if tonight is any indication, will. That means we're the ones who have to tell the truth.

And the truth is that Chris Dodd fucking lied. He lied on Tuesday when he told CNN flatly that he had nothing to do with the change in his own amendment.

That's pretty fucking stupid. Honestly, trying to avoid lawsuits isn't a bad thing for an economy that's as screwed up as this one is right now. The Republicans keep whining that anything the president does that isn't directly connected to fixing their mess of the last 30 years is a distraction. I'd think that multi-million lawsuits would be a bigger distraction than, oh, say, making your Final Four predictions for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

But Dodd, damn him. He couldn't just tell the truth. He had to lie. And then when he gets caught in the lie, we find out that the truth actually makes sense, only now it sounds suspicious because the moron lied to begin with.

Not to mention that it gives the nutzoid Republicans ammunition to use against the administration, even if it is wet powder. The veracity of their claims never seems to matter to them, or their even crazier followers.

What is it with politicians? Are they all perpetually stuck at 7 years old? "Little Chris, did you break that glass?" "No, mommy, I didn't." "But Chris, you were the only one here." "I didn't do it."

Stupid, stupid, stupid. And because of Dodd's stupidity, my dear, dear colleagues will never tell the story right. They'll focus on Dodd's lie. They'll say that Dodd inserted the language that gave AIG an out. They might say that the administration wanted it that way, but they'll downplay it. They won't say that Dodd had pushed to stop all such bonuses.

And they won't say that the compromise language that Dodd secured included a clause that is the very thing Treasury is now using to try to get back at least some of the bonus money: The contracts can be violated if it's in the "national interest."

I'd have to say that, yes, this would be "in the national interest".

But we're not going to be talking about that. We're going to be talking about Chris Dodd's lie. Idiot.

News Writer
AWOP Political Contributing Editor
Author of Stop the Press Blog

Cross-posted at Stop the Press!

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Peace Y'all