Countrywide had a program in place to give politicians special treatment on their home loans to influence them. The scandal has damaged the reputations of prominent Democrats including former Senator Chris Dodd.
The Ventura County Star reports:
The Countrywide VIP program in question was known as "Friends of Angelo," a reference to Angelo Mozilo, the lender's chief executive, whom federal regulators say personally approved mortgages for favored borrowers in violation of lending standards. Mozilo agreed in 2010 to pay more than $67 million in penalties in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wikipedia links to more resources on the Friends of Angelo program.
Recently the Republican controlled House Government Reform Committee added two local new names to the list of legislators that were a part of the program. Elton Gallegly and Buck McKeon received special treatment according to records from Countrywide.
For McKeon it allegedly included:
For Gallegly I haven't seen what supposed benefit he received. The released documents don't mention if it was a reduction in fees, a lower interest rate, or a no document loan.
Both Gallegly and McKeon deny knowing they were given any special treatment. From the latest article:
Gallegly and McKeon, whose newly redrawn congressional district takes in part of Simi Valley, said they had no idea their loans were processed under the VIP program but that they are cooperating with the investigation.
What I find interesting is that a program that has been documented to influence legislators was allegedly unknown to those same legislators. To be blunt: how effective can a payoff be if the target doesn't know they are getting the money?
I am looking forward to learning more about what happened and which legislators from both parties were involved.
Neither Gallegly or McKeon have been proven to have done anything wrong. The House Ethics Committee will be investigating this case.
Both of them should return all donations from Angelo Mozilo and any PAC money connected directly to this issue.
Also, Democrats would be better off if Rep. Laura Richardson was no longer in Congress.








Elton Gallegly didn't get a mortgage on his house. He sold his soul. Now the balloon payment is due.
And Linda Parks and Steve Bennett have both sold their souls to the public employee unions -- long ago.
Elton and Buck got some sweet deals as others were losing their homes.
Hannah-Beth Jackson and Steve Bennett are the two fossilized specimens who have been endorsed by the State Democrat Party. It will be nice to see them both get their relic butts kicked in November. Out of touch with reality and living in the Stone Age...
Nancy Pelosi has ordered republicans to vote for Mitt the Rino Romney, she said if they do not vote for him that she will expose Newt with things that are not public. So far republicans are following Nancy Pelosi's orders as they are afraid not to since she will once again be speaker of the house come November.
Newt Gingrich has ordered all Dimocrats to vote for Obama again. He's of the belief that the country will get what it deserves in a second term of Obama because he has reigned over the worst economy in modern times, the Socialization of our health care system, and the exponential growth of government.
If you think it's bad now, wait until Obama really gets things going in a second term. Obama wants to normalize relations with Cuba because he thinks their system of government is a shining example the U.S. can learn from.
Last night the republican sheep in Florida voted for Rino Romney over Newt big time on orders of Pelosi! Pelosi owns the GOP!
Last night Newt vowed to stay in the campaign until the bitter end and redouble his efforts to bring to light a lot of Romney's liberal views. This ain't over 'til it's over, baby!
Nancy Pelosi has had one too many face lifts. She makes Joan Rivers look like an 18-year-old model. I can't bear to watch her speak because the stretch marks around her mouth are such a distraction. She also spews a lot of diarrhea from her puppet mouth that has no basis in truth or reality.
Yesterday Mitt Romney who is supported locally by Phony Tony Strickland said, "I could careless about the very poor in this Country." This coming from a man who is a high Bishop in the Mormon Church no less! Romney had 23 secret bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, the same banks that hold the secret accounts of foreign dictators! This is why I'm glad I dropped my GOP registration and became a democrat! New numbers show that the GOP has shrunk to 30.4% of Ca voters and in five counties they are the 3rd party with more DTS in those counties than reps! Dems gained another point and are now 43.6%!
Oh, yes, I'm quite sure those were Romney's exact words, Craig Kidoodlehopper. In fact, this is what Romney actually said (and I'm using the exact quote here):
"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine," Romney told CNN. "I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I'll continue to take that message across the nation."
That sheds a whole new light on the comment and the context in which it was placed. But, fools like Clyde Drainage-clogger will continue to post false statements to try and prop up their weak candidate, Barack Obama. Obama will be spending his entire campaign trying to run down and ridicule whoever the Republican candidate ends up being and making assertions that are neither accurate or truthful, just like old Clem here.
If you don't have a good record to run on, then you need to try and denigrate your opponent to keep the spotlight off your lackluster performance.
Romney is a loser just like all republicans. He hides his money offshore instead of paying his taxes like a man. Romney hates America.
Obama hates America. He expressed his disdain for capitalism and the free market system in his "Sad State of the Union" speech last week. He thinks everyone deserves a government handout just because he's the government and he can do it.
This whole demonizing of the rich and successful that he continually spouts in his speeches in Washington and around the country are not going to play well in Middle America during the presidential campaign. Unlike this elitist hypocrite, Obama, people understand that the rich and successful create jobs and economic opportunity in this country. Without those willing to put themselves out there and risk their capital to advance the economy, we're in a world of hurt.
Obama doesn't understand this because he never held a real job in the real world. All his life experience has been in community organizing (whatever the hell that is) and getting elected to public office. Sure he's good at reading a teleprompter and putting the right inflection on words, but a trained monkey can do that. We need a leader not a speech-maker. Go Republicans!!!
Let's put to rest that Corporepublican lie about the rich creating jobs. That may have been true back when a US employee was worth a 60% tax write off but now, when that same employee is only worth a 30% write off, it makes more sense to export his job to a new overseas manufacturing facility...paid for by US tax payers.
I understand that you feel the 99% should all contribute their taxes to the 1%. For you, those handouts and bailouts and subsidies and tax break are fine. For the majority of American voters, it's not, and they want the rich to pay more taxes. If you don't like it...theirs places you can go to enjoy very low taxes: Kazakhstan, Zambia, Bolivia, Myanmar, Belarus, Egypt. Go knock yourself out and enjoy low taxes and an exotic retirement.
257,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate drops to 8.3%! Obama is gonna have an easy win! Todays numbers make Newt and Rino Romney look like the idiots they are!
The conservatives are running Newt, Santorum and Paul and dividing the conservative vote, this is allowing liberal RINO Romney to win the nomination! You gotta love it!
One of the main reasons the unemployment rate has dropped is because a lot of people have given up looking for jobs. So, you can throw all the half-baked statistics you want out there and that still won't change the fact that a huge number of people are still hurting because of Obama's economy.
These people will very likely be voting for Mitt Romney in November.
You must be one of those party guests that clog up the toilet, refuse to plunge it and then blame the mess on the next guy in the loo.
I have other issues with Obama, The Corporate President, but only fools, the ignorant and liars would continue to blame Obama for a mess made during eight years of Republican incompetence and corruption.
52% of Americans now say the more they learn about Mitt Romney the less they like him! Maybe it's his secret accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, the same places drug dealers hide their money, or maybe the fact he pays only a 13.9% tax rate and that would go lower under his tax plan, or maybe that the only jobs he has created has been for illegal aliens, or maybe because at Bain Capital he threw thousands of Americans out of work and then said he loved to fire Americans and ship their jobs to Red China. Even Billo the Clown and Ann Coulter are saying Obama is going to win re-election! Obama has created 3 million new jobs, under Bush and the GOP we lost 5 million jobs! VOTE OBAMA 2012!
The 9th Circuit Court ruled today that Prop. 8 is against the Constitution, it now heads to the Supreme Court. If this ruling holds then the 22 million the Mormon Church spent on passing Prop. 8 will have been wasted and that money could have been used to feed the poor as Jesus would have wanted.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did what most people expected them to do today - thwart the will of the people by voting that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional (which is a load of crap)!
We will now be taking this matter to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final ruling, which we are confident will be in favor of what the people of California clearly decided in 2008 - That only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the State of California.
We need to send a message to these radical, liberal, activist judges that the people will prevail in issues that go to a popular vote - the absolute hallmark of our democracy.
You don't REALLY believe your nonsense about the popular vote, do you? After all, you cheered when a radical, activist SupCourt awarded a presidential election to the candidate that DIDN'T receive the popular vote.
Ours is NOT a system where the majority gets to do whatever they want. That occurs in places where Shiite majorities rule arbitrarily over Sunnis or in Rwanda and a few other exotic democracies. Here, we let the Courts decide if the will of the People is just or not.
You gotta laugh at these conservative idiots like breaking wind (he goes by that name because that is what comes out of his mouth) because these are the same idiots who went running and crying to the courts when the redistricting initiative they bankrolled blew up in their faces! Just shows that conservatives are nothing but liars and hypocrits!
You may consider the will of the people "nonsense," but, as a true believer in representative government, I beg to differ. How is it that two wacky judges can overrule the vote of over 7 million citizens in the State of California? That is the real nonsense here.
Your baloney about Shiites ruling over Sunnis has absolutely no bearing on the legality of this Proposition, but is simply a smokescreen to try and obscure the real issue here (typical lame, liberal tactic).
I firmly believe we will prevail in the U.S. Supreme Court on this issue and I can't wait for the highest court in the land to put this matter to rest once and for all.
So, you don't believe in our form of government? You prefer a pure democracy where the majority call the shots, regardless of the law or the minorities who have to live with the consequences? Or do you only support the law of the land when it's convenient?
Let's say you get your way and the majority of voters in every state get to make new laws without any constitutional review. Would you be okay if Alabama votes that Baptist faith is the official religion and must be taught in schools? Would you support Utah's new laws that only allow a Mormon man and woman to be married? Would you be okay with a new California law that established a 3 year residency before one could own a home?
Breaking Wind aka tea party loser tom from Ventura, hates America and hates the Constitution, he thinks we should be ruled by the Bible because that is what Rush told him to believe. Conservative hypocrits ran crying to these same judges over redistricting and now they are crying over this. Look on the bright side tom, now you have twice the chance of getting married some day.
Boy, gs, you sure reek of hyperbole today. More than usual...
I support the law of the land every time, bro. But, you must remember, laws were developed in response to the desires of the citizens of this country. Laws aren't simply enacted in a vacuum because Joe Blow Congressman thinks they're a good idea. They are brought forth by our elected officials in response to a demand by their constituents.
This may seem like Civics 1A, but judges are not supposed to be making laws, my friend. That is the job of the legislative branch of government. In California, we also have the ballot initiative process, which allows the people to propose and vote on new laws or changes to existing laws, as was done with Prop. 8. Over 7 million voters affirmed that marriage in the State of California should be defined as between a man and a woman only.
The 9th U.S. District Circuit Court of Appeals is famous for overreaching and assuming an activist, legislative-like role when the issue suits them -- as with the Prop. 8 decision. Unfortunately, we will now have to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the will of 7 million voters in California. But, do it we shall because it is the right thing to do.
For the SupCourt to overturn the 9th Dist ruling, it would, in effect, overturn every state's right to marry law. If it does that, it then rules against state voters having the right to make or change laws. The SupCourt would then be MAKING law.
How does that jive with your CINO-libertarian philosophy? Is it OK to be an activist judge only when it benefits your ideology? Or will you condemn the SupCourt for its activist law-making?
No, I will not condemn the U.S. Supreme Court for righting a wrong created by 2 wacky, activist judges who defied the will of over 7 million California voters.
The activist law-making occurred at the Appeals Court level. All the Supreme Court will be doing by overturning their ruling is restoring a decision made by more than 7 million voters in the State of California. Tell me, how can 2 individuals (even if they do have law degrees) deem themselves more skilled and qualified to make a decision affecting an entire State population when the State population itself already made its decision.
It just doesn't compute!
It doesn't matter if all 30M of CA's citizens voted for a law if that law denied to a class of people the same rights enjoyed by all other classes of people. In almost every case that law would be unconstitutional. It's the judges' job to defy the will of the people when the People have made a law that violates the constitution. That's WHY we have a federal court system.
As the final arbiter, the SupCourt's decision will become the law of the land. I don't believe that even this right wing activist Court will rule that a simple majority of voters is enough to make laws that deny certain classes of people the same rights held by the majority. Doing so would establish a precedent that would rock this nation off its foundation and overturn 220+ years of civil rights.
Oh, come on, gs. Don't you think you're getting a little melodramatic here? A Supreme Court decision favorable to the Prop. 8 supporters would not rock the nation off its foundation. It would simply correct an error made by 2 wild-eyed judges in California.
What happens in the other states would be specific to their own situations. The only thing the Supreme Court would be considering in the Prop. 8 matter is the manner in which it was dealt with by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
If the Circuit Court's decision is allowed to stand, I will be promptly submitting an application for a license to marry my dog. We have a close and loving relationship and rely on each other for companionship and moral support. He relies on me for his shelter, food, clothing, and medical needs. And I rely on him for love, attention, friendship, and for the unbearable task of fetching my newspaper in the morning. Thus, I believe for the State to deny our wishes to marry would deny a certain class of people (dog lovers) the same rights held by the majority.
This concept could also be applied to people's desire to enter into marriage with two wives or two husbands, or to marry someone under the age of 18. You can expect to see cases like this coming out of the woodwork if this ruling is allowed to stand.
After reading more about the 9th D ruling, I'm guessing that the SupCourt won't even hear an appeal. The ruling was constructed so narrowly and followed the present Court's own earlier rulings on denial of rights issues that for the justices to overturn the 9th D, they would have to reopen virtually all their previous rulings on similar issues. Ain't gonna happen!
So enjoy your dog and feel safe in the knowledge that in this country, a majority can't make laws depriving you of your right to be on the losing side of history.
I'm guessing that your guess is wrong, but we shall see.
Any tips on where I can get a matching tuxedo for my dog and I?
Are you both wearing tails or just one of you?
That's a really good question. You know, we haven't even discussed it yet.
"OK, Rover, what do you think? One 'arf' for just you and two 'arfs' for both of us. I'm sure looking forward to that honeymoon..."