The principal author of the Dodd-Shelby housing bill is Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committee

National Review, July 14, 2008

The principal author of the Dodd-Shelby housing bill is Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committee. Portfolio magazine has revealed that Dodd was one of two U.S. senators who benefited from Countrywide Financial's "Friends of Angelo" program (named for CEO Angelo Mozilo), under which Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S., gave loans at favorable terms to the influential and the powerful.

According to Portfolio's calculations, the preferential loan rates Dodd received will end up saving him $75,000. The troubling nature of this arrangement becomes clear when one looks at the fine print of the Dodd-Shelby housing bill, which would allow mortgage lenders to dump their most radioactive subprime loans on the government. The bill is overwhelmingly slanted toward protecting lenders, such as Countrywide, that lowered their standards dramatically during the housing boom and subsequently found themselves holding a lot of bad debt. Fortunately for Angelo, he appears to be holding a few IOUs as well.