Not to keep kicking a dog on the ground but . . .

Senator Dodd is putting up a well-crafted "talking points" smokescreen about his involvement in the Countrywide "Friends of Angelo" fiasco with the almost effective feint that he wouldn't jeopardize his long-standing service to his constituents with some kind of influence scandal. But he's following a dog that won't hunt. He's getting more bad advice.

And that's not the worst of it.

It's still nothing more than an elaborate feint; the real issue is how a Senator, especially a committee chair with the kind of power he wielded in financial legislation could be so utterly dense in regard to the millions of people (including his constituents) that were being abused by Countrywide over the years.

It's simply beyond belief that he wasn't aware of what Countrywide was doing to consumers; you'd have to be in a cave somewhere to not know what was happening. Thus, if he was actually ignorant, his staff should be summarily dismissed and he should resign for having kept them on the government payroll. If he wasn't ignorant, he's not only utterly incompetent to serve as a senator on a committee that deals with mortgage issues, he's nothing more than a criminal enabler (or worse) and he should resign.

Why his he still a Senator?

The Honorable Judge Roy Bean

Senator Dodd is shocked - shocked I tell you!

One of the chief architects of the mortgage disaster has the chutzpa to feign surprise at the dismal results from the administration's much ballyhooed mortgage modification program.

"This is disgraceful," he said. "Why am I still reading about lost files, under-staffed and under-trained servicers, and hours spent on hold on the phone?"

If it weren't so blatantly disingenuous it might be funny as he attempts to ignore the history of predatory mortgage servicing.

Dodd wants us to believe the same people running predatory servicing operations are going to be able to change their modus operandi just because they've told him (wink, wink, nodd, nodd) that they'll modify bad loans to try and avoid foreclosures.

News flash for the Senator: The reason you're still reading about lost files, understaffed and under-trained servicers and hours spent on hold on the phone should be obvious to anyone other than the people who have supposedly been overseeing the financial services industry: They do what is in their best interests, nothing more.

Treasury's Herbert Allison said at Dodd's committee hearing that the servicers who are [allegedly] participating have extended 325,000 loan modification offers and have 160,000 three-month trial adjustments underway. Of course what isn't known (and wasn't asked) is how many of the alleged 325,000 offers were viable, let alone acceptable. Nor do we know if the 160,000 are part of the 325,000. And of course no mention is made of the servicers who aren't participating.

What Dodd and his little band of actors don't want to admit is that the program is nothing more than window dressing for one very big reason - if it doesn't make financial sense for them to offer a forbearance agreement (which is what these "modifications" really are) they won't, and they are the only ones who have a say in that process.

Dodd also doesn't want to admit that he and everyone else knows that the real purpose for most of these newly-named forbearance agreements is to indemnify the servicer from any potential liability for any actions they've taken or will take.

So, Senator Dodd - spare us the shocked act.

The Honorable Judge Roy Bean

Another collection Squaliforme gets a slap on the wrist

So much for enforcement having any effect.

Richard and Peter Pinto along with Charles Harris run something called "Oxford Management Services" which to their victims is known as "Oxford Collection Agency."

All collection Squaliformes need an attorney, and Salvatore Spinelli, Esq., was caught in the FTC's net along with Oxford. Spinelli allegedly can't pay his half of the $2.12M penalty so it was suspended. The Pintos and Harris allegedly can't pay their half either, so the FTC let them off by suspending all but $225,000.

And while the FTC will supposedly be keeping an eye on Oxford, the typical abuses by other collectors will go on - in part because of settlements like this.

The "new" FTC just put up the surrender flag.

The Honorable Judge Roy Bean