There's Always a Silver Lining

As an eternal optimist, I am hopeful that the one good thing that MIGHT come out of this economic mess is the removal of my Senator Chris Dodd from power.

He has been caught in a big lie:

Sen. Dodd Admits Adding Bonus Provision to Stimulus Package
Sen. Chris Dodd says Treasury forced him to add language to the stimulus bill last month that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts signed before the bill's passage.

By Trish Turner

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

In a dramatic reversal Wednesday, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., confessed to adding language to a spending cap in the stimulus bill last month that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts signed before the bill's passage.

Dodd told FOX News that Treasury officials forced him to make the change.

"As many know, the administration was, among others, not happy with the language. They wanted some modifications to it," he said. "They came to us, our staff, and asked for changes, and the changes at the time did not seem that obnoxious or onerous."

But the provision has become a flash point for criticism amid the controversy over $165 million in bonuses given out by AIG after securing more than $170 billion in federal aid. The language in the stimulus bill wasn't specific to AIG, but some have expressed outrage that it appears to have created a loophole.

Dodd said the argument put forward by Treasury was that a "flood of lawsuits" would come forward if the change was not made.

Dodd said he was unaware of the AIG bonuses at the time the bill was being written back in early February. He also said he has no reason to believe Treasury officials making the argument knew about the AIG bonuses.

When asked how administration officials have this kind of leverage over members of Congress, Dodd said, "The administration has veto power. ... No one suggested a veto to me, I don't want to imply that to you. But certainly that's not an insignificant tool."

On Tuesday, Dodd told FOX News that he didn't add the exemption.

"When the language went to the conference and came back, there was different language," he said then. "I can tell you this much, when my language left the Senate, it did not include it. When it came back, it did."

Now, getting caught lying for an old politician like Dodd is usually about as dangerous as getting caught drunk under the table at a Washington watering hole, but I am ever hopeful that THIS lie will be the one that does him in.

Few senators had as much of a hand in what went down with the mortgage meltown (the only possible exception is fellow New Englander Barney Frank of Taxachussets), but Dodd needs to be gone, yesterday.

Let us hope and pray that this is the beginning of the end of his lengthy, lousy career.