An Open Letter to Senator Dodd

Dear Senator Dodd,

I have been listening to your sound bites over the past year and have become quite confused. It appears that you are very concerned about everything that has happened to the homeowner. You have been quick to scream for reform and imply that the Federal Reserve Board should clean up this real estate and mortgage crisis. You seem to be positioning yourself as the Champion of the people during your run for a Presidential bid.

Last week there was a lot of hype over your meeting with Federal Reserve Board President Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson about the foreclosure problem. You held a press conference telling of your position and even suggesting that a hot line has been set-up for people who are in trouble. I will comment on that latter in the letter. First, I want to take a step back and talk about your role in the Senate.

You are currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Banks are in trouble. Banks have been at the heart of a great deal of this irresponsible lending. Maybe I am a little uninformed. Wouldn't the Senate Banking Committee have some oversight over the banking system? Are these problems a big surprise to you? Is it reasonable to think that there might be a future problem when lenders are lending money at 100% of the value of the home to people with horrible credit, lending money without verification of income, using teaser rates, and writing loans whose interest rates change over time? Well, maybe I am just taking advantage of the use of hindsight. However, it seemed years ago that this was a train wreck in the making.

It just seems like the Senate banking committee has some role in the supervision of the banking system. Thus, is it reasonable to suggest that a little responsibility could be taken by you and your committee for this mess since it was on your watch?

Now back to this solution. You talked about a number consumers could call. It is a program put together for those who are facing foreclosure. It was a number that had the word HOPE spelled out. After further investigation, I discovered that this number takes the consumer to a hot line for consumer credit counseling. Statistics, personal accounts, and even Congressional testimony conclude that these organizations just make the debt situation much worst.

Senator Dodd, how about some real solutions? How about you and the rest of your colleagues taking some responsibility for this mortgage mess. For those of you elected to the Senate, you are elected to protect the people from this type of thing. Yet, you allowed it to happen for a number of years.

Your ideas are at best band aid approaches. Your HOPE idea is nothing more than leading consumers to the lions den. It sure does sound good as you attempt to secure a bid as Democratic nominee for the President of the United States. Once again, how about some real leadership in Congress? That is the best thing that you can do for the American People who are struggling because Congress conveniently ignored the creation of potentially one of the biggest real estate busts on record.