• "I am not a crook!"

Senator Chris Dodd released the details of his Countrywide mortgages. In a statement released with it he said that he would refinance the loans. But, please, pay no attention to this fact:

"Jackie and Chris have "decided to refinance (their) homes", which seems unremarkable, given that they had an ARM that guaranteed their rates for 5 years and the rates re-set last July or so, I gather. Who wouldn't at least try to refinance?"

h/t to ctblogger and greenpeas, with more commentary, videos and documents available at the link.

Gee, what one finds reading around the web. Here, Karl Denninger posts about an article in the Seattle PI:

"The FBI was aware for years of "pervasive and growing" fraud in the mortgage industry that eventually contributed to America's financial meltdown, but did not take definitive action to stop it.

"It is clear that we had good intelligence on the mortgage-fraud schemes, the corrupt attorneys, the corrupt appraisers, the insider schemes," said a recently retired, high FBI official. Another retired top FBI official confirmed that such intelligence went back to 2002.

they knew, and as early as early 2007 or 2006. As laid out in this piece (entitled "Perfect Storm in Default") by a mortgage default professional in response to a Wall St. Journal article:

Some "money" quotes, and a trend:

"In the movie the “The Perfect Storm” three storm systems converged to create the storm of the century which had a horrendous impact on the east coast of the United States and Canada. What does it mean when we have 16 major economic indicators pointing to problems with the housing industry and the national economy. It means “The Perfect Storm in Mortgage Default” is not only possible but extremely likely."

McClatchy's Miami Herald:

top Florida investigators found that state regulators failed to alert police agencies to crooked mortgage brokerages, ignored citizen complaints and allowed hundreds of people with criminal histories to peddle loans.

Investigators said the agency functioned without clear guidelines, making up rules as it went along and operating at times on wrong interpretations of the law.

''In some instances, the office was not complying with existing governing directives,'' the report states.

All the while, mortgage fraud skyrocketed during the most explosive housing boom in state history. Today, a quarter of all reported fraudulent loans across the country are for Florida properties.

The newspaper found that more than 10,000 people with criminal histories -- including bank robbers and land swindlers -- were able to peddle home loans across the state this decade. Of those, more than 4,000 cleared OFR background checks despite criminal pasts, with most committing offenses that state law required the agency to screen -- fraud, dishonest dealing and crimes of ``moral turpitude.''

The newspaper found that convicted criminals went on to steal at least $85 million from consumers and lenders.

See, there's your problem.

This may not mean much to you now. But this is the tip of the iceberg. On the other side of the big park just across from Cottage grove, Englewood is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, with 43% of the population living below the poverty line, and the stronghold of two of the nations most powerful gangs. It is also one of the major thoroughfares of the city of Chicago and was once one of the richest neighborhoods in the city. Troutman has presided over the continued destruction of Englewood managing it like a Nigerian dictator. And she just got busted.

Troutman was arrested for allegedly accepting a $5,000 cash bribe, with the understanding she would receive an additional $10,000 and other benefits, in exchange for supporting a purported private developer.