Dem Senators Took Sweetheart Loans from Countrywide Financial

Barack Obama has publicly chastised Countrywide Financial and its chairman Angelo Mozilo, and a "Friend of Angelo" sweetheart loan deal got Jim Johnson kicked off of Obama's VP search team. If Obama is going to be consistent, he's going to have disassociate himself from Connectict Dem Senator Chris Dodd and North Dakota Dem Senator Kent Conrad too:

Two influential US senators got "VIP" loans from a leading subprime mortgage lender that saved them tens of thousands of dollars, it was reported last night.

The Democratic pols, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, both received the highly favorable loans under the designation "Friend of Angelo," a reference to embattled Countrywide head Angelo Mozilo, Condé Nast Portfolio reported.

Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, while Conrad is chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. The two senators refinanced properties through the VIP program in 2003 and 2004, the report said.

Others who received "FOA" loans include Alphonso Jackson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bush who resigned in April, and Donna Shalala, who was secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration.

The report came one day after Democratic heavyweight Jim Johnson stepped down as chief of Barack Obama's vice-presidential search committee after revelations he'd gotten Countrywide loans at very favorable rates because of Mozilo.

By the way, it was just announced the other day that Donna Shalala, former Clinton cabinet member and ardent feminist and pro-abortion activist, is going to be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush. I don't know what he was thinking when he approved that one.