D.C. Power Players Get Sweetheart Loans

CBS News reports on how the "special " mortgage treatment went beyond Senator Dodd and Senator Conrad:

VIP mortgages were given to President Clinton's former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, and President Bush's Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson.

Jackson's daughter Annette Watkins even got VIP loan status when an internal Countrywide email noted her father "is expected to be confirmed (by the Senate) as Secretary of HUD (Housing and Urban Development)."

Also on the list: Franklin Raines, then-CEO of Fannie Mae, which bought billions in toxic Countrywide loans that defaulted at taxpayer expense; and former Fannie Mae CEO James Johnson, one-time advisor to President Obama, and Postmaster General John Potter.

Minyon Moore, former Chief Operating Officer of the Democratic National Committee, and President Clinton’s Director of White House Political Affairs also came to Countrywide for a loan and got VIP treatment. Countrywide emails explain that Moore "is a former White House staffer and the lead lobbyist for Dewey Square whom we have on retainer."

You'll want to read the whole thing. Can Congress regulate something they are getting a monetary benefit from? I think you know the answer.