Dodd and Obama: trolling for cash along the gold coast

Wasn’t there, don’t know, didn’t have the grand to buy my way in. But that’s what is being reported today. At a $1000 a plate, they were hoping to raise a cool mil from, ummm, uhhh, bankers and hedge fund managers.

“We came very close to a Great Depression,” he said, adding that the United States must never again be so close to disaster because of the action of reckless investors.

“Join us, don’t fight us,” said Obama, singling out the financial executives in the room. “Join us in passing what are necessary reforms. It is important for our country and in the long run it will be good for your industry to have a level playing field.”

But the president, during his 20-minute speech, made light of how he probably faced some resistance from some who shelled out $1,000 a ticket to attend the dinner.

“I know that there are a lot of hedge funds, financial institutions here in Stamford. We flew over by helicopter, we saw some of the, ah, housing around here,” said Obama, jokingly referring to the many mansions along Connecticut’s well-heeled “Gold Coast.”

Now hand over the cash. Oh, and plenty of praise for the guy who was at the helm when the financial ship began to sink.

The president spoke warmly of his relationship with the Democratic senator, citing his sense of humor, his big heart and his belief in “the nobility of public service.” Presidents aren’t supposed to pick favorites, Obama said, “but I have a confession to make: From the moment I arrived in the United States Senate, Chris Dodd was one of my favorites.”

“Chris knows how to get things done in Washington,” Obama said.

Indeed he does Mr President. Just ask his banking friends. The problem Mr President, Chris Dodd is simply out of touch. It’s bad form to tout yourself as a working class Senator, and then hold a thousand dollar a plate fundraiser on Connecticut’s Gold Coast, courting the very people you are supposed to be regulating. I’m just saying is all.

And the young President isn’t fooling anybody when he takes public whacks at the financial industry lobbyists in his speech … standing next to the guy who combined … leading the pack in financial industry contributions. Watch the video all the way through … he uses the mop line again.

Watch this at Boston.com

Posted in ,

Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

2 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on October 26, 2009 at 4:15 am

    You know Dodd is in trouble when they have to bring in the big guns this early.  Maybe Dodd should man up and take responsibility for his ethical "lapses" and outright ineffectiveness in his job.

     

    And you have to wonder just exactly what gems of knowledge Obama thought he would impart to an MIT audience.    There must have been a lot of snickering….



  2. SoundOffSister on October 27, 2009 at 7:37 am

    Isn't the "gold coast" where all those evil rich bankers, stock brokers and insurance executives live?  Has the pay czar left them with any money?



The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.