CHANGING POLITICS IN WASHINGTON: OBAMA ENDORSES DODD FOR 2010

Maybe Chris Dodd (D-CT) isn't the most corrupt politician but he'd definitely make it's hall of shame on the first go-round. Not only that, but he's the epitome of an in-office-too-long incumbent with strong lobbyist ties who should be investigated over his sweet heart loan deals with countrywide.

MICHELLE MALKIN has the details on Obama's ringing endorsement of Dodd despite the former's commitment to changing politics in Washington and the latter's strong contributions to perpetuating them.

Gotta love Malkin's descriptive terms...

The embattled Democrat is in deep doo-doo over his Countrywide sweetheart home loan deals, corporate bailout cash, and crony associations. New revelations by Countrywide whistle-blower Robert Feinberg confirm what more and more of Sen. Dodd’s constituents in Connecticut are coming to realize: He’s a lying crapweasel. Dodd denied knowledge of the special treatment the sub-prime mortgage company had given him and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad on home loans. (Dodd’s were worth more than $800,000). Feinberg flatly contradicted him in secret testimony on the Hill this week.

So surely Mr. Obama would distance himself from this kind of an individual (based on one of his strongest campaign promises), right?

Well, Malkin sets the stage by whipping out this Obama quote after announcing his campaign for president in February, 2007 and follows it up with a rather astute observation:

“I know that I have not spent a long time learning the ways of Washington, but I have been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington have to change.”

Two years later, Barack Obama declared his support for an entrenched U.S. Senator drowning in the decrepit old politics of pay-for-play.

What? Barack Obama throwing his support behind someone involved in pay-for-play? There was NO WAY anyone could've seen that coming!

I realize Obama's poll numbers have dropped substantially since taking office and the month of July was particularly bad for him but Rasmussen is still showing that approximately 30% Strongly APPROVE of his performance. Wouldn't you just love to get inside the head of someone who sees things that way?

But only for a minute. Any longer and you might suffer irreparable harm.

Read MALKIN'S ENTIRE COLUMN. It's worth it.

VIDEO: CONGRESSMAN LAUGHS AT BERNANKE WHILE QUESTIONING HIM

Alan Grayson (D-FL) is a representative from the Orlando area. In a committee hearing this week, he had Ben Bernanke doing a little collar-tuggin'. Grayson held his own and was at no time on defense.

Bernanke had the look of someone who was mildly uncomfortable giving answers he didn't necessarily believe himself. It's this kind of thing that will help get that audit of the Fed rolling.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Real Clear Politics has the link.

ANOTHER SENATOR WANTS ANSWERS ON WALPIN FIRING

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has apparently decided to join Charles Grassley (R-IA) in wanting to know specifics about why the Inspector General for Obama's AmeriCorps was fired when all indications are that he was simply doing his job. Gerald Walpin's story has remained consistent while Obama's stories have involved high doses of "change" and stonewalling.

BYRON YORK is back on the case. This time, he features U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Lawrence Brown who seemed to insert himself into the fray once it became apparent that his city may cease receiving stimulus funds due to what Walpin discovered about Kevin Johnson's role in misusing money that was intended for his non-profit organization, St. HOPE.

....investigators have been stymied by the White House’s refusal to answer any inquiries about any communications or other dealings it might have had on the subject. Brown has also refused to answer questions.

Now, investigators are trying a new route, examining the role of the Justice Department. Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has asked the committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, for a hearing on the AmeriCorps/Walpin affair, focusing specifically on the role of Brown and his bosses at Justice.

Ah, more questions than answers when it comes to a Barack Obama scandal. Say it ain't so.

Kevin Johnson's rights to more stimulus money was reinstated. This coupled with Brown's curious involvement in it appears to have caught the eye of Sessions.

According to a senior Republican aide, Sessions’ interest was piqued by a statement made in a late March television interview by Rep. Doris Matsui, the Democratic congresswoman who represents Sacramento. Asked whether Johnson’s problems could prevent the city from receiving stimulus funds, Matsui said that, at Johnson’s request, she had “been in conversation with officials at the White House and OMB [Office of Management and Budget] and others to ensure that we don’t lose any money at all.”

Within days of Matsui’s statement, a settlement was reached. Johnson was unsuspended, and in a particularly unusual move, acting U.S. Attorney Brown issued a press release hailing the arrival of stimulus funds. “The lifting of the suspension against all parties, including Mayor Johnson, removes any cloud whether the City of Sacramento will be prevented form receiving much-needed federal stimulus funds,” Brown wrote.

Looking more and more like Walpin may have been fired for getting in the way of politicians and their pork.

But we'll reserve judgment until we get Obama's side of the story....

Mr. Obama?

Mr. Obama?

Mr. Obama?

h/t to Hot Air