What We're Hearing

The big loser in Tuesday's off-season election was Sen. Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut. The Senator was not up for re-election last night. That's next year. But the results in Virginia and New Jersey strongly suggest that voters are very angry with the economy and Washington's response to it. In 2010 incumbents will be targets at the voter shooting range, regardless of what party they belong to. For Mr. Dodd, chairman of Senate Banking Committee, rest assured whoever his opponent might be, that person will hang the 'Friends of Angelo' scandal sticker around his neck like a burning rubber tire. Here's a prediction: it will not be pretty for the senator and he will lose as long as the GOP puts up a moderate Republican who stays off the Appalachian Trail. Meanwhile, HUD had egg on its face Wednesday morning after delaying the release of its much anticipated audit of the FHA reserve fund. After canceling a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, the cabinet level agency released a statement saying it had "questions" about the accuracy of its auditor's "modeling." See the full update on the National Mortgage News website shortly...