Why did White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs come out and say that the Obama administration did not support nationalizing the banks? Probably at least partially because it’s become, more or less, Chris Dodd’s position — yes, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee.
Dodd told Bloomberg Television that it may be necessary to nationalize some banks for a short time.
“I don’t welcome that at all, but I could see how it’s possible it may happen,” Dodd said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” to be broadcast later today. “I’m concerned that we may end up having to do that, at least for a short time.”
Words have consequences, it turns out: “Those concerns immediately pushed down shares of Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and other large banks. Citibank hit a low of $1.61 within an hour of Bloomberg reporting Dodd’s remarks; it last closed below that level in November, 1990.”
UPDATE: Potential Dodd challengers are getting louder.