The Irish economy has ground to a halt, yet:

>A new appraisal more than doubles the value of U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd’s Irish cottage, a vacation home that is the subject of an ethics complaint by a conservative group that questions if it was really a gift.

An AP wire story lays out the situation concerning Senator Dodd’s property and the circumstances that put him in this position.

It’s not been a good year for Senator Dodd as Senate Banking Committee Chairman with a number of lapses of judgment, yet he is one of key Senators in the repair of the banking/credit system. I’ve never met him and I am sure he means well…but one of the issues in the current crisis is the lack of trust by consumers/taxpayers in our institutions and the lack of effective regulation.

>If the financial crisis has proven one thing, it is that protecting the financial well-being of American consumers should be our first priority as we work to bring our financial regulatory structure into the 21st Century,” Dodd said. “I am committed to making this agency the centerpiece of my efforts as I work with President Obama and my colleagues to rebuild our financial architecture from the bottom up.