Shulman hits Garrett on contribution

The blind psychologist and rabbi challenging Rep. Scott Garrett this fall, Dennis Shulman of Demarest, is calling on Garrett to give back a $2,500 campaign contribution he got in June from the political action committee of Countrywide Financial Corp.

"Countrywide Financial is at the center of the housing-mortgage crisis which has helped throw our economy into recession – a crisis that Garrett until recently termed fear mongering," Shulman said in a news release. "Garrett sits on the Housing subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, and yet he is entirely in the pocket of the industry he is supposed to regulate in the public interest."

Shulman he would not take contributions from "corporate interests with business in front of my committee" if elected. He has previously criticized Garrett for hiring Amy Smith, a former lobbyist whose clients included Countrywide, as his chief of staff.

"Congressman Garrett has taken a number of positions that were contrary to Countrywide's best interest," responded said Amanda Gasperino, Garrett's campaign manager. "He has opposed and will continue to oppose a bailout bill, which puts taxpayers on the hook for bad business decisions made by a handful of mortgage companies."