I thought it would be worthwhile to have a further look at some of the players cited briefly in the article, so here is a bit more on the private equity kingpin Thomas H. Lee, typical of the masters of the universe who so affect our lives yet generally fly below the radar.

First, the Times “nut graph”:

Simmons says it will soon file for bankruptcy protection, as part of an agreement by its current owners to sell the company — the seventh time it has been sold in a little more than two decades — all after being owned for short periods by a parade of different investment groups, known as private equity firms, which try to buy undervalued companies, mostly with borrowed money. For many of the company’s investors, the sale will be a disaster. Its bondholders alone stand to lose more than $575 million. The company’s downfall has also devastated employees like Noble Rogers, who worked for 22 years at Simmons, most of that time at a factory outside Atlanta. He is one of 1,000 employees — more than one-quarter of the work force — laid off last year. But Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston has not only escaped unscathed, it has made a profit. The investment firm, which bought Simmons in 2003, has pocketed around $77 million in profit, even as the company’s fortunes have declined. THL collected hundreds of millions of dollars from the company in the form of special dividends. It also paid itself millions more in fees, first for buying the company, then for helping run it. Last year, the firm even gave itself a small raise.

Here’s what Forbes had to say about Mr. Lee ( who was involved with acquiring Simmons but left his own firm prior to the unraveling), listed as #717 on its 2007 roster of “The World’s Billionaires”:

Fortune: self made
Source: leveraged buyouts
Net Worth: $1.4 bil
Marital Status: married, 5 children
Education: Harvard University, Master of Business Administration
Soft-spoken buyout titan had a tough fall in 2005: After taking Warner Music public with Edgar Bronfman Jr., flipped commodities outfit Refco. Refco quickly fell apart; then-chief executive Phillip Bennett charged with securities fraud, conspiracy. Company’s assets bought up by London hedge fund Man Group. Lee claims he personally lost only $2 million. Harvard grad started investing with $150,000 inheritance 1974. Greatest hit: Snapple, bought for $135 million 1992, sold to Quaker Oats for $1.7 billion in 1994. Today invested in Dunkin’ Donuts, Michael Foods. Left Thomas H. Lee Partners to start Thomas H. Lee Equity Partners last March; believed to have been forced out by partners, he says he wants a fresh start. Now leveraging connections with hedge fund managers with his Blue Star fund-of-funds outfit.

How are people like Lee able to turn a $150,000 inheritance into $1.4 billion? Some of it is smarts, and hard work, and good information. But if the practices themselves might otherwise face the wrath of the people’s representatives, it helps to have them on your side. Proving that the GOP is hardly the sole party of the moneyed, Lee’s donations over the years seem to have been almost exclusively to Democrats—including many senators and House members. Among his most recent contributions are between $100,001 and $250,000 to the William J. Clinton Foundation, $28,500 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the maximum of $4,600 to the Obama Victory Fund.

Though comparatively small sums for a wealthy man, they buy an awful lot of good will. So, too, does anything else that improves one’s odor and influence. Lee, for example, sits on many civic and charitable boards, among them Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Museum of Modern Art, NYU Medical Center, The Rockefeller University and Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Executive Committee for Harvard University’s Committee on University Resources. The Times article mentions the sense of betrayal felt by a longtime Simmons employee who has been laid off after 22 years, with two months’ severance. But how often do we get a detailed look at the folks whose actions cause the pain? Very seldom indeed.

The Senate voted to reject a bill sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would have helped millions facing foreclosure, by enabling bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of their troubled mortgages.

Election watchers will recall that candidate Obama made the issue a central part of his campaign platform:

Close Bankruptcy Loophole for Mortgage Companies: Obama and Biden will work to eliminate the provision that prevents bankruptcy courts from modifying an individual’s mortgage payments. They believe that the subprime mortgage industry, which has engaged in dangerous and sometimes unscrupulous business practices, should not be shielded by outdated federal law.

Obama, however, didn’t lobby for the bill in Congress, according to media reports. A Democratic bill endorsed by a Democratic president lost the support of 12 Democratic senators, many of whom happened to be among the top 20 recipients of campaign donations from the mortgage industry. Its hordes of lobbyists celebrated their hard fought victory in the Capitol:

As for Durbin, he could not have been more frank about why he thought his bill failed to pass:

And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.

Consequently, the 3.1 million Americans who have received foreclosure notices since the beginning of 2008 cannot obtain the relief they so gravely need from bankruptcy judges. And if Duncan Black is correct that Optional ARM’s are going to be recasting soon, there could be another tsunami of foreclosures approaching to add to the staggering numbers.

You would think that such an important tale of human suffering and political flip-flopping would garner media interest. But the New York Times buried the story on page B3. The Washington Post reduced it to a business brief. And Keith Olbermann’s top story on Thursday night’s Countdown was the stunning revelation that Miss California, the contestant whose answer to a question about gay marriage cost her the Miss U.S.A. crown, had breast implants.

And as for the White House press corps, only one reporter bothered to ask about housing, but all she wanted to know was whether the administration planned to push mortgage rates lower. With rates already at record lows, however, it’s probably not the topmost issue on people’s minds.