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Undertoad · 11-15-2011, 10:45 AM

Yeah, I'm sure it's a problem for all of Congress. Fuckers are getting rich playing games. Pelosi is one of the worst examples, to sum up:

Through her husband, in 2008, Pelosi bought at least $1.3M, maybe a much greater amount, of Visa stock.

Some of it was bought during Visa's IPO, and it's not clear whether this was an invite-only party, or an excellent investment decision on behalf of Mr. Pelosi.

Shortly thereafter, the legislation that led to the BoA $5 surcharge was debated and passed through committee. (Here's our thread discussing it.) We found that it had a $19B impact on banks in 2009 (a much greater amount in 2008) but apparently it would have a similar impact on Visa.

It failed to come up for a vote in the House. Pelosi is roughly the person who decides which bills will go to a vote.

A year later in 2009, similar legislation was introduced, passed committee again, gained additional support, and again failed to come up for a vote.

Finally in 2010 it gained more support and was passed.

In her defense, Pelosi offers that a Cardholders Bill of Rights passed in 2009 and the card companies didn't like it. But that didn't hurt Visa as much as the interchange fees matter, and in the meantime, the IPO shares doubled in price.

Hastert's example is also particularly obvious. He bought a bunch of worthless land. Then he got earmarked money to build a highway next to it. Then he sold the land for $2M.

Can it be proven that they intended to make money from these deals, probably not. They merely did. But since we are stuck in the false dichotomy of left-right politics, it can all be written off as partisan attack, and there will always be people to defend them.

11-15-2011, 10:45 AM	#180
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Yeah, I'm sure it's a problem for all of Congress. Fuckers are getting rich playing games. Pelosi is one of the worst examples, to sum up: Through her husband, in 2008, Pelosi bought at least $1.3M, maybe a much greater amount, of Visa stock. Some of it was bought during Visa's IPO, and it's not clear whether this was an invite-only party, or an excellent investment decision on behalf of Mr. Pelosi. Shortly thereafter, the legislation that led to the BoA $5 surcharge was debated and passed through committee. (Here's our thread discussing it.) We found that it had a $19B impact on banks in 2009 (a much greater amount in 2008) but apparently it would have a similar impact on Visa. It failed to come up for a vote in the House. Pelosi is roughly the person who decides which bills will go to a vote. A year later in 2009, similar legislation was introduced, passed committee again, gained additional support, and again failed to come up for a vote. Finally in 2010 it gained more support and was passed. In her defense, Pelosi offers that a Cardholders Bill of Rights passed in 2009 and the card companies didn't like it. But that didn't hurt Visa as much as the interchange fees matter, and in the meantime, the IPO shares doubled in price. Hastert's example is also particularly obvious. He bought a bunch of worthless land. Then he got earmarked money to build a highway next to it. Then he sold the land for $2M. Can it be proven that they intended to make money from these deals, probably not. They merely did. But since we are stuck in the false dichotomy of left-right politics, it can all be written off as partisan attack, and there will always be people to defend them.