REVEALED: Nancy Pelosi Blocked Credit Card Reform While Investing Millions in Exclusive Visa Stock

REVEALED: Nancy Pelosi Blocked Credit Card Reform While Investing Millions in Exclusive Visa Stock -  biggovernment.com ^ | Sunday November 13, 2011 | Wynton Hall

Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2011 8:14:43 PM by Bigtigermike

Former Speaker of the House–and current Minority Leader–Nancy Pelosi apparently bought $1 million to $5 million of Visa stock in one of the most sought-after and profitable initial public offerings (IPO) in American history, thwarted serious credit card reform for two years, and then watched her investment skyrocket 203%.

The revelation appears in Throw Them All Out, the new book by investigative journalist and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer

Schweizer’s investigation of Pelosi and other members of Congress – from both parties–raises a critical question: should it be legal for lawmakers to buy stocks in companies directly affected by their legislative efforts?

In early 2008, Nancy Pelosi and her real estate developer husband, Paul, were given an opportunity to buy into a Visa IPO. It was a nearly impossible feat–one that average citizens almost certainly could never achieve.

Despite Pelosi’s consistent railing against credit card companies, on March 18, 2008, the Pelosis bought between $1 million and $5 million (politicians do not have to report the exact amounts, only ranges) worth of Visa stock at the IPO price of $44 per share. Two days later, the stock price rocketed to $65 per share, yielding a 50% profit. The Pelosis then bought Visa twice more. By their third purchase on June 4, 2008, Visa was worth $85 per share.

How did Nancy Pelosi snag one of the most coveted initial public offerings in history? The facts are still emerging. Yet according to Schweizer, corporations that wish to build congressional allies will sometimes hand-pick members of Congress to receive IPOs.

Pelosi received her Visa IPO almost two weeks after a potentially damaging piece of legislation for Visa, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act, had been introduced in the House.

(Excerpt) Read more at biggovernment.com ...

Throw Them All Out

h/t to Jean Stoner

Related:

Jack Abramoff:  The Lobbyist’s Playbook

Boehner: Pelosi's 'Scheme and Plot' Unprecedented in American History

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV Friday afternoon, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, slammed Nancy Pelosi for trying to “scheme and plot” to pass the most radical healthcare reform bill ever promulgated.

If she succeeds, he says, it would set a precedent that “has never happened in American history.”

With a vote planned for this Sunday, Boehner still believes the GOP can stop the Democrats’ healthcare plan, which he calls a “giant leap” toward socialized medicine.

Editor's Note: See the entire exclusive Newsmax.TV interview with House Minority Leader John Boehner below

Boehner, who was first elected in 1990, also tells Newsmax that the “deem and pass” tactic that will allow House members to vote on a rule rather than the legislation itself is still being considered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Boehner said the strategy was “one of the most outrageous things I have seen since I have been in Congress.”

Boehner warns that Democrats will continue to “march the liberal path” and won’t stop with healthcare, predicting new Democratic legislation to give amnesty for illegal aliens to help “skew” future elections in their favor.

On a positive note, Boehner insists that Republicans can win as many as 40 seats this coming November, enough to retake control of the House of Representatives.

Asked if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have enough votes to pass the healthcare reform bill, Boehner says: “This vote is going to be very tight, and it’s going to boil down to a handful of members.

“If the American people stay engaged in this fight with us, I think we can win. This is the crunch and we need every American to get in touch with their member of Congress and demand that they vote against a government takeover of our healthcare system . . .

“All our efforts at this point in time are aimed at keeping this bill from ever, ever becoming law.”

Boehner was asked if Pelosi has abandoned plans to use the “deem and pass” tactic allowing the House to pass the bill without actually voting on it.

“Oh no, I still think they’re trying to scheme and plot and try to find a way to move that bill through the House without a vote,” he responds.

“This is one of the most outrageous things I have seen since I have been in Congress. But there’s no way to hide your vote on this bill from the American people. The American people are going to know how members vote.

“And so she can try all the gimmicks she wants, but at the end of the day it’s the American people who are going to hold member of Congress accountable for their vote.”

Boehner says passing the healthcare bill on a 100 percent partisan basis has “never happened in American history. Never have we had a giant change in our government that was done on a party line vote.

“That’s why I still think there’s time to kill this. That’s why we need the American people to stay engaged in this fight, because we can win if the American people continue to join this fight with us. Republicans can’t win this fight, but the American people can.”

Boehner observes that the Democrats are intent on passing the healthcare bill even though it will cost them dearly in the upcoming election.

“For 50 years and maybe even longer the left has wanted a single-payer national healthcare system, a socialized medicine system. If you look at this bill, this is a giant leap toward that.

“They know if they are able to pass this they are going to cost themselves dozens and dozens of seats here in the U.S. Capitol. They’re willing to sacrifice their more moderate members so that they can plant this flag in their patch of liberalism. It’s an outrageous abuse by the leaders of their party, to sacrifice their own members for this.

“I’ve never seen Republicans put a bill on the floor of the House or Senate that they knew was going to cost some of their members an election in the following November.”

Boehner says that language barring the use of taxpayer money for elective abortions won’t be in the healthcare bill, because that language is not in the version passed by the Senate. If it is inserted by the House, the bill would have to go back to the Senate, where the Democrats no longer have a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority.

He also points out that there is a $10 billion appropriation for the IRS so the agency can hire up to 16,000 new agents to enforce provisions of the healthcare bill. They would check to make sure Americans bought health insurance or paid a fine if they didn’t, and check on employers to make sure they complied with the employer mandate or paid the $2,000 per person fine if they haven’t.

“I think the last thing the American people need or want are 16,000 new IRS agents mulling around in their lives,” Boehner says.

If Pelosi and the Democrats succeed in passing healthcare, “I have no doubts that they’re going to continue to march down the liberal path they set some 14 months ago,” Boehner tells Newsmax.

“Remember that not only was the president the most liberal member of the Senate, and all the staff tend to be left of him, but two-thirds of the Democrats in the House and the Senate are liberals like they are. They’re not going to change the path they’ve been on.

“So we’re going to continue to see immigration reform with a path toward legalization, dealing with issues like don’t ask, don’t tell, and things that really are out of the mainstream of American society. And at a time when Americans are asking where are the jobs, they continue to do things that will kill job growth in America.”

About immigration reform, Boehner says: “I don’t think there’s any doubt that if you provide a path toward citizenship for undocumented workers, you’re going to skew the election in a very big way, not only in the coming year or two but for a long, long time to come.

“I think they’re going to have a very difficult time, though, passing such a bill.”

Boehner says he encourages the people in the tea party movement to continue doing what they’ve been doing to thwart the Democratic agenda.

“We’re standing with the tea party people, and I think we need to listen to them, to work with them, and we need to walk amongst them and prove to them that we have earned their support.”

Pelosi promised “the most ethical Congress in history” when she became speaker, vowing to “drain the swamp” of “the culture of corruption.” Commenting on that, Boehner says:

“If you listen to what she said in ‘05 and ‘06 and then watch what she’s done, she’s basically tried to sweep it all under the carpet, avoided all accountability, and avoided confronting her members where serious charges have been leveled.

“I told my colleagues two and a half years ago when I became the Republican leader that I was going to hold our members to a higher standard, and I have.

“I think it’s time for Pelosi to do what she promised the voters of America she would do by holding her members to a higher standard. The American people should have every right to expect that Congress will uphold the highest ethical standards.”

Asked how many seats the GOP might gain in the November elections, Boehner says: “I think we have a real opportunity this fall. It’s a steep hill to climb to gain 40 seats for Republicans in this coming election, but I do think it’s possible.

“It’s our goal to retake our majority so that we can renew our effort to get to a smaller, less costly and more accountable federal government. I think that is what the American people are demanding of us and what Republicans have stood on for the last year and a half, and what we will do if we’re elected the majority here in Congress.”

He adds that if the Republicans do retake the House and he becomes speaker, “I think it’s time for real fiscal responsibility here in Washington. There’s been a lot of talk about it but really not enough action — frankly, not enough action from either party.

“So I think it’s time to look at everything in the budget and just ask the question, Is this proposed spending worth borrowing it from our kids and grandkids who are going to get stuck with the bill?

“And if that’s the question that gets asked over every line in the federal budget, we’ll probably spend a whole lot less money.”


By Jim Meyers - NewsMax

You Be the Judge... - Updated 03.20.10

Washington Times Op-ed: Impeach the President?

The 'Slaughter Solution' would violate the Constitution

The Slaughter Solution is a dagger aimed at the heart of our system of checks and balances. It would enable the Democrats to establish an ominous precedent: The lawmaking process can be rigged to ensure the passage of any legislation without democratic accountability or even a congressional majority. It is the road to a soft tyranny. James Madison must be turning in his grave.

Mr. Obama is imposing a leftist revolution. Since coming to office, he has behaved without any constitutional restraints. The power of the federal government has exploded. He has de facto nationalized key sectors of American life - the big banks, financial institutions, the automakers, large tracts of energy-rich land from Montana to New Mexico. His cap-and-trade proposal, along with a newly empowered Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to impose massive new taxes and regulations upon industry. It is a form of green socialism: Much of the economy would fall under a command-and-control bureaucratic corporatist state. Mr. Obama even wants the government to take over student loans.

Yet his primary goal has always been to gobble up the health care system. The most troubling aspect of the Obamacare debate, however, is not the measure's sweeping and radical aims - the transformation of one-sixth of the U.S. economy, crippling tax increases, higher premiums, state-sanctioned rationing, longer waiting lines, the erosion of the quality of medical care and the creation of a huge, permanent administrative bureaucracy.

Rather, the most alarming aspect is the lengths to which the Democrats are willing to go to achieve their progressive, anti-capitalist agenda.

Mr. Obama is imposing a leftist revolution. Since coming to office, he has behaved without any constitutional restraints. The power of the federal government has exploded. He has de facto nationalized key sectors of American life - the big banks, financial institutions, the automakers, large tracts of energy-rich land from Montana to New Mexico. His cap-and-trade proposal, along with a newly empowered Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to impose massive new taxes and regulations upon industry. It is a form of green socialism: Much of the economy would fall under a command-and-control bureaucratic corporatist state. Mr. Obama even wants the government to take over student loans.

Yet his primary goal has always been to gobble up the health care system. The most troubling aspect of the Obamacare debate, however, is not the measure's sweeping and radical aims - the transformation of one-sixth of the U.S. economy, crippling tax increases, higher premiums, state-sanctioned rationing, longer waiting lines, the erosion of the quality of medical care and the creation of a huge, permanent administrative bureaucracy. Rather, the most alarming aspect is the lengths to which the Democrats are willing to go to achieve their progressive, anti-capitalist agenda.

Obamacare is opposed by nearly two-thirds of the public, more than 60 percent of independents and almost all Republicans and conservatives. It has badly fractured the country, dangerously polarizing it along ideological and racial lines. Even a majority of Democrats in the House are deeply reluctant to support it.

Numerous states - from Idaho to Virginia to Texas - have said they will sue the federal government should Obamacare become law. They will declare themselves exempt from its provisions, tying up the legislation in the courts for years to come.

Mr. Obama is willing to devour his presidency, his party's congressional majority and - most disturbing - our democratic institutional safeguards to enact it. He is a reckless ideologue who is willing to sacrifice the country's stability in pursuit of a socialist utopia.

The Slaughter Solution is a poisoned chalice. By drinking from it, the Democrats would not only commit political suicide. They would guarantee that any bill signed by Mr. Obama is illegitimate, illegal and blatantly unconstitutional. It would be worse than a strategic blunder; it would be a crime - a moral crime against the American people and a direct abrogation of the Constitution and our very democracy.

It would open Mr. Obama, as well as key congressional leaders such as Mrs. Pelosi, to impeachment. The Slaughter Solution would replace the rule of law with arbitrary one-party rule. It violates the entire basis of our constitutional government - meeting the threshold of "high crimes and misdemeanors." If it's enacted, Republicans should campaign for the November elections not only on repealing Obamacare, but on removing Mr. Obama and his gang of leftist thugs from office.

It is time Americans drew a line in the sand. Mr. Obama crosses it at his peril.

Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at The Washington Times and president of the Edmund Burke Institute, a Washington think tank. He is the daily host of "The Kuhner Show" on WTNT 570-AM (www.talk570.com) from noon until 3 p.m.

Below is a partial list of other Anti-American, Anti-Freedom, Anti-Will of the People, UnConstitutional Headlines from just Two Days??

Obama Restores ACORN Funding

Obamacare Expands IRS Power to Fine Americans

CBO Score Called a 'Lie'

Obama Surrenders Gulf Oil to Russia

Obama Endorses Schumer-Graham Amnesty Plan

Biden:  We Are Going To Control the Insurance Companies

Obama Blocks Bunker-Buster Shipment To Israel

Obama to Ban Sport Fishing?

Archbishop Gregoire - Impeach Obama

The Imprudent Tyranny of Harry Reid - writes legislation that 'cannot be repealed!'

December 28, 2009

Buried in his massive amendment to the Senate version of Obamacare is Reid's anti-democratic poison pill designed to prevent any future Congress from repealing the central feature of this monstrous legislation. Beginning on page 1,000 of the measure, Section 3403 reads in part: "... it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection."

In other words, if President Obama signs this measure into law, Reid intends that no future Senate or House will be able to change a single word of Section 3403, regardless whether future Americans or their representatives in Congress wish otherwise. Note that the subsection at issue here concerns the regulatory power of the Independent Medicare Independent Advisory Board to "reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending."

posted by : Left Coast Conservative on December 28, 2009

We have news for old Harry… He won’t be re-elected and the entire bill or any part of it can be changed, including this commie claus by a 2/3 vote of the new Senate. But the Audacity of Reid, Pelosi and Obama is beyond unbelievable.

I can hardly think of anytime in my memory when the American people have been as clear about anything as they are about President Obama’s healthcare reform. When there was a minor unease about the Dubai ports deal a few years back – those who sat in the seats of power couldn’t fall over themselves fast enough to appeal to us as their loyal constituents. When Harriet Myers was nominated to the US Supreme Court, and a low keyed murmur of dissent was detected – why Congress acted swiftly to demonstrate how responsive they were to our needs.

But now? Rarely has this country ever experienced such a howling shriek of protest as what is occurring. A sleeping giant is indeed awakening, and doesn’t like what it sees one little bit. Nothing less than a massive, brazen, and ideologically driven assault on our rights as citizens, and on our freedoms as Americans to determine our own life decisions is being attempted. This take over of the US healthcare industry by a one payer system is being rightly seen by all as the greatest threat to freedom this nation has ever known!

And how are they in Congress responding to it? They’re calling us names, rudely taking cell phone calls during town hall meetings, and in a cold, callous, and arrogant way fully intending to shove it all down our throats anyway! This is not Democracy. This is a craven power grab, a despotic tyranny, and an attack on our traditions, and heritage which can not, and will not stand. The American people will remember what Congress attempted to do here, whether they succeed in their wicked plans to ram socialized medicine through or not.

They will fall come election time. They will fall. The question is, will we stop them first, or will we fall too? Only time will tell.

Ron Skytower

www.blog.americanpatriotvalues.com

Related:

The 10 Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009

Nancy Pelosi Protest – Irvine Airport Hilton – Dec 4th – Part 1

'Patriots Against Pelosi' -- Hundreds Protest House Speaker at Orange County Tea Party!

Well, good thing I'm not on deadline! But it's worth the wait!

As promised, here's my report on today's anti-PelosiCare protest at the Irvine Hilton/Orange County Airport. The background information is at my earlier entry, "Orange County Tea Party Patriots to Protest Nancy Pelosi at Democrats' 15th Annual Harry S. Truman Awards Dinner!"

Okay, here's the scene along MacArthur Boulevard when I arrived a little after 4:00pm. Just a few tea partiers are lined up along the east side of the street, and I'm facing north. That first sign on the right captures the spirit of the day:

You can see the geography of the tea party at the protest map event organizers sent me. Early in the evening, the main protest is taking place at the little red-lined elbow at left -- at the intersection of MacArthur and Douglas. Later on, some of the more intense demonstrations took place at the driveway entrance to the hotel parking lot, just left of the service entrance marked below. Lots of police units were on hand:

I walked over by the hotel driveway and Planned Parenthood activists were setting up. I'll have more on these folks below. Just hidden behind the folks with the "Health Care Reform Now" sign is Pauline Merry, the former provost of the Pacific Coast Campus at my school, Long Beach City College. Pauline retired in 2007. She asked me, "What are you doing here"? I pointed back over to MacArthur and said, "I'm with the tea partiers." And she looked at me and said, "You're with them? Why?" And I told her: "I'm not happy with the Democrats." She said, well you're in political science, right? That explains it." Actually, President Hussein "Infanticide" Obama and his PelosiCare monstrosity explain it, but I said my farewells, in any case:

That's Pauline here, holding that "Stupak Never!" sign:

Okay, back over at the tea party section. I said hello to these two lovely activists. They were boasting awesome signs, reversible for added impact:

I stopped to say hello to a tea party mom:

Here's the scene walking back over to MacArthur Boulevard. A few more people were setting up:

Some long-time readers might recall this gentleman, who also hoisted a big-flag protest sign at the Adam Schiff town hall in August:

A couple of more lovelies, featuring the AARP sign on the left (the American Association of Repulsive Politics).

Walking back over to the intersection, more lovelies, even more excited to have their picture taken. Notice that sign on the left: "Obama-Care CAIR" -- for the unindicted terrorist co-conspirator, the Council on American-Islamic Relations:

This is my old friend Michael Fell. I saw him again for the first time in years at the Westwood 9-12 Tea Party West in September:

You can see the crowd's filling out by now. I counted 225 people before sundown, plus another 50 of the paid SEIU PurpleShirts and leftisit sympathizers:

Walking back over to the driveway, I had to post the obligatory SEIU open-borders demonstration picture:

A purple-shirt janitor amigo is here -- JUSTICIA!:

Here's our big-flag patriot speaking with the Planned Parenthood activists. My good friend Megan Barth suggested I get a picture -- too good to pass up, you know? -- of this PREGNANT PRO-ABORTION ACTIVIST protesting the Stupak amendment. Something just doesn't compute there, you think?:

Checking back with the tea partiers, I had to chase this guy down the sidewalk to get a picture. He was cruising up and down with that bullhorn. My bet is this guy's a LaRouchie (the other side of his sign was an Obama-Nazi poster, not my favorite). He didn't seem to be with the grassroots folks I've been highlighting, and there were more extreme-o types on the south side of Douglas street, including some 9/11 truthers. I didn't take any more photos of them:

At the video, provided by W.C. Varones, you can hear the big chanting along the front driveway when protesters started getting really fired up:

Although the protest was in high gear, I was cruising around to see if I could find Nancy Pelosi inside the hotel. I heard mixed reports on her arrival, and never did see her pull up. Here's the scene in the hotel bar/lobby area. Everyone had to check in to receive nametags, so it's not like I could snake into the main hall to take pictures:

I'm borrowing this shot below from the Orange County Register's report, "House speaker Pelosi attracts fans and foes." Be sure to check out the huge photo-slideshow at the article:

Walking out to my car (which was up MacArthur past the next hotel), I saw one more sign:

It will make us all sick, broke and short a lot more freedoms!! Please Stand Up America~

Nancy Pelosi Protest - Irvine Airport Hilton - Dec 4th, 2009 (part 2)

Energy Czar Has Not Read Climate Bill, Either And Boehner Says Climate Bill Is A ' Pile of S--t' | The FOX Nation

Viedo: Energy Czar Hasn't Read Climate Bill, Either | The FOX Nation

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had a few choice words about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) landmark climate-change bill after its passage Friday.

When asked why he read portions of the cap-and-trade bill on the floor Friday night, Boehner told The Hill, "Hey, people deserve to know what's in this pile of s--t."

Using his privilege as leader to speak for an unlimited time on the House floor, Boehner spent an hour reading from the 1200-plus page bill that was amended 20 hours before the lower chamber voted 219-212 to approve it.

Eight Republicans voted with Democrats to pass the bill; 44 House Democrats voted against it.

Pelosi's office declined to comment on Boehner's jab. But one Democratic aide quipped, "What do you expect from a guy who thinks global warming is caused by cow manure?"

Even though Sen. Majorty Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) holds the bill's fate in his hands, House Republicans intend to hammer Speaker Pelosi's signature climate-change measure over recess.

And GOP Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.) said "we have only just begun to fight” as he left the Capitol Friday night.

Pence encouraged GOP rank-and-file lawmakers to hold energy summits in their districts over the Independence Day recess. In the recess packets sent home with members, he even included directions on how to organize energy summits.

The goal of holding an energy forum is to “educate your constituents about the Democrats’ national energy tax legislation and let them know what 'all of the above' solution you support.”

"All of the above” solution is a reference to the Republicans' plan that would increase the use of and exploration for domestic energy supplies.

Further, officials with the House GOP's campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, confirm that they will run with paid media over recess in districts of conservative Dems who voted for the bill. The official would not reveal details on the ad buys at this time.

One Democrat was upset that his leaders would needlessly force vulnerable Dems to vote for a bill that will come back to haunt them. Mississippi Rep. Gene Taylor (D) voted against the measure that he says will die in the Senate.

"A lot of people walked the plank on a bill that will never become law," Taylor told The Hill after the gavel came down.

By Molly K. Hooper

Posted: 06/27/09 09:22 PM [ET] Source: TheHill.com