REVEALED: Nancy Pelosi Blocked Credit Card Reform While Investing Millions in Exclusive Visa Stock Offering
by Wynton HallFormer 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, which was the focus of 60 Minutes on CBS this evening, and which is featured in this week’s issue of Newsweek.
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. The vast majority of purchase opportunities went to institutional investors, large mutual funds, or pension funds.
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. If passed, the bill would have cut into Visa’s profits substantially by lowering so-called “interchange fees,” the 1% to 3% charge retailers pay Visa when customers use Visa cards for purchases. Interchange fees are a critical source of revenue for the four credit card companies–$48 billion in 2008, to be exact.
If the Credit Card Fair Fee Act had been passed into effect, it would have amended antitrust laws to require credit card companies to enter negotiations with merchants over interchange fees, and it would have given the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission the power to arbitrate if the two sides failed to come to an agreement. For that reason, Visa and the other credit card companies strongly opposed the bill.
The Credit Card Fair Fee Act was exactly the kind of bill one would think then-Speaker Pelosi would have backed. “She had been outspoken about antitrust problems posed by insurance, oil, and pharmaceutical companies,” Schweizer notes, “and she was vocal about the need for controlling interest rates individual banks charged to use their credit cards.”
Initially, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act cleared the Judiciary Committee on a 19-16 vote, and the National Association of Convenience Stores began lobbying for a vote on the floor of the House. “It is imperative to tell your Representatives to request a vote on the House Floor from Nancy Pelosi,” the association urged its members. Still, with at least ten percent of the Pelosi family’s entire stock portfolio invested in a single stock, Nancy Pelosi clearly had a vested interest in ensuring that Visa’s profits were protected. And that is exactly what she accomplished. Despite broad public support for the bill—77% in one study—Pelosi saw to it that the bill never made it to the House floor.
Shortly thereafter, a second bill limiting collusion by the credit card companies on interchange fees was proposed. The Credit Card Interchange Fee Act of 2008, while not as strong as the first bill, would have required greater transparency from credit card companies in informing customers how much they were paying in interchange fees. Yet again, reports Schweizer, “this second bill suffered the same fate as the first, never making it to the House floor.”
By 2009, both bills had garnered even broader bipartisan support and were reintroduced. Under Speaker Pelosi, however, neither bill lived to see a vote on the House floor.
Pelosi eventually supported something called the Credit Card Reform Act. Curiously, the all-important interchange fees went untouched by that legislation. Instead, the bill stated that the interchange fee issue should simply be “studied.” The bill’s other measures would not affect Visa but rather its client banks. In short, the Credit Card Reform Act ensured that Visa and the other credit card companies dodged a potentially costly bullet.
None of that, however, prevented Pelosi from grandstanding. She publicly declared that the Credit Card Reform Act sent a “strong and clear message to credit card companies” that they would be held to account for their “anti-consumer practices.”
In the wake of the bill’s passage, the Pelosis’ shares of Visa stock rose. Indeed, according to Throw Them All Out, “the IPO shares they had purchased soared by 203% from where they began, while the stock market as a whole was down 15% during the same period.”
Nancy Pelosi is hardly the only member of Congress to be given IPOs, but Pelosi has been especially “lucky” at landing them. She and her husband have participated in at least 10 lucrative IPOs throughout her career. In 1993, Pelosi purchased IPO shares in a high-tech company named Gupta, watched the stock price leap 88% in 24 hours, then seized the profits by selling the stock the next day. The Pelosis did the same thing with Netscape and UUNet, resulting in a one-day doubling of their initial investment. Other fast and lucrative IPO flips included Remedy Corporation, Opal, Legato Systems, and Act Networks.
Schweizer says Nancy Pelosi’s financial disclosure forms typically mask the precise dates of her stock buys. He cites the Pelosis’ December 1999 stock purchase of between $250,000 and $500,000 in shares from high-tech company OnDisplay. A few months later, OnDisplay was bought by Vignette, which resulted in up to $1 million in capital gains for the Pelosis. What was unusual about the transaction is that Vignette’s IPO was underwritten by a major campaign contributor and longtime friend of Nancy Pelosi, William Hambrecht.
Throw Them All Out also chronicles the Pelosis’ $100,000 IPO purchase of Clean Energy Fuels at roughly $12 a share. Schweizer alleges that as Speaker of the House, Pelosi pushed several bills beneficial to the company.
Similarly, in November 2007, Pelosi bought $500,000 in the IPO for Quest Energy Partners before proceeding to champion the natural gas-related legislation that stood to significantly benefit the company. When Tom Brokaw asked her whether her significant personal investments in natural gas represented a conflict of interest, Pelosi shrugged off the question by hiding behind the crony capitalist’s false credo: “That’s the marketplace.”
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138 Comments
Hey Nancy the swamp is calling. they are missing their Queen Leech.
Hey, isn't illegal or something?
As long as Holder is AG, it isn't. He couldn't find a crime if it happened right in front of his face.
What? Nancy Pelosi BREAK THE LAW????? Surely you jest – only Republcians do that!!! At least, that's how the LSM present it…I wonder how they'll spin this…
The worst part is that some of this stuff isn't even illegal, because Congress exempts itself from insider trading laws.
Can Botox go bad?
If the GOP really wants to get the working class on their side, they need to go after true credit card reform. When the CCRA bill was passed the banks were given six months to rewrite the software. In one month most bank credit cards had gone up in their rates by 50%. So if you had a 5% interest on your card it was not 7.5%. Not on new purchases, but on existing balances. One of the big complaints during the Bush Administration if you were late once your interest could go from under 5% to 29%. And of course your monthly payment went up the same way.
The CCRA was supposed to take care of that but from what I have seen things have changed back to the old way.
I could write a whole article on this but I will stop here.
Well, gollee gee whiz! Surprise, surprise, surprise!
That is not true. If the criminal had an R after his name Holder would be all over it.
It is not a surprise a person of Nancy Pelosi's ilk is not in her position to help the people of this country is it?
Is she two faced? Of course just look at comments regarding OWS.
“The message of the American people is that no longer will the recklessness of some on Wall Street cause massive joblessness on Main Street".
“God bless them for their spontaneity,”
“It’s independent people coming (together), it’s young, it’s spontaneous, it’s focused and it’s going to be effective.”
She is actually a Medusa! She has caused more massive joblessness than Wall Street!
Actually, botox solution can be injected too close to critical structures important for reasoning.
If only the average democratic voter read books or visited non-liberal blogs. No wonder liberals are hell bent on keeping their voting class uneducated via public schools. Most of her constituency will never hear of her nefarious and reprehensible acts. Meanwhile, she will continue to sanctimoniously lecture the rest of us. The gall of these politicians is astounding!
Princess Pelosi must resign, period. Or sick OWS stink on her.
Exactly.
There's two groups of people who can legally engage in insider-trading, floor traders on the floor of their exchanges and current members of Congress.
Members of Congress get away scott-free for what put Martha Stewart in prison.
Thank you Breitbart for exposing this and giving it coverage. Thank you @Breitbart and @DLoesch for giving notice so I would tune in to Sixty Minutes for the first time in a long long time to see this!
The most t/r/a/n/s/p/a/r/e/n/t criminal administration in history.
Is Atlas Shrugging YET???
In my mind the vision of Princess Nancy sashaying through WE THE TEA in DC carrying that gavel (evidently a representation of her manhood) is playing on continuous loop…
WHAT a ITCH-BA!!!
.
We as Americans, especially the taxpaying, law abiding citizens, need to put a stop to these actions ourselves because the people we vote into office, the ones we are supposed to be able to trust to do their job and stop this type of corruption, fall into the same corruptive cycle. It is our government that is killing the American people so they can make tons of money while passing bills that kill normal taxpayers. I will not stand for any more of this type of behavior unless the friggin Dept. of Justice, or the house and senate start throwing these lawbreakers in jail.
Nancy Pelosi is one of the richest, if not richest person in Congress and yet it is never enough. The only way she'll go out is if she is sent out dragging and screaming.
The only government stimulus I'll gladly pay for–I demand it–is a prison complex to house these criminals. Nothing fancy, in fact, I want it to be a labor camp.
Maybe if SanFranNan asks for the same joint where Martha Stewart did her time, it might go easier on her?
As the Useful Idiots occupy Wall Street, their cheerleader Nancy, laughs all the way to the bank. Watching out for the middle class my a$$.
From what I remember, if you were late on ANY payment (not the credit card company in question, but a car loan, other credit card. mortgage payment, medical bill, etc.) the CC company raised your rate based on that.
didnt obama say "I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money." ?
maybe pelosi didnt have her hearing aid in at the time.
Kudo's to all involved in investigating and promoting this story. This is what real investigative journalism looks like.
Why are we not surprised? I'm not. I'm just shocked CBS did a hit job on her. At this point what are we to do? Demand she be thrown out of office. Her constituents have to have some sort of buyers remorse. If Jeb Hensarling had done this, I would be at his house with pitch forks and tar. When ever she opens her mouth, someone should be there to shout her down.
They won't spin it. They'll ignore it (see MSM coverage of Fast 'n Furious)
"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?" Corruption on both sides and all involved should be in prison.
C'mon Occupy San Francisco lets see if you all have the integrity to Occupy Princess Pelosi's house and office and demand her resignation.
The only way she'll go out is if she is sent out dragging and screaming.
Now THERE'S something I would pay good money to see! If I had any money…
My four favorite words: "Nancy Pelosi, Prison Inmate"…..
Dragging and screaming into a paddy wagon heading to Leavenworth.
Schweizer is brave. Hope he has some good security. Pelosi and the rest of the criminals in congress probably also know how to get rid of someone if they threaten their thievery. Our government is rotten to the core.
She will not resign, nor will she be voted out. The only way to rid America of her ilk, is to start with the most important election in America's history, the upcoming 2012 election.
We the people must elect a conservative to the white house, but, he/she MUST have big ones because the war will just have begun. Besides president, we must elect conservatives to control the Senate, we must. There is so much to be undone, and it's going to take years just to figure it all out.
Most importantly is the fact that we MUST rid America of the career politician, on ANY side. The reason piglosi is able to do what she, and her co-horts do is because they are the ones who made up all the rules. It's taken them 50 or 60 years to get to the point it is now.
Where did we go wrong?
When we stopped following the model the framers left us. The founders, ( you all know that bunch of old rich white guys ), well, they all probably had flaws, but, they did agree on a few things. Things like freedom, liberty, justice for all, all men are equal.
When the founders set up the government, they understood that the only way the people could be represented, was by people like them. Farmers, blacksmiths, shopkeepers, range hands, etc. etc.
Citizen government, take a second and think about those words, citizen government.
Does anyone here believe that the people in congress have us in the forefront of their thoughts?
Does it strike anyone funny that we see and hear a lot from these congress critters before an election, but very little after?
We the people are the only ones who can bring America from the brink of ruin.
We MUST rid this great land of all career politicians and take it back from the liars for hire.
Does anyone find it odd that there are so many lawyers in congress?
What, exactly does one learn in law school?
These people have perverted our constitution, and made fools of all of us, conservative, liberal, and anyone in between.
I hope I don't annoy you good folks here, but I'm truly afraid for my children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I fear that if we the people don't stop fighting each other, and start fighting the REAL enemy of America, the career politician, we will not have an America, at least not the one you grew up in.
Laws are FOR Republicans.
Yep, she is just the one to pull the plug on the swamp there in Washington. Honest as the day is long…during the winter while not on daylight savings time.
For years, the conventional wisdom was that laws and regulations against insider trading laws did not apply to Congress.
But more and more people are questioning this, and a number of experts are now argue that Congress has fiduciary duties not to use information entrusted to them as legislators for personal gain.
No worries there.
You, not Nancy.
That's the conventional wisdom, but in the past few years a number of securities law scholars, including Donna Nagy, professor of law at Indiana University, have argued that Congress is not exempt from insider trading laws.
Everything, literally everything, that Democrats rail, complain, whine and snap about others doing and not doing is what they do and do not do. Projection is their method of defense, just as it is the Mullahs and Clerics in the Muslim World. In order that their own misgivings and lies and other nefarious behavior go on unabated, they blame others for what they themselves endeavor.
Wake up America.
See that Democrats, along with their comrades in the GOP who act just like them, are the subversive entities undermining and destroying our Constitution and the Individual Liberty it was crafted to protect.
Turn away from the corrupt political faction that George Washington warned all posterity about. Hear is words and recognize the Wisdom his Honesty brought to bear so long ago. Employ it today by withhold your vote, thus your consent, from the evil infection known today as progressive ideology.
Do it now, while you still can.
No shock here, Pelosi and Hubby have been using her position to pad their pockets for a very long time.. this is just the tip of the crooked iceberg.
Excellent reporting.
I suggest you follow up by interviewing securities law scholars (including Donna Nagy, who just published a superb article in the Boston University Law Review entitled "Insider Trading, Congressional Officials and Duties of Entrustment") about the possible civil and criminal liability members of Congress face.
The Swamp Queen saddled America with trillions in debt – while she got rich. Nice.
Wow, Pelosi: a zombie queen AND an inside trader crony capitalist– multi tasker!
Arrested. Now.
Swamp-Queen
It is the fault of the Republican Establishment and all the RINOs, plain and simple.
No, it can't.
But it can be rejected by the body.
I heard somewhere that in Pelosi's case, the Botox actually rejected her.
Dorothy would you PLEASE throw a pail of water on this b itch.
Are you watching channel 6 right now? "Team Teargas" and "Occupy a Paycheck." I like those guys!
Mine too. I hope she lands in a jail cell along with Frank, Dodd, Reid and the rest.
Apparently, when Nazi P!sslousy promised to, "Drain the swamp," she forgot to mention that she planned to use her vuh-jay-jay as the reservoir.
Angels don't populate Washington DC, Silver tongued Liars, Cheats, Connivers, Scoundrels, "Sex symbols" do!!!!!
Well, Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Such a little Wall Street Capitalist, isn't she? The 1%, whatever it takes to make a profit. OWS, do you get this?
Family tradition– carrying on the D'Alesandro legacy I understand.
Or somewhere in Northern Alaska? Where there is no daytime?
THROW THE B!TCH OUT!!!!!!!!
They only have issues with people with "R" after their name…….
Nancy is the poster child for crony capitalism – except this is not capitalism – this is out right theft.
Any wonder why we need strict term limits?
Think maybe the people of her district will recall her?
Think Holder will take action?
How may more times will OBama will take more pictures with her?
The answer is no and everyone knows the reason why –
Is this the tip of another scandal?
Nancy Pelosi must resign. We can't have this kind of corruption in our Congress. She needs to resign and be put in jail.
The look on her face when she is confronted is priceless, "Uhhhh Ohhhh!!!"
Don't you dare single out Pelosi on this deal…. 60 Minutes did the segment on this and every one of the thieves in Washington do the same thing…. Dems & Republicans. They exempted themselves from insider trading and they all can enrich themselves from inside info. Boehner was doing the exact same thing…. You neglect to mention that in your Blog…. One guy has been trying to introduce a Bill to Ban Insider Trading by Congress and they never let it get to the floor…. It's a disgrace!
That old, greedy, power-mad, hypocritical woman needs to LEAVE WASHINGTON AND NEVER COME BACK!
And they sent Martha Stewart to prison for a year for having made a few bucks on a $40,000 stock trade? VOTE OUT! Put them all out after one term and give them a parade or a rope depending on performance. In three elections, six years, we will be in control.
The Two Minute Conservative at http://adrianvance.blogspot.com has political analysis, science and humor. Now in the top 2% on Kindle.
I hear there are vacancies in Alcatraz
but see, he didnt say at WHAT point you've made enough.
Dear lord please tell me you did not have nasty piglousy in mind when you added the "sex symbol" part.
"Throw Them All Out" doesn't quite cut it. "Throw Them All IN JAIL" is more like it. …For exempting themselves from the laws that govern everyone else.
SOMEONE HAND THIS FILTHY SKANK A NAPKIN SO SHE CAN WIPE SORO'S SPERM FROM HER BOTOXED CHIN.
Old Nancy soiled her Depends.
Her pants were a three alarm BLAZE.
Better go to confession Nance but you must be truly contrite….OH…..but I forgot……you are Catholic In Name Only as you support the slaughter of the preborn……sorry……As Emily Latilla would say….."never mind."
Well…let us say if she really were Marie Antoinette Pelosi…we know what the populace would do to her…but since she is just a phony rendition of her…she needs to be prosecuted and held accountable and lose her seat or wherever she sits these days!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/10/willf...
I wonder if she is somehow profiting from the US federal debt. She has racked up trillions during her reign so she must be pocketing some, because nobody could be that stupid or financially reckless with taxpayer money
Where are the libs that defend her at every turn?
She was the speaker of the house moron so you had better damn well believe she will be singled out! If we cannot trust those that pledge to drain the swamp, then who in the hell can we trust??!!
Especially those in charge of bringing forth bills!
BTW, Peter Schweizer, the man who has exposed all of this, and wrote the book, Is Sarah Palin's top adviser. This is just the tip of the iceberg!
Gird your loins, corrupt government is about to meet it's match!
Damn good post!
We need to hold them ALL accountable!!
Don't stoop to the level of the Libs and post filth like this! We must beat corruption with honesty and integrity, not vile comments or behavior
We ALL need to hold our elected officials accountable!! Blaming others for something done by pelosi will only enable her!!
They could really serve hell here on earth and all share the same jail cell!
The title says it all…"THROW THEM ALL OUT"
My five favorite
"Nazi Pelosi, welcome to Gitmo".
Be It Resolved: When elected to national public office all financial assets of the office holder (and spouse) shall be liquidated and invested in a government index fund, said fund to be indexed to the GDP so that the office holder's wealth will grow in direct proportion to the nation's wealth.
THROW her and Fatass Moore to the Fleabaggers BEFORE they all run home to mommy.
Give it five minutes.
Maybe Mrs Palin chose not to run because as president she'd lose some of the potential to drain the swamp, as the saying goes. As a DC'er she'd lose some of her teeth in attacking DC occupiers (call them politicians if it pleases you) because of their capability to mob against her. It starts to make more sense.
There's an entire thread dedicated to Breitbart calling for the resignation of Rep. Spencer Bachus, (R-AL) up on Breitbart TV. And while I believe that corruption is rampant, I hardly believe that ALL of them are dishonest. Your hyperbole doesn't add anything useful to the debate.
I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! to hear there is graft and corruption in DC!
blink – why is anyone surprised?
if the perp was a white conservative and the victim hispanic/black liberal – he'd be there pressing charges.
These people are LOW LIVES!!!!!
The occupy group in San Francisco should be protesting outside her office and then they should make every effort to remove her from office in 2012. She has been involved in too many sleazy dealings along with her husband and brother- in- law.
Here are some of them:
1) Exclusion of American Somoa from minimum wages
2) Connection with the Del Monte Corp.
3)Obamacare and we must pass it so we can see what's in it.
4)Solar guaranteed loan in Nevada involving her brother-in-law
5)Her and her husband's stock investment
6)Possibly IRS tax evasion
7) Misappropiation of taxpayer money with her private jet back and forth from Washington to San Franciso
The Vatican in Rome, told her to Ex-Communicate herself from the Catholic Church a couple of years ago.
You are correct. Anything that affected your credit rating.
Only in the LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS can a DECEITFUL DELUSIONAL DISHONEST LOON like queen nancy kep getting elected. We need more follow up on ALL the pelosi transactions! Expose this LOON for what she is!
Must be a 1% thang.
But for Breitbart, the new media and the Tea Party, this would still be buried.
My only question: CBS? I mean, CBS? C'mon. Something's gotta be in it for them for breaking this story. Come to think of it, this week's edition of NewsWeak features Schweizer's book in a big way, too.
And this is a revelation how?
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