by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs– Tyranny
Why just imagine! Nancy Pelosi made over 200% return on investment while blocking credit card reform for over two years. What a surprise. The champion of the people, a hypocrite as many of us have known all along.
Big Government – 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%.
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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.
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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. {Read More}
Indeed. When will the voters of California learn?
Via: Memeorandum
9 comments:
From what I see in the article, it's not just a California issue…
Looks like the most enraging case in 'conflict of interest'! Ultimate corruption!
I'd say the 99%ers are at the wrong place!
How about her congressional aides? Do you think the graft and corruption stopped with Nancy?
If ever there were to be a precedent for "Botox Poisoning", it would be Nancy Pelosi.
This chick is insane, deluded, elitist, and completely uncaring about the "values" she supposedly espouses.
Let her go to the unwashed masses making up the Occupooper movement and see her subjects at their finest.
Herman Cain had it wrong: Pelosi is hardly a princess. She is more of a harem girl who made good, and claims her title based on past political achievements awarded her for her performances on her back.
What? Corruption by a nefarious San Fransicko radical Democrat? I can't manufacture a meter that can measure how unsurprised I am.
@madmath1,
It's shocking, isn't it? I don't believe a word of it. It is obviously a right-wing smear campaign, because we all know the right controls the media and is run by those awful Jews. Good thing there is George Soros to balance out the evil of the rightist agenda!
Nancy Pelosi, my dearest Mistress, is innocent of all ill-doing. I love her so much….she knows the pulse of the victimized, the oppressed, the mocked and the hated. She knows our pain! You vile Conservatives and libertarians and anyone who thnks they know what's realy going on. You are clueless and driven simply by your jealously of our Dear Leader and His dearest Mistress! Socialism is the future! Down with capitalism and the evil, white, richie rich GOP! And that horrid TEA Party, too!
(sarc off)
I find it hard to believe it's an issue of learning; Pelosi is one of the most corrupt, contemptible, and visible examples of everything that's wrong with politicians in America, and has been for some time. If the voters in California are unaware of the type of person she is, they don't deserve to be breathing, much less voting.
Rather, I think it's more of an issue of lack of care and intelligence, not information. When you vote for someone like Pelosi, you're making a statement: I don't care that our political system is in shambles, I don't care that Pelosi is a contemptible scum, I don't care that I'm helping flush everything good about America through my reckless abuse of the equal representative system which allows me to have the power to help steer the country down the toilet; I will vote for the person who panders to me the most, no matter what the cost. Pelosi is more than just another corrupt politicians, she's a symbol for everything that's wrong with politicians.
@Nick,
Brilliant comment! Amazing, isn't it? We have pulled so far away from governance and into the realm of politics that we now have the Nancy Pelosis to contend with.
I don't care! What's in it for me?
Yep.
sadly, this isn't a 'Right and Left' issue, it's a 'right and wrong' issue…
Both parties have this problem. Watch the video…
Here
She sure is good looking. 70 years old.
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