Why, you ask, must Republican members of Congress behave like this?
That's the now infamous exchange between Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and presidential adviser Elizabeth Warren, in which McHenry harassed her and called her a liar, with no basis. Why would a grown man and supposed statesman behave this way? Because, of course, he's amply rewarded for doing so.
Think Progress:
According to a ThinkProgress analysis of new campaign finance data released on Friday, McHenry received $63,800 from lobbyists and executives from banks, mortgage companies, payday lenders, pawn shop executives, and other predatory lenders in the last three months alone. Notably, much of the campaign donations from payday lenders came on a single day, April 20, 2011:
– Advance America PAC: $10,000 on 4/20/11
– Dennis Bassford, CEO of the Seattle-based payday lender MoneyTree: $4,600 on 4/20/11
– Sarah Bassford: $2,700 on 4/20/11
– Community Financial Services Association of America PAC (trade association for payday lenders): $5,000 on 4/20/11
– Checksmart Financial LLC PAC, an Ohio-based payday lender: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– A. David Davis, CEO of Ohio-based payday lender Check-n-go: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– Jared Davis, CEO of Ohio-based payday lender Axcess Financial: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– Roger Dean, CFO of Axcess Financial: $500 on 4/20/11
– EZCORP PAC, a Texas-based payday lender: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– Natl Pawnbrokers Assoc. PAC: $2,000 on 4/20/11
The surge of payday lender money to McHenry on a single day suggests the congressman had a campaign party with opponents of Warren. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is tasked with policing and regulating dozens of predatory lending practices. A few weeks after the predatory lending campaign money started flowing to McHenry, he used the hearing with Warren to berate a leading consumer advocate.
Try to conceal your shock.