USAToday is reporting that
* Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) owns hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shares in military truck-maker Oshkosh Corp.
* The stock gained 30% in value as he fought to help the company keep a $3 billion Army contract
* A spokesman for the Wisconsin lawmaker says his advocacy is unrelated to his stock ownership
WASHINGTON -- Congressman Tom Petri has long been an enthusiastic booster in Washington for Oshkosh Corp., a defense contractor in his Wisconsin district, but he not only has a political stake in the company's success, he has a personal one as well. To the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Since 2006, he has purchased between $265,000 and $650,000 worth of shares in the company, which makes tactical vehicles for the military, a Gannett Washington Bureau review of financial disclosure reports found.
Lawmaker holds stock in defense contractor he champions
I am oh so shocked that an elected public official would rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars as a direct result of his efforts in Congress to help a particular defense contractor.
No, I'm not.
This is business as usual in the second session of the 113th Congress -- the do-nothing batch of elected officials in the Republican-controlled Congress that puts shoveling money into their own pockets over the interests of the people who sent them there.
Twelve million people in the US have been waiting for years for Congress to acknowledge that they are contributing members of society and deserve to be citizens.
Instead of moving on that, the crumb buns in Congress are counting the money they're shoving in their pockets.
What do you have to say for yourself, House Speaker Boehner, third in line to the presidency? What do you have to say about Petri, Boehner? He's in your conference. Are your do-nothing eyes going to stay closed, under the tanning lights, for this too?
USAToday did a good job investigating and reporting this story. Grizzly details here: .
Lawmaker holds stock in defense contractor he champions