Stop Me Before I Vote Again

From the New York Times:

Obama Aides Defend Bank’s Pay to Biden Son

During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the credit card industry win passage of a law making it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, his son [shown above -- Ed.] had a consulting agreement... with one of the largest companies pushing for the changes....

Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, received consulting fees from the MBNA Corporation.... [A] company official had once described him as having a $100,000 a year retainer....

The financial services industry began seeking relief from Congress in the mid-1990s from an increase in bankruptcies that was cutting into its profits.... [E]xecutives at MBNA... began donating heavily to both major political parties and many national politicians, including Mr. Biden.

In late 1996, the company hired the younger of Mr. Biden’s two sons, Robert Hunter Biden... who had just graduated from Yale Law School.... The company promoted Mr. Biden to senior vice president by early 1998....

Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, a consumer group that opposed the bill, said that Senator Biden had provided a “veneer of bipartisanship” that eventually helped the credit card companies win over other Democrats. “He provided cover to other Democrats to do what the credit industry was urging them to do,” Mr. Plunkett said.

Aides to the Obama campaign said Sunday that Senator Biden’s goal was always to strike a workable compromise between the competing interests on the bankruptcy bill....

MBNA employees have given Mr. Biden more than $214,000 in campaign donations over the years, the largest amount in his coffers tied to any single company. But the company’s employees have given even more lavishly to President George W. Bush and top Republican lawmakers.