The Burdened Mrs. Pelosi May Leave?

Is Mrs. Pelosi smelling the smoke of a distant fire that may be heading her way?

Alexandra Pelosi is suggesting that maybe her mother has served her country enough.

She would retire right now, if the donors she has didn’t want her to stay so badly. They know she wants to leave, though. They think she’s destined for the wilderness. She has very few days left. She’s 71, she wants to have a life, she’s done. It’s obligation, that’s all I’m saying.

So, if this is correct, Mrs. Pelosi is only staying in congress out of a sense of deep obligation. She’d really like to put down her heavy burden and just have a normal life, now. Or at least as normal a life as a person can have, when she is used to days like this:

Nancy Pelosi and her husband were parties to a dozen or so IPOs, many of which were effectively off limits to all but the biggest institutional investors and their favored clients. One of those was a 2008 investment of between $1 million and $5 million in Visa, an opportunity the average investor could not have bought, begged, or borrowed his way into — one that made the Pelosis a 50 percent profit in two days. Visa, of course, had business before Speaker Pelosi, who was helping to shape credit-card-reform legislation at the time. Visa got what it wanted. The Pelosis have also made some very fortunate investments in gas and energy firms that have benefited from Representative Pelosi’s legislative actions.

The Pelosis made a million bucks off a single deal involving OnDisplay, the IPO of which was underwritten by investment banker William Hambrecht, a major Pelosi campaign contributor. Writes Schweizer: “The same Bill Hambrecht went before the House Finance Committee, chaired by Barney Frank, a Pelosi ally, to push for a change in the registration process for stock IPOs, an exemption called Regulation A. Under current law, a company that plans an IPO of less than $5 million in stock gets an exemption from detailed reporting. Hambrecht wanted the exemption raised to $30 million, which would greatly benefit his business, making IPOs easier, quicker, and far less expensive. As the hearings began, Congressman Frank said, ‘I should note also that it was Speaker Pelosi who first called this to our attention earlier in the year. It is something that the speaker has taken a great interest in.’”

I hate to sound presumptuous, but Madam Speaker, on behalf of many, may I say let-not-your-heart-be-troubled about relieving yourself of obligations you have more than met. Besides, if you stay much longer in congress, someone in power, somewhere — or perhaps maybe even someone in the mainstream press — may finally be inclined to launch some sort of investigation into your extremely profitable tenure in congress.

If you feel you must go, please don’t remain — burdened and unhappy — for our sakes. As Dr. Seuss said to Marvin K. Mooney, “just go, go, go, please do, do do.”

And don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out.

UPDATE: Pelosi’s office disputes Alexandra Pelosi’s claims. Naturally. Alexandra is not denying what she said. I’m getting bored. Tell me when she goes.