If this be treason, make the most of it!

The post title is a quote from the original Patrick Henry, a Founding Father of our Revolutionary Days. Fittingly, he hated the US Constitution as it was written. Today, his nominal namesake, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry is also famous for a speech of sorts:

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) gained infamy in May when he went on a childish tirade against Professor Elizabeth Warren, who is currently setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a special adviser to President Obama. McHenry, a former College Republican hack, repeatedly accused Warren of lying about the agreed-upon time for testimony she gave before Congress.

Of course you know Warren is temporary head of the new Consumer Protection agency tasked with investigating the banksters. Looks like our present day "patriot" is cashing in on his little tirade:

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.

As TP says, it appears he had a little fundraising party with these folks. The original Patrick Henry is most famous for uttering the words, "Give me liberty, or give me death." In the present day case, I suppose North Carolina's Patrick McHenry's slogan could be, "Give me money and I'll fight regulations to death."

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]