Remarkably, this quote is not from Rep. Clay responding to a constituent, but instead to his handlers and benefactors in the predatory”rent to own” industry. The industry has called Clay “the greatest champion the rent-to-own transaction has ever had.”

Last month, we learned that Clay’s chief of staff Darryl Piggee and his wife Sherry R. Faulkner are operating a consulting business adjacent to Mr. Clay’s official congressional office. And then we learned last week, that Mr. Clay is attempting to save his congressional district by pressuring the census director to allow prisoners to be counted in the census. The corruption in Clay’s office must be really beginning to smell if the liberal New York Times is starting to paying attention.

 New YorkTimes:

Besides the caucus charities, many members — including Mr. Clyburn and Representative William Lacy Clay Jr. of Missouri — also have personal or family charities, which often solicit donations from companies that give to the caucus. And spouses have their own group that sponsors a golf and tennis fund-raiser.

But few of these alliances have paid off like the caucus’s connection to rent-to-own stores.

Some Democrats in Congress have tried to limit fees charged to consumers who rent televisions or appliances, with critics saying the industry’s advertisements prey on low-income consumers, offering the short-term promise of walking away with a big-screen TV while hiding big long-term fees. Faced with rules that could destroy their business, the industry called on the caucus.

It also encouraged member stores to donate to personal charities run by caucus members or to public schools in their districts. Mr. Clay, the Missourian, received $14,000 in industry contributions in 2008 for the annual golf tournament his family runs in St. Louis. The trade association also held a fund-raising event for him in Reno, Nev.

“I’ll always do my best to protect what really matters to you,” Mr. Clay told rent-to-own executives, who agreed to hold their 2008 annual convention in St. Louis, his home district. Mr. Clay declined a request for an interview. Read more…

Related:

National Media Follows Up On MO Blogger’s Expose of Rep. Clay & Loan Sharks

Clay: “Not Enough Earmark Money Going to My Sister, I Mean District!

Rep. Clay Aide (His Sister) Reacts Angrily to Public Interest Group Request: “Who Did You Think You Are Calling Here?”

Cleaver/Clay Vote Against Lobbying Reform

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