Rep. Patrick McHenry was rewarded handsomely for slamming Elizabeth Warren at a Congressional hearing back in May, it seems. No wonder they wanted a second hearing. It was like a gold mine for him. I wonder if he got more after he went after her in a petty, personal way.

Think Progress lists the donors and donations McHenry received on April 20, 2011, just ahead of the hearing:

– Advance America PAC: $10,000 on 4/20/11
– Dennis Bassford, CEO of the Seattle-based payday lender MoneyTree: $4,600 on 4/20/11
– Sarah Bassford: $2,700 on 4/20/11
– Community Financial Services Association of America PAC (trade association for payday lenders): $5,000 on 4/20/11
– Checksmart Financial LLC PAC, an Ohio-based payday lender: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– A. David Davis, CEO of Ohio-based payday lender Check-n-go: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– Jared Davis, CEO of Ohio-based payday lender Axcess Financial: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– Roger Dean, CFO of Axcess Financial: $500 on 4/20/11
– EZCORP PAC, a Texas-based payday lender: $2,000 on 4/20/11
– Natl Pawnbrokers Assoc. PAC: $2,000 on 4/20/11

Advance America PAC is the political action committee for the payroll lender of the same name. Anyone who has had the misfortune of using them understands just how predatory they really are, and it's not exactly surprising to discover they're thriving in this economy, either. But then, their victims aren't Republicans, so there's that.

Since we're not going to get corporate money out of politics anytime soon, the best we can do is keep showing how it buys politicians for more than just votes. In this case, clearly they have a vested interest in not only keeping Elizabeth Warren out of of the CFPB, but also discrediting her personally as much as possible. Only a bought-and-paid-for politician like McHenry would stoop so low as to call her a liar about her schedule to satisfy his masters.

This right here is why we can't have nice things.