The terrace at St. Regis Deer Valley, the “Ritz-Carlton of ski resorts.”

By Justin Elliott, ProPublica, April 30, 2013

In January, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, ascended to the powerful chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee. Six weeks later, campaign finance filings and interviews show, Hensarling was joined by representatives of the banking industry for a ski vacation fundraiser at a posh Park City, Utah, resort.

The congressman's political action committee held the fundraiser at the St. Regis Deer Valley, the "Ritz-Carlton of ski resorts" known for its "white-glove service" and for its restaurant by superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

There's no evidence the fundraiser broke any campaign finance rules. But a ski getaway with Hensarling, whose committee oversees both Wall Street and its regulators, is an invaluable opportunity for industry lobbyists.

Among those attending the weekend getaway was an official from the American Securitization Forum, a Wall Street industry group, a spokesman confirmed. It gave $2,500 in February to Hensarling's political action committee, the Jobs, Economy, and Budget (JEB) Fund.

Len Wolfson, a lobbyist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, which gave the JEB Fund $5,000 that month, posted a picture on Instagram from the weekend of the fundraiser of the funicular at the St. Regis. (It was labeled, "Putting the #fun in #funicular. #stregis #deervalley #utah.") Wolfson did not respond to requests for comment. (UPDATE 1 p.m. Wolfson has now set his account to private.) 

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The owner of a smoothie shop in Utah charges liberals more for their drinks than conservatives, and donates the price difference to organizations like The Heritage Foundation.

The shop, Think Progress reports, is "tellingly named the I Love Drilling Juice and Smoothie Bar, is owned by George Burnett, a pro-oil and gas activist."

“I’m very open about it, very public about it, that I’m going to charge them a little bit more, and I have liberals come in and pay the extra dollar surcharge,” Burnett said, referring to his unique pricing structure. [...] “And actually all three liberals have been happy to pay it. We had a husband and wife come in — he was conservative and she was liberal — and he paid conservative for himself and liberal for her.”

Clever asshole entrepreneur that he is, Burnett also sells “I Love Drilling” shirts and bumper stickers on his website, and people actually buy and wear them.

Burnett claims he wants to start a conversation about “the fiscal differences between big government/small government and liberal ways.” The liberal tax is intended to “help make that point.”

One conservative customer went even farther, explaining, “For him to do this kind of puts a face out there on people who are, in my opinion, in the wrong. ‘In the wrong’ being liberals,” Peterson said. “To see them being charged a little bit more, it makes me happy.”

Some day...a business will open in Vernal that will charge conservatives higher prices. Suddenly the conservatives will be screaming that their freedom of speech rights are being violated.

Ann Romney's comment last week on "Good Morning America" raised some eyebrows when she said Mitt wasn't going to release anymore of their tax returns to "you people". Watch as she explains what she really meant and why you people need to cut them some slack.

A parody from comedienne/impersonator Rosemary Watson.