The New York Times today reported a settlement between First Command Financial Services and the government. First Command is one of those disgusting companies that have preyed on military families.

NASD and the Securities and Exchange Commission said that First Command exaggerated the track record of its high-cost fund products - with fees that ate up 50 percent of an investor's first-year contributions - and misrepresented the costs and availability of cheaper investment alternatives.

The fine totals only $12 million -- I don't know how large the company is, but I hope that $12 million is sufficiently painful so that they will go forth and sin no more.

What really caught my eye about the story, however, was this:

"It is important to note," said Lanny J. Davis, a lawyer for the company, that the regulatory complaints focused on sales practices "and not on the financial investment product that First Command sold."

Davis...that name rings a bell.

I would've expected a company preying on members of the military would hire a one of those evil Republicans to represent them. I also would've expected the Times to identify the lawyer's prior employer -- the president of the United States.