Investing in Failure
A reader pointed out this interesting bit of news, with the question “Why hasn’t this gone viral?” The answer? I don’t know:
Putting his money where his mouth is? Eric Cantor, the Republican Whip in the House of Representatives, bought up to $15,000 in shares of ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF last December, according to his 2009 financial disclosure statement. The exchange-traded fund takes a short position in long-dated government bonds. In effect, it is a bet against U.S. government bonds—and perhaps on inflation in the future.
Given that it seems the Republicans are hell-bent on destroying the economy in order to stick it to Democrats, I fail to see how this isn’t a big deal.
Perhaps I am not reading this correctly and it isn’t a conflict of interest, but it certainly seems like it is: These folks have a stake in the failure of the U.S. economy, but IOKIYAR.
I’d ask where the jobs are, but why bother.
(H/T starshine!)
[via Think Progress]
[cross-posted at Balloon Juice]
Cantor needs to explain himself, and in exhaustive detail.
The problem is, shorting government bonds is arcane enough subject matter to glaze over the eyes of most “civilians” in fairly short order. That may be why we have not (yet) heard much about this in the press.
That said, it needs to get into the public eye, sooner rather than later. And maybe into the eyes of the Justice Dept?
There’s a more recent article at Salon, but I won’t link it here. :)
I read some of the comments at BJ and I’m amazed that some folks think it’s no big deal. Boggles the mind.