Paul Ryan Acted Immediately After 2008 Bush WH Meeting on Impending Economic Meltdown

[bigtree]

. . . to protect his OWN investments, using info he had obtained from the high-level huddle with Bush's financial advisers.


from The Richmonder): www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/08/13/paul_ryan_used_inside_info_to_profit_from_the_financial_crisis.html

It should probably come as no surprise to anyone that someone like Paul Ryan would trade on inside information gained through his position as a congressman to line his pockets, but this particular instance is especially egregious. Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 18, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to disclose the coming economic meltdown and beg Congress to pass legislation to help collapsing banks.

Instead of doing anything to help, Ryan left the meeting and on that very same day Paul Ryan sold shares of stock he owned in several troubled banks and reinvested the proceeds in Goldman Sachs, a bank that the meeting had disclosed was not in trouble. This is the guy Republicans want one heartbeat away from the presidency? He seems more than a little shady to me.

Have a look at Ryan's financial disclosure form for 2008--you can click on each page to enlarge them. The "Transactions" section begins on page 12--scroll through and look at all the trades Paul Ryan made on "9-18-08": http://www.the-richmonder.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-traded-on-insider-information.html?m=1


hat tip: Matthew Yglesias at Slate

[pnwmom]

1. I wish I could give this 1000 recs. n/t

[Fact_Checker]

46. Ryan's trades were BEFORE the meeting.

Ryan would have needed to trade before 4 pm to trade stock on 9/18.

The meeting was at 7 pm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/washington/19cnd-cong.html?_r=1

[Uncle Joe]

62. How "before" were Ryan's trades, earlier on the same day, or the day before?

[pnwmom]

67. Doesn't matter. The sales occurred on the same day that he was talking with other Republicans

who were opposing the bailout. That's probably why he SOLD his stock, even though the rumors of the 7 pm bailout meeting caused the stock market to go UP 600 points that afternoon.

Here's more:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125169262

[tomm2thumbs]

86. people prepare reports ahead of meetings - I suspect he knew ahead of time

People prepare notes, assemble reports, share information on what is about to happen in the 'big meeting' -- he had access to this given his position there.

Makes more sense to me than 'coincidence'

[pnwmom]

65. And that doesn't let him off the hook, because that meeting wasn't the key one.

I did some research and here's what I found.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125169262

[hfojvt]

57. I took back my rec

Yglesias has already modified it, to note that the meeting took place at night. Ryan sold his stock in the day.

Second, I note that the amounts on the disclosure seem to be small - less than $15,000 according to the disclosure form (which gives a range $1,001 - $15,000).

So, the amounts are hardly earth-shattering. A $3,000 gain on the stock market is pretty big to me, but no so much to a guy who probably makes over $200,000 a year. Further, looking at the stocks he bought, he may have even lost money.

His diclosure form says he sold Goldman Sachs, for example, on 2-22, 8-18, 10-22, 11-5 and 12-8 and that he purchased Goldman Sachs on 1-22, 3-24, 6-16, and 9-18.

Well, I looked at a 5 year chart of GS, just to see how he made out, expecting to find him making out like a bandit. But Goldman started 2008 at about 210 and ended 2008 at about 85, after hitting a low of about 60 in the fall of 2008. The 5 year chart does not show me the months other than January, but Goldman took a HUGE dive in the fall of 2008. If he bought on 6-16, he probably took a bath on that purchase. Check out the chart yourself, if this link works.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GS+Basic+Chart&t=5y

[pnwmom]

68. The time of that particular meeting doesn't let Paul Ryan off the hook, and here's why:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125169262

[hfojvt]

77. not buying it

Why did he sell when everyone else was buying? Perhaps because he took a gain. If the market surged 600 points that day, his stocks may have shot up $3 or $4 a share. Which makes it a good time to sell. But he also did some buying on the same day, selling JPMorgan and Wachovia and buying Goldman Sachs. The question is whether he had inside knowledge about JPMorgan and Wachovia and Goldman, but I would be surprised if he made money on that purchase of Goldman.

I don't know that you can whale on somebody for insider training that loses money.

[pnwmom]

78. "Everyone" else wasn't buying. All we know is that the market went up, based on

rumors of the bailout.

But the people Ryan was talking to -- Boehner, for example -- were opposed to the bailout. If the bailout had failed, he would have been smart to sell JPMorgan and Wachovia before everyone else did.


Should you get a free pass from being accused of insider trading if you listen to the wrong insiders?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. NPR mentioned this this morning as well

[Fact_Checker]

47. The NPR perpetuates a LIE.

Ryan would have needed to trade before 4 pm to trade stock on 9/18.

The meeting was at 7 pm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/washington/19cnd-cong.html?_r=1

[Proud Liberal Dem]

53. Welcome to DU

Paul Ryan thanks you for his support!

[pnwmom]

70. The NPR just didn't go deeply enough into the story to realize

that Paul Ryan was being exposed all day long to Republicans who were OPPOSING the bailout.

If he'd been reacting to the 7 pm meeting, then he would have planned on the stock market going UP. But he sold, because he was counting on the market going down.

[Skittles]

82. FactPimperfortheGOP

you doth protest too much

[tomm2thumbs]

87. Can you quickly post more info on this?

[JanMichael]

3. WWARD???

of course he did. The little schmuck was just following his Randian Philosophy.

[coalition_unwilling]

4. +1,000,000,000 x 1,000,000,000 - This needs to be front and center of

every DU forum from now through November.

Ryan is an 'insider trader' and Romney is a 'tax cheat.'

[Fantastic Anarchist]

42. He's an inside traitor.

[coalition_unwilling]

43. Zing! Good one! - n/t

[Fantastic Anarchist]

83. Thanks, I have my moments. :-)

[coalition_unwilling]

5. This is so important that I have indulged in two responses to your OP. Folks on

DU need to understand, if they do not do so already, that stock sales and purchases are pretty much a zero-sum game. That means that if Ryan sold his bank stocks on inside knowledge to avoid losses, someone else without that inside knowledge bought those same stocks and incurred losses they might not have elsewise. Ryan's gain (or avoidance of loss) was someone else's loss.

THIS IS INSIDER TRADING!

Where the fuck is the SEC???????? Ryan should be facing exactly what Martha Stewart faced.

[pnwmom]

7. I don't know if the law has changed, but at the time it was perfectly legal

and perfectly unethical for members of Congress to engage in insider trading.

[avebury]

21. And when they did the law to keep member of Congress from taking

advantage of insider trading, Ryan left a hole in the law big enough to drive through. Family members were still allowed to take advantage of insider trading.

[Chiyo-chichi]

24. See below. They argue that insider trading is just as illegal for members of Congress.

This same assertion has been repeated for years, every time someone observes that Congress members do much better in their personal stock trading than average investors do. Unlike average Joes, the pundits explain, Congress has exempted itself from insider-trading laws, so Congress-people are allowed to trade on private information that they gather in the course of their work while other Americans can't.
Continue Below

But at least one law professor argues that this is just not true. Insider trading is just as illegal for members of Congress as it is for the rest of the 300+ million Americans, Indiana Law Professor Donna Nagy argues.

Congress never "exempted" itself from insider trading laws, Nagy says — because Congress has never actually passed a law about insider trading.

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-15/news/30400492_1_insider-material-non-public-information-congress

The conventional wisdom says yes: Insider-trading laws don't apply to Congress. Indeed, years after it was proposed, the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" — or STOCK Act — is finally now gaining steam, in hopes of illegalizing such conduct.

Not to discourage that noble enterprise, but trading on congressional secrets is already decidedly illegal. The "misappropriation theory" of insider trading prohibits corporate outsiders from breaching duties of confidentiality to sources of non-public information in connection with securities transactions. To the extent it's constitutional, it's the theory that prevents, for instance, staffers of this publication from trading on information learned at work before it's made public. Those who exempt Congress from this rule typically argue that congressional insider trading violates no duty, or that congressional information is inherently "public" and therefore non-confidential. Neither is true.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-11-18/congress-insider-trading-illegal/51274988/1

[elleng]

27. Right, the law has since changed, only recently,

and cantor played games with it enabling his wife to take advantage of it until very recently; his 'loophole' changed back to rational, and VIrginians hope to take advantage of this in ousting him.

[coalition_unwilling]

34. Comment by a securities attorney in response to an

article on Slate by Matthew Yglesias:

"From a lawyer with 25 years of practice...about 17 of those in financial services regulation and the private sector:

Slate is incorrect--no-one is exempt from insider trading laws, not Congress, not Martha Stewart. At issue is whether or not Mr. Ryan ACTED UPON material, non-public information. IF this article is true, he engaged in two potentially illegal transactions....selling stock in at-risk banks and investing in Goldman Sachs. One does not even have to profit from the material, non-public information (although its much easier to prosecute if the insider did profit). Again IF TRUE, he had direct insider knowledge, not then available to the public, through an in camera [secret or private] briefing as a result of his position in Congress. Highly doubtful the SEC and/or Justice Department would investigate this allegation, since they would most likely be accused of political motivation...Sad..."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/08/13/paul_ryan_used_inside_info_to_profit_from_the_financial_crisis.html?wp_login_redirect=0

[pnwmom]

35. Thanks! This is interesting. n/t

[coalition_unwilling]

36. I think it is time for Holder to appoint an independent

prosecutor. I would like to suggest Eliot Spitzer.

[Fact_Checker]

51. Yglesias ALREADY APOLOGIZED for posting a LIE

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/08/13/paul_ryan_used_inside_info_to_profit_from_the_financial_crisis.html

[grantcart]

63. troll

[coalition_unwilling]

69. Well, Mr. 8-post person. I see you're on hot on the debunking trail. This

merely begs the question of whether Ryan received any pre-meeting briefing about the topics to be discussed at the meeting that night and, if so, whether he traded on that information.

What did Ryan know and when did Ryan know it?

Enjoy your (I'm sure) brief visit here.

[pnwmom]

71. The truth is that Paul Ryan was listening all day to Republicans

who opposed the bailout. So it made sense that he sold those stocks.

[Fact_Checker]

48. Ryan traded BEFORE the meeting.

Ryan would have needed to trade before 4 pm to trade stock on 9/18.

The meeting was at 7 pm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/washington/19cnd-cong.html?_r=1

[grantcart]

64. So did Martha Stewart. She still went to jail.

[coalition_unwilling]

66. Understood, and I understand that Matthew Yglesias has

since walked back his original post about this on Slate also.

Interesting question is whether Ryan received any sort of pre-meeting briefing about the topics to be covered at the meeting and used that info to place trades in advance of the meeting. I've been told that is 'idle speculation' on my part.

What did Ryan know, when did he know it and what did Ryan do with that knowledge?

[pnwmom]

6. Someone who was at the meeting and did NOT engage in insider trading needs to call him on this. n/t

[independentpiney]

9. If any of them didn't nt

[pnwmom]

11. The thought crossed my mind. n/t

[heaven05]

29. all

I bet all who had a stake in that debacle took advantage of that info. Politicians of all stripes are self aggrandizing people who don't really care about us, I believe.

[Berlum]

8. Greedhead Insider (R)

figures - soooo Republican to cheat the American people of a fair shake.

[cbdo2007]

10. I posted in the other thread about this some probably transactions....

and don't think this is necessarily insider trading, as he was regularly trading many companies all year - LOSING MONEY ON ALMOST EVERY TRANSACTION!!! Feel free to check it out.

I'm not excusing what he did, as I don't think congresspeople should even be able to own stock at all, or trade while they're in office, just based on his transactions he looks like he was already trading routinely before that meeting. It just makes me happy knowing he lost money on all of his trades.

[pnwmom]

12. Maybe he was trading all year based on heads-up he was getting. We don't know. nt

[cbdo2007]

13. Well he should have had a better source then, as he lost money on practically every trade.

[pnwmom]

16. He didn't necessarily lose it over the short term, did he? He might have made trades that appeared

favorable immediately afterwards, and then messed up the timing after that.

[SaveAmerica]

15. Don't you think it's too coincidental that he tossed stocks of

banks the meeting showed as failing soon and bought in a bank they said would not? That's some kind of investment 'luck'.

[cbdo2007]

17. Well I would, except.....

He also sold Citigroup on 6/16/08 and 8/18/08 - then bought again on 10/20/08. Why did he sell on those other dates before he got the secret info, then why would he buy again a month later if he knew the bank was failing??

Also, he sold GE stock as well on 6/16/08, 8/18/08, and 9/18/08. They aren't a bank that was in trouble of failing. They aren't a bank at all.

And he bought GS on other occasions throughout the year - 3/24/08 and 6/16/08, so this was a stock that he traded regularly.

He sold Wachovia on 6/16/08, 8/18/08, and 9/18/08 so that only seems strange when you look at the last date when it's out of context.

Again, you can argue that maybe he was "getting advice all along on who to buy or sell" which could be, except that he literally LOST MONEY ON EVERY CITIGROUP TRANSACTION.

I want to find something here but I just can't. I'm all for finding bad stuff about Ryan but if we promote ideas and scandals that don't exist it takes credence away from the ones that are real and damaging.

[DaveJ]

33. Portraying his as a bad investor is even more damaging, IMO.

It's typical for Con's. They can't make beneficial business decisions. The only time they can make money is by cheating others.

The big picture needs to be understood -- their incompetence as investors is bad for others, and they only way they can make money, by cheating others, is also bad for others. I mean with their illogical political philosophy and world view that lacks a basic understanding of reality, it is not surprising they are incapable of interacting with the markets in a healthy manner.

[cbdo2007]

38. It is definitely damaging when he's talking about privatizing social security....

and maybe that's where we take this story. If Ryan is such a bad stock picker, why does he want to put money into the hands of individuals who will lose money in the market just as he did. It takes A LOT of time and effort and research and a certain mind-set to make money in the stock market, which most people don't have. We need to push his stock trading record back on him as a reason to NOT privatize social security.

[snappyturtle]

54. Most definitely! nt

[JDPriestly]

37. Attempted insider trading?

Maybe he does not do his own trading. Maybe someone does it for him.

In any case, so much trading in bank stocks so soon after hearing about impending bank failures leaves the potential for the appearance of wrongdoing.

Maybe he sold the stocks and then realized how bad that looked and tried to "fix it" by buying stocks again.

But then, maybe he is a gambler and trades stocks compulsively.

There are a lot of possible explanations, and he needs to explain which is his favorite.

[Fact_Checker]

49. Ryan's trades were BEFORE the meeting

Ryan would have needed to trade before 4 pm to trade stock on 9/18.

The meeting was at 7 pm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/washington/19cnd-cong.html?_r=1

[tomm2thumbs]

88. Seems to me reports for that meeting were generated that morning

I'd say he might actually be in the know of what was in those reports & analysis were done ahead of the meeting, especially given his position.

[MoonRiver]

14. To be aired soon in a political commercial near you.

At least I hope so.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

18. kick...

...eom

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

19. Ryan did nothing illegal.

There's a set of rules for them, and then there's a different set of rules for us.

The former gets all the gold while the latter gets to hit the road.

Nice, huh?

[bigtree]

20. there's a catch in that

If we were talking about ancient history, it would be one thing, but, this is all related to our current economic debate. Ryan was a culprit in the very practices that Congress JUST now clamped down on. His actions were so objectionable that even his own republican legislative partners voted to end the practice.

Even worse, Ryan benefited by the elevation of the office voters had afforded him by using his privileged, back-room huddle with the Bush money men to cover his own investments. That's what we can expect from him if he's given even more power and access. He'll cover his own ass and his wealthy insider cronies, first and foremost, and use his budget axe to pay for the resulting meltdown.

[BlueStreak]

26. Not entirely true,

The recent legislation was mostly pro forma, making the rules a little less ambiguous. It was mostly a bit of grandstanding by Congress to try to improve its image.

Insider trading has always been illegal, EVEN for Congressmen. If Ryan did this, he should be prosecuted.

The perfect ticket: the Tax Fraudster and the Insider Trader. They have the entire spectrum of white collar crime covered.

[Fact_Checker]

50. Ryan traded BEFORE the meeting.

Ryan would have needed to trade before 4 pm to trade stock on 9/18.

The meeting was at 7 pm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/washington/19cnd-cong.html?_r=1

[sad sally]

73. Ever hear of after hours trading? Goes on five days a week.

After-hours markets function nearly identically to daytime trading, with the exception that there are no traders shouting on physical stock exchange floors. All transactions occur online via an ECN. Prices in after-market trading are set by the market, meaning price levels change based on what sellers and buyers agree upon at any given time.

Advantages

After-hours trading can provide insight into traders' reaction to news, press releases and official reports occurring after trading floors have closed. Watching how after-hours traders react to new information can give you a heads-up on what to expect when the majority of traders begin their day the next morning.

http://budgeting.thenest.com/after-hour-stock-trading-work-3330.html

[BlueStreak]

80. You think he didn't hear anything before the meeting?

He wanted to get out in front of the mob. It is WORSE that he acted before the meeting. The later he did it, the stronger his argument that it was mostly public knowledge he was trading on.

[WCGreen]

23. Who cares if it's not against the law...

This paints him as a selfish, venal little man who is like those ass holes on the Titanic who grabbed seats on the boats while pushing women and children in the water....

[klook]

28. Precisely

At the very least it's amoral and selfish. Not the kind of behavior we would hope to see in political leaders.

And you don't need a focus group to point out that "insider trading" is an albatross around the Republican ticket's collective neck.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

94. Did I really need to use a sarcasm thingy?

[grantcart]

22. Wow

[Fact_Checker]

52. WOW - You fell for a LIE

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/08/13/paul_ryan_used_inside_info_to_profit_from_the_financial_crisis.html

[grantcart]

55. Your kidding right

Ryan sells off a few hours before a meeting is convened and you think that this absolves him from suspicion?

Let me apologize. I originally had a too-credulous item here linking to a piece at The Richmonder alleging that Paul Ryan has sold bank shares after a closed door meeting with Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke on the financial crisis in 2008. As Eric Platt explains he certainly seems to have sold the shares on the same day as the meeting, but the meeting happened in the evening by which time the markets would have been closed.

What a big fucking coincidence. He made millions by miraculously trading on information that was spreading through the bureacracy.

[snappyturtle]

59. I think you're probably right. This is all just too...too convenient. I wouldn't

doubt he had pre-meeting knowledge of the gist of the meeting and acted on it. SO difficult to prove though. Might be interesting to track his record in regard to bailed out companies...auto industry comes to mind.

[grantcart]

61. Too convenient? Just ask Martha Stewart. People go to jail for this type of coincidence all of the

time. Put him under oath and if he doesn't tell the truth he will find himself practicing his tennis in a federal facility.

[BlueStreak]

81. Earlier trades = MORE inside info. Later trades = LESS insider info.

Trading earlier is WORSE. In his position in Congress, he obviously was in a position to receive important information long before the Paulsen meeting. The fact that he acted even before the Paulsen meeting is damning.

[grantcart]

58. Were you this dumbshit or are you another dumbshit?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021118037

[Ian_rd]

25. Awww, Ryan gets all misty-eyed when he thinks about how much money he saved with insider info <nt>

[RedStateLiberal]

30. Kicked and Rec

For the hope info like this will help KICK Ryan out of the House when R&R lose miserably in November.

[AllyCat]

31. I certainly don't think this is right, but isn't Congress allowed to do this?

Wasn't this one of the "loopholes" our side was trying to close and it was a bipartisan defeat?

[Major Hogwash]

32. This story won't go away anytime soon -- this is a form of insider trading.

The sort of thing that the Republicons sent Martha Stewart to jail for several years ago.

[AzDar]

39. So shady.

[Javaman]

40. lost mittens is thinking, "well since I picked Recall, the heat is off of me!"

sorry mittens, you're still a dick.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

41. Oh My God Willard, You've got horrible breath!

[tomm2thumbs]

84. but that's how you get a sh*t-eating grin....

ya know

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

93. Love it.

[TrollBuster9090]

44. THIS HAS TRACTION! A) Ryan trades on insider information, and B) CANTOR guts the insider trading

ban by Congressmen.

TIE RYAN TO CANTOR, and ROMNEY TO RYAN, and Bob's your Uncle.

[Uncle Joe]

56. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bigtree.

[cleduc]

60. Debunked?

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-insider-trading-rumor-quickly-debunked.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

[pnwmom]

72. He's not off the hook. That particular meeting hadn't occurred yet, but he'd been hearing

from Republicans all day who opposed the bailout. That would be a good reason to sell his stock. (OTOH, the stock market went up in the late afternoon, when rumors of the bailout started going around.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125169262

[sad sally]

74. You can bet those in congress who'd profitted at the insider trader trough for 16 years -

before the STOCK Act was passed - wouldn't be above a little after hours trading, which happens every day.

After-hours markets function nearly identically to daytime trading, with the exception that there are no traders shouting on physical stock exchange floors. All transactions occur online via an ECN. Prices in after-market trading are set by the market, meaning price levels change based on what sellers and buyers agree upon at any given time.

Advantages

After-hours trading can provide insight into traders' reaction to news, press releases and official reports occurring after trading floors have closed. Watching how after-hours traders react to new information can give you a heads-up on what to expect when the majority of traders begin their day the next morning.

http://budgeting.thenest.com/after-hour-stock-trading-work-3330.html

[pnwmom]

75. But isn't after hours trading posted with the next day's date?

[cleduc]

76. I'm not trolling. I'm just trying to be objective and asking opinion if i'm out of line

From the TPM blog:
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-insider-trading-rumor-quickly-debunked.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

The Romney campaign said Ryan had nothing to do with the trades in the first place. They were part of a Russell 1000 index fund that automatically traded stocks as part of a pre-set formula. Ryan’s disclosure forms include several similar trade patterns at various points throughout the year.

In a statement provided to TPM through the Romney campaign, Larry Gaffney, the independent accountant for the partnership who handled the trades in question, said the stocks were out of Ryan’s control.

“Trades are done automatically based on an algorithm on a regular basis,” said Gaffney, who works as a CPA in Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis. “In addition, this index was held at the time within a partnership in which Rep. Ryan had and continues to have no trading authority.”

Peter Schweizer, the conservative Hoover Institution fellow whose investigation of insider trading by members of Congress prompted the STOCK Act, said Ryan’s trades bore no resemblance to those by lawmakers like Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), who shorted finance stocks after high-level meetings.

“ never like the idea of congressmen trading during times when they are dealing with major policy issues, but [it’s] not like Bachus where the timing is suspect,” he said in an e-mail.

Melanie Sloan of CREW concurred.

“You can’t be trading on insider information if the market is already closed,” Sloan told TPM.

Regarding the 7pm meeting after trading close:

The previous day:
The Candidates on the A.I.G. Bailout
September 17, 2008, 12:15 PM
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/the-candidates-on-the-aig-bailout/
"The markets indeed are not responding in a positive way so far to the news of the bailout"

Sep 17, 2008 2:03pm
Senate Majority Leader on Economic Woes: ‘No One Knows What to Do’
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/09/senate-majority/

After the 7pm meeting on Sep 18, 2008, Reid mentioned that they had had a few 'unusual' meetings lately.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/281223-1


So it gets murky for me. Certainly, there was plenty in the media that was troubling about the financial crisis the day before the Ryan trades got made. And as Reid pointed out, there were 'unusual' meetings before the one at 7pm on Sep 18th, 2008.

There's enough there for reasonable doubt at the very least for me - unless someone can point out where I'm misjudging.

[tavalon]

91. Preset Pattern?

That's some creative rearrangement of history.

[Tarheel_Dem]

79. K&R

[vaberella]

85. I thought this was debunked!

[tomm2thumbs]

89. Greed has a hold of people when it affects THEM

I wonder if Cryan Ryan would still be all about cutting the safety net back then, right as his family began to benefit from it, or if this was one of those little oops moments

[tavalon]

90. And so it begins...............

This shouldn't take long, should it?

[VPStoltz]

92. How does someone that young get to be so...self-centered?

It's like the guy is still in grade school and making plans on how to serve a pizza so he gets the biggest piece.