Is Cheney betting on Economic Collapse?--Mike Whitney

[Demeter]

OpEdNews.com

Original Article at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mike_whi_060706_is_cheney_betting_on.htm


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July 6, 2006

Is Cheney betting on Economic Collapse?

By Mike Whitney

Wouldn't you like to know where Dick Cheney puts his money? Then you'd know whether his "deficits don't matter" claim is just baloney or not.

Well, as it turns out, Kiplinger Magazine ran an article based on Cheney's financial disclosure statement and, sure enough, found out that the VP is lying to the American people for the umpteenth time. Deficits do matter and Cheney has invested his money accordingly.

The article is called "Cheney's betting on bad news" and provides an account of where Cheney has socked away more than $25 million. While the figures may be estimates, the investments are not. According to Tom Blackburn of the Palm Beach Post, Cheney has invested heavily in "a fund that specializes in short-term municipal bonds, a tax-exempt money market fund and an inflation protected securities fund. The first two hold up if interest rates rise with inflation. The third is protected against inflation."

Cheney has dumped another (estimated) $10 to $25 million in a European bond fund which tells us that he is counting on a steadily weakening dollar. So, while working class Americans are loosing ground to inflation and rising energy costs, Darth Cheney will be enhancing his wealth in "Old Europe". As Blackburn sagely notes, "Not all 'bad news' is bad for everybody."

This should put to rest once and for all the foolish notion that the "Bush Economic Plan" is anything more than a scam aimed at looting the public till. The whole deal is intended to shift the nation's wealth from one class to another. It's also clear that Bush-Cheney couldn't have carried this off without the tacit approval of the thieves at the Federal Reserve who engineered the low-interest rate boondoggle to put the American people to sleep while they picked their pockets.

It doesn't. And, one thing we can say with metaphysical certainty is that the miserly Cheney would never plunk his money into an investment that wasn't a sure thing. If Cheney is counting on the dollar tanking and interest rates going up, then, by Gawd, that's what'll happen.

Take another look at Cheney's investment strategy; it tells the whole ugly story. Interest rates are going up, the middle class is going down, and the poor dollar is headed for the dumpster. The country is not simply teetering on the brink of financial collapse; it is being thrust headfirst by the blackguards in office and their satrapies at Federal Reserve.



Authors Bio: Mike is a freelance writer living in Washington state.

[Juffo Wup]

1. Yes, but did he get a BJ from an intern?

After all, that's what's REALLY important.

:sarcasm:

[rhett o rick]

7. It would probably help his disposition. nm

[G2099]

2. Yep, The Working People of America are Economically Doomed

Store food, enough for your neighbor and yourself.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. If he was REALLY betting on a collapse he'd be selling calls and buying

puts on US Treasury securities.

I think if you looked into the Bush family portfolios you would find them VERY long on Government bonds. Hey....if you are gonna run up a deficit, why not make money on the bonds supporting it?

[stevebreeze]

5. yes instead of taxing the rich we borrow from them, with interest

of course. It's a shame we can't help the poor or middle class economically, but it's just too damned expensive.

[applegrove]

4. And he, well informed even in a blind trust by hugely expensive stock

market expertese, can sell off his old stocks to all the upper middle class and rich who got tax returns. Makes his stocks more liquid. He doesn't have to do anything but back tax cuts.. and having $25 million will mean his investments will beat the market because of the level of expertese he can afford.

[Vitruvius]

6. 'Follow the money'.

Kicked & recommended...

[Nikki Stone 1]

8. k&r

:kick:

[Joanne98]

9. Add putting a "crisis manager" in charge of Treasury to that list.

Bet the dollar DOWN long term and you can't lose.

[Reckon]

10. Is that insider trading?

He knows what's going to happen.

[cspanlovr]

11. It must be a sure thing. Cheney's no Bill Bennett (not a bettin' man)

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Betting on it? He's single-handedly bringing it on!

[many a good man]

13. Reality Check

Its perfectly normal for wealthy individuals entering public office to move their investments from equities to securities to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.

The author is correct about the threat of stagflation but he's sensationalizing the Cheney thing to attract attention to himself IMHO.

[Igel]

14. Another thing that

Cheney should be doing is finding very conservative investments.

Things that have nearly no risk associated with them. Munis, MM, and the like are safe. If there's any kind of problem, he has a very short time to recover from it, financially.

He has a good financial manager. Better than my parents, for sure--15 years into retirement, some money manager convinced them, over my objections (ignored--"He's a professional, igil") that the stock market couldn't lose. Then the 2000 stock market downturn happened.