House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has been betting against the American people and this nation’s economy since 2009.
Jonathan Easley wrote at Salon:
According to his latest financial disclosure statement, which covers the year 2010 and has been publicly available since this spring, Cantor still has up to $15,000 in the same fund. Contacted by Salon this week, Cantor’s office gave no indication that the Virginia Republican, who has played a leading role in the debt ceiling negotiations, has divested himself of these holdings since his last filing. Unless an agreement can be reached, the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debt payments on Aug. 2. If that happens and Cantor is still invested in the fund, the value of his holdings would skyrocket.
…The fund hasn’t significantly spiked yet because many investors believe Congress will eventually raise the debt ceiling. However, since Cantor abruptly called off debt ceiling negotiations last Thursday, the fund is up 3.3 percent. Even if an agreement is ultimately reached before Aug. 2, the fund could continue to benefit between now and then from the uncertainty.
A $15,000 investment is pocket change for a person of Cantor’s means, but the fact that he would bet against his own country speaks volumes about the character of the man.
During a February 28 speech at Harvard, Cantor said, “Our people want the government to do less. Our businesses want us to stop spending money we don’t have,” he said. “We all assume everyone deserves a fair shot at success. Yet many Americans are wondering what happened to their fair shot in life?”
It is interesting that Cantor would dare to speak of fairness when he stands to financially profit from the potential devastation of millions of Americans through a misfortune which he will have helped directly and intentionally cause. In an April 10 appearance on Fox News Sunday, Cantor said, “I have to believe that the president and the White House are beginning to sense the American people get it. You know, we have a fiscal train wreck before us. And unless we act, and act deliberately, we’re not going to enable our kids to have what we have. It’s plain and simple as that.”
What Eric Cantor doesn’t tell anyone is that his investment portfolio reveals that he is rooting for and willing to profit from said fiscal train wreck.
According to A Completely Unofficial Blog About Eric Cantor, the conflict is even more extreme than the Salon article made it appear. From his 2009 disclosure form, here are the investments Cantor selected for himself,
$1-15,000 ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TBT)
$1-15,000 iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (TIPS)
$1-15,000 WisdomTree International Basic Materials (DBN)
$1-15,000 SPDR SP Metals Mining (XME)So yeah, that acronym TIPS ring a bell? It should if you read Paul Krugman..
TIPS, as I read it is basically the interest difference between nominal U.S. Bonds and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. Eric Cantor’s bet on the iShares Barclay’s TIPS Bond Fund is ANOTHER bet that U.S. Treasury Bonds will lose value (relative to inflation).
Cantor has a history of betting against America. The difference is that in 2011, he now has the power make sure that his bets pay off.
Conflict of interest, abuse of power, it doesn’t matter what you call it. Eric Cantor’s desire to make a profit based on the pain and misery of very people that he has taken an oath to represent is just plain wrong.
Eric Cantor is the Republican House leader who can’t wait to see America fail.
In fact, he’s counting on it.
Your financial destruction will be Eric Cantor’s gain.
I guess this is what Republicans mean when they refer to one of their own as a “Real American.”
PoliticusUSA
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Reynardine
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
When their leader quits producing for them, honeybees don’t give her a golden parachute. They pile on her till they squash her, and then they replace her. A honeybee’s brain is the size of a period. I wish the American voters’ averaged as large.
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karen
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
Makes me sick to my stomach
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Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
The dems better get cracking and be telling America the truth. If not Cantor will be a few hundred thousand wealthier and we wont. Cantor is worth a lot of money. I keep looking but Im only seeing 1-2 dems saying anything.
Cantor is as big a liar as you can find in the GOP. Says he is for closing tax loopholes on TV then says the opposite in the house. This guy has to go
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RoughAcres
Jul. 8th, 2011 at 12:18 am
The best way to get rid of termites is to uncover them, them call in pest control.
Share this story…. and the voters will do the rest.
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RoughAcres
Jul. 8th, 2011 at 12:18 am
*then
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The Platzner Post
Jul. 8th, 2011 at 12:59 am
Typical GOP!!!
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MG
Jul. 8th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Cantor said the country couldn’t afford to help flood and tornado victims in the Midwest yet he had no problem benefiting from TARP. The bank his wife works for (NYPBT) received $267 million in bailout funds.
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Cathy
Jul. 8th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Have a real fear that he is not the only one of our Congressional “leaders” who will profit by their opposition to our country and their fellow citizens. Hope their constituents are proud of this disgusting behavior
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attilatheblond
Jul. 8th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Cantor is not just a traitorous whore, he is a cheap traitorous whore.
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cassandravert
Jul. 10th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
OK, playing devil’s advocate here, yes, $15K is pocket change to a millionaire. One can hardly say that shorting America is his primary strategy based on $15K. Big investors have more than this is true hedge strategies.
On the other hand, he has paid more than he had to for simple long-term investments. He has bought greater liquidity and trading ability. This could mean he is a poor investor, he bought into the glamorous day-trader image, or he really expects to have to reallocate on a dime.
Can’t really guess at his total investment strategy without seeing the bulk of his portfolio.
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Jason Easley
Jul. 10th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
I think maybe you missed this sentence beneath the block quote, “A $15,000 investment is pocket change for a person of Cantor’s means, but the fact that he would bet against his own country speaks volumes about the character of the man.”
This was a post about his character not his cash.
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Isaac Hummel
Jul. 18th, 2011 at 12:14 am
The point is that you can’t tell a lot about a man’s character from a tiny bit of his investment portfolio. If the guy was shorting for a million or even for $500,000 then you’d have a point, but $15,000 is only a *very* small part of the picture for someone whose net worth is somewhere between 2 and 7.5 million. THAT is why Democrats in congress haven’t made a big deal about it.
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Brenda
Jul. 18th, 2011 at 9:05 am
Yes, but who is funding his political career? Where is their portfolia positioned?
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Anne
Jul. 11th, 2011 at 8:45 am
Perhaps it is also worth mentioning or reminding everyone, that Congress made themselves exempt from insider trading regulations.
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Max
Jul. 15th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Cantor’s a foot soldier in the corporatist assault now taking place in the USA which seeks to diffuse public sector and governmental entities of any power or effectiveness. When this budget/debt issue subsides, He will be richly rewarded for his efforts and will likely suceed Boehner as Speaker and after, will certainly pursue a lucrative career as a lobbyist. He’s the classic ‘inside’ guy who positions himself as an ‘outside’ to suit his ends. In other words, a classic self-serving opportunist and whore.
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ed
Jul. 16th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
enrique cantor is worth 17 million dollars wonder where this sob comes from he dont look american heard he was jewish.sephardic or black german ?cantor is spanish 4
r singer
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