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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254
It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
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It's the Despair Quotient! Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 17,177 Likes: 254 |
My understanding is that the President just has to declare a national emergency and can raise the debt ceiling by executive order based on that threat. I think a default on the national debt would qualify as a national emergency...maybe. Or maybe the bankers could "get all nice" and stop having the sadz about it and say "it's OK bro, we'll give you some space".  But I'm not holding my breath. 
"The Best of the Leon Russell Festivals" DVD
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OP
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"I wonder if he is aware of the fact that a large majority of Tea Party faithful in Congress have invested heavily in credit default swaps that pay off in the event of a national debt default. "
Source please. Welp, to start with, there's Eric Cantor. 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. Would you like more? I mean, he's one of the leaders but I'm sure with a little more research I can dig up a nice little laundry list. I'd just point out that one Congressman is not a "large majority" of any group larger than one. Cantor appears to be a multimillionaire, and an investment of a few thousand bucks isn't very much. From what you posted originally I sort of envisioned these tea party guys sitting around a table in a bar sharing ways to profit heavily from their actions. I doubt very seriously that a large majority of the Tea Party faithful in Congress are invested in such contrary funds; I doubt very seriously that you can do prove what you said, and my main purpose is to point out to the casual readers of this site that they should take what you said cum grano salis. Remember, you are the one who said this was "fact."
Take the nacilbupeR pledge: I solemnly swear that I will help back out all Republicans at the next election.
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Joined: May 2005
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Member CHB-OG
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Joined: May 2005
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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. Eric Cantor's Glaring Conflict of InterestSo Canter placed a bet that the government would go into shut-down mode; just as the Banksters placed bets that homeowners would default on shoddy un-doable home mortgages in the lead-up to the housing crisis?
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
There is a distinction between puffery and making things up. Cantor, and some number of others, have taken financial positions from which they can profit if certain outcomes - which they can influence - occur. Whether that group represents a majority, an influential minority, or even an influential individual, it is the same moral position, and closely akin(and worse than) "insider trading." A little more than kith, but less than kind.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Jul 2008
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OP
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So Cantor was planning this three years ago and decided that he could make a killing in his multi-million dollar portfolio by shorting government bonds. And out of a portfolio of $3.4 to $8 million he has one investment of somewhere between $1,000 and $15,000.
Absolute Software $1 to $1,000
Alcoa Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Altria Group $1,001 to $15,000
American Balanced Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Amgen Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Anadigics Inc $1,001 to $15,000
API Frontier Growth Fund $1 to $1,000
API Frontier Income Fund $1,001 to $15,000
API Trust Growth Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Archer Daniels Midland $15,001 to $50,000
Ashland Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Bank of America Account $250,001 to $500,000
BB&T Bank Account $1,001 to $15,000
Blackrock Credit All Inc Tr IV $1,001 to $15,000
Bond Fund of America-CollegeAmerica $15,001 to $50,000
Cameco Corp $1,001 to $15,000
Cantor & Cantor Note Receivable $50,001 to $100,000
Capital Income Builder Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Capitol Bancorp $1 to $1,000
Cepheid Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Cerus Corp $1,001 to $15,000
Chubb Corp $1,001 to $15,000
Claymore Exch Traded Fund $1,001 to $15,000
CLM Capital $15,001 to $50,000
CLM Financial $1,001 to $15,000
Consolidated Edison Inc $15,001 to $50,000
Dominion $1,001 to $15,000
Domino's Pizza $101,002 to $265,000
DuPont Co $1,001 to $15,000
Dynx Cap Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Eagle Cash JPMorgan Prime Money Market $1,001 to $15,000
First Eagle Global Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Flaherty & Cmn/Clymr Pref Sec Com Shs Fd $1,001 to $15,000
Franklin Federal Tax Free Income Fund $1,001 to $15,000
General Electric $1,001 to $15,000
Georgia Power Capital Trust $1,001 to $15,000
Goldman Sachs $15,001 to $50,000
Goldman Sachs Dwight Asset Mgt Stable Va $50,001 to $100,000
Goldman Sachs Financial Square MM $100,001 to $250,000
Growth Fund of America $15,001 to $50,000
IDT Corp $1,001 to $15,000
Invesco Van Kampen Municipal Income Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Investment Co of America Fund $1,001 to $15,000
iShares DJ Home Constn $1,001 to $15,000
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Ladenburg Thalman Financial Services $1,001 to $15,000
Lincoln National Corp $1,001 to $15,000
Markel Corp $50,001 to $100,000
Media General Inc $251,002 to $515,000
Merck & Co $1,001 to $15,000
Montpelier Re Holdings $1,001 to $15,000
Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund $1,001 to $15,000
New Perspective Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Newmont Mining $15,001 to $50,000
Northwestern Mutual whole life insurance $15,001 to $50,000
Nuveen Quality Preferred Income Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Omega Advisors $15,001 to $50,000
Oncothyreon Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Pfizer Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Philip Morris International $1,001 to $15,000
Plum Creek Timber $15,001 to $50,000
Proshares UltraShort Lehman 20+ Treasury $1,001 to $15,000
Prudential Guaranteed Income Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Public Storage Inc $1,001 to $15,000
Qualcomm Inc $100,001 to $250,000
Raymond James/Cash $50,001 to $100,000
Rental Property/Arlington, VA $500,001 to $1,000,000
Richmond Resources $250,001 to $500,000
Richmond Resources Hickory Park LLC $500,001 to $1,000,000
Rio Tinto PLC $1,001 to $15,000
Rite Aid Corp $1 to $1,000
Royal Dutch Shell $15,001 to $50,000
Russell 1000 Growth Index $1,001 to $15,000
Russell 1000 Value Index $1,001 to $15,000
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust $1,001 to $15,000
Schlumberger Ltd $50,001 to $100,000
Short-Term Bond Fund of America $1,001 to $15,000
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF $1,001 to $15,000
St Joe Co $1,001 to $15,000
SunTrust Banks $15,001 to $50,000
Telephone & Data Systems Inc $2,002 to $30,000
Unitil Corp $15,001 to $50,000
Vanguard GNMA Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Vanguard Inter Term Invest Grade Inv $1,001 to $15,000
Vanguard Long Term Invest-Grade Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Vanguard Prime Money Market $15,001 to $50,000
Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund $1,001 to $15,000
Vanguard TIPS Fund $50,001 to $100,000
Why aren't you concerned about his holdings in Markel Corporation, which is diversified into health insurance, among other things?
Verizon Communications $1,001 to $15,000
Virginia College Savings Plan 529 VEST $50,001 to $100,000
Virginia College Savings Plan 529 VPEP $50,001 to $100,000
Virginia Credit Union Accounts $100,001 to $250,000
Virginia Retire Sys Small/Mid Equity Idx $1,001 to $15,000
Virginia Retirement Sys Active Bond Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Virginia Retirement Sys Defined Benefit $100,001 to $250,000
Virginia Retirement System Income/Growth $50,001 to $100,000
Virginia Retirement System S&P 500 Index $1,001 to $15,000
Virginia Retirement System Stable Value $1,001 to $15,000
Virtus Multi Sector Fixed Income Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Walt Disney Co $15,001 to $50,000
Washington Mutual Investors Fund $15,001 to $50,000
Water Tower Assoc $250,001 to $500,000
Water Tower Assoc II LLC $50,001 to $100,000
Wells Fargo $1,001 to $15,000
Western Asset High Income Fund II $1,001 to $15,000
Weyerhaeuser Co $1,001 to $15,000
Do you have objections to his investments in Merck, which is a health-related corporation? After all, Cantor is trying to defund Obamacare. Which would probably hurt that company.
And what about Newmont Mining? Should he divest himself of those shares because his actions in the House may affect the price of gold? You can make a much stronger case there, in my estimation.
Then there's Lincoln National Corp. They do insurance and investment management. And Cantor sits on the House Financial Services Committee.
Ditto Goldman Sachs.
The point is that in 2010! he had assets diversified in over a hundred different places. And here people are, castigating him for one tiny little holding that is probably so low on his $8 million radar screen that he thinks about it only when someone draws his attention to it.
Personally I believe that he should have blind-trusted all of this he could prior to running for office. But there's no law saying he has to.
Lord knows I'm not a fan of Cantor's, far from it. I think he's a canker sore on the butt of the nation. On the other hand, demonizing him over this minuscule holding seems unfair. And inferring from one owner that the Tea Party people are profiting from this is just not on the record.
If he had suddenly liquidated hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars worth of other assets and placed them into this fund I would say hang him from the nearest tree and leave the corpse there as a warning to others. But he has not done that, so far as we know.
One other thing:
This asset shows up in his portfolio in 2009. During that year it traded from a low of $156 to a high of $228. It's trading at $76.09 at the moment I am typing this. If you look at the five year chart it has been in decline almost steadily, losing about 2/3ds of its value.
My conclusion: This is a witch hunt.
Take the nacilbupeR pledge: I solemnly swear that I will help back out all Republicans at the next election.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,347
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The article does say that he and his administration do not believe that the use of the 14th in that way would be Constitutional. It is kind of weird to see an administration that doesn't just get a lawyer to write some bullshit justification as why something is Constitutional, but that seems to be the case.
“If you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." Saul Alinskey
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Joined: Apr 2011
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ON that Platinum Coin idea. It seems that one of the writers of that law has a justification for it. From Daily Kos Co-author of platinum coin law weighs in on trillion dollar coin * In minting the $1 trillion platinum coin, the Treasury Secretary would be exercising authority which Congress has granted routinely for more than 220 years. The Secretary’s authority is derived from an Act of Congress (in fact, a GOP Congress) under power expressly granted to Congress in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8). What is unusual in this case is that the law gives the Secretary discretion regarding all specifications of the coin, including denominations. * The accounting treatment of the coin is identical to the treatment of all other coins. The Mint strikes the coin, ships it to the Fed, books $1 trillion, and transfers $1 trillion to the treasury’s general fund where it is available to finance government operations just like with proceeds of bond sales or additional tax revenues. The same applies for a quarter dollar. * Once the debt limit is raised, the Fed ships the coin back to the Mint, the accounting treatment is reversed, and the coin is melted. The coin would never be “issued” or circulated and bonds would not be needed to back the coin. * There are no negative macroeconomic effects. This works just like additional tax revenue or borrowing under a higher debt limit. In fact, when the debt limit is raised, Treasury would sell more bonds, the $1 trillion dollars would be taken off the books, and the coin would be melted. So it does seem to be a work around for dealing with the debt limit. I suspect Congress would still take them to SCOTUS to stop it.
“If you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." Saul Alinskey
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Joined: Jul 2008
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OP
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Let them. Can you imagine the furor from the public about the battle between the destroyers and the knight in shining armor who is only trying to keep his country and the world from circling the toilet economy-wise?
Take the nacilbupeR pledge: I solemnly swear that I will help back out all Republicans at the next election.
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Joined: Sep 2011
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
I think a hundred $10billion coins would be more practical. Then you could melt them down over time. And really, who could get away with stealing one? Where would you fence it? 
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191
Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 18,003 Likes: 191 |
Come to think of it, there are a few billionaire numismatists who might want one...
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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