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