Obama's Stock is Dropping
The Chicago Sun-Times follows up on yesterday's New York Times report about Barack Obama's investments in two companies whose major investors were also Obama donors.
Obama claims that he had around $100,000 to invest because of cash from a book deal, and that because the amount wasn't very large, he decided to invest in something "more high-risk."
Uh-huh. Because that's what small investors do.
"I thought about going to Warren Buffett, but I decided it would be embarrassing with only $100,000 to invest to ask for his advice," Obama quipped.
Ouch. Senator Obama—presidential-candidate Obama—might want to consider that most Americans would love to have $100,000 to invest...and that even if they did, they wouldn't exactly be able to get Warren Buffet on the line.
But here's my favorite whopper of the story:
The Senate Ethics manual has detailed rules about blind trusts and qualified blind trusts. Obama did not want to sign on to either of those options because he did not want to wash his hands of the responsibility of investments made in his name, attorney Robert Bauer said.
Oh, I see—so Obama didn't conform to Senate rules because wanted to be
more ethical about his stocks. That must be why he started pushing for federal money for avian flu treatments just weeks after investing in...a company that makes avian flu treatments.
Meanwhile,
TheStreet.com analyzes Obama's stock portfolio and finds that he invested in both his donors' companies at a time when they were about to receive significant infusions of cash from the federal government, much of it from no-bid contracts related to Homeland Security work. The website also reports that Obama has announced that he invested more than was originally reported—not less than $50k, but between $50 and $100k.
The plot thickens.
