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.”
There you have it folks. Dump your dollars and invest in Old Europe. Your second in command (first?) has lead the way and it’s your patriotic duty to follow. This might explain his actions.
The Bush-Cheney team has racked up another $3 trillion in debt in just 6 years. The US national debt now stands at $8.4 trillion dollars while the trade deficit has ballooned to $800 billion nearly 7% of GDP.
I love fiscally conservative Republicans.
What???…Cheney is a two faced scum bag? No…..say it ain’t so!
Didn’t Martha Stewart go to jail for something like this?
Didn’t Pete Rose get banned from baseball for this? At least Pete bet on his team to WIN sometimes.
Another hack thread is the best you can do?
You lose. Have a nice day.
I’d like to correct your “fiscally conservative Republicans” quote. True Republicans are fiscally conservative.
Neocons are the real enemy. The sooner the republican party realizes it, the better.
#3. How’s the view from up your posterior, James? Is it a comfortable hiding place?
3,
Wow. So insightful! Must add that comment to my memoirs.
Have you ever heard of the analogy of the gardeners dog? Well, you’re it.
It’s amazing. Every time I hear about some sort of crazy bonehead move by the Bush Administration, I hear a few months later about how at least one of them is making a fortune off it. This time I though “how could a huge deficit and weak economy possibly make anyone rich?” Well I guess the answer is that as long as you’re not invested in our economy, then you’re getting comparatively rich all the time.
And for the record… Pete Rose said he always bet on his own team. đ
Since Nancy has taken over the house and The left is ready to surrender to the terrorist it probably makes sense to invest where governments are more conservative. While the left here embraces communism in the old world they know the damage it has done.
Doesn’t James Hill sometimes remind you of Statler & Waldorf from the muppet show? Only shows up to heckle everyone, rarely contributing anything useful… Only more troll-like and less funny?
Just seeing a distinct similarity…that’s all.
Jamie (aka Slightly-Mad Science)
Okay, so how many financially-affluent people do you know that actually manage their multi-million dollar assets? Do you really believe that Cheney has the time as Vice President to manage his money? These decisions are probably made by some financial firm assigned to his account.
Sure, it’s egg on his face, but let’s be real… If you were the investment manager assigned to his account, would you REALLY want to monkey with $25 million improperly? Or would you rather go with the safer bets? The last person you want to piss off is someone as high up as Cheney. He might invite you out hunting…
# 13 Sure. The only problem: I wish the safer bet was here, at home, where Dick has been in charge for the last 7 years. Like you said, egg on his face. Too bad, the little guy will have to eat it.
12 – Cheney, Cheny’s agent. Potato, potahto.
Guys, When these guys get elected to the big spots. All their assets get turned over to people they have no control over. They lose their ability to say where and when money is moved around. So apparently his people are into foreign markets.
15 You are exactly right. It is called a BLIND TRUST for a reason.
I’m confused – I thought the President and Vice President both put their finances into a blind trust during their administration to prevent them from gaining fiscally? Am I wrong?
#12 – Do you really believe that Cheney has the time as Vice President to manage his money?
Yes…
Because I’m pretty sure he isn’t really focusing on running the country.
I absolutely believe that the BushCo’s “missteps” with the American economy are not accidental, nor examples of ineptness, but a deliberate strategy of steering the U.S. economy in a known direction that they are in a unique position to profit from. How else can you explain the Bush family buying up huge tracts of land in Paraguay, creating a family compound there? You can be sure that in 10-20 years, when the U.S. is essentially wiped out financially and in a “Mad Max” state, Bush and his cronies will be lighting up cigars with 100-Euro notes in safe havens around the world.
#17. While I hate to pass up a chance to beat up on Dick “last throes” Cheney, I think you are right.
Neither Bush nor Cheney are controlling their investments.
20 – So you’re saying Dick never called someone up and said “We’re gonna cancel the M3 6-month-out reports because we’re gonna yank the rug out from under foreign investors by tanking the dollar and we don’t want the public to know ahead of time.” Like he doesn’t even know who’s in charge of his blind trust, or in charge of the institution entrusted with his blind trust. And whoever it is lacks the knowledge to figure out when the dollar is being tanked, there are better currencies for parking wealth.
Oh. Well that’s okay, then.
Cheney’s assets are in a blind trust. He has little or nothing to do with actual management other than look at bottom line statements.
There are better things to hate him for.
#21. So you are saying he did? Got any proof? #22. works for me
19.Rob- I hate to subscribe to your conspiracy theory, but if you look at these things, (like the Bush interest in S America) The American Union etc. I have to agree with you. Another misstep I believe on purpose : The Iraq War.
Reading the comments on this subject reveals the terrible ingorance of the posters, and the gullibility of those who would believe the lies generated from Karl Roves office.
I haven’t read any of the comments on this topic yet. But, as to the original post, while Cheney is certainly a scumbucket of monumental proportions, I have to ask what percentage of his portfolio we’re talking about.
Yes, he’s an evil despicable human being. But, if this represents a fairly normal percentage of his portfolio in foreign investments, it would just mean that he’s following standards for a balanced portfolio.
OK, I’m done doing my best to defend a man I hate. Time to go toss my cookies and wash my hands.
@ #26: It’s impossible to be precise because the disclosure form lists holdings within ranges. Why this is allowed I do not know.
Anyway, the Cheneys’ total assets could be as high as $94.6 million. Between $13-40 million are in three domestic funds that specifically hedge against inflation. Another $10-25 million is in a European bond fund, which indicates he (or his personal financial advisor) is counting on a steadily weakening dollar … which is another way of saying “inflation”. The majority of the rest is probably in property.
So anywhere from 1/4 to 2/3 of Cheney’s rather sizable estate is wrapped up in investments designed to protect against the most feared aspects of the Bush economic plan – a depreciating dollar/inflationary prices environment. Not what you would expect if either Cheney OR his professional financial advisors believed the next decade or so was looking good for America.
I’m confused. You say he’s investing in Europe, but they list tens of millions being invested in the US, and in city infrastructure no less.
23 – I’m questioning the likelihood of this particular scumbag not knowing who is handling his blind trust. Anything after that would be pure speculation based on his character (last I heard, he was still being paid by Halliburton, for example). If you believe he wouldn’t manipulate who knew what, to his own advantage, well, I have no evidence you’re wrong. If he wouldn’t even know what institution handles his blind trust, that’s another matter, and I don’t know the answer to that.
22 – Actually, I don’t hate him for that. I just question the belief that he wouldn’t manipulate the system or be in touch at high levels with whatever institution does manage the blind trust. Basically, I just don’t trust the man or anything he or his advisors say. In my mind he’ll always be the guy who told the corner cop, “It wasn’t me, I wan’t anywhere near the place, and anyway it was all just a terrible misunderstanding.”
This thread is ridiculous.
1) He can’t invest in equities, because investing in particular companies would be a conflict of interest. That leave bonds as his other major asset class
2) He is nearing retirement, so it makes sense to invest in conservative investments like bonds.
3) It’s in a blind trust, so he isn’t making the decision anyway.
4) Most sound financial plans recommend an asset allocation that includes both domestic and foreign assets. Why not benefit from growth overseas as well as at home? It’s called DIVERSIFICATION. And this is the prudent decision of his financial advisor.
5) Many foreign funds actually hedge against currency risk. Even highly regulated bond mutual funds and so forth are allowed to hold a small percentage of derivatives to hedge against currency fluctuation, so they are a pure play on the overseas asset, instead of on the currency changes. THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW if he will benefit from a falling dollar based on the descriptions.
6) The dollar is sinking because we buy so much stuff from overseas, like Toyotas and electronics and clothes and practically everything. WE CREATE THE SINKING DOLLAR. Domestic manufacturing has actually made a comeback in the last couple of years, so the trade deficit and downward pressure on the dollar are not as bad as they otherwise would be. The government has very little control over any of this.
I am angry the Bush Admin has fucked up the war, the deficit and debt, and many other things. But to think they could or would set out to fuck things up like this on purpose is ludicrous. With modern economies and the fickleness of global consumers, they’d be just as likely to get the opposite effect of what they intended. And that’s exactly what happened in Iraq.
Bush’s legacy is going to be in tatters, and you’ve got his Dad breaking down in tears about what could have been, if it had been Jeb instead of G. W. You think they did that on purpose? The cynicism of those who hate Bush never ceases to amaze me.
30,
OK, I’ll bite.
T.C.M, let’s say that Cheney has nothing to do with this, an opinion I can easily agree with, as someone like him hires the best and forgets it unless he has particular interest (which can also then support the other side’s argument) in what they are doing. Doesn’t it bother you that the best financial advisers money can buy (if Cheney doesn’t have that with his money and connections, nobofdy has) are betting against the USA?  I must also point out to all those who voice protestations on a blind trust’s sober virginity, Cheney wouldn’t be the first to have demonstrated a violation of a blind trust.
#30,
He’s an effen Patriot, remember? He could have invested 100% in America. In US Savings Bonds, Municipal Bonds, or some other American government bond issue. Instead, all his money is invested here and there and some of it ends up in a situation like this.
If he didn’t know where his money was invested, he does now. If the money manager says he didn’t know who he was investing for, he is too stupid to run an account. There is no such thing as a blind trust account. The owner knows who runs it and the manager knows who it is for.
Whether it was done accidentally or on purpose, the result is still the same. Cheney looks bad. It looks like Cheney is in this for the money instead of his patriotic duty. And if you idiotic neo-cons want to think Cheney did right, you’re full of crap.