Art offers his perspective as a movement progressive activist.
Ever put a fortune into a company and then not know it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pSkLw6UvpaM
In the CNN Thursday debate, Mitt Romney claimed he had no idea of his investment involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When confronted by Newt Gingrich over the fact that Romney poured 100s of thousands into a mutual fund that held Freddie and Fannie debt notes, among other government entities, Romney replied that he had no knowledge, because his money is in a blind trust.
Ah, but is that accurate?
From the Boston Globe:
On his financial disclosure statement filed last month, Romney reported owning between $250,001 and $500,000 in a mutual fund that invests in debt notes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, among other government entities. Over the previous year, he had reported earning between $15,001 and $50,000 in interest from those investments.
And unlike most of Romney’s financial holdings, which are held in a blind trust that is overseen by a trustee and not known to Romney, this particular investment was among those that would have been known to Romney.
Gingrich is about to go up with a brutal ad deconstructing the situation. Script:
Governor Mike Huckabee:
“If a man’s dishonest to get a job, he’ll be dishonest on the job.”
Voice-over:
“What kind of man would mislead, distort and deceive just to win an election?”
“This man would: Mitt Romney.”
“Romney said he has always voted Republican when he had the opportunity.”
“But in the 1992 Massachusetts Primary Romney had the chance to vote for George H.W. Bush or Pat Buchanan, but he voted for a liberal Democrat instead.”
Romney said his investments in Fannie and Freddie were in a blind trust.
But, as reported in the National Journal, Romney earned tens of thousands of dollars from investments NOT in a blind trust… …
Mike Huckabee has responded to news of the Gingrich ad.
The Miami Herald also has fact checked and it turns out Romney has folks who worked as consultants and lobbyists for the mortgage giants on his campaign team right now:
The Associated Press and Daily Caller report that top Romney advisers and surrogates were paid lobbyists and consultants for Freddie Mac and other interests in the thick of the housing crisis.
Among the consultant-lobbyists on Romney’s team: Former Rep. Susan Molinari and Vin Weber.
Mitt Romney’s campaign has responded to the allegation made by Gingrich. From the Boston Globe, the paper of record on all things Mitt:
The trustee who manages Romney’s money said those investments were made through a charitable trust “operated on a totally blind basis’’ that Romney did not control. He also said that the investment related to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, quasi-public agencies that many conservatives blame for the housing crisis, has been sold.
“This investment, which has been sold, was not known to Governor Romney,’’ Brad Malt said in a statement. Although Romney’s financial disclosure forms do not list it as such, Malt said the fund was held within a charitable trust and has been managed “on a totally blind basis since 2002.’’
Mitt Romney in 1994: “The blind trust is an age old ruse.” See the video below from BuzzFeed.
Oh Mitt-a man of mannnnny things
1. Blind trusts are not blind. It’s 10 :00 P.M. , does Mitt Romney know where his money is? Of course he does , it’s his money silly.
2. Who cares? This is just a distraction , the important issue here is what the man represents , vulture capitalism. It has nothing to do with patriotism, love of country, sense of place, sense of responsibility for the greater good ; rather , it represents an addiction , an addiction to money for money’s sake. Look at these people , these super rich ; what do they do with all their money , they use it to make more money. The more they have the cheaper they get ; billions and billions just sitting around benefiting no one. This is the problem , the disease Reagan and Bush infected the country with. You keep hearing the old refrain about Americans not hating the rich ; but the rich of today are not the rich of yesteryear. Those people knew what to use money for , they had a sense of purpose , a sense of country , a vision of the future. The wealthy of today are just a bunch of Gordon Gecko’s and Romney is just one of them.
3. Most frightening is the idea that people must be convinced of this. How could any educated person not realize that the rich today are truly disgusting people ; they use the tax laws as an excuse for their unrelenting greed ( morals and ethics need not apply ) . This we have Harvard to thank for. The MBA created business people with no interest in anything but the self. Why bother with things like the humanities when you could just focus on making money. That so many of our politicians are products of Harvard should give educated voter something to ponder in this age of slash and burn economics.
Obama’s political luck continues, with the Mitt and Gingrich show. With supporting roles by Paul and Santorum.
In Romney’s defense, he only earned $15k – $50k yearly from that investment. I mean, who keeps track of pocket change?