More Edwards’ Hypocrisy
Democratic presidential contender John Edwards has investing ties to subprime lenders who are foreclosing on victims of Katrina, according to a report published Friday.
The Wall Street Journal said there are 34 homes in New Orleans that face foreclosure from the subprime unit of Fortress Investment Group. Edwards has about $16 million in Fortress (Charts), a hedge fund and private equity manager, the newspaper said.
Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, has been a vocal critic of subprime lenders and told the Journal that he would assist homeowners in New Orleans who face foreclosure from businesses linked to Fortress or who have already lost their homes.
“I intend to help these people,” he told the newspaper. The report also said he would divest any Fortress funds in his portfolio that are invested in subprime lenders that filed the foreclosures. “I will not have my family’s money invested in these firms,” the Journal quoted him as saying.
I’m pretty annoyed at this “divestment” scam. So, you sell your holdings for market value, probably making a profit. Or you take a small loss (or less of a profit) for selling them quickly. You have not changed anything. You’ve just exchanged $16 million in holdings for $16 million in cash. What has this accomplished?
Supposedly doing this retroactively undoes Edwards’ insufferable hypocrisy.
Whatev’s. If he wants to atone, instead of just cashing out his $16 million, he should give it all to the people whose homes he’s trying to take from them.
I do not know about you, but I am getting a bit tired of Edwards’ hypocrisy. I defended him in the past, with his $400 haircut, but the more I read about him, the I get the feeling that he is just a hypocritical populist. He is trying to persuade John Doe that he is just like him, that there is class battle or war even going on in America and that he is on the side of the poor (masses), but the more journalists dig, the more proof they find that the opposite is true.
Besides, there is not a class war going on at all. Equality, as meant in the US Constitution, stands for equality in God’s eyes, and equality for the law. Not equality of condition. It is time that Edwards and his followers understand this.
H/t reader Mike Corbin, cross posted at The Gazette.
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10 Responses to “More Edwards’ Hypocrisy”
Please forgive me if this sounds a little harsh. I’m a regular reader but don’t contribute much to the conversation generally.
I’d like to have a definition of what exactly, in honest detail, is “equality in God’s eyes.” But more importantly I’d be interested in anyone’s take on what Christianity’s role is on “equality,” (if indeed the Constitution should be interpreted in light of God’s design) or if it means the same as “social justice” and if so, how that might be interepreted and implemented.
I am no longer a “believer,” and in the light of the question of God’s contribution to the US Consitution, would suggest “God on Trial” by Peter Irons. However, I do enjoy theological writings and love Marcus Borg’s ideas of what Jesus was about: compassion, social justice, and the breaking-down of unjust power structures that divide people.
If someone doesn’t think there is a problem of “classes” in America, visit your local “Caring Place” or equivalent, or homeless shelter, and talk to some of these folks directly. Read “Nickled and Dimed” if it’s too far to the local shelter.
“Divestment” seems to be in the paper a lot recently, this morning’s news about Romney’s “blind funds” supporting stem-cell research companies. Hypocritical? None of the politicians have much “moral imperative” in my view, it’s only when they begin to claim some moral or ethical superiority that my voting pen begins to shake. It’s what I love about being an independent, and it’s why I love this political blog site.
Thank you for your blog posts and for being willing to contribute and listen.
While I see Michael’s point, there is something he is missing. New Orleans historically has had a lot of residents who are and were not well-off. That being the case, it should not be a surprise that many had “those home loans given to borrowers with the weakest credit records” (a direct quote from the CNN article quoted above). The city is still a disaster area: federal aid has been slow; lawsuits regarding insurance settlements are still — still! — underway; even people who want to live and work there have a hard time doing so. That makes life hard for anyone, let alone someone who needed a sub-prime loan in the first place. And considering the condition of their homes, refinancing may not be an option due to lack of collateral.
Due to the complexity of the markets and the ubiquity of mortgage backed securities, lots of people have investments in this area that they may or may not be aware of. And due to those same issues, good luck completely divesting of them and still having an investment portfolio that does not involve cash stuffed in one’s mattress.
I am willing to give Mr. Edwards the benefit of the doubt for a little while while he shows us what he means by “I intend to help these people.â€
Michael,
The reason the investment markets of the U.S., Europe and Asia have been going bananas lately is because of how pervasive investment in financial institutions that have become involved in one way or another in sub-prime loans has become. They’ve been packaged, re-sold, converted into more general investment funds and then sold to everybody and their brothers in the financial world. If Ace has a 401K he’s probably invested in it.
You also say that
I’m sorry but that is one of the most ridiculous statements I’ve seen you make on American politics. Do you really think that a viable representative republic can thrive when the middle class is shrinking, many of the people still in it fear for their financial security and the upper economic classes deny that there is any kind of problem at all because the GDP is good and the average numbers are looking OK?
Check out how successful Venezuela has been with the model that has a small hyper-wealthy class, a so-so middle class and lots of people in poverty. Oh, yeah. Some demagogue named Hugo Chavez came along and lied about lots of things but told the truth about the relations between the upper and lower classes. And because of that people who had lots of justifiable resentment made the terrible error of being willing to give him far too much power.
While I don’t think we will go that far to pretend that everything’s just fine for everyone in the United States economically so long as they aren’t lazy bums will only go so far.
Romney has a similar problem with his blind trust investments. The global economy and complex investment structures are blurring the ability of nations, as well as individuals, to follow the moral border lines, like we could in the past.
I see that as a danger, but it’s a separate topic.
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Re this statement “Besides, there is not a class war going on at all.” , it made me look around for the ghost of Marie Antoinette and her ‘let them eat cake’ attitude.
When policies benefit one class to the detriment of another, there is a class war going on, especially when upward mobility is impacted.
Whether Edwards can cure what ails the economic fortunes of so many Americans, remains very doubtful. However, he does the one thing absolulety essential if we are to avoid an even bigger backlash to current economic mechanisms than the rising protectionist sentiments of today, he highlights what needs to be fixed.
The contrary mode of denying that we have serious problems is the best way to ensure rash and inapproptiate adjustments.
New Orleans symbolizes the failures of our economy. The money spent so far, was not community specific, and much likfe occupying Iraq without understanding how Iraq could function, a lot of dollars have been wasted without understanding how New Orleans could function.
The heart of the community, the working poor home owners, have not been served, for example, and rubble has replaced the tidy homes of yore.
This economic class of people was pushed aside, in favor of another, the developers and investors.
Had there been no class war, the two could have reached solutions beneficial to both.
The dude with white hair – A Dood Tube Surge…
Contrast with another Democratic Senator running for president who talks a good game empathizing with “The People” struggling to keep their homes, but was invested in a Hedge Fund whose portfolio companies created these sub-prime loans and later fore…
[...] More Edwards HypocrisyThe Moderate Voice – That makes life hard for anyone, let alone someone who needed a sub-prime loan in the first place. And considering the If Ace has a 401K he s probably invested in it. You also say that Besides, there is not a class war going on at all [...]
[...] More Edwards HypocrisyThe Moderate Voice – That makes life hard for anyone, let alone someone who needed a sub-prime loan in the first place. And considering the If Ace has a 401K he s probably invested in it. You also say that Besides, there is not a class war going on at all [...]
[...] More Edwards HypocrisyThe Moderate Voice – That makes life hard for anyone, let alone someone who needed a sub-prime loan in the first place. And considering the If Ace has a 401K he s probably invested in it. You also say that Besides, there is not a class war going on at all [...]
[...] More Edwards’ HypocrisyThe Moderate Voice – That makes life hard for anyone, let alone someone who needed a sub-prime loan in the first place. And considering the condition of their homes, refinancing may not be an option due to lack of collateral. Due to the complexity of the markets and [...]
[...] The Moderate Voice – That makes life hard for anyone, let alone someone who needed a sub-prime loan in the first place. And considering the condition of their homes, refinancing may not be an option due to lack of collateral. Due to the complexity of the markets and Loan Info [...]