As U.S. stock markets plummeted last September, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, sold more than $115,000 worth of stocks and mutual-fund shares and used much of the money to invest in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
The Illinois senator’s 2008 financial disclosure statement shows he sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696 on Sept. 19, the day after then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders in a closed meeting to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. The same day, he bought $43,562 worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B stock, the disclosure shows. Altogether, Durbin sold investments worth $116,000 in September. By Oct. 2, he had invested $98,046 in Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, the form shows.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index plunged 4.7 percent last Sept. 15 after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bank of America Corp.’s government-engineered takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. By the end of October, the index had fallen 22.6 percent.
“Durbin was doing what a lot of other people were doing, taking a look at their savings” and seeing it “start to tank and trying to preserve some level of wealth by getting out of the market,” said his spokesman, Joe Shoemaker.
Shoemaker said Durbin didn’t capitalize on anything Paulson and Bernanke told congressional leaders at the Sept. 18 meeting.
Whatever information Paulson gave lawmakers wasn’t secret or classified and was disclosed publicly the next day, Shoemaker said.
If he used insider information then he should be prosecuted. If he, as millions of others last fall, sold some stock on the news that the world was going to hell, then so what.
As I recall, members of Congress put their investment folios into blind trusts. That way they can’t be accused of using insider information. Of course the trusts aren’t as blind in some, like Ted Stevens and “Duke” Cunningham’s cases but what the hell.
If they couldn’t get Hillary for commodities trading, making 100,000 on a $1,000 investment, I don’t think they’ll find anything here.
# 20 Cursor_ said, “Again another example that there is absolutely no difference between the two parties besides one has stripe and one has spots.”
Yep, you got that right.
Is it a blind trust when you put bundles of money in your freezer? I’m just asking?
#24, Cap’n,
It depends upon if your dog was trained to help you navigate.
If I’m not mistaken, Birkshire-Hathaway went down in value significantly. So did he buy high to keep low?
I don’t get it. Inside trading is when you act on information about a specific company.
How the hell can dumping a bunch of *mutual funds* — because it’s clear to you that the market is screwed — be considered abusing privileged information?
Surprise, Surprise, He is from Illinois.Must have learned from the best.
Durbin’s one of the good guys.
For example, a couple of weeks ago, he made a public statement saying the Congress had been captured by the banks (financial industry). I was glad to hear a Senator have the courage to publicly state this and I wondered how the banks would retaliate.
To me, it looks like the banks may be stoking up the spin machine to go after him.
He is well-respected in his state for many decades of good service to the state of Illinois. As I said, he is one of the good guys. I doubt this story will hold water.
I’d say it shows he’s a poor money manager. He’d been money ahead if he had just gotten out the market and put his money in a checking account that doesn’t even pay interest.
Outside of Congress, this is called insider trading and is a crime.
Inside of Congress, and especially in Illinois, it’s just accepted corruption as usual.
Like Dodd and Obama getting financial aid from crooks to help buy their houses. Like special jobs opening up to pay politician family members hundreds of thousands. Jobs that appear only for “special” people… like Blago wanted for his wife in exchange for a Senate seat, like Michelle Obama got once her husband became a Senator (and the job disappeared when she left it).
Just the normal perks of power.
#29 Dianna, that’s a perceptive comment. I didn’t think much about the motivation for this attack, but I remember Durbin’s comments about the banks that you’ve noted. With banking regulatory reform on the horizon, and an unfriendly senator making noise, it certainly makes sense.
All of the funds Durbin sold have actually outperformed the Berkshire-B stock that he replaced them with, but that may not be enough to stop a good smear campaign.
#31, Sweeny,
Like Dodd and Obama getting financial aid from crooks to help buy their houses.
Maybe you could enlighten us as to which “crooks” Dodd and Obama got financing from to buy their houses?
Oh, that’s right they didn’t and you are just trolling. Again. Very tactful.