Cross posted from BlueNC
h/t The Hill Briefing Room Blog
Republican Senator Richard Burr admitted Monday night to instructing his wife to withdraw the maximum amount she could from their bank accounts in successive nights the week the financial crisis began. As a member of the Senate he acted on information that wasn't available to the general pubic. He knew things we did not and he took action to protect his personal finances while citizens of North Carolina trusted he was acting in our best interest.
Burr was speaking to a group of constituents and his admission was made in the form of an anecdote told to presumably illustrate how he panicked at the onset of the economic crisis.
From BlueRidgeNow.com
Taking the audience inside some of the pivotal events, Burr recalled Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson relating a call from the CEO of a company with business operations in all 50 states. The company planned to move money around to meet its payroll obligation.
“On Wednesday morning of that week, after they had given the transfer notice to the bank, the Chicago bank called and said, ‘We didn’t transfer the money. There is no money being transferred. There is no money that will transfer from a bank to a bank anywhere in the United States, and likely there is no money that will transfer from a bank to a bank anywhere in the world,’” Burr said.
:::
“On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.”
Nice, Senator Burr. Always looking out for #1, eh? We'll remember that in 2010.
Hey....just think, if you'd used that information to unload any stocks...well...you know.