"Why Is Bernie Sanders Invested On Wall Street?" Sanders's Investments = Profits From The "Enemy"

by educatordcm

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Monday, Apr. 04, 2016 Monday, Apr. 04, 2016 at 1:03:11pm PDT

Why is Bernie Making Money Off Of Wall Street, Big Pharma, and Fracking?

I found this article on “Garnet News” interesting. Written by Marcus Johnson for a website that is “Today’s News Powered by Women”, I took time to look through the website and it is clearly a left-leaning progressive website. In a fascinating article, the writer analyzes Bernie’s assets that he reported in 2014. I was surprised by quite a bit of the information. Here is the full read:

garnetnews.com/…

Here are the highlights that stood out to me:

With such an anti-Wall Street platform, one would think that Sanders didn’t own any stock at all. But not only does Sanders own stock, he actually is invested in several industries that he’s heavily criticized.

I found that statement to be really compelling. Looking directly in his investments… the hypocrisy immediately jumps out at the reader.

Big Banks

One of Sanders’ most well-known policies is his push to break up the big banks. Sanders has given America’s biggest banks the notorious “too big to fail” label, and he has pushed the idea that their profits are coming at the expense of American workers. I was surprised, then, to find that Sanders himself owned funds with holdings in some of America’s biggest banking institutions, including JP Morgan & Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, US Bancorp, Wells Fargo, and Bank United. Bank United is particularly interesting, seeing as the federal government actually had to seize the bank in 2009 in part because “it was critically undercapitalized and in an unsafe condition to conduct business.”

And it’s not just BIG BANKS he has holdings in… he is also earning money from BIG PHARMA.

Big Pharma

Bernie Sanders has made attacking Big Pharma and their drug price hikes a regular part of his campaign speeches. Last fall, Sanders heavily criticized Turing Pharma and its massive price hike of the drug Daraprim, which is used to treat parasitic infections.

What we didn’t know at the time is that Sanders is invested in and profiting from several pharmaceutical companies that have made major price hikes recently.

And finally I was taken aback that he has holdings that profit from companies that are involved with FRACKING. No really…. fracking.

Fracking

Diamondback Energy is a top holding in the Valic Company II Mid Cap fund, so I looked them up. They are a fracking company based in Texas:

Diamondback Energy, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas. Diamondback’s growth strategy is focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, long-life, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the major oil producing Permian Basin in West Texas. The Company’s operations are directed primarily at the large acreage areas of the Wolfberry Trend.

It’s a lot of information to process… but it’s important

It seems to me that if someone is going to frame their entire campaign around attacking these three industries they should make sure none of their investments include companies from these three industries. In my own valic account I am able to state which parts of the investment plan i am willing to put money in,.. if the company does not reflect my political or moral view point I tell my rep not to put money in any of those companies. Why hasn’t Bernie done the same? I would like to see more information to make sure what he is saying is authentic. Transparency here is essential. The author sums it up beautifully:

A full release of his tax returns and the assets within could clarify some of his holdings and bring more light to the other stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement accounts, or real estate holdings that Sanders owns.

Take some time to read the article and see the companies his money is invested in. I look forward to this being clarified further when Bernie does a complete release of his tax returns. Surely that will be coming soon. Here is another link to the article:

garnetnews.com/...