Paul Ryan Used Insider Information To Avoid 2008 Crash

While most of us working saps were left to the merciless invisible hands controlling our modest mutual fund accounts and helplessly watched our 401k take hits of 30 to 40 and even 50 percent in a matter of weeks following the economic crash of 2008, Paul Ryan used his position in the public trust to save himself. Hey, he probably figured what's insider information for if you can't apply it to yourself? And, who's going to notice?

The Richmonder Excerpt:
Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 18, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to disclose the coming economic meltdown and beg Congress to pass legislation to help collapsing banks.

Instead of doing anything to help, Ryan left the meeting and on that very same day Paul Ryan sold shares of stock he owned in several troubled banks and reinvested the proceeds in Goldman Sachs, a bank that the meeting had disclosed was not in trouble. This is the guy Republicans want one heartbeat away from the presidency? He seems more than a little shady to me.

Here's just one page of Ryan's financial disclosure form for 2008 with several transactions highlighted followed by more suspicious trades in the following months.

You can view more of Ryan's financial disclosure pages here.

H/T to the Richmonder

TV SPOT: Paul Ryan. Protecting Big Oil Profits. Lining His Own Pockets

The League of Conservation Voters has launched a tough new television ad in Rep. Paul Ryan's district calling him out for his recently exposed conflict of interest: supporting billions in subsidies for oil companies while he and his family profited from some of the same companies receiving those tax breaks. The television ad will run this week in the Milwaukee media market.

“Congressman Ryan pretends he’s a Boy Scout, but he appears to be using his position in Congress to increase his own personal wealth,” said Navin Nayak, LCV Senior Vice President of Campaigns. “Congressman Ryan should stop asking Wisconsin taxpayers to continue funding massive government handouts to the most profitable oil companies, especially when his family stands to benefit from some of those same companies’ earnings.”

At a recent town hall meeting Rep. Ryan claimed to support ending subsidies for oil companies, yet one week later he voted to continue billions in these taxpayer handouts. A recent Newsweek investigation also revealed that Rep. Ryan, his wife and father-in-law have made hundreds of thousands off the oil companies whose tax breaks he continues to support. He has also proposed a 2012 budget that gives oil companies billions more in special tax breaks.

Here's the Newsweek/Daily Beast expose.

Paul Ryan, Mine Owner, Oil and Gas Investor, Benefits From His Budget Plan

His budget plan will add value to already lucrative shares he holds in four family-run mining and land leasing businesses, The Political Environment reports.

Wall Street Cheat Sheet says:

Ryan’s father-in-law runs the companies that are currently leasing land for mining and drilling to Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), Devon (NYSE:DVN), XTO Energy, and a subsidiary of ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM). Ryan’s stake in these companies immediately poses a conflict of interest, especially when Ryan is lining his pockets with big oil money while expecting senior citizens, children, and the disabled to endure cuts to already underfunded programs.

Of course, Ryan’s office says he hadn’t even considered his own interests when drawing up the budget plan, overlooking the $117,000 the properties earned him and his wife just last year, as well as the $60,000 from the year before that. According to Ryan’s financial disclosure, he has assets worth somewhere between $590,000 and $2.5 million, and he owns minority stakes in four of his wife’s family companies, including Ava O Limited Company, which holds mining and mineral rights, and Little Land Company, which is an oil and gas corporation.

Of course.
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