JLT is Petty, Negative and Uninspired
That pretty much describes Jill Long Thompson’s performance last night in the final gubernatorial debate of this election cycle. Think that’s me just being partisan? Guess again.
Matt Tully writes in his column today:
With a petty performance, Democrat Jill Long Thompson spoiled what could have been an insightful gubernatorial debate Tuesday evening.
The two other candidates in the debate, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and Libertarian Andrew Horning, actually provided plenty of insight and even a touch of introspection as they answered questions intended to give voters a glimpse into their leadership styles. But Long Thompson repeatedly used her response time to take out-of-place potshots at Daniels.
Tully went on to give positive performances of Governor Daniels (though noting one miscue in a comeback of his own to a Long Thompson attack that Tully also deemed petty) and Andy Horning, calling their portions of the debate insightful.
But one thing that came out of JLT’s attacks were out of the blue comments about investments of the state’s money in the stock market, specifically Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, claiming we’ve lost millions (or as one uninformed, supposedly objective commenter put it, “billions”). As I mentioned on Abdul this morning, the Governor isn’t responsible for how our state’s money is invested. And as Abdul rightly noted, only the State Treasurer can direct where the state’s money does go when it’s invested.
Bill Ruthhart, in his column, notes:
(Read more after the leap)
Long Thompson, a Democrat running to unseat Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, criticized the state for investing 22 percent of money in the state’s Major Moves fund in mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae while also investing money in what she termed “junk bonds.”
Mourdock countered that his office does, in fact, have an investment policy for the more than $3 billion in proceeds from the lease of the Indiana Toll Road. In addition, Mourdock said the state statute that authorized the lease prohibited the state from investing in stocks, adding that the Major Moves fund has produced more than 4 percent in returns to date.
Investing in Fannie May and Freddie Mac’s mortgage-backed securities was the next safest investment the state could make aside from buying U.S. Treasury bonds, Mourdock said, because the two mortgage-giants were government-sponsored entities. In September, the federal government took control of the two companies, which Mourdock said further proves the safety of investing money in their mortgage-backed securities.
“With the exception of treasuries, that is the safest investment anyone can ever buy,” Mourdock said of the state’s holdings in Fannie May and Freddie Mac.
“We are doing very well with the entire portfolio, thank you very much. The implied risk by using terms like junk bonds and trying to tie that to Freddie and Fannie I find rather disingenuous.”
What’s more, Long Thompson apparently doesn’t get understand exactly how Indiana’s government works by claiming the Governor should tell Mourdock exactly how to invest…which by the way is unconstitutional:
Long Thompson maintained Daniels should be held accountable for the investments, which she insisted were “questionable.” She also said Daniels should have taken responsibility and directed the state’s treasurer how to invest the money.
Mourdock said that’s not possible, adding that if Long Thompson would want to do so as governor “she would have to re-write the state’s constitution,” which he said strictly places the responsibility for how the state’s money is invested with the elected treasurer.
JLT is Petty indeed. Petty, negative and uninspiring till the very end.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
As a taxpayer, Republican and a Registered Investment Advisor I take severe exception to the unfounded, ignorant comments of Jill Long-Thompson in regard to the investment of state funds administered by Richard Mourdock. As a disclosure, I do not handle any state funds nor do I wish to manage those funds. That being said, an independent, knowledgeable person would have to marvel at the excellent job that Treasurer Richard Mourdock has done in the management of our state’s financial resources. In a time of unprecedented financial peril, Mourdock has delivered great and safe returns on our investment portfolio. Perhaps we should give the Democrat Long-Thompson some slack on this issue since the state had very little financial resources to manage during the bankrupt days of Democratic Administration. I marvel at the gall to attack Governor Daniels on every attempt he has made to rein in spending, build reserves, creatively fund our transportation program and restore Indiana to fiscal health and then criticize the Governor for how the reserves are managed. It is unfortunate that in all the time JLT spent acquiring her MBA and PhD, she failed to acquire the one thing that might actually have benefited her; the knowledge to know when to shut up when you don’t know what you are talking about.