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Tithe a War Profiteer Today!

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by One Citizen

"Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) to shed tainted money: $6,000 in funds from shamed GOP congressman will go to YWCA" (attribution)

Although they are starting to catch on, the media has apparently never found it remarkable that House Representative's husband Charles L. Capito, Jr., is First Vice President and a Senior Investments Manager for Salomon Smith Barney. (source) So the media may never get around to the questionable link between hubby Charles' unique position and the fact that his Congress-spouse received tainted money from war contractors in the first place.

Given his position, how could Ms. Capito have accepted any war contractor money in the first place? Didn't the House used to have something called an ethics committee? Not any longer, at least not one that functions.  But why is she "donating" that tainted money to her local YWCA now? Perhaps she's paranoid. Because if the mainstream media ever took the time to really analyze the Capitos stock investments, they might just find that since she voted for the war, not only has they done quite well for themselves in defense industry holdings, they might also figure out why Salomon Smith Barney's investments have fared particularly well while she's held the GOP line to block all Congressional oversight of Bush's Iraq war budget.

Up until now, mainstream media has never come even close to questioning how hubby Charles' "special access" to insider info about war contracts through his wife's position has enabled him to guide Saloman Smith Barney/CitiCorp's investments in particular holdings of their diverse funds. Will some investigative reporter finally start sniffing around the smoking weapons contracts? How about the APPEARANCE of insider trading on the Capito's military/industrial holdings?  Could Pentagon pillow talk really be padding the pair's portfolio?  Isn't it at least a little unsavory that she's continually voted to place Americans in harm's way by staunchly supporting Bush's Iraqmire adventure while simultaneously blocking ovesight of Iraq defense contracts?

At first glance, analyzing their investment portfolio appears to be a bit daunting, but in this case all a curious investigator would have to do is track the Smith Barney funds that yielded the greatest "Dividends/ Capital Gains" for her spouse before and during the Iraq invasion starting with their the filings found here and then look at Salomon Smith-Barney's  shift of their investment funds towards weapons makers during that time.

Shifting assets within Smith Barney's International Fund during that period may be the most telling aspect of why she votes the way she does.

It may also be notable that as an "Investments Manager" spouse Charles has reportedly won company awards for his performance, but we somehow never hear a thing about them in the local news.

If there were any justice in the world, Randall "Duke" Cunningham and of all his cold-blooded war profiteering inside-trading friends would be required to get some CIA-style water board rehabilitation therapy down in "Club Gitmo" (as Rush Limbaugh jokingly tags Guantanamo Bay) for undercutting our troops' safety. This is much more serious than Martha Stewart selling stocks to avoid some losses. Influence peddling has become a hallmark of the modern GOP. Stealing defense funds undermines our defenses and insider trading on war is a pernicious form of profiteering. Power brokering on the blood of our fallen soldiers in unforgiveable. Unfortunately, unless the media starts asking the right questions (or asks the hard questions of the right), war profiteers will continue to do quite well for themselves while American troops will remain stuck endlessly fighting the growing insurgency without proper battle gear.

So are we destined to "stay the course" as long as Wall Street insiders like the Cunninghams and the Capitos remain in the position of supporting Bush's war while blocking proper oversight of defense contracts?

And, finally, is the Young Women's Christian Association of Charleston, WV really so hard up that they'll accept Shelley Moore Capito's blood money"

Stay tuned...

One Citizen
Charleston, WV

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