MONEY MACHINE GO "BURR" AS SENATOR DUMPED STOCKS AND TIPPED OFF HIS "SPECIAL FRIENDS"

Ever wonder what those special fundraising meals, where rich people pay thousands of dollars to dine with politicians, were all about? 

Well, apparently it's a two-way transaction, as the "donors" also get something pretty valuable in return -- namely bankable info from the inside track of government. 

This has become clear after totally innocent US Senator Richard Burr (Rep) was blamed for dumping up to $1.7 million of his own stock after receiving daily briefings on the seriousness of the coronavirus threat from government experts. Really, what's wrong with using a little of what you know to make some money?

As reported by Propublica: 

Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions.

As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.

A week after Burr’s sales, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since.

Anyway, not only did the Senator, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, continue making reassuring noises to the general public about the likely effects of the virus, but he also used his insider knowledge to tip off his "special" fat cat friends, who had paid through the nose to lunch with him.

According to the NPR report, Burr told attendees of the luncheon held at the Capitol Hill Club: “There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history ... It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.”

He warned that companies might have to curtail their employees’ travel, that schools could close and that the military might be mobilized to compensate for overwhelmed hospitals.

The luncheon was organized by the Tar Heel Circle, a club for businesses and organizations in North Carolina that are charged up to $10,000 for membership and are promised “interaction with top leaders and staff from Congress, the administration, and the private sector.”

Burr’s public comments had been considerably less dire. In a Feb. 7 op-ed that he co-authored with another senator, he assured the public that “the United States today is better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus.” He wrote, “No matter the outbreak or threat, Congress and the federal government have been vigilant in identifying gaps in its readiness efforts and improving its response capabilities.”

Yes, U.S. politics is strictly pay-to-play -- and at every single level. The more you pay in the more you get out. You weren't naive enough to think it worked any other way, did you?

Certainly adds a new twist on the "money printer go BURR" meme.

The question now is which other Senators and Congresspeople took full advantage of coronavirus "special briefings" to short the market.

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