Blackwell Invested $9500+ in Diebold
The Associated Press reports:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell revealed Monday he accidentally invested in shares of voting-machine manufacturer Diebold Inc. last year, a period when he was sued by other manufacturers over contracts that Diebold was up for.
In a required ethics filing, Blackwell, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said his investments are directed by an accountant and financial adviser without his knowledge or help, "similar to a blind trust."
He said a manager of his investments account at Credit Suisse First Boston bought 178 shares of Diebold stock at $53.67 per share in January 2005.
Blackwell said the manager did not follow instructions to avoid such investments.
He said 95 shares were later sold at a loss but he still held 83 shares until discovering them and liquidating them Monday, also at a loss.
He discovered them while reviewing his 2005 investments to prepare for Monday's filing with the Ohio Ethics Commission, a form required of all statewide candidates.
"While I was unaware of this stock in my portfolio, its mere presence may be viewed as a conflict and is therefore not acceptable," Blackwell said in a letter dated Monday included in his filing.
And yes, this is the same Diebold:
The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
I think anyone, especially someone involved in politics, should be aware of the fact that they own stock in such a controversial company. The kicker for me is the fact that it took him over a year to realize that he even owned the stock. This tells me that, at best, this is a case of severe negligience. How can someone who can't keep track of their own investments claim to be capable of running a state? This is yet another example of good old-fashioned Republican incompetence.
AP was kind enough to include a brief Democratic response to this news:
"If he can't manage to know what's in his checkbook, why would the people of Ohio want to trust this man with the state's checkbook?" said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party.
Brian got it right. Ken Blackwell clearly cannot be trusted.
Update: Commenter KingOneEye on My Daily Kos Diary raised some worthwhile questions:
I don't know what the laws are in Ohio regarding public officials investments, but if they are required to have blind trusts, then how did he ever find out about the Diebold stock? If blind trusts are not required, then how did the stock ever get purchased in the first place?
As far as I can tell, according to Ohio Ethics Law, it does not specify that they are required to have blind trusts. The only requirement regarding investments seems to be that anything over $1000 must be reported.
