John Edwards Has $16 Million Piece Of Company Foreclosing On Subprime Mortgage Homes -- Including In Katrina-Ravaged New Orleans

There are two Americas -- and John Edwards is fighting as hard as he can to keep it that way. Gotta keep the riff-raff down, you know.

God Bless 'im.

Democratic presidential contender John Edwards has investing ties to subprime lenders who are foreclosing on victims of Katrina, according to a report published Friday.

The Wall Street Journal said there are 34 homes in New Orleans that face foreclosure from the subprime unit of Fortress Investment Group. Edwards has about $16 million in Fortress (Charts), a hedge fund and private equity manager, the newspaper said.

Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, has been a vocal critic of subprime lenders and told the Journal that he would assist homeowners in New Orleans who face foreclosure from businesses linked to Fortress or who have already lost their homes.

"I intend to help these people," he told the newspaper. The report also said he would divest any Fortress funds in his portfolio that are invested in subprime lenders that filed the foreclosures. "I will not have my family's money invested in these firms," the Journal quoted him as saying.

I'm pretty annoyed at this "divestment" scam. So, you sell your holdings for market value, probably making a profit. Or you take a small loss (or less of a profit) for selling them quickly. You have not changed anything. You've just exchanged $16 million in holdings for $16 million in cash. What has this accomplished?

Supposedly doing this retroactively undoes Edwards' insufferable hypocrisy.

Whatev's. If he wants to atone, instead of just cashing out his $16 million, he should give it all to the people whose homes he's trying to take from them.

Thanks to RickS.

Photoshop courtesy of George.

posted by Ace at 05:01 PM

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