Mitch Vance To Hit Kelly Schmidt On Lost Funds In Veteran’s Trust
This, sent out by the Mitch Vance campaign via email, seems like a cheap shot to me:
Mitch Vance, the Democratic NPL endorsed candidate for State Treasurer will deliver a transparency report on the dismal performance of the Veteran’s Post War Trust Fund under Kelly Schmidt’s management at press conferences in Fargo and Bismarck, and Minot.
In an objective, non-partisan manner, Vance’s report details severe losses and reckless investment of the funds in violation of the prudent investor rule required by state law. Vance will directly confront Kelly Schmidt’s mismanagement of the fund, in spite of warnings from the State Auditor’s office.
I’ve been complimentary of Vance’s stance on the cost of government in North Dakota in the past, as well as his ideas about government transparency, but this seems unfair.
The funds in the Veteran’s Post War Trust Fund are invested. And we all know what’s going on with the stock market right now.
Investing funds is generally a good idea, but in the current market even the most conservative and diverse investment portfolios are suffering. This mess, brought on by too much government regulation in our capital markets, can hardly be blamed on a state treasurer.
This does echo, however, what I think will be tactic used by Democrats all over the country. They use the current predicament we’re in to rail against investment in the stock market, and privatization in general, completely ignoring the fact that none of this would have happened were it not for big-government, liberal policies mucking up the market.
