Say Anything Blog

A few days ago I characterized an attack by Democrat challenger Mitch Vance on incumbent State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt as “unfair.”  Vance noted that the Veteran’s Post War Trust Fund had lost a significant amount of money because some of its funds were invested in the stock market.  I pointed out that pretty much everyone in this country who was invested in the stock market has lost money, and that these uncertain economic times were hardly the fault of Kelly Schmidt.

Now Schmidt herself is responding (via emailed press release) along those same lines:

Bismarck – State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt today responded to her opponent, Mitch Vance’s, news conference on the Veteran’s Postwar Trust Fund. 
It is unfortunate, that once again my opponent has resorted to negative campaigning and untrue attacks relating to the investment of the Veteran’s Postwar Trust Fund.

While the stock market has experienced losses in excess of 30%, the Veteran’s Postwar Trust Fund is down 9.09%.  This has been accomplished all while increasing benefits to our Veteran’s and withdrawing $37,000 quarterly to pay for those benefits.  Investment fees for this fund remain under 1%.  Since taking office in 2005, there have been no audit findings relating to this fund.

Veteran’s Postwar Trust Fund has seen substantial gains under our investment oversight.  Total hardship grants available prior to our administration were $2,750 with an annual cap of $1,000.  Since January 2007, benefits have increased to $8,550 with an annual cap of $3,000.  This is due to our responsible approach to investing.  The Administrative Committee on Veteran’s Affairs (ACOVA) is responsible for the distribution of these funds.  Hardship grants address quality of life issue for our Veteran’s such as eye glasses, hearing aids and dentures. 

Only seeing a 9% decline over the last few weeks of this roller coaster market is no mean achievement.  Schmidt should be commended for her sound investment decisions, not derided.

If Vance wants to win this election (and I’m certainly enamored with some of his ideas) he’ll need to find another issue, because this one is a loser.