Tim and Gwen Walz don’t own a single stock or any other private equity. Their only investments are in their state pensions. www.axios.com/2024/08/07/t... - ThreadSky

leahmcelrath.bsky.social • 203 days ago

Tim and Gwen Walz don’t own a single stock or any other private equity.

Their only investments are in their state pensions.

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/07/tim-walz-vp-pick-investment-portfolio

Comments

jennaroutenberg.bsky.social•203 days ago

He just went up about 10000% in my estimation

jadehawk.bsky.social•203 days ago

it's getting funnier and funnier how much walz turned out to be "normalest man in america"

gojira65.bsky.social•203 days ago

I love the way Axios spins this as "highly unusual" behavior. What's wrong with this guy? Electeds are supposed to make money off of their government gigs. What other strange things is he hiding?

alxin.me•203 days ago

Axios is sometimes neutral to a fault, but the next line indicates that Walz is upstanding, not suspicious:

> ...[Walz introduced] the STOCK Act, which was aimed at curbing insider trading by congresspeople and other federal government employees.

gojira65.bsky.social•203 days ago

Fair.

hikmah786.bsky.social•203 days ago

Reminiscent of Carter selling his peanut farm before becoming president.

sophienotemily.bsky.social•203 days ago

GOOD. we should make that a requirement for office, honestly.

multredab.bsky.social•203 days ago

kimoco.bsky.social•203 days ago

So, this makes me happy to learn. I am in favor of banning stock trading by members of Congress too.

cogbarn.bsky.social•203 days ago

Per Business Insider in 2022: “49% of respondents said they were more likely to support a candidate who backs a stock trading ban [for members of Congress], including 50% of Republicans and 45% of Democrats.”

Which of course won’t stop the fascists from mocking the Walzes for being “poor.”

mckaymj.bsky.social•203 days ago

https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-senator-peters-announces-bipartisan-agreement-to-advance-legislation-to-ban-member-stock-trading

mckaymj.bsky.social•203 days ago

Link card wasn’t super useful and buried the lede:

kalyankee.bsky.social•203 days ago

“Highly unusual”! We have gotten so used to cheaters being politicians, we can’t wrap our head around normalcy.

uncivil.work•203 days ago

More evidence that Trump expected Shapiro to be the pick, considering the claim in their press release that Walz is bringing millions of dollars to the campaign.

dahosek.bsky.social•203 days ago

Millions of dollars from small-dollar donors excited about Walz.

p2wy.bsky.social•203 days ago

Big Lloyd Dobler energy here.

ivory1.bsky.social•203 days ago

👍

“I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.”

teknomantik.old-home.net•203 days ago

Is Axios trying to paint this as a bad thing? Or am I just conditioned to assume bad faith?

violetly.bsky.social•203 days ago

They may be too shocked to have an angle.

soozbee.bsky.social•203 days ago

My guess is that it's the first thing.

leahmcelrath.bsky.social•203 days ago

I’m not sure of Axios intent and don’t normally signal boost their reporting, but I’m glad they covered this.

eotech.bsky.social•203 days ago

“He’s too poor. He’ll be highly susceptible to bribes. We need billionaires running the country because they’re too rich to bribe.”

I think Trump has nearly said these exact words about himself.

drdanvers.bsky.social•200 days ago

In other news: Trump may have received a $10 M bribe from Egypt.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/08/02/trump-campaign-egypt-investigation/

sockpuppetpundit.bsky.social•203 days ago

Wait until they find out 90% of people don't even have pensions.

waynefryback.bsky.social•203 days ago

Every day, this guy does something new that makes him even more relatable to the rest of us.

Just take my vote already, Tim. I can't take anymore of this!

jowonderland.bsky.social•203 days ago

leahmcelrath.bsky.social•203 days ago

Hard to imagine a more relatable candidate if we’d designed him on purpose, tbh.

waynefryback.bsky.social•203 days ago

lizamezzo.bsky.social•203 days ago

Now that is interesting. Especially given that Walz was born and raised in Nebraska, the same state as Warren Buffett.

mwschmeer.bsky.social•203 days ago

So he lives in public housing? Watch Trump try to spin this as a bad thing.

carljanderson.bsky.social•203 days ago

So the perfect candidate then.. got it!

bluememe.bsky.social•203 days ago

Or, as Donald Trump would say, suckers.

ethanpfreedman.com•203 days ago

No stocks? Ok, let's check to see about racehorses then

ubiquity75.bsky.social•203 days ago

I feel like I’m dreaming.

estherp.bsky.social•203 days ago

My father, who was from a much different generation, didn't own stocks, didn't have a pension, retired before 401(k)s. He did have bank CDs and Treasury bonds during years when interest rates were high. But they've been lousy until recently.

waltfrench.bsky.social•203 days ago

My job as Portfolio Manager was to buy & sell stocks for the clients of the funds I managed

For diversification & co rules on *Appearance* of Conflict Of Interest) I ran billions for clients but $0 of shares for myself—just index funds

Stock investments are good but ACOI is☠️for trust

…

waltfrench.bsky.social•203 days ago

…AFTER I retired I bought some AAPL and haven’t sold any—that’s it!

We live comfy on our pensions, SocSecurity & IRA sales that the IRS requires each year

If govt workers want to speculate, they should publish trades 5 days ahead so WeThePeople paying them KNOW there’s no inside info

sorocchungus.bsky.social•203 days ago

Holy fuck this guy is a unicorn

scrofini.bsky.social•203 days ago

"Seems fishily uncorrupted by power. Better spend the next three months ruining his fucking life." - every mainstream reporter in America

davemcfc.bsky.social•203 days ago

Refreshing

realbenisons.bsky.social•203 days ago

I suppose he could have CDs?

I regard IRA CDs as investments
More so than bitcoin but obv ymmv!

dannasoft.bsky.social•203 days ago

So Military retirement doesn’t count? Why do you hate our career service members?

the-barely-jew.bsky.social•203 days ago

rlux.nyc•203 days ago

It makes me a little twitchy to read that they sold their home and don't have one now. That seems like a not-great financial decision.

brunhaha.bsky.social•203 days ago

They could have rented it out, but imagine your landlord being the governor.

legendofthearctic.bsky.social•203 days ago

He gets to live in a mansion in St. Paul as part of the job. Presumably he’ll buy or rent another house when he has to move out, unless he moves to the Naval Observatory. Tbh paying a mortgage for a home you don’t live in would be a worse financial decision.

rlux.nyc•203 days ago

it depends. We don't know what his mortgage was like or whether he'd be able to rent the house out.

legendofthearctic.bsky.social•203 days ago

Point is it’s not something we really need to worry about. He’ll be fine.

gojira65.bsky.social•203 days ago

A very weird thing to be concerned about. Like it reflects on his judgment or something. Like the governor put it, "mind your own damn business."

estherp.bsky.social•203 days ago

It is home to a university but I don't know whether there's a big rental market in Mankato, Minnesota. But I'm not worried either!

stevenspoints.bsky.social•203 days ago

There’s plenty of renters in Mankato but if I were the governor of a state I don’t think I’d want to take on the headaches (practical, political, or otherwise) that becoming a landlord would bring

gojira65.bsky.social•203 days ago

You're assuming quite a bit here. They may have the money from the sale of their home in the bank. They may have other options. Minnesota may be a more affordable state than you think.

kendrawrites.com•203 days ago

Their kids are 18 and 23 so in all likelihood they were going to sell and downsize anyway, moving into the governors house probably sped up their timeline because maintaining a home you don't live in is $$

kduffy.bsky.social•203 days ago

He'll be okay

enceladusty.bsky.social•203 days ago

He should receive a deferred pension for serving 12 years in the US house also when he turns 62.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2015/01/23/fact-check-does-one-term-congress-member-get-full-pension/15648164007/

lindaholmes.bsky.social•203 days ago

If I had a free house to live in for a number of years, I would not own another house at the same time unless I was deeply attached to it. Maybe they’re not!

ckshowalter.bsky.social•203 days ago

He’s term limited so I’m guessing there was/is a plan around buying once his term was done?

msgillela.bsky.social•203 days ago

Governors are not term limited in Minnesota.

ckshowalter.bsky.social•203 days ago

Thanks. Probably was mixing up NC and Ky

msgillela.bsky.social•203 days ago

Yep! I actually just looked it up earlier this summer. The majority of states have term limits on Gov.

If Walz had a third term after his current one, he gets pretty close to 67 . . . Not sure when exactly 1964 babies get to retire, so I’m using the age at which my federal benefits kick in.

ckshowalter.bsky.social•203 days ago

And this is why educating fellow Americans about politics and how things work from state to state matters! Again very appreciative

kimoco.bsky.social•203 days ago

It is not like he is rich, why own a home you cannot yet live in and have that payment vs saving your money?

rlux.nyc•203 days ago

Because you don't know what the market or interest rates will be like at the end of your term -- you could find yourself having a hard time buying a new place if it's not a good market for buyers.

phostetlerart.bsky.social•203 days ago

Eh, he has the governor’s mansion for now, undoubtedly a nest egg from his last home, and his family doesn’t seem to have qualms about living in rural areas. He’ll find something affordable.

phostetlerart.bsky.social•203 days ago

Or his wife! I’m sure they share the duties and responsibilities of household finance.

gojira65.bsky.social•203 days ago

They can always rent, you know. At least until they can get the down payment together.

kimoco.bsky.social•203 days ago

I don't know how much harder it can be than it has been these days. YOu seem like someone who has more money

rlux.nyc•203 days ago

My mom was in real estate, I learned a lot about the biz growing up.

ckshowalter.bsky.social•203 days ago

Brain is glitchy today and I don’t trust Google. Weren’t the Obamas in a similar situation? I’m having recollections of GOPers mocking him because the family used wealthy friend’s homes for vacay.

estherp.bsky.social•203 days ago

I think they still own their house in Chicago, unless they sold it recently. They did use friends' houses on Martha's Vineyard while in office. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/chicago/hyde-park-and-south-side/attractions/obama-s-house/a/poi-sig/1135078/1319217

amyrey3.bsky.social•203 days ago

I haven't heard of the Obamas actually staying at their house on the South Side, but he's occasionally in town for Obama center/library things so probably stays at the house? Have not heard of them selling it.

estherp.bsky.social•203 days ago

Maybe it'll be a museum or national historic site someday? Or maybe there are sentimental reasons for holding onto it.

ghostingdani.bsky.social•203 days ago

I mean doing without a mortgage for a chunk of time could be a pretty smart financial move.

rlux.nyc•203 days ago

It all comes down to how the numbers work out.

differentmatt.bsky.social•203 days ago

Just as a practical matter, no shade either way, I wonder what they're doing with the proceeds from the house. Just sitting in a savings account?

nutshellgulag.bsky.social•203 days ago

Probably. They'd need to buy a new house once he wasn't governor anymore.

timrandosaurus.bsky.social•203 days ago

The Walz net worth is 13,500$ suggesting the sale of the house went to paying off its mortgage loan principal.

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