The Rigorous Roasting of Riches

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One thing seems fairly certain this November. Voters in U.S. House District 16 will send a rather wealthy Congressman to Washington. Indeed, the personal spending choices of the two men vying for the job so far have produced the most entertaining (thought hardly the most inspiring) political battle on the Gulf Coast this year.

Most zany so far has been the scavenger hunt for Vern Buchanan’s new yacht. Floridians for a Fair Shake, a dark money political committee that may or not be run by Floridians and boasts little interest in fighting fair, discovered a treasure in the incumbent Congressman’s financial disclosure this year. Buchanan plunked down upward of $1 million to purchase a new Ocean Alexander yacht on Nov. 16, which happens to be the same day the congressman joined fellow Republicans in passing a tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy.

That dark money PAC set up a website at VernsYacht.com offering $500 to whomever could provide them a picture of the boat. Either no one has collected yet or the group is holding back on posting the picture to its site or using the Twitter handle @VernsYacht, though a look at tweets includes some sarcastic social media interactions with @DevosYacht, another account shaming Education secretary Betsy DeVos.

But the Buchanan people punched back with own exposure of the finances of one Davis Shapiro, the Sarasota attorney and leading Democrat lined up to challenge Buchanan in November. Like Buchanan, Shapiro’s list of financial assets runs pages long. And somehow, he’s invested in seemingly every cause he’s swiped at over the course of the campaign. The Republicans have closely cross-referenced Shapiro’s words against his portfolio.

When Shapiro promised to prevent offshore oil drilling, the Buchanan camp noted the Democrat held stock in Halliburton and Transocean, companies held partially liable for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Shapiro brought up the opioid crisis and his opponents noted his Pfizer stocks. After Shapiro pledged to stand up the National Rifle Association and support an assault weapon ban, his investment in mutual funds invested in gun manufacturers Vista Outdoor and Olin came to light. And upon a guest column in the Herald-Tribune criticizing corporate welfare for Kimberly Clark, Walmart and AT&T, GOP operatives noted he owned individual stock in all three companies.

So what’s all this mean? Just that both men are financially loaded and loaded for bear. In reality, it seems unlikely either candidate’s spending decisions hold much connection to any votes either one might later cast in the U.S. House. While critics will gleefully compare Buchanan’s estimated tax windfall against the price of that yacht, the cut represents a small part of his income and the boat a small portion of his purchases. The congressmen last year also invested upward of $5 million in investment properties around Aspen, for example.

And Shapiro’s stocks? It’s quite a leap to think ownership of public stocks in a company means an endorsement of every corporate policy. And looking through 44 pages of financial assets, it would be hard to balance such loyalties. Shapiro owns stock in Netflix and Viacom, in McDonald’s and Monsanto, in Dollar Tree and GoldmanSachs. It so happens Buchanan also invested in the same Ishares portfolios with gunmaker holdings, so hypocrisy claims can go around.

Obviously, the financial assets for both men will continue to be political liabilities as various issues dominate political conversation this fall. My best unsolicited advice? Get in front of attacks and hope Sarasota’s well-to-do voters value financial success. Buchanan should post a selfie on his yacht—preferably wearing shades and surrounded by models—then claim the $500 photo bounty himself. As for Shapiro? Sell any stocks that will go down after Democrats take the House, then donate it all charity.

There’s no point playing poor man in Sarasota when the suit doesn’t fit anyhow. Better to flaunt it right now than to hide it away.

Jacob Ogles is contribution senior editor for SRQ Media Group.

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