Warren Buffet, Obama's lead "tax advisor", is quite the crony capitalist. He made billions from the insurance company bailouts. The bank in which he holds a $5 billion stake, Bank of America, made a sweetheart $15 million loan to the 2012 Obama campaign at 2.5% (far below the rate of inflation). But Buffet's recent government/railroad deal would make Andrew Carnegie blush.
Buffett's railroad interests have been doing quite well since the government's suspension of Keystone Pipeline extension. His key railroad interest, Burlington Northern, is the preferred alternative petroleum shipping method to the Keystone Pipeline. This is interesting because Buffett bought his stake in Burlington Northern just before the government halted the Keystone project, and he allegedly influenced the government's decision to suspend. And how much reward has Buffett reaped from the Burlington Northern/State Department deal? While staring at awe at this chart, keep in mind that demand for gasoline has been tanking while rail car loadings of petroleum have been going parabolic:
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The above originally appeared at Ecominoes and is reprinted here with permission.
Great write-up/link.
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