Including, in many cases, defense related stocks.

And some observers want to raise conflict-of-interest issues regarding that.

Members of Congress have as much as $196 million collectively invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department, earning millions since the onset of the Iraq war, according to a study by a nonpartisan research group.

Not all the companies in which lawmakers invested are typical defense contractors. Corporations such as PepsiCo, IBM, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have at one point received defense-related contracts, notes the report by the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.

The center's review of lawmakers' 2006 financial disclosure statements suggests that members' holdings could pose a conflict of interest as they decide the fate of Iraq war spending. Several members earning money from these contractors have plum committee or leadership assignments, including Democratic Sen. John Kerry, independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman and House Republican Whip Roy Blunt.

The study found that more Republicans than Democrats hold stock in defense companies, but that the Democrats who are invested had significantly more money at stake. In 2006, for example, Democrats held at least $3.7 million in military-related investments, compared to Republican investments of $577,500.

Overall, 151 members hold investments worth $78.7 million to $195.5 million in companies that receive defense contracts that are worth at least $5 million. These investments earned them anywhere between $15.8 million and $62 million between 2004 and 2006, the center concludes.

Frankly, I'm less troubled by this than the authors of this study want me to be. In 2008, how do you avoid investing in Microsoft if you have a large portfolio? Good grief -- it is one of the most reliable stocks for someone to put their money in -- and there is no question that Microsoft does business with the government. Ditto PepsiCo -- heck, I would imagine that the procurement folks at the Pentagon buy quite a bit of bottled water and soft drinks for troops. And as is later noted regarding Hillary Clinton, Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon are all stocks often found in a diversified portfolio -- though the questions she raised about the recent Airbus contract could be spun by a cynic into a sinister attempt to safeguard her investment.

In other words, nothing to see here -- despite efforts to create a story.

Posted by: Greg at 10:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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