There is one consistent among liberals. They believe government exists to advance their agenda, regardless of how it impacts anyone else. Liberals hold to failed policies like gun control and single payer healthcare. They believe government should be used to enrich themselves.
Anyone remember the Clinton foundation?
Left-wing Democrats love to use the government to make money. Perhaps one of the worst is Bill Ackman. Ackman is a liberal Democrat and a hedge fund manager. And he decided to try and take down an American business with the help of the government.
Ackman runs a company called Pershing Square Capital Management. In 2012, he shorted Herbalife’s stock. Herbalife is a company that uses a multilevel marking model to sell its products and help people start their own small business.
By shorting the stock, Ackman bet the stock would decrease in value. If it did, Ackman and his company would make a lot of money.
Unfortunately for Ackman, the stock did not go down.
So Ackman, a long time Democrat contributor, decided to bring the price of the stock down the old-fashioned way. He would have his friends in the government do it. Ackman launched a very public war with Herbalife and tried to force the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Herbalife. Ackman spent an estimated $50 million on lobbyists in Washington to try and get the attention of Senators and Members of Congress.
Why?
He wanted them to pressure the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation. Ackman simply wanted to force the company into bankruptcy and would make a tidy profit off of the stock, if they did.
Fortunately, Ackman failed.
In 2017, Ackman gave up, at least for now.
Ackman bet a billion dollars that he could destroy an American company and use the power of government to help him become even wealthier. Where is the outrage from the Democrats about this gross misuse of power?
Don’t look for outrage from them anytime soon. After all, Ackman gives huge donations to Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democrat National Committee and the Democrat Senate Campaign Committee.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with shorting a stock and profiting from that when the market conditions dictate it. In 1992, George Soros did just that when he shorted the British Pound Sterling. Soros made over a billion dollars doing that.
It is a completely different story when a billionaire uses power of government to try and destroy a business. Ackman was obsessed with making millions off of the destruction of Herbalife. He did not give a thought to the investors who would lose money, nor did he think about the average men and women who work for Herbalife, who would lose their jobs, if he won.
Freedom cannot exist without a free market. A free market cannot exist when well-connected people can use the government to drive people out of business or use the government to make a huge profit for themselves.
Bill Ackman once said shutting down Herbalife is, “one of the most important things” he could do.
Perhaps government regulators should look at shutting Ackman and his company down.