Chris Van Hollen’s Duplicity

I know, I know. Accusing any pol, much less a Democrat pol, of duplicity is sort of a blinding flash of the obvious.

To briefly summarize it, Republican Representative Robin Hayes lives in a district with a large Marlboro plant owned by Altria (or whatever they’re calling Phillip Morris these days). Not surprisingly Hayes and his family owns stock in Altria. A couple of weeks ago Altria announced that it was closing its plant in Concord, North Carolina, and moving production to Richmond, Virginia.

What happens when your typical corporation closes a plant to reduce costs? Their stock price goes up.

From the Minority Accountability Project as posted on Redstate:

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DCCC officials blasted Hayes, with spokeswoman Krya Jennings claiming he was “out of touch,” because Altria stock prices rose “after announcing that the Philip Morris plant in Concord would close.”

Fine, you say, this is just politics. Deny everything. Admit nothing. Blame others. Make counter accusations.

Not so fast. Freshman North Carolina Dem Heath Schuler also made money on the same deal. But he isn’t mentioned. Van Hollen holds stock in Exxon Mobil, Pfizer, and Johnson and Johnson. Anyone want to take bets whether on not he holds himself to the same standard in the future?