Republican Party Of Kentucky: In Case You Missed It ... More Hypocrisy From Bruce Lunsford!

Below is the RPK's press release:

The Audacity of Hypocrisy: Lunsford Profits from Energy Investments

Lunsford’s empty rhetoric doesn’t match his personal financial decisions

LOUISVILLE - Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford made his third stop at a Kentucky gas station today, wildly attacking Senator Mitch McConnell, oil companies, and Wall Street for high gas prices. In fact, Lunsford’s campaign website specifically attacks “Wall Street” for driving up gas prices.

But a search of Lunsford’s financial disclosure filed with the U.S. Senate on April 17, 2008, shows that he has profited massively from personal investments in hedge funds that invest in oil and gas companies. At least until April, Bruce Lunsford was potentially making millions from oil and gas industry investments. Ironically, during the primary, Lunsford attacked his opponent Greg Fischer for having invested in Lunsford’s healthcare companies, which Fischer had criticized. Now Lunsford is blaming the very hedge funds from which he profits for the energy crisis.

The Kentucky political blog, Elephants in the Bluegrass, picked up the story and outlined Lunsford’s investments:

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Lunsford is invested in Goldman Sachs Capital Partners V, LP, an $8.5 billion private equity fund for "high net worth individuals." Lunsford valued his assets in that non-publicly traded fund as between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000. Lunsford's financial disclosure forms list GS Capital Partner V's investment as including: CVR Energy, Inc.; Knight, Inc.; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; SunGuard Data Systems, Inc.; and Cobalt International Energy.

· CVR Energy…operates an 113,500 barrels-per-day-throughput-capacity oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas, and a crude oil gathering system in Kansas and Oklahoma…

· McJunkin Red Man Corporation: Exclusively geared toward the distribution of industrial and oilfield PVF products…has a significant presence in the oil and gas industry…

· Knight, Inc. owns the general partner of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), one of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America with an enterprise value of approximately $20 billion. KMP is the largest independent transporter of refined petroleum products in the United States…

· SunGard Data Systems, Inc., which acquired FAME Energy. SunGard FAME provides ‘data services to support energy traders, research analysts and risk managers of energy companies and financial institutions.’ Sounds like it helps the very energy speculators…Lunsford blames…

· Cobalt International Energy, LP…an oil and gas exploration and development company focused on pursuing…opportunities in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico and offshore international areas. Cobalt…wants to drill some of that oil that the Cubans and Chinese are extracting just miles from our shore. Lunsford recently said he opposes oil drilling off American shores…yet would profit from a company that exists to do just that…

“Maybe Barack and Bruce can get together and talk about audacity, because this is the height of it,” said McConnell campaign manager Justin Brasell.

“Lunsford’s plan to tax American energy companies and not expand domestic production, returning us to the failed policies of the Carter Administration, would make us more dependent on Middle Eastern oil. That’s wrong for Kentucky, and wrong for America,” Brasell added.

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Paid for by McConnell Senate Committee 2008 / www.TeamMitch.com