JOSHUA FRANK: The Feinstein Family of War-Profiteers -- Part Two

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Partisanship Trumps Ethics

By Joshua Frank -- World News Trust

Senator Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum could well be called the Democratic Daddy War Bucks. He’s scored bundles from war contracts. He has recently purchased a $16.5 million crib in San Francisco and along with his wife has handed hundreds of thousands of dollars over to fellow Democrats. Since the 2000 election cycle Blum has contributed over $75,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Committee, and thousands more to individual Democratic senatorial campaigns including John Kerry, Robert Byrd, Joe Lieberman, Ted Kennedy and Barbara Boxer.

Richard Blum’s history as an entrepreneur began at the ripe age of 23 when he began to work for the San Francisco brokerage firm Sutro & Company. Blum quickly climbed the ranks and became a partner by the age of 30. According the SFGate.com, “Blum proved that he had an eye for fixer-upper properties when he led a partnership that acquired the struggling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for $8 million -- then sold it to Mattel Inc. four years later for $40 million.”

In 1975, Blum went out on his own and formed a brokerage agency. Today Blum’s lofty firm, Blum Capital, holds positions in more than 20 companies, including real estate giants, credit bureaus, and yes, even military contractors.

Blum sees himself as an altruistic capitalist, says one of his ex-employees. “He likes to go after companies that are down and out, and bring their stock back to life. He thinks he doing good.” Blum shares a large stake in Perini, a civil construction company that is happily employed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But not all of Blum’s war-profits come from Perini. In 1975 his venture capital firm went after fledging construction and design company, URS, when the business was about to be bought out by another corporation.

Since then Blum has increased his stock in URS, capitalizing on its recent military contracts. Unlike Blum’s dabbling with Barnum & Bailey, his current profits aren’t so safe for child consumption.

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