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**DECEMBER 3, 2020**

Meyerson on TAP

Sen. David Purdue's Guide to Time Management

Georgia Republican Sen. David Purdue is currently engaged in a close
runoff election with his challenger, Democrat Jon Ossoff, but he's
taken time from his busy schedule to give us tips on time management. As

**The New York Times**reported

today, Sen. Purdue engaged in 2,596 stock trades during his current term
as a senator, until he suspended his trading in individual stocks this
past May. We figured that meant he spent the first 1,945 days of his
term trading, which comes to roughly 1.33 stock trades per day, all the
while devoting what would be full time for anyone else to his nearly
equally important job as senator.

To date, criticism of Purdue's trading activity has focused on the
particular companies whose stocks he traded while serving on Senate
committees whose actions and hearings could affect the value of their
stocks. In its report, the

**Times**cited such companies as FireEye, a malware detection firm whose
stock Purdue publicized while serving on the cybersecurity subcommittee;
BWX Technologies, which provides nuclear components to submarines, whose
stock he bought around the time that he chaired the seapower
subcommittee; a range of bank stocks at the time Purdue was pushing for
more bank deregulation; and a host of other concerns.

But what interested us was not just the identity of the stocks the
senator traded, but their sheer quantity. Conducting 1.33 trades per day
(and these weren't trades worth 10 or 20 bucks!) is a time-consuming
business, requiring diligent study. We wondered how Purdue was able to
balance those activities with his ancillary duties representing Georgia
in the Senate.

"It's not so hard," the senator signaled us, "if you can mush the two
jobs together. With my concern for cybersecurity, I raised the profile
of FireEye, benefiting both national security and my own interests in
one and the same action. Freeing banks from onerous regulations in order
that they make more money benefits the entire nation, my financial
advisers assure me, and my own portfolio as well. For my constituents
who feel overwhelmed by the time pressures they're under, I heartily
recommend consolidating tasks whenever possible. It's how I've been
able to keep my head above water!

"Happily, I've availed myself of expert assistance in doing this.
Rather than go through pending legislation myself, I can rely on the
wise counsel of my colleague, Sen. McConnell. And since last year, when
the majority leader refused even to bring up bills passed by the House,
there have been remarkably fewer bills coming before us. For that
matter, President Trump (who, I should add, is no slouch himself at
balancing the demands of his jobs as promoter, investor, and president)
has sent few proposals to the Hill, preferring to act by executive order
and tweet. So I've been lucky: This diminution of legislative duties
came at times when the economic churning due to the pandemic presented
many opportunities to sell stocks of companies damaged by COVID and buy
stocks of those benefiting.

"It's been important, though, not to sacrifice my public obligations
in ways my constituents might consider cynical or even improper. I defy
the lamestream media to find one single stock I've bought in
mortuaries."

~ HAROLD MEYERSON

Follow Harold Meyerson on Twitter

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