Politico-Sen. Candidate Meek Says Rival Profited From Housing Collapse

Fla. Sen. Candidates Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene: AP

(Story reported by David Catanese for Politico)

Rep. Kendrick Meek’s Senate campaign is seizing on comments rival candidate Jeff Greene made in a CNBC interview last year when he expressed concern that potential government aid intended to bail out struggling homeowners could endanger a profitable trade.

“You just never know what the government is going to do. And that was always a fear I had,” said Greene, responding to a question about a winning trade on “Squawk Box.” “I’m in this thing, and what if the government came around and decided to offer very low-rate mortgages so everyone could quickly pay off these loans.” 

Meek’s campaign, which has been critical of Greene’s use of risky financial instruments known as credit-default swaps, said the statement is further evidence that the billionaire investor bet on and benefited from the housing collapse.

“He said his greatest fear was that the government would come in and help people. Is this the kind of behavior we could expect from Jeff Greene if he were elected to the Senate?” asked Meek campaign manager Abe Dyke. 

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