David McCormick, U.S. Senator and apparent optimist, has disclosed the purchase of somewhere between half a million and one million dollars' worth of Philadelphia Airport Revenue Bonds, maturing in 2055. The year 2055. Let that marinate.
The bond pays 5% and comes due in approximately thirty years, which means McCormick has either extraordinary faith in the Philadelphia airport system, extraordinary faith in municipal bond markets, or has simply decided that the news cycle is someone else's problem by then. Frankly, respect.
The trade was made May 8th and disclosed May 28th, which is twenty days later, which is legal, which is the nicest thing we can say about it. The STOCK Act requires disclosure within 45 days, so by Washington standards this is practically real-time transparency. Applause.
We are not saying anything improper happened here. We are saying a sitting U.S. Senator bought municipal debt backed by an airport in a city where he is, professionally speaking, in a position to care about infrastructure funding. We are also saying the disclosed amount is a range because exact figures would be gauche. It's somewhere between $500,001 and $1,000,000. Very precise. Very accountable. Democracy is functioning normally.
The chart, as always, is all that matters. The bond matures July 1, 2055. Circle it.
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