Saturday, May 22, 2010

Oil Spill Co-chair: More Government Love for PEU's



President Obama showed love for private equity underwriters (PEU's) with his last two appointments.

BP Oil Spew Commission - William Reilly, Senior Advisor TPG

Deficit Commission - Erskine Bowles, Senior Advisor Carousel Capital

William Reilly is much more than the ex-head of the World Wildlife Fund. He is President of Aqua International, a private equity firm, and sits on the board of eight companies, including ConocoPhillips. ConocoPhillips is a joint venture partner with BP on the Gulf's Tiber field and an Alaskan natural gas pipeline.

The Erskine Bowles household sits on the boards of Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Cousins Properties, Deere, Sara Lee and a number of privately held firms.

These influential and conflicted people will head commissions determining the future of offshore oil drilling and corporate taxes. It should be no surprise that PEU's came through financial reform with nary a nick. They are the elephant in the Obama White House.

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