No wonder our country is in its current state. With sniveling, conniving leadership like this, hope must come from elsewhere. White House Press Office transcripts reveal:
Q Does the President not remember having a phone conversation with Senator Domenici about U.S. attorney Iglesias? Or is he clear that one did not take place?
MS. PERINO: I've never asked him that question. I do know that his vague recollection was that he had heard complaints. And then I'll refer you to his statement -- or his answer to a question that he got in Mexico, in which he was asked that question, and he said that he recalls being at a meeting on the Hill in which this issue was brought up -- a meeting of senators on the Hill in which it was brought up. But I've never heard anything about a phone call.
Q So he's never actually answered the question.
MS. PERINO: He answered the question. And I don't know anything about a phone call; I've never heard that -- except for questions from you all.
Q You mean the phone call --
MS. PERINO: I don't know that the President ever received a phone call. I don't have any record of that, or any recollection of it, and I've been dealing with this issue for many weeks.
Q When he was at the meeting on the Hill where it was brought up, it was Senator Domenici --
MS. PERINO: I don't think people remember, necessarily, who it was. And, remember, complaints about voter fraud cases were coming in from various different places.
Q Right. Just to be clear about this, then, Senator Domenici and the President, has there ever been a direct conversation between the two?
MS. PERINO: I don't know. I don't believe so, necessarily, about this particular issue, but remember, when -- the President sees members of Congress all of the time, and as I think I said last week, whenever a senator has the President's ear, whether the issue -- whether the topic of the meeting is the Iraq war supplemental, if they have a chance to talk about other issues, they will. And so I'm not going to rule it out, but I just can't say that Senator Domenici and the President ever had a one-on-one conversation about it.
The Bush administration is simply incapable of providing honest, ethical mutually cooperative leadership, much less a straight answer...
Monday, April 16, 2007
Nation Shocked & Mourning
While America tries to make sense of the horrific tragedy that occurred this morning on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, our President stands once again flat footed. When a leader would focus on the dead, wounded and traumatized students and their families, the White House once pandered to his base. Dana Perino said in this morning's new conference.
As far as policy, the President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting -- I don't want to say numbers because I know that they're still trying to figure out many people were wounded and possibly killed, but obviously that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for.
Is there any reason to mention gun access at this time? Details of the identity of the deceased shooter and his motivation remain elusive. So why the point?
Ms. Perino likely didn't know that at least 32 students died, 29 wounded and the shooter killed. However, this leaves the accountable person dead with no societal recourse for justice as prescribed by the President. It's a monumental tragedy. What will George Bush do to prevent such occurrences in the future? I hope it doesn't encourage more people to carry weapons...
As far as policy, the President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting -- I don't want to say numbers because I know that they're still trying to figure out many people were wounded and possibly killed, but obviously that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for.
Is there any reason to mention gun access at this time? Details of the identity of the deceased shooter and his motivation remain elusive. So why the point?
Ms. Perino likely didn't know that at least 32 students died, 29 wounded and the shooter killed. However, this leaves the accountable person dead with no societal recourse for justice as prescribed by the President. It's a monumental tragedy. What will George Bush do to prevent such occurrences in the future? I hope it doesn't encourage more people to carry weapons...
Who Benefits from Privatization: The Case of Sallie Mae
The Student Loan Marketing Association commonly referred to as Sallie Mae got its start in 1972 as a government sponsored enterprise. It began privatizing in 1997 and completed the process in 2004 when Congress terminated its federal Charter. Republicans held a majority in our nation’s legislature this whole time. President Bush appointed 6 members to the Board when he took office in 2001.
News reports indicate a number of private equity firms are interested in purchasing Sallie Mae. The stock is up over $8 today to $55 per share. Should the deal go through Board members stand to make out like bandits. The board beneficially owns some 17.7 million shares. Board members alone stand to gross nearly $1 billion from the deal.
Assuming the $973 million to be capital gains, how much does the Sallie Mae board save in taxes under the President's lesser taxing of investment profits? The super rich get to pocket nearly $50 million more than they did when they paid 20% capital gains tax.
Does this make you excited about government sloughing off key programs to the private sector for them to be turned around in 3 years and sold to someone else at a huge profit? Oh, and those student loan guarantees given to private lenders by the U.S. government? They don’t go away!
Does it bother you that board members will walk away with millions (in addition to their already substantial annual compensation)? The smallest number of beneficially held shares is 141,000 worth $7.7 million. The largest is over 8 million shares grossing that board member over $440 million.
Sallie Mae along with Citibank just agreed to pay a $2 million fine for corrupt student lending practices. CIT owner of Education Lending Group remains under investigation for its illegal practices while Education Finance Partners just settled for a $2.5 million fine. Seven student loan companies have been under the New York Attorney General’s microscope.
Private equity firms don’t have the same public accountability in reporting investment information to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Does it bother anyone else that a recently fined company will soon enter the shadows of the private equity world?
Yes, another case of Republican privatization where the costs are higher than competing government programs and business goes to politically connected friends who donate huge amounts to election campaigns. The American public should be concerned as education is well on its way, health care is in the Bush administration’s sights and public infrastructure isn’t far behind.
News reports indicate a number of private equity firms are interested in purchasing Sallie Mae. The stock is up over $8 today to $55 per share. Should the deal go through Board members stand to make out like bandits. The board beneficially owns some 17.7 million shares. Board members alone stand to gross nearly $1 billion from the deal.
Assuming the $973 million to be capital gains, how much does the Sallie Mae board save in taxes under the President's lesser taxing of investment profits? The super rich get to pocket nearly $50 million more than they did when they paid 20% capital gains tax.
Does this make you excited about government sloughing off key programs to the private sector for them to be turned around in 3 years and sold to someone else at a huge profit? Oh, and those student loan guarantees given to private lenders by the U.S. government? They don’t go away!
Does it bother you that board members will walk away with millions (in addition to their already substantial annual compensation)? The smallest number of beneficially held shares is 141,000 worth $7.7 million. The largest is over 8 million shares grossing that board member over $440 million.
Sallie Mae along with Citibank just agreed to pay a $2 million fine for corrupt student lending practices. CIT owner of Education Lending Group remains under investigation for its illegal practices while Education Finance Partners just settled for a $2.5 million fine. Seven student loan companies have been under the New York Attorney General’s microscope.
Private equity firms don’t have the same public accountability in reporting investment information to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Does it bother anyone else that a recently fined company will soon enter the shadows of the private equity world?
Yes, another case of Republican privatization where the costs are higher than competing government programs and business goes to politically connected friends who donate huge amounts to election campaigns. The American public should be concerned as education is well on its way, health care is in the Bush administration’s sights and public infrastructure isn’t far behind.
State of the American Polity: People Are Paying Attention
The White House strategists fail to understand the resonance of the Justice Department’s firing of eight attorney generals with the American public as they offer their series of defenses. They vary from “nothing improper occurred” to “they serve at the pleasure of the President” to “this is a routine personnel matter”.
Most Americans have tremendous empathy for the eight AG's as many work in incredibly "political" business organizations where they have to watch their every step. Many show up daily at a job requiring them to navigate a political mine field. “What mood is the boss in today?” “How did the quarterly profits come in?” “Do they portend a hacking of thousands of loyal workers, a routine personnel matter?” “Will I be one of the fallen?”
People hate to see heavy handed leaders canning competent hard working employees for little or no reason. The company’s making billions more doesn’t reach deep into the heart of the average person. Likewise, replacing AG’s to set up the next political election is a cold stone in America’s sternum. More people watch the Justice Department firing story through the corner of their eye than our President thinks.
Everybody hates the pathologically arrogant CEO (a la Bush) and cringes when they have to interact with his slippery, conniving minion (Gonzales). The former’s decisions often have life altering impacts while the latter simply cannot be trusted. The apparently callous firings in the Justice Department, many people fear every day at work. For this reason, most Americans wanting the heart of America to beat again are paying attention.
Most Americans have tremendous empathy for the eight AG's as many work in incredibly "political" business organizations where they have to watch their every step. Many show up daily at a job requiring them to navigate a political mine field. “What mood is the boss in today?” “How did the quarterly profits come in?” “Do they portend a hacking of thousands of loyal workers, a routine personnel matter?” “Will I be one of the fallen?”
People hate to see heavy handed leaders canning competent hard working employees for little or no reason. The company’s making billions more doesn’t reach deep into the heart of the average person. Likewise, replacing AG’s to set up the next political election is a cold stone in America’s sternum. More people watch the Justice Department firing story through the corner of their eye than our President thinks.
Everybody hates the pathologically arrogant CEO (a la Bush) and cringes when they have to interact with his slippery, conniving minion (Gonzales). The former’s decisions often have life altering impacts while the latter simply cannot be trusted. The apparently callous firings in the Justice Department, many people fear every day at work. For this reason, most Americans wanting the heart of America to beat again are paying attention.
Bush White House Still Hazy
One might think a month's time would clear the smoke in the White House regarding the firings of eight U.S. attorney generals, but Justice Department Chief Alberto Gonzales still exhales effluent. Over 4 weeks ago Tony Snow used the same foggy excuse, Mr. Gonzales recycled it for Congressional consumption. The Attorney General has “nothing to hide” but isn’t sure what he remembers given that “hazy memory”.
In normal organizations there are files, notes, letters, e-mails, reports, documents, approval forms, schedules, minutes, agendas, and meeting records to jog the memory. Recall Alberto Gonzales already met with Congress on this issue. Did he not prepare for his last testimony, earn a failing grade requiring a redo? Note the month long period he’s had to bone up on what really happened, yet his memory remains "hazy".
Add the missing millions of e-mails and the transparent White House waters look as murky as the Potomac in full flood. From the looks of what’s floating by, a different kind of effluent is being discharged from the Bush administration. The world recognizes it but domestically we seem to have trouble. Have we gotten used to the smell after 6 years?
In normal organizations there are files, notes, letters, e-mails, reports, documents, approval forms, schedules, minutes, agendas, and meeting records to jog the memory. Recall Alberto Gonzales already met with Congress on this issue. Did he not prepare for his last testimony, earn a failing grade requiring a redo? Note the month long period he’s had to bone up on what really happened, yet his memory remains "hazy".
Add the missing millions of e-mails and the transparent White House waters look as murky as the Potomac in full flood. From the looks of what’s floating by, a different kind of effluent is being discharged from the Bush administration. The world recognizes it but domestically we seem to have trouble. Have we gotten used to the smell after 6 years?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Big Fish Landed for $4 Million, Small Fish Dangled for Public Viewing
In a classic bait and switch, Andrew Cuomo went from highlighting the bad behavior of a relative small fry to accepting fines from similar "badly behaving" heavy hitters. The news teemed with stories of Student Loan Xpress' illicit business dealings around student loans. Yet who'd already settled with the New York Attorney General, Sallie Mae and Citibank. Each ponied up $2 million in fines for their illegal efforts to steer higher education loans their way.
Why the difference in treatment if all used unethical incentives to get university financial departments to give them special treatment? A look at political donations the last 3 election cycles might provide some insight. Donations from each company’s PAC show CitiGroup gave nearly $1.5 million, Sallie Mae $1.5 million and Education Lending Group $15,500.
The smaller giver may have played the dirtiest in more than one field. While raising nearly $50,000 each of the last two election cycles, very little of ELG’s PAC money made it to actual candidates, other than Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Where did it go?
Did they wash it around to other PAC’s? One $10,000 check was sent in July 2003 to the same address as a Republican political strategy firm, Shockley Public Strategies and its principal, Leslie Beyers. Republican National Committee campaign expenses for 2004 show payments totaling $27,000 to the company for communication services. It also reimbursed Leslie Shockley-Beyers $1,424, Beyer, Leslie $971, and Leslie Beyer $672 for travel expenses.
Will Andrew Cuomo follow the suspicious $10,000 check from Education Lending’s PAC? Doubtful as it may shine the light on huge political donations from American student loan businesses to both Republicans and Democrats.
Citigroup and Sallies Mae get to act like President Bush after a horrific hurricane hit the Gulf Coast. They admit to not doing as much as they could have to run a good operation but promise to do better in the future. The book will be thrown at the smaller company also behaving badly. CIT Group, the parent company of Student Xpress will be treated like the soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Yes, an example will be made of their criminal behavior, while the system hides the much wider abuses…
Why the difference in treatment if all used unethical incentives to get university financial departments to give them special treatment? A look at political donations the last 3 election cycles might provide some insight. Donations from each company’s PAC show CitiGroup gave nearly $1.5 million, Sallie Mae $1.5 million and Education Lending Group $15,500.
The smaller giver may have played the dirtiest in more than one field. While raising nearly $50,000 each of the last two election cycles, very little of ELG’s PAC money made it to actual candidates, other than Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Where did it go?
Did they wash it around to other PAC’s? One $10,000 check was sent in July 2003 to the same address as a Republican political strategy firm, Shockley Public Strategies and its principal, Leslie Beyers. Republican National Committee campaign expenses for 2004 show payments totaling $27,000 to the company for communication services. It also reimbursed Leslie Shockley-Beyers $1,424, Beyer, Leslie $971, and Leslie Beyer $672 for travel expenses.
Will Andrew Cuomo follow the suspicious $10,000 check from Education Lending’s PAC? Doubtful as it may shine the light on huge political donations from American student loan businesses to both Republicans and Democrats.
Citigroup and Sallies Mae get to act like President Bush after a horrific hurricane hit the Gulf Coast. They admit to not doing as much as they could have to run a good operation but promise to do better in the future. The book will be thrown at the smaller company also behaving badly. CIT Group, the parent company of Student Xpress will be treated like the soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Yes, an example will be made of their criminal behavior, while the system hides the much wider abuses…
Student Loan Corruption Reveals What about Our Politicians?
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said inappropriate relationships between student loan companies and higher education institutions are more pervasive than originally anticipated. The list of bribing loan companies and dirty college financial staffers grows as lawyers investigate.
A federal education department official was suspended from his position over the weekend after the N.Y. Attorney General revealed Matteo Fontana owned 10,500 shares of stock in Education Lending Group, the owner of Student Loan Xpress. CIT later purchased ELG for nearly $20 per share. Adding to the current round of damage control, CIT suspended the top three executives in their student loan division.
However this is only the first level of hand holding and money changing. In a back room are politicians and student loan corporate political action committees. ELG donated 100% to Republican candidates in the last election. The company's PAC contributors included a number of Student Loan Xpress executives. Randy “Duke” Cunningham received $5,000 from ELG for his last election run.
In addition ELG’s campaign reports show a $10,000 donation to “Committee for a Democratic”, 611 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Suite 243, Washington, D.C. 20003. Unable to find a PAC with such a name, I searched the address to find it belongs to Shockley Public Strategies Inc. Leslie Beyer, a Republican with strong Texas and Bush White House roots serves as principal for the firm.
Leslie left the Executive Office of the President in 2002. Did she accept the check for $10,000 from Education Lending Group PAC in July of 2003? Did Mrs. Beyer put it to work to get her ex-boss reelected to the White House? If she didn’t get the check, who did? And where did it end up? How was the Student Loan Xpress money washed through the political system?
It’s becoming clearer whose sleeping with whom in the education/student loan arena. The question is what happened in the back room? What monies or stock offerings greased the skids for private loan companies to make out like bandits off our kids higher education loans? Hopefully Andrew Cuomo is pursuing this side of the equation. However, if he has future political aspirations he might not. Both Democrats and Republicans work hard for their chance to gorge at the corporate money campaign trough. Huge student loan lender Sallie Mae contributed almost $1.6 million over the last three election cycles, with Republicans having a slight edge over Democrats.
Privatization means more companies perform duties branches of government used to conduct. That the companies show their appreciation by donating to political campaigns is just freedom of speech. Funny how the recipients are then free to support bills that benefit their donors. When some malfeasaonce is found, a few bad eggs are tossed ceremoniously. Why don't leaders ask what systems created this widespread bad behavior?
Student loan companies cheat on a broad scale to grow the business while CEO's cheat on their incentive pay by backdating stock options on a widespread basis. Want to bet only a few fall in either category? Andrew Cuomo is already talking settlement with a "significant" student loan lender. My guess is a hefty fine and a few sacrificial firings will do the trick. Sound familiar? It should in our "banana republic".
A federal education department official was suspended from his position over the weekend after the N.Y. Attorney General revealed Matteo Fontana owned 10,500 shares of stock in Education Lending Group, the owner of Student Loan Xpress. CIT later purchased ELG for nearly $20 per share. Adding to the current round of damage control, CIT suspended the top three executives in their student loan division.
However this is only the first level of hand holding and money changing. In a back room are politicians and student loan corporate political action committees. ELG donated 100% to Republican candidates in the last election. The company's PAC contributors included a number of Student Loan Xpress executives. Randy “Duke” Cunningham received $5,000 from ELG for his last election run.
In addition ELG’s campaign reports show a $10,000 donation to “Committee for a Democratic”, 611 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Suite 243, Washington, D.C. 20003. Unable to find a PAC with such a name, I searched the address to find it belongs to Shockley Public Strategies Inc. Leslie Beyer, a Republican with strong Texas and Bush White House roots serves as principal for the firm.
Leslie left the Executive Office of the President in 2002. Did she accept the check for $10,000 from Education Lending Group PAC in July of 2003? Did Mrs. Beyer put it to work to get her ex-boss reelected to the White House? If she didn’t get the check, who did? And where did it end up? How was the Student Loan Xpress money washed through the political system?
It’s becoming clearer whose sleeping with whom in the education/student loan arena. The question is what happened in the back room? What monies or stock offerings greased the skids for private loan companies to make out like bandits off our kids higher education loans? Hopefully Andrew Cuomo is pursuing this side of the equation. However, if he has future political aspirations he might not. Both Democrats and Republicans work hard for their chance to gorge at the corporate money campaign trough. Huge student loan lender Sallie Mae contributed almost $1.6 million over the last three election cycles, with Republicans having a slight edge over Democrats.
Privatization means more companies perform duties branches of government used to conduct. That the companies show their appreciation by donating to political campaigns is just freedom of speech. Funny how the recipients are then free to support bills that benefit their donors. When some malfeasaonce is found, a few bad eggs are tossed ceremoniously. Why don't leaders ask what systems created this widespread bad behavior?
Student loan companies cheat on a broad scale to grow the business while CEO's cheat on their incentive pay by backdating stock options on a widespread basis. Want to bet only a few fall in either category? Andrew Cuomo is already talking settlement with a "significant" student loan lender. My guess is a hefty fine and a few sacrificial firings will do the trick. Sound familiar? It should in our "banana republic".
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