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charliecstl
Love, love, love this piece. It really speaks to some great issues about how the current administration is beginning to show its true colors -- it will not crack down on corporate corruption because it wants to play by the same rules.

It talks about a troubling new deal between Boeing and the Pentagon, the tax cuts, and the burying of the Treasury report that we have discussed pointing out the long-term emergency we are facing as a country. Very good stuff:

QUOTE
Like many disgraced companies, the White House has proven adept at playing fast and loose with the numbers in order to mislead its \"shareholders\" -- the American people. Take the administration's shifty use of \"averages\" to make it seem like the new tax cut benefits everyone -- claiming that \"91 million taxpayers will receive, on average, a tax cut of $1,226,\" when, in fact, the majority of households will receive a tax cut of $100 or less. Or the way it used sure-to-be-repealed \"sunset clauses\" to make it seem as if the president was reasonably settling for a $350 billion tax cut, when the actual price tag on the new bill will be close to $1 trillion.

It's the kind of economic book cooking that would do ol' Kenny Boy Lay proud.

It's time to expand the Right's definition of immorality beyond sex, drugs, and rock and roll to include lying, cheating, and callous indifference to those in need.

CEOs lying to investors to pad their own pockets is bad enough. Political leaders lying to the American people to pad the pockets of their big buck contributors is immoral -- and intolerable.
The Enronization of Public Policy
PhillyFan
QUOTE
charliecstl:
It talks about a troubling new deal between Boeing and the Pentagon
8 billion in intrest payments... hmmmmmm. If this is a lease... who is paying for the maint of the planes? If it's boeing.. they might be saving money. This do-do doesnt even look at the cost/benefit of leasing vs buying the planes. Hence, looking at the 8 billion of interest is quite foolish to anyone who knows anything about finance. He should pull out his calculator and explain HOW this is losing money for the taxpayer. Otherwise it has no merit.

#2... With this being quite public information... there is no way the aircraft company can hide it, duh. Any accounting or company structure will be looked at over and over again by the auditors.

Really great when a bunch of communists try to rationalize these things.

[ June 05, 2003, 01:31 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]
Charlie in the Trees
QUOTE
charliecstl:
Love, love, love this piece.  It really speaks to some great issues about how the current administration is beginning to show its true colors -- it will not crack down on corporate corruption because it wants to play by the same rules.
The Bush administration won't crack down on corporate corruption? Tell that to Martha Stewart. And Dennis Kozlowski. Or the Adelphia boys.

As for Enron? Who was that demanding that the government go easy on Ken Lay and Enron right before it collapsed? Well I'll be. It was Clinton Treasury Sec Bob Rubin, wasn't it?

The Bush administration came up with a great plan for attacking corporate corruption, but the Dems in Congress thought scoring political points on class warfare was more important. That plan: the elimination of the double taxation of dividends. That should be a centerpiece of the fight.

Let me give you a lesson in basic economics. Given the current tax structure, with dividends being taxed double (corporate income and personal income), the most efficient way to make money from stock investment is capital gains. Capital gains are the appreciation in the stock price. Enron ... to use your exxample ... was an example of corruption for the purpose of manipulating stock price.

If dividends are treated more favorably under the tax code, investors will prefer stocks that pay dividends, rather than "growth" stocks where the money is to be made from an increase to the stock price. This substantially lessens the economic value of stock manipulation a la Enron, lessening the rewards of corruption. Attack corruption from the supply and the demand side. Perp walks for Martha helps prevent corruption; changes in the tax code lessen the demand for it.

Liberals love the argument that you need to attack the "root causes" of crime. George W. Bush's tax proposals attack the "root cause" of corporate corruption.

Side note: what the hell is up with the Democrats continuing obsession with Enron? Enron was a bubble that got bigger in the late '90s. The bubble burst. Any illegal activity will be prosecuted. End of discussion.

To me, the real Enron scandal as how they built yet another nouveau-retro ballpark in downtown Houston and completely forgot to include a right field. The thing is a disgrace. I don't care that they changed the name. The thing is still a disgrace to baseball and should be destroyed.

[ June 05, 2003, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]
fantomas
Enron, Worldcomm, you name it. The article's right on. But remember that both W. and Cheney got their practice with such shenanigans at Harken and Halliburton respectively. W. actually got in trouble and was fined, though his daddy got him off. And he avenged Poppy Bush's failure by clobbering that damn Hussein. Or at least his government.

As for Enron, CITT, it was the one of the MOST SPECTACULAR BUSINESS FAILURES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. That's why Democrats--and some Republicans--are pissed off. Martha Stewart's alleged activities did not destroy the jobs of thousands, eliminate the retirement savings of thousands more, gouge an entire state for energy bills, and not only wipe itself out but one of the major international accounting firms as well. There is no comparison.

Why did W. try to cut the SEC budget after publicly announcing he was going to get tough on crime? Why did he nominate a Wall Street crony type to run it? Why isn't Kennyboy Lay being given the perp walk? What about the folks behind Global Crossing? What about Bunkers Cheney himself?

[ June 05, 2003, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]
PhillyFan
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fantomas:
Cheney got their practice with such shenanigans at Harken and Halliburton respectively.
I've already proven your "disaster" at halliburton to be quite insignificant.
kick
I'd rather use Bushies own description when he claimed that Al Gore was errant in his numbers.

Bush and his administration have "fuzzy math" written all over it.
fantomas
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PhillyFan
I've already proven your \"disaster\" at halliburton to be quite insignificant. [/QB]
You haven't proved a damned thing. What on earth are you talking about? Cheney's lies about the financial mismanagement there? What does that have to do with Halliburton's secret dealings with the Pentagon? And what does this have to do with W.'s illegal activities at Harken? Or the shenanigans at WorldComm? Or Global Crossing? Or....
PhillyFan
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fantomas:
Cheney's lies about the financial mismanagement there?  What does that have to do with Halliburton's secret dealings with the Pentagon?  And what does this have to do with W.'s illegal activities at Harken?  Or the shenanigans at WorldComm?  Or Global Crossing?  Or....
Haliburton and the pentagon? Put that one to rest, please tell me which other company would have done better with the contract?

What questions the SEC has with their revenue recoginition is insignificant.

World comm? Anyone who invested in that company right before they went down.. is an idiot. People saw that coming for over a year. As far as SOME (not all) of the items they were capitalizing... this was common practice throught the telecom industy over the last 10 years. Inflated earning was what kept the market inflated in the 90's. That was ok, it wasnt till these companies started running out of $$$$$ that anyone really even cared. World Comm merely pushed the limit on a common practice in the Telecom industry.

Global Crossings, maybe the DNC chairman can answer that question... considering his invest came in at 100,000% above what he invested in the company....
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