Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002
NY Times Columnist Krugman Lied About Bush, Former Bush Partners Say
Tom Bernstein and Roland Betts, two of George W. Bush's partners in the Texas Rangers investment, castigated virulently anti-Bush New York Times columnist Paul Krugman for spreading blatant falsehoods about the president.
In a letter to the International Herald Tribune the two men wrote:
"Krugman says George W. Bush's investment in the Texas Rangers entitled him to $2.3 million from the baseball team's sale. But, Krugman adds, 'his partners voluntarily gave up some of their share, and Bush received 12 percent of the proceeds - $14.9 million. So a group of businessmen, presumably with some interest in government decisions, gave a sitting governor a $12 million gift.'
"We were among Bush's partners. In 1989, when we bought the team, Bush became the co-general partner with Edward Rose. At that time, the two general partners were granted a 15 percent share in the investment, after each investor got back his investment plus interest. This is a standard limited-partnership structure.
"At the time, Bush was a private citizen, not governor of Texas.
"When we sold the team in 1998, Bush received his 10 percent share. This was not 'a $12 million gift' to 'a sitting governor.' Bush had a good idea and the ability to make it happen. He was a dedicated manager and investor, exactly what we hope for in our business leaders."
Wrote New York Press columnist Taki Theodoracopulos, who revealed the letter " ...this Paul Krugman fellow takes the cake. He is an ex-Enron consultant who is bending over backwards to connect George W. with corporate sleaze. In fact, he does more than bend. He outright lies and invents in his pathetic column in The Big Bagel Times.
"So, not only has Krugman the liar been caught out, The New York Times has to be in cahoots. After all, Krugman surely knew that Bush was not governor at the time, but he threw it in anyway to give his lies a boost. Calling a standard business practice 'a $12 million gift' is further proof that Krugman is not a person to be trusted, a la Marc Rich. Not only does this liar have no shame about his Enron connection - I wonder whom they learned all that constructive accounting from? - he tries to libel President Bush as a tool of bribing businessmen. If the Times were not as desperate to destroy George W.'s presidency, Krugman would have been long gone. But it's never too late. The paper of false record has been caught in flagrante. Krugman should get a job in Hollywood, where bald-faced phonies and liars like him are considered Tinseltown aristocracy." |
