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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Arthur Radley who wrote (272072)	7/9/2002 5:19:21 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 769670

CHANGE THE LAW! PROVIDE EX POST FACTO PROTECTION TO THE CROOKS TexasDude, In what was cleverly and deviously designed to "change the subject" the Thief-In-Chief said we needed to stiffen the..... (no big swinging Dick jokes here...now) sentencing guidelines for mail fraud. Brilliant. If we change the law, we can't use it to prosecute due to the exculpatory ex post facto clause of the Constitution. A fabulous "get out of jail free" card for KENNY BOY!

To: Arthur Radley who wrote (272072)	7/9/2002 5:23:01 PM
From: bonnuss_in_austin	Respond to of 769670

GREAT link, TexasDude...and, the Stonewall continues: White House Stonewall: Days 136 & 137 truthout.org White House Stonewall: Day 136 A Daily Review of the White House's Attempts to Keep America From Learning Their Secrets Monday, 8 July, 2002 The White House Stonewall goes on, as the Bush administration continues to deny the non-partisan General Accounting Office's request for information on who the White House Energy Task Force met with while formulating national energy policy. For the first time in history, the GAO has sued the executive branch for access to the records. It has been 136 days since the GAO filed their suit against the Bush administration and 428 days since the White House first received the GAO request. Why is the White House going to such lengths? What are they trying to hide? The Latest News on the White House Stonewall Daschle Called on the SEC to Fully Disclose Bush's Corporate Trading Record with Harken* Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) called on the SEC to disclose Bush's file to answer all the questions about the President's transactions. Daschle, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," said, "I think the president would do well to ask the SEC to release the file--release it all.We've had different explanations as to--as to what actually occurred. I think the best way to resolve all those issues is just allow the SEC to release the file." [CBS: "Face the Nation," 7/7/02] Bush's Credibility on Corporate Responsibility and Accountability is Questionable... Bush may not be the most credible person to call for greater corporate accountability because of persistent questions stemming from an SEC investigation of his stock dealings while he served on the board of Harken Energy. According to the Los Angeles Times, Bush voicing an opinion on the recent corporate accounting scandals is an example of another two-faced, empty political gesture since he has for years come out against government oversight on business. "After suddenly altering his [Bush] explanation for why he was eight months late in reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission his 1990 sale of stock in Harken Energy Corp.--a company on whose board he sat--shortly before it announced large losses. (For years he blamed it on the SEC; now he's fingering Harken's lawyers.) After the fanatical ethics wars of the Clinton years, few in Washington have much stomach for a full-scale confrontation--though the Washington Post raised eyebrows by revealing Bush's former personal attorney was the SEC general counsel at the time the commission cleared him of wrongdoing in the stock sale. (The attorney, James Doty, says he recused himself.) The demands of the real war underway against terrorism also will discourage a political firefight over the sale. But even so, the disclosures are still creating awkward moments for Bush as he prepares to call for greater corporate responsibility in a speech Tuesday in New York. Actually, the focus on Bush's behavior 12 years ago may frame the wrong debate. It's likely that the dominant argument in Washington will be over whether it's credible for Bush to demand better corporate behavior while facing these personal questions. The more relevant issue is whether it's credible for Bush to threaten a crackdown now after his administration spent its first 18 months promising business kinder and gentler enforcement of the range of federal laws against corporate misconduct--from the environment to the stock markets to the workplace. In other words, can Bush plausibly shake the iron fist after stroking the Fortune 500 for so long with a velvet glove?*It's good for Bush to add his voice to the demand for more ethical corporate behavior. But his words would carry more weight if matched with action. If Bush is sincere about confronting corporate misbehavior, he'd be changing direction not only at the SEC but at the agencies protecting the environment, the workplace and public lands too. Eric Schaeffer, who resigned in protest as head of civil enforcement at the EPA earlier this year, asks the right question: Does it make sense to rely "on corporate self-policing" to safeguard the public "after what we've learned about corporate responsibility from Enron and others." Until Bush has an answer, his call for a corporate cleanup will remain muffled--as if he were speaking into a velvet glove." [LA Times, 7/8/02] White House Stonewall: Day 136 A Daily Review of the White House's Attempts to Keep America From Learning Their Secrets Tuesday, 9 July, 2002 The White House Stonewall goes on, as the Bush administration continues to deny the non-partisan General Accounting Office's request for information on who the White House Energy Task Force met with while formulating national energy policy. For the first time in history, the GAO has sued the executive branch for access to the records. It has been 137 days since the GAO filed their suit against the Bush administration and 429 days since the White House first received the GAO request. Why is the White House going to such lengths? What are they trying to hide? The Latest News on the White House Stonewall President Refused to Disclose SEC Records About His Harken Insider Trading... President Bush was dismissive and evasive over questions about his tenure as a board member with Harken Energy and the ensuing SEC investigation over his stock dumping before the company reported large losses. Bush dismissed the questions over his possible insider trading of Harken shares, which netted him $848,560, saying these questions were an example of how much "People love to play politics." Bush refused to authorize the SEC to release the full report of his investigations. Bush said, "You've seen the relevant documents." [Washington Post, 7/9/02; New York Times, 7/9/02] Bush Refused to Answer Questions About His Stance on the Sale of a Harken Subsidiary... President Bush told reporters to check unavailable sources after he was asked at a press conference about his role in an accounting decision the SEC said that Harken used to artificially inflate its earnings. At the time Bush was on the board of directors and a member of the audit committee. Bush said, "You need to look back on the director's minutes. But all I can tell you is, is that in the corporate world, sometimes things aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures." [White House Press Conference, 7/9/02] Print This Story E-mail This Story © : t r u t h o u t 2002 \| t r u t h o u t \| forum \| issues \| editorial \| letters \| donate \| contact \| \| voting rights \| environment \| budget \| children \| politics \| indigenous survival \| energy \| \| defense \| health \| economy \| human rights \| labor \| trade \| women \| reform \| global \|