Posted on 08/19/2015 5:22:08 AM PDT by jimbo123
For Florida taxpayers, the move by the administration of then-Gov. Jeb Bush to forge a relationship with Lehman Brothers would ultimately prove disastrous. Transactions in 2005 and 2006 put the Wall Street investment bank in charge of some $250 million worth of pension funds for Florida cops, teachers and firefighters. Lehman would capture more than $5 million in fees on these deals, while gaining additional contracts to manage another $1.2 billion of Florida's money. Then, in the fall of 2008, Lehman collapsed into bankruptcy, leaving Florida facing up to $1 billion in losses.
But for Jeb Bush personally, his enduring relationship with Lehman would prove lucrative. In 2007, just as he left office, Bush secured a job as a Lehman consultant for $1.3 million a year, Bloomberg reported.
Weeks after Bush took the Lehman job, the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA) -- a three-member body that makes investment decisions about state pension funds and whose ranks had recently included one Jeb Bush -- gave Lehman additional business: SBA purchased $842 million worth of separate investments in Lehman’s mortgage-backed securities. Over the course of the year, the SBA would shift an additional $420 million of pension money into the same fund in which the state had begun investing under Bush.
In short, during Bush’s first year working for Lehman, his former colleagues in Tallahassee, the state capital, moved vast sums of Florida pension money into the doomed Wall Street investment bank, even as warnings about its financial troubles began to emerge.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
Florida originally began investing money in Lehman in 2005, while Bush was the highest profile member of the SBA, which oversees the $150 billion pension fund. The Bush-led SBA that year committed $176 million to Lehman; in 2006, as Florida moved another $87 million into the Lehman investment, the firm hired Jeb Bush’s cousin, George Herbert Walker, to run the firm’s investment management division.
The next year, Lehman offered the outgoing Florida governor the consulting job. Bush had worked briefly at a Texas-based bank after college, but he lacked significant Wall Street experience.
Sweet deal. If you can get it. And don’t care about much else.
This does not look good.
Adios, Jebbie ‘ol boy.
It seems that our country’s elite are nothing but greedy pigs with only a few exceptions.
Not much difference between this and simply writing himself a check straight from the pension’s bank account.
It has been a principle to simply follow the money to expose what is going on. Of course for 8 years we heard nothing of this. I guess ole Jebber better not stick his nose in Trump’s position again or who knows what will pop out.
I think we have made the current government outdated. Time to start over with an entire new cast of characters. For me, someone with 10 billion to lose sounds like the best candidate as he has skin in the game. Most of the rest just seem in it for the money or for both the money and power. If the Clintoons don’t come to mind, someone has their head in the sand along with all those senators who leave office multi millionairs and then go off to lucrative lobby jobs.
And we keep electing them. Lesser of two evils, right?
Jeb and his cronies are a disgusting lot.
This should be in all the headlines, MSM strangely unconcerned. Wonder if this was being saved for a nice “October Surprise?”
One of Jeb’s favorite sayings (according to acquaintances) was “There is no tooth fairy and there are no heroes.”
The NY Times was saving this story until AFTER Jeb secured the nomination.
The Bush family is corrupt. They talk about being good people but their actions say otherwise for the most part.
I despise the entire Bush family...especially GWB.
A few of his greatest hits...
1. Allowed Ted the Swimmer write the Education bill
2. Bailed out his comrades (with taxpayer money) at the failed Wall St investment houses
3. Paved the way for Comrade Obamatollah
4. Proudly proclaims he’s a brother to Sick Willie Clinton
It would be interesting to read the minutes of the meeting to see if Yeb was steering the board towards Lehman.
If he did, IMHO he’s as crooked as Hillary, Obama or Reid. As a fiduciary he’s obligated to place the funds in a safe place, not a place willing to `divvy the take’ with him.
El Jebito just feathering the hacienda for Evita, er, Columba.
Jeb is also a big proponent of Charter Schools. He is also on the board of one of the largest Charter school organizations in the country. Charter schools are a public/private partnership. If charter schools become the norm, then school boards will go away (no public input or accountability) and property taxes will go to a private corporation (Charter schools). He is just as bad as Hillary. Sad thing is, his backers all know it.
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