Bush owned his first business, which went under.
If you are talking about Harken Energy, you are totally incorrect. Harken Energy didn't go under. Bush sold his stock (at $4), the company did go through some restructuring but was still operable and a year later the stock was valued at $8.
Source: The Truth about "The Resume"
He was moved into a series of cushy figurehead positions reqyiring no personal investment other than the family name
Well, first of all, you seem to think that there is something wrong with being paid because of your name. There is nothing wrong with that. It's not illegal and apparently it pays well. Recognized figures get paid because of their name recognition.
If RLK was a recognizable name and someone wanted to pay you $500,000 (amount?) per year to promote their product or service, would you? With the only possible caveat being asked to promote something illegal, if you say no, you're a liar, an idiot, or both. Of course, you would. Everyone would.
Now, you could make the argument that it is shallow. However, that really doesn't wash either. In fact, George W Bush wasn't just a "rainmaker" as you imply. W's most well-known "rainmaker" job was with the Texas Rangers. But, as it turns out (and much to your dismay), he wasn't just a figurehead at all. Here are the facts (try not to stuggle with them too much):
"He was a constant presence in the ballpark, keeping everybody, from the ushers to the players, feeling good about the franchise. His ownership group was an ever shifting stew of between a dozen and two dozen millionaires; he spent a lot of time keeping them happy. During games he sat in a box next to the dugout, not in the normal owner’s box above. He ribbed the players, passed out autographed baseball cards of himself to fans, and shouted jokes to the managers. Bush spoke at Rotary Clubs about the glories of baseball and even made cold calls to prospective season-ticket buyers."The athletic team was greatly financed through a political deal in which the city/state confiscated the land for it. Out of an original investment of $15,000 in his first faltering business, Bush came out with tens of millions of dollars for practical purposes as gifts in return for use of the Bush name."He was not merely a cheerleader. He was known around baseball as an activist owner—less activist than Yankees owner George Steinbrenner or Orioles owner Peter Angelos, but more activist than most".
Source: Texas Ranger
Incoherently wrong.
The only part that you partially got right was that there was that The Ballpark at Arlington was tax-payer financed. However, there was no land grab, as you so falsely alledged. Hold on, here's the facts:
When the Rangers moved to Texas from Washington, they were housed in a glorified minor-league ballpark, with lousy seats and few luxury boxes to generate revenue. Bush, Rose, Schieffer, and Richard Greene, the mayor of Arlington, developed a proposal to hike the city’s sales tax by half a cent to raise $135 million for the new stadium. It was put to the voters in a referendum. Bush campaigned for it, while critics called it welfare for millionaires. In the biggest turnout in Arlington history, the measure passed by 2 to 1.Additionally, tax-payer funded stadiums have been occuring since the 50s. In fact, only 1 stadium since the 50s was built WITHOUT municipal involvment and/or tax-payer money. So, there isn't anything amiss about this.
Source: Texas Ranger
Now, was the purchase of the Texas Rangers predicated on the moving from the "glorified minor-league ballpark"? Maybe. Maybe not. The fact are that:
"Revenues were $28.8 million the year before Bush and company bought the team. They were up to $62.4 million in 1993, the last year in the old stadium. But in the new park, attendance jumped by 700,000, with revenues skyrocketing to $116 million last year.I don't care what you call him, but W is a "gamer". He is not a figurehead. Rather, he is an effective executive who lets people who know how to do the job, do the job. Its really the first rule of being an effective executive: get the hell out of the way!
Source: Texas Ranger
You provided the facts, but I live near Dallas and remember well the high regard for Bush by baseball fans throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area for his instrumental role in reversing the fortunes or The Rangers, the huge turnout for the stadium referendum, the full and fair public discussion, the absolute delight of fans and civic leaders and businesses with the new stadium, etc, etc.
RLK is indeed full of DU-DU.
Bush on the board not worth much, says Carlyle founder The Telegraph, (UK) ^ | Wednesday, 9 July, 2003 | Simon English in New York Posted on 07/08/2003 7:48:00 PM PDT by Willie Green For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Carlyle Group, the powerful investment house with close links to the Bush family, is facing acute embarrassment after the emergence of sardonic remarks the company founder made about the president.
In a talk to investors, David Rubenstein said George W Bush did little but tell dirty jokes while on the board of a company owned by Carlyle, and that he wouldn't have appeared in the top 25m people he would have suggested for president of the US.
Carlyle employs the first President Bush and a host of other luminaries including John Major and former US defence secretary Frank Carlucci. It has been the target of conspiracy theorists for its high-level political connections and its work as a defence contractor.
Mr Rubenstein said Mr Bush was hired to be a non-executive director of Caterair, the world's largest airline food business that Wall Street dubbed Craterair, in the early 1990s.
"Somebody came to me and said: 'Look there is a guy who would like to be on the board. He's kind of down on his luck a bit. Needs a job… could you put him on the board? Pay him a salary and he'll be a good board member and be a loyal vote for the management and so forth,'" he said in a speech to a Los Angeles pension fund.
Of Mr Bush's performance, he added: "He … came to all the meetings. Told a lot of jokes. Not that many clean ones. And after a while I said to him, after about three years: 'You know, I'm not sure this is really for you… because I don't think you're adding that much value. You don't know that much about the company.'"
He did not think Mr Bush would go far in politics, saying: "If you said to me, name 25m people who would maybe be president of the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category. So you never know. Anyway, I haven't been invited to the White House for any things."
Mr Bush's business background is somewhat controversial. He was investigated in the early 1990s for insider trading in Harken Energy shares by the Securities & Exchange Commission, but was not charged. Carlyle hit the headlines after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, when it emerged the estranged family of Osama bin Laden invested with the company. The family has since sold its small stake. TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government KEYWORDS: BUSH43; CARLYLEGROUP; FRANKCARLUCCI; SEC; TINFOIL; Click to Add Keyword
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Bush held, and was supported by, several such positions simultaneously for a good sum of money. That's how he lived.
You people really should research the information on this site instead of spitting at anyone who confronts your blind beliefs.