Posted on 06/26/2002 8:54:09 AM PDT by GeneD
6/26/2002 11:44:00 AM KANANASKIS, Alberta, Jun 26, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- AP White House Correspondent
President Bush on Wednesday called reports that WorldCom Inc. disguised $3.8 billion in assets outrageous and said the government "will fully investigate and hold people accountable."
Bush said he feared the pending bankruptcy would hurt "not only shareholders but employees as well." He said the latest evidence of corporate irresponsibility has hurt the United States stock market.
Bush said the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department would investigate.
WorldCom, which owns the nation's No. 2 long-distance carrier MCI, said Tuesday that more than $3 billion of expenses in 2001 and $797 million in the first quarter of 2002 were wrongly listed on company books as capital expenses, thus not reflected in its earnings results.
Bush said the U.S. markets are not as strong as they should be because of weak corporate profits, fears about future terrorist strikes and concerns about corporate malfeasance.
"There is some concern about the validity of the balance sheet of corporate America and I can understand why," the president said at a photo opportunity with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a meeting of the world's industrial powers.
"We've had too many cases of people abusing their responsibilities and people just need to know that the SEC is on it, our government is on it, and Arthur Andersen has been prosecuted. We will pursue, within our laws, those who are irresponsible."
Nonetheless, Bush said, "I do believe the economy is strong and I know that most of the people that run the businesses in America are aboveboard (and) honest."
Bush also has made critical comments about Enron Corp. and Andersen, its accounting firm, when the energy giant went bankrupt, taking the savings of stockholders with it.
Andersen also was WorldCom's auditor for all of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002 - the period for which WorldCom said it would restate earnings.
WorldCom, second to only AT&T in the long-distance market, grew from a small long-distance company into a telecommunications force through more than 60 acquisitions in the past 15 years. The growth was stopped in 2000 when federal and European regulators blocked WorldCom's proposed $129 billion merger with Sprint Corp., citing competition concerns.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Big deal no one ever goes to jail for white collar crime.
What a double standard! What does Bush called what Congress and the White House did to the American Investor with the so-called surplus, and balanced budget? Increasing the debt ceiling to 450 billion to avoid going bust, is what? If this was corporate america, Congress and parts of the White House would be investigated for cooking the books. Responsibility, Mr. President starts with you and Congress.
We are becoming really a lost Country!
No, that's Global Crossing. GC went down the toilet earlier this year, and now the Chicoms are trying to gobble it up.
Don't tell that to Ivan Boesky or Michael Millken, who both saw the inside of a Federal penitentiary.
CBS-The World's Greatest Fundraiser
"Get into the hard money business," says Democracy 21’s Fred Werhteimer. No problem says the McAuliffe staff. He "packed the boxes at the MCI Center" in May with hard money (the $50 seats in the peanut gallery as opposed to $500,000 tables on the floor). They add that he is a big belever in direct mail and wants to sponsor training programs for state parties in fundraising.
ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP
Ha,Ha. Could you pass me another spike for the coffin?
Received this today:
(snip)
"....The hellish consequences of Easy Al (Alan Greenspan) and Slick's (Bill Clinton) '90s bubble are arriving with increasing frequency and intensity. Long-time readers know we constantly lambasted the corruption, fraud, and chicanery of the late '90s. Bubbles don't occur by accident. The bubble was partly designed to keep Slick out of jail. Many people thought our continual bashing of Slick was solely political, but as we tried to articulate, we were disgusted at the massive corruption that permeated virtually every facet of US society. We often mentioned that the US would pay dearly for the venality of the '90s. That is now transpiring in the military, intelligence agencies, Justice, corporate America, the Church, stocks, etc.
Slick posted a for-sale sign on the US, and every insider and wise guy knew it. Everything was for sale, and ethics were discarded for quick profits. Non-financial profits peaked in 1997, but accounting chicanery kept the game going. The government manipulated economic data. Fraud was ubiquitous. It was obvious; and the consequences weren't a forecast; they were a certainty.
As bankruptcies proliferate, Congress and Bush will be pressured to act. They will select winners and losers, since everyone can't be saved. What telecom, techs, etc. will be given Chrysler-like sustenance? US banks will resemble Japanese banks. Soon, politicians, academicians, media, etal can issue the same bromides to US banks that they arrogantly hurled at the Japanese.
...... There will be even more Congressional hearings into the ways and means of the financial fraud and carnage that is still unfolding. But when will hearings into Congressional and Executive fraud occur?
We said it many times over the past several years, and we'll say it again. "The level of speculation in a society is directly proportional to the level of corruption." We don't recall the quote's originator.
"over the next 6 months there will be revelations of at least 10 more accounting scandals involving major corporations" (paraphrased)
If there are 9 more of these to come, I wonder what the Dow and Nasdaq will look like?
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