Bush pushes for corporate responsibility

MSNBC.com ^ | 6/29/02

[GeneD]

WASHINGTON, June 29 — President Bush, striving to shield himself from public anger over recent corporate scandals, called on Saturday for rules and laws to “restore faith in the integrity of American business.” Speaking in his weekly radio address, the president promised not to let an unethical few in corporate America “tarnish our entire free enterprise system.”

Bush defended his administration and the Republican Party against Democratic criticism that their laissez-faire attitude toward business has helped create the problems.

“Despite recent abuses of the public’s trust, our economy remains fundamentally sound and strong,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “No violation of the public’s trust will be tolerated. The federal government will be vigilant in prosecuting wrongdoers to ensure that investors and workers maintain the highest confidence in American business.”

WORLDCOM, XEROX AT CENTER

The president’s scolding of big business, his fourth in as many days, could barely keep up with events.

Bush referred, though not by name, to WorldCom’s disclosure earlier this week that it misrepresented $3.8 billion in expenses. By Friday, Xerox had announced it, too, had overstated revenues by billions of dollars.

“Confidence is the cornerstone of our economic system, so a few bad actors can tarnish our entire free enterprise system,” Bush said. “America is ushering in a new era of responsibility and that ethic of responsibility must extend to America’s boardrooms.”

He listed administration efforts against corporate fraud: quick investigations into and actions against companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission and a 10-point plan that includes taking ill-gotten gains back from company executives and denying them the chance to serve on boards of directors.

Bush’s address, recorded Friday, was broadcast on the day he was undergoing a colon screening by military doctors at Camp David, Md. Because short-term sedation was involved, Bush was turning over the powers of the presidency during that time to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bush made similar comments in a speech to a fund-raising event for Maryland Republican Rep. Connie Morella on Friday, saying he was not worried about the underlying strength of the U.S. economy.

“I’m not concerned about the fundamentals of our economy. I think they are very strong. I think we’ve got the right fiscal policy in place, the right monetary policy it seems like is good. People are concerned, however, about whether or not the balance sheets of corporate America are open, whether or not the numbers are real,” Bush said.

“Corporate America has got to understand there is a higher calling than trying to fudge the numbers, trying to slip a billion here and a billion here and ... hope nobody notices.”

[cornelis]

"an unethical few"

vs. the moral majority? Very optimistic, but that's the inevitable rhetoric of leadership.

[TomServo]

“Corporate America has got to understand there is a higher calling than trying to fudge the numbers, trying to slip a billion here and a billion here and ... hope nobody notices.”

Yup. Just like the federal gov't.

[dawn53]

President Bush, striving to shield himself from public anger over recent corporate scandals, called on Saturday for rules and laws to “restore faith in the integrity of American business.”

Don't you just love it when a journalist is a mind reader and is able to determine the President's motives. Did it ever occur to them that he made the speech because of personal convictions, not just because of some political game playing

[woofer]

President Bush, striving to shield himself from public anger over recent corporate scandals,

Dubya doesn't need to shield himself from anything 'cept misinformation from the liberal, demonRAT bootlicking press.

Honest reporting would point out that all, if not at least 99%, of the business accounting and insider scandals are being brought to light now, under the auspices of an ethical administration rather than during the administration of the truly ethics-impaired Clintonistas.

[dr_who]

Did it ever occur to them that he made the speech because of personal convictions, not just because of some political game playing

Probably not. But does it matter? Most of the journalists out there are waiting for an opportunity to help Bush and various other Republicans go down in flames. But they can only do so much to bring that about. What bugs me is that Bush is (going by what he's done so far) very likely to rubber stamp whatever "reform" measures congress throws his way. But at least he's a nice guy who's thinking what the average Joe is thinking.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

This is going to be the tactic used now, by the Demedia. Any speech given by the President,on business issues, will be described in terms to make the reader or listener think that Bush was directly involved in running the latest scandal ridden corporation.

[Right_in_Virginia]

"Bush defended his administration and the Republican Party against Democratic criticism that their laissez-faire attitude toward business has helped create the problems."

Huh?

I think the appropriate questions is: "What did Dashle/Lieberman/Gore/Clinton know and when did they know it?"

[RAT Patrol]

, striving to shield himself from public anger over recent corporate scandals this little tactic always irks me. How the heck does the writer know his motives are to "shield himself"? Is it inconceivable that Bush is outraged because he cares about this Country? puhleease!

And this is what masquerades as "news" in this country. Try this..."the reporter, striving to insult a popular Republican President near a midterm election, took slanderous liberties with the news story..." (Ann's book is already serving me well, lol)

[MoJo2001]

Responsibility and Accountability are words that don't compute in Washington or Wall Street.

[Nick Danger]

Dubya doesn't need to shield himself from anything 'cept misinformation from the liberal, demonRAT bootlicking press.

I don't think he even has to do that. It's pretty apparent from the size of these debacles that the book-simmering has been going on for years. I think what's happening is that the accounting firms are suddenly getting religion after seeing what happened to Arthur Andersen. They are going to their clients with some of the more liberal rule interpretations and saying, in effect, "This is bogus. Either you 'fess up to this and take the bath now, or we're going to resign as your accounting firm and tell people why."

The Democrats have to try to blame it on Bush because that's what Democrats do. Besides, they have nothing else to sell. We know that because here they are trying to sell themselves as the party of honesty, which is ludicrous. Hell, they are on record as not knowing what "is" is.

The media is another story. There has been a lot of talk -- and a couple of best-selling books -- about liberal bias in the media recently. I think people are becoming much more aware of how often reporters sound like Democratic Party politicians when they report the news. I don't think the 'party line' is slipping quietly into people's subconscious the way it used to. I think instead people are thinking, "Hey... that guy is slanting the news."

In short, I think the media is at the point where they hurt themselves when they do this. They're losing credibility with people. Ann Coulter can go on TV and call Katie Couric "the Eva Braun of liberalism" to her face, and Couric herself is the only one shocked.

[Nick Danger]

Responsibility and Accountability are words that don't compute in Washington or Wall Street.

Yeah, let's blame it on Washington and Wall Street. That way we don't have to face the fact that we have trouble right here in River City. Let's tell ourselves that all the amoral people have left for the Big City, leaving just us honest folks out here in flyover country.

It takes no more moral decadence to cause a $3 billion fiasco on Wall Street than it does a $200K road construction fiasco in Junction Switch. The rule-shaver on Wall Street just has more money to play with.

What we're seeing is society-wide. Rule-shavers, crooks, shysters, con artists, and even morally bankrupt Bishops, everywhere and all the time. It's Bork's Slouching Towards Gomorrah come to life. They're in the charities, they're in the accounting firms, they're in business, government, and education. They're in the Church, they're in your church, and mine. And if you don't think so, it's only because you haven't found them yet.

A country that thinks a little perjury is fine if it's "just about sex" will find there are people in it who think it's fine when it's about money, or pedophelia, or vote counting, or any other damned thing. Tolerating liars begets more lies. It makes the liars bolder.

It wasn't just about sex. It was about tolerating lies in high places by powerful people. Can't we just move on? Well, we did. And here we are. More and bigger liars? Quelle surprise.

[MoJo2001]

I'm sorry, but as an individual I am responsible for my own behavior. I take responsibility and am accountable for any actions that I take. The best I can do for others is to pray for them and be active when and wherever I can help.

What you really need to do is post your opinion on Democratic Underground where they have no assumption.

Keep in mind, I've seen politicians squander away the countries safety. I've seen Wall Street cover their butts one scandal after another. The solutions, responsibilities, and accountability should be demanded by those of us in flyover country who must pay the price for their lack of one.

We have paid a price for the immorality that had been taking place before I was even born. Prayer in school and abortion are just two examples of what has helped with the decay of responsibility and accountability in this country. If you don't value God or a higher being and life, then what's to say that you even know what accountability or responsibility is.

Each person has the choice to choose the right path. If you fail to do so, you will find every excuse in the book to hold someone else's feet to the fire.

[Nick Danger]

I'm sorry, but as an individual I am responsible for my own behavior.

I find it interesting that you refuse 'group blame' as a concept while you simultaneously blast "Wall Street." It is nice that you demand to be treated as an individual. Please extend the courtesy to others. And no, I do not work on Wall Street. I just have a low tolerance for horseback preachers with motes in their eyes.

[cornelis]

What we're seeing is society-wide

. . . most of the time . . .

Vice doesn't discriminate. And wisdom says it starts out small.

[SteamshipTime]

I think we need to put this in perspective. From the South Sea Bubble to schemes to extract gold from sea water to the Blue Sky cons, business history is filled with scams. In the 1920's, many directors of public companies became wealthy shorting their own company's stock. Could anyone explain what WorldCom, Global Crossings and Enron ever did to justify such high P-E multiples? Did anyone raise an eyebrow at annual reports that have become full of terms like "pro forma" and "goodwill" and "unrealized?"

Conservative financial commentators were pointing this out all along. Investors didn't bother to ask because they were so sure that the money spigots at the Fed had brought a new dawn of permanently rising stock prices. This forum was full of them. Now that economic reality has set in, they all go bleating to government.

Bush is only to happy to weigh in with righteous indignation, as it keeps the sheep distracted from the fact that the government he heads engages in the same bogus accounting and has destroyed trillions of dollars of private sector wealth.