Posted on 07/01/2002 6:53:45 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
WASHINGTON - WorldCom's revelation that it fudged its accounts by $3.8 billion could whip the politics of corporate corruption into a Republican disaster. Continues.
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Will Wall Street Scandals hurt Republicans? No. Here's why
The election-year Democrat/Media campaign to tie Bush with sleaze/scandal on Wall Street saw its wheels come off over the weekend as the President forcefully seized the initiative, beginning with his weekly radio address, in which he vowed zero-tolerance for "violations of the public's trust."
If Dems expected Bush, on this issue, to roll over and play dead, they had another thing coming.
Instead, the President came out swinging.
To corporate sleaze-bags, boardroom looters and business con-artists, Bush's message was blunt, unequivocal, explicit: Expect indictments and prosecution under his administration.
"The government will fully investigate reports of corporate fraud, and hold the guilty accountable for misleading shareholders and employees", the President said, adding that "executives who commit fraud will face financial penalties and, when they are guilty of criminal wrongdoing, they will face jail time."
Bottom line?
The Clinton era is over. Moral adventurism, license, excuse-making, evasion -- lauded on Clinton's watch -- will no longer be tolerated. Corporate fraud, flimflam, double-dealing -- condoned by acquiescence under Clinton -- will, under Bush, be punished severely.
Bamboozlers, swindlers, con-men, cheats, listen up: The fun-and-games are over -- time to face the music.
Bush: "The federal government will be vigilant in prosecuting wrongdoers to ensure that investors and workers maintain the highest confidence in American business."
SEC Chairman, Harvey Pitt, echoes the President: "We don't give anyone a pass; if anybody violates the law, we'll go after him", he told ABC's "The Week".
'Wait a minute -- hold on there!', the Clintonistas loudly demur.
'These scandals are happening on Bush's -- not Clinton's -- watch!', they squawk. Daschle blamed the Bush administration's "laissez-faire attitude", the "deregulatory, permissive atmosphere that has relied too much on corporate America to police itself" as the culprit.
Gee, lemme see if I get this straight: Directors and executives at WorldCom, under the moral tutelage of the Clinton administration, behaved impeccably; their business dealings -- accounting, auditing, contracting, sales -- all were clean, honest, transparent, irreproachable.
Then along comes George W. Bush. The 'moral/ethical climate' under Clinton -- so spotless, so honest, so pure, so flawless, so chaste -- now suddenly descends into darkness.
In the instant Bush's sworn in as President, corporate managers at WorldCom grow fangs and morph into criminals.
Yessiree, Bob.
You see, it's all Bush's fault! So quit blaming Bush on Clinton!
Well, hate to break the news to you, libs, but that dog won't hunt.
Businessweek magazine reports that "internal auditors" probing WorldCom shenanigans "are uncovering further troubles", including "double-counting of revenue as far back as 1999, debt that may not have been previously disclosed, and booking of revenues that haven't yet been received from long-term contracts".
Golly gee ... guess who was "president" back in '99?
Anyone have a clue?
Well, Big Media and the Democrats obviously don't: they were harping on WorldCom as "proof" -- 'solid', irrefutable 'evidence' -- of Bush's corrupting influence on business. WorldCom was showcased as the veritable 'smoking-gun', the straw that broke the camel's back.
(Psst! Psst! WorldCom and others were cooking-the-books when Der Schlickmeister was "president".)
'Others'? What 'others'?
Well, here's some more bad news for Bush-haters who thought they had landed an "issue": An audit of Xerox Corp. uncovered yet more improper revenue accounting -- again, on a massive scale. The copier giant, based in Stamford, Conn., accelerated more revenue -- gobs more revenue -- than estimated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its settlement with Xerox in April.
Worse for the Clintonites, the book-cooking shenanigans had been going on for five years!
This takes us back, way back, to 1997.
Again, any guess as to who was "president" then?
Remaining on offense, Bush will deliver a major address July 9 pushing for top-to-bottom reform and stiff new penalties -- legislative changes modeled in part on proposals submitted to Congress in March. Under Current law, financial misstatements to the SEC, short of fraud, prompt civil penalties -- but no jail time. According to published reports, Bush will propose making intentional misstatements a crime, subject to serious prison sentences. In the interim, evidence will continue to mount showing the current wave of accounting scams really began under the Clinton administration, further diminishing this issue as campaign fodder for Democrats hungry to tarnish the President, who enjoys a commanding advantage on questions of morals and ethics.
Polls show Americans, by overwhelming majorities, give this President exceptionally high marks on character, integrity, ethics -- the key reason Democrats fail to gain any traction on 'scandal'.
Tactically, the effort to smear the President, while goofy, silly and politically motivated, is a gauge of Democrat desperation, their fruitless struggle for campaign themes as the parties head into midterm elections with Bush's popularity essentially undiminished and Democrats on defense over a host of issues, the recent Pledge flap among them.
For both parties, the stakes couldn't be higher: Elections this fall will decide which party has the upperhand in Congress for the balance of Bush's current term. After reapportionment, and with only a handful of competitive House races, the odds are Republicans will keep control of the House and wrest the Senate from Democrat control.
In what little time remains before voters head to the polls, Democrats plan to launch a 4-pronged attack:
1) Prey on seniors: Elect Republicans, and watch them steal your Social Security check, right from your mail box! Why? To payback fat-cat contributors and corporate polluters -- that's why! Vote Democrat!
2) Prey on the working poor: Elect Republicans, and lose your job or watch your paycheck shrink -- Vote Democrat!
3) Prey on the sick: Elect Republicans, and watch them raid your medicine cabinet -- Vote Democrat!
4) Prey on blacks: Elect Republicans, and vote for church-burnings and dragging-deaths -- don't do it! Vote Democrat!Will the fear-mongering pay-off -- revive the Democrats' demoralized base?
If past is prologue, not likely. Again and again, on issue after issue, this President out-flanks/out-maneuvers his enemies -- at times, even on their own turf. Democrats have failed to demonize Bush, despite their best efforts. To electrify their base, they must.
But they can't.
And they won't.
Anyway, that's....
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2"
More and more people are awakening to the fact that the Democrats have had as much or more support from corporate boardrooms as Republicans, notwithstanding their phony populist rhetoric, and that corruption knows no party.
Also, it is obvious to any sentient being that the Clintons used their office to go after those who were either their political opponents or who had failed to pony up soft money to the DNC.
All the Bush Administration needs to do is the right thing...apply the law equally and fairly to all. That alone will defang the sleazoid attack dogs of the Carvillites.
EV
Yeah, ain't Martha Stewart a money grubber. Of course, the junior Senator from NY knows all about cattle futures and how to launder a BRIBE! I'd like to see her answer to the Tyson connection.
I suppose Bush can give another "I'm not gonna fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt" speech this time talking about white collar crime.
Harvey Pitt should have been all over this scandel sooner.
Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!
Molon Labe !!
To corporate sleaze-bags, boardroom looters and business con-artists, Bush's message was blunt, unequivocal, explicit: Expect indictments and prosecution under his administration.
Why don't you write about the NYSE? Something's fishy there, as evidenced by Grasso's (Chairman NYSE) hand-clinching until his knuckles were white during his entire interview yesterday with Sam Donaldson on ABC. Suspicious behavior! Was he involved in keeping the SEC at bay?
Which reminds me.......I've been trying for a couple years to get my phone co.(Sprint) to remove Worldcom as my long distance carrier that is listed on my bill. I have NEVER had their service. I even got two billings from them, with zero balances. They just said something like, "Oh, don't worry about it, we send them to everyone". I'm wondering if this is part of their boast of all the business they have.....people who do not use them, they just bill "everyone" and what part Sprint has in it all. Bigger isn't always better. :<)
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