Sumamba Buwhan
11-04-2005, 22:25
GIVE IT BACK, GEORGE (www.GregPalast.com )
Did Wyly Coyotes' Ill-Gotten Loot Buy White House?
by Greg Palast
Monday, April 11, 2005
When the feds swoop down and cuff racketeers, they also load the vans
with all the perp's ill-gotten gains: stacks of cash, BMWs, hideaway
houses, whatever. Their associates have to cough up the goodies too --
lady friends must give up their diamond rocks.
Under the racketeering law, RICO, even before a verdict, anything
bought with the proceeds of the crime goes into the public treasury.
But there seems to be special treatment afforded those who loaded up on
the 'bennies' of crimes committed by George Bush's buddies.
On Friday, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced it had
captured a couple of Texas varmints, the Wyly Brothers, Charles and
Sam. The two have 'fessed to concealing half their holdings in one of the
rich boys' companies, Michaels Stores. The grand jury is still out on
deciding to indict the two for the crime of fraud upon the stock market.
Who are these guys? The billionaire brothers are "Pioneers" - not the
kind that built little houses on the prairie, but the kind that agreed
to raise over a hundred grand for George W. Bush's first Presidential
run. Sam anted up more than a quarter million for the Republican National
Committee in 2000.
But that's just the tip of the cash-berg for Bush. In 2000, Sen. John
McCain was wiping the electoral floor with Bush Jr. in the Republican
primaries
until that March when the Wylys secretly put up two and half million
dollars for a campaign to smear Bush's opponent just days before the
crucial Southern primaries.
They repeated the trick in 2004, putting up cash for the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth, the vicious little snipes who tore apart the Kerry
campaign.
So what makes these guys so thrilled with Mr. Bush? There are more than
ninety million reasons. While George W. was governor of Texas,
investigative reporter Joe Conason discovered, a Wyly family private investment
fund, Maverick Capital of Dallas, was awarded a state contract to
invest $90 million for the University of Texas endowment.
That's not all. As Governor, Bush signed into law an electricity
"deregulation" bill that was little more than ill-disguised raid on
consumers' wallets by Texas power companies. The bill was in part drafted by an
outfit called GreenMountain.com, a power company owned by - you guessed
it - Sam Wyly.
On the day George W. signed the deregulation bill, Sam Wyly said,
"Governor Bush's hard work and leadership have paid off." And, it seems, in
2000 and 2004, the Wylys paid back.
Last week, the Wyly brothers, knowing law men will probably seize their
gains anyway, announced they would turn over their hidden loot to
Michaels Stores' treasury -- a kind gesture, like a bank-robber turning over
stolen cash in hopes of leniency.
But what about the racketeering rule requiring all cronies of the
wrongdoers to give up the benefits of alleged crime?
If the G-men don't know where the tainted booty is cached, try this
address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Ask for George or Dick.
Now it might be unfair to say that George Bush's campaigns succeeded
solely because of the Wyly's loot. After all, the number one campaign
contributors were Pioneer Ken Lay and his associates at Enron.
OK now, Mr. President, give it back- the millions stuffed in the
pockets of the Republican campaign kitty filched from Enron retirees and the
suckers in the stock market who didn't have the inside track like the
Wylys.
When I worked as a racketeering investigator for government, nothing
was spared, including houses bought with purloined loot. Let there be no
exception here. It's time to tape up the White House gate and hang the
sign: "Crime Scene: Property to be Confiscated. Vacate Premises
Immediately."
**********
I think it's hilarious how high on a pedastle the Bush apologists put this disgusting administration. They are so moral :rolleyes: that they consistently deal with scum like this. I bet this makes the Republicans even prouder of their man in the Whitehouse.
Did Wyly Coyotes' Ill-Gotten Loot Buy White House?
by Greg Palast
Monday, April 11, 2005
When the feds swoop down and cuff racketeers, they also load the vans
with all the perp's ill-gotten gains: stacks of cash, BMWs, hideaway
houses, whatever. Their associates have to cough up the goodies too --
lady friends must give up their diamond rocks.
Under the racketeering law, RICO, even before a verdict, anything
bought with the proceeds of the crime goes into the public treasury.
But there seems to be special treatment afforded those who loaded up on
the 'bennies' of crimes committed by George Bush's buddies.
On Friday, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced it had
captured a couple of Texas varmints, the Wyly Brothers, Charles and
Sam. The two have 'fessed to concealing half their holdings in one of the
rich boys' companies, Michaels Stores. The grand jury is still out on
deciding to indict the two for the crime of fraud upon the stock market.
Who are these guys? The billionaire brothers are "Pioneers" - not the
kind that built little houses on the prairie, but the kind that agreed
to raise over a hundred grand for George W. Bush's first Presidential
run. Sam anted up more than a quarter million for the Republican National
Committee in 2000.
But that's just the tip of the cash-berg for Bush. In 2000, Sen. John
McCain was wiping the electoral floor with Bush Jr. in the Republican
primaries
until that March when the Wylys secretly put up two and half million
dollars for a campaign to smear Bush's opponent just days before the
crucial Southern primaries.
They repeated the trick in 2004, putting up cash for the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth, the vicious little snipes who tore apart the Kerry
campaign.
So what makes these guys so thrilled with Mr. Bush? There are more than
ninety million reasons. While George W. was governor of Texas,
investigative reporter Joe Conason discovered, a Wyly family private investment
fund, Maverick Capital of Dallas, was awarded a state contract to
invest $90 million for the University of Texas endowment.
That's not all. As Governor, Bush signed into law an electricity
"deregulation" bill that was little more than ill-disguised raid on
consumers' wallets by Texas power companies. The bill was in part drafted by an
outfit called GreenMountain.com, a power company owned by - you guessed
it - Sam Wyly.
On the day George W. signed the deregulation bill, Sam Wyly said,
"Governor Bush's hard work and leadership have paid off." And, it seems, in
2000 and 2004, the Wylys paid back.
Last week, the Wyly brothers, knowing law men will probably seize their
gains anyway, announced they would turn over their hidden loot to
Michaels Stores' treasury -- a kind gesture, like a bank-robber turning over
stolen cash in hopes of leniency.
But what about the racketeering rule requiring all cronies of the
wrongdoers to give up the benefits of alleged crime?
If the G-men don't know where the tainted booty is cached, try this
address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Ask for George or Dick.
Now it might be unfair to say that George Bush's campaigns succeeded
solely because of the Wyly's loot. After all, the number one campaign
contributors were Pioneer Ken Lay and his associates at Enron.
OK now, Mr. President, give it back- the millions stuffed in the
pockets of the Republican campaign kitty filched from Enron retirees and the
suckers in the stock market who didn't have the inside track like the
Wylys.
When I worked as a racketeering investigator for government, nothing
was spared, including houses bought with purloined loot. Let there be no
exception here. It's time to tape up the White House gate and hang the
sign: "Crime Scene: Property to be Confiscated. Vacate Premises
Immediately."
**********
I think it's hilarious how high on a pedastle the Bush apologists put this disgusting administration. They are so moral :rolleyes: that they consistently deal with scum like this. I bet this makes the Republicans even prouder of their man in the Whitehouse.