The world and country stagger forward, and we wait for 2016 to see what strange beasts are shambling toward the Potomac to be born. The undead corpse of the Bush family dynasty is stirring in its crypt as Jeb attempts to convince the idiot majority that he’s not like the other Bush family members who made such a historic mess of their time in the White House.
I note that Hunter and others have reminded people what a tool the supposedly moderate (compared to Ted Cruz or Ranger Rick Perry) and competent (compared to Ted Cruz or Ranger Rick Perry or his brother W) Jeb is and has been. I thought that I should remind folks, especially younger people, about some of the Bush family follies in the recent past. It isn’t necessary to go all the way back to Prescott Bush, noted grave robber and sometime business partner of Nazi financiers (http://www.theguardian.com/...). Not even necessary to look into GH’s activities in the CIA. The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.
Ironically, despite the failed Publican attempts to smear Clinton with the fake Whitewater scandal, the Bush family was at the center of a whole lot of funny business during the festivities. They weren’t alone; St. Ronnie’s deregulation and cheerleading for abuses finally blew up in GH’s face in a big way, and Publican donors were lined up at the hog trough the whole time. But most of them aren’t running for president. It seems that almost everybody in the Bush family is, at one time or another. It’s time they get sent off for good.
If you are tempted to consider them less bad than other poor choices, remember (with apologies to The Clash):
The Bush Brothers are bank robbers
They just think it’s funny
How they stole from S&Ls
And we paid back the money.
Let’s start at the beginning. George H Bush didn’t admit there was an S&L crisis until 1989. It had been covered up by the Reagan/Bush administration for eight years; they reduced the number and stringency of required S&L audits and attacked critics who tried to warn the country about the impending debacle. Early on this took the form of defending risky policies against informed critics, but by 1986 it was clear that instability in the form of unsecured debt would require a bailout. It seems that each Bush is unable to learn from the failures of the last one; certainly W learned nothing from the S&L disaster. GH covered up until after the 1988 election. He’d likely have been thrown out if the extent of the looming disaster were known.
The Bush Brothers are bank robbers
They never went to prison
Daddy was the president
That was a major reason
Actually Jeb’s brother Neil Bush very nearly went. In 1985 he was named director of the Silverado Savings and Loan at the tender age of age of 30. He bankrupted it in three years, eventually costing taxpayers $1.6 billion. Neil accepted a permanent $100,000 "loan" from Ken Good, of Good International. They were already very cozy; Good held stock in JNB Explorations, another Bush venture. Neil approved loans to Good from Silverado, who in turn used the money in joint ventures with Neil’s company, and approved Good International for a $900,000 line of credit. Eventually Good defaulted on $32 million he borrowed from Silverado.
For his sterling efforts, Good approved a big raise in Neils salary (the JNB one, not the Silverado one, of course) from $75,000 to $125,000 (this in @#$%^&* 1985!) and gave him a $22,500 bonus, more than many Americans make in a year. Somehow Neil didn’t think this was a conflict of interest.
Neil approved an even bigger set of loans to Bill Walters, another JNB crony.
Walters defaulted on $106 million dollars in debt; Neil never told anyone about their outside dealings. Charged with criminal wrongdoing, Neil eventually paid $50,000 to settle out of court. The CEO of Silverado was sent way for 3.5 years after pleading guilty to $8.7 million in theft. We have people in jail for 20 years for smoking dope. I won’t get into Neil’s other adventures, but this is how the Bush family rolls.
The Bush Brothers are bank robbers
That’s only what the facts is
They ripped off the S&Ls
And din’t even pay the taxes.
I’ve saved Jeb himself for last. While not as spectacular as Neil’s criminal career, Jeb’s activities reek of arrogance and privilege, and ought to completely disqualify him from holding any office above that of shit shoveler. If you don’t believe me, read about it in the Good Grey Times: http://query.nytimes.com/...
Or see http://www.motherjones.com/...
Jeb Bush and a partner bought a Miami office tower using money borrowed from a local S&L. They never paid back the loan; we did: $4.56 million loan from Broward Federal Savings in Sunrise, Florida. Initially the Feds seized the building, and the settlement imposed on the investors included payment of tax liability for the defaulted loan, which became income (note: they weren’t bankrupt, just deadbeats). But later Jeb and his partner negotiated a settlement with regulators in which they repaid $505,000, retained control of the building, and didn’t even pay taxes on the money they borrowed and failed to pay back.
Of course, this has nothing to do with the fact that his father was president of the United States. People who worked for his father carefully evaluated the situation and assure us that the whole thing is fair and reasonable. And it is just as reasonable as electing Jeb POTUS.
"Texas businessmen [are] not crooks, "they just have an over-developed sense of the extenuating circumstance."" -- Molly Ivins