Tag Archives: Hosni Mubarak

Point of View Columns

In Search of Mitt’s Millions

Ever since he was elected president, we knew that Barack Obama’s reelection campaign would be different. We had no idea……from Sarah “Lock and Load” Palin to Rick “Oops” Perry to Herman “Pizza Man” Cain, the Teapublicans have emptied the barrel in an effort to find the ABO candidate, Anybody But Obama. And scraping the bottom of the barrel, the G.O.Tea Party presents us with Mitt “Etch and Sketch” Romney, a political weather vane with millions of dollars stashed around the world. Really?

There are so many bizarre aspects of Mitt Romney and his overseas accounts. We could start with the fact that this is the first time in memory that a person has run for president of the United States with multiple multi-million dollar accounts in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and Lord knows where else. While it is not illegal for Mr. Romney to put his money anyplace in the world, one would think that the American people would be a little uncomfortable with a president who hedges his bets on America by placing considerable sums of money abroad.

And before Teapublican zealots begin to foam at the mouth because someone is besmirching the sacred cause of capitalism, think of the furor that would have consumed whole sections of this country if it turned out that President and Michelle Obama had Swiss bank accounts. This would have been seen as absolute proof that Barack Obama was some kind of Muslim Manchurian Candidate and calls for impeachment would ring from sea to shining sea.

It is also worth considering what the world reaction would be to a United States president who kept untold millions of dollars in secret bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands (we just don’t know about the Isle of Man, Vanuatu and other havens for the tax averse, the secretive and the wealthy individuals who are obsessed with amassing great wealth and then hiding it). It may be perfectly legal but appearances mean something too.

It is doubtful that Angela Merkel of Germany and Vladimir Putin of Russia have Swiss bank accounts. We do know that former Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha had Swiss bank accounts. We do know that Congolese president for life Mobutu Sese Seko had Swiss bank accounts. We can safely assume that former Liberian president, Charles Taylor (recently convicted of war crimes), had a Swiss bank account.

Other heads of state that have had Swiss bank accounts would include Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Juan Peron of Argentina and Jean-Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic. This would be truly strange company for the president of the United States to be keeping.

Mr. Romney and his cast of defenders and apologists will point out that all of his financial dealings are “perfectly legal” and indeed they may well be. But it is fair to wonder if the code of conduct for the president of the United States should simply entail his/her staying within the boundaries of the law pursuant to the advice of well-compensated lawyers who specialize in taking clients right up the line of legality.

There is no compelling reason for Mitt Romney and his wife to have millions of dollars deposited in accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands except to avoid tax consequences. Certainly Mr. Romney cannot be worried about the safety and security of American banks.

Mitt Romney has been quoted as saying that he pays all the taxes that he is required to pay “and not a penny more”. That doesn’t sound like the patriotic attitude that built this country, it sounds like someone who wants to get the benefits of living in the United States on the cheap.

And it is also worth asking what, if anything, is Mitt Romney doing with his great wealth aside from building more mansions than he can ever need and two Cadillacs for his wife? After all, he has claimed that wealthy people are the “job creators” of this country. But we have yet to learn of firms or businesses or start up ventures in which he has invested his personal wealth. It doesn’t seem like he has been pushing the job creation button for quite awhile, if he ever did.

United States Supreme Court Chief Justice once said “taxes are the price that we pay for a civilized society”. Clearly Mr. Romney either wants the discount version of civilization for you and for me or he just wants you and me to pay for it – not him and his family.

Remember November 6th!

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Point of View Columns

Weekend Edition – February 11, 2011

Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt a few moments before this column was written and the beat goes on. Ruling elites in the Middle East, the Caribbean and Africa are watching with great interest. Meanwhile, here in the United States:

The Luck of the Kenyans?

“The Luck of the Irish” is a well-known phrase, but who knew about “the luck of the Kenyans”? It is rare that the word “luck” and “Barack Obama” have been linked in considering the first two years of his presidency.

The near collapse of the American economic system approached a cataclysmic meltdown in this country. More than 8 million people lost their jobs during these first two years of the Obama Administration and unemployment rates continue to hover above 9%.

President Obama has had to manage near biblical disasters like the BP oil spill and he has the daily challenge of avoiding the Vietnam-like replay that haunts this country’s every moment in Afghanistan. And all the while the economy is making a seemingly grudging recovery that is virtually imperceptible to too many Americans.

And yet, when one considers the leading potential Republican candidates it is hard to believe President Obama’s apparent good fortune. Consider the field:

-Mike Huckabee – The former governor of Arkansas and a failed candidate in the 2008 primaries, Mr. Huckabee fervently believes that two people named Adam and Eve walked with the dinosaurs and wants this belief to be taught to American schoolchildren as scientific fact.

-Mitt Romney – The former governor of Massachusetts and a failed candidate in the 2008 primaries has tried mightily to convince the public that the universal healthcare plan that he instituted in Massachusetts is not the healthcare plan supported by President Obama – except that it is. The fact that he is a Mormon guarantees that the notorious religious intolerance of the right wing of the right wing of the Party of No will rain down on his head if he gets anywhere near the nomination.

-Michelle Bachmann – The doyenne of the Tea Party movement, Ms. Bachmann comes across as a zanily miscast cheerleader with a script that is devoid of facts or logic. Her singular contribution to recent political discourse was to characterize President Obama as a “socialist”. She has also been known to make stupid people look smart.

-Haley Barbour – The current governor of Mississippi as a presidential candidate would have to explain how his state manages to rank last or near last in almost every indicia of quality of life for its citizens including literacy and health care. His rose-colored recollections of the bloody days and murderous nights in Mississippi are bound to offend African Americans and anyone with a decent knowledge of history.

-Newt Gingrich – The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Gingrich is noted for having been complicit in the closing of the federal government not once, but twice. He also distinguished himself as a great humanitarian by serving divorce papers upon his wife as she awakened from breast cancer surgery.

-Donald Trump – Really? Several corporate bankruptcies and thousands of disgruntled bondholders might prove to be awkward for The Donald to explain. No need to mention his hair.

Congressman Ron Paul wants to do away with Social Security, Medicare and distribute six-guns to children (the last item is a joke…I think). The former governor of Alaska is virtually irrelevant to this discussion and is still struggling to get both of her Pradas out of her mouth since the Tucson Massacre. And then there is a larger cast of unknown wannabees.

And that’s pretty much the field. One has to believe that given a choice between Barack Obama and any of these Republicans yearning to “take back America” the American electorate will go with the incumbent.

It’s a long way to November 6, 2012. But given the challenges that he faces, Barack Obama is a very lucky president to have this class of potential opponents. Maybe there is something to the “Luck of the Kenyans”.

Blind Justice

Justice is supposed to be blind. Justice is not supposed to be deaf and dumb. Consider the recent case of Ms. Kelly Williams-Bolar in Ohio who was imprisoned for placing her son in a school district in which she did not reside. Not surprisingly her motive was to provide an opportunity for her son to get a better education.

We don’t have the space to consider all of the factual and legal issues but given what we know imprisonment seems an outrageous and cruel response. The punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime, if there was a crime.

Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan continues to sashay down the boulevard wearing an allegedly stolen necklace and all anyone wants to know is who designed the dress that she wore to court. Go figure.

Have a great weekend!

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Point of View Columns

Obama’s Egyptian Puzzle

Beginning with the very recent demise of the presidency of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, President Obama has been confronted by a change in the house rules that have governed American foreign policy in the Middle East.

The current governmental crisis in Egypt is already being replicated in Yemen, Algeria, Syria and Jordan and only a political Pollyanna of the highest order would think that the turmoil will end there.

Libya is on high alert. The House of Saud in Saudi Arabia is watching everything that is happening everywhere. The leadership of the United Arab Emirates is uncomfortable, unhappy and in all likelihood they are keeping their private jets fully fueled and at the ready.

When he became president, Barack Obama was presented with certain orthodoxies regarding U.S. foreign policy – certain accepted facts. A central theme with respect to the Middle East and Africa was that stability was more important to American national interests than the aspirations of the average citizens in countries located in the Middle East and Africa.

The United States has supported the stability (and longevity) of monarchies, oligarchies and dictatorships in these two regions in exchange for support of American policies, strategies and initiatives.

These have ranged from anti-communism during the Cold War to support for the American “war on terror” in its various forms and manifestations. Support for American policies with respect to Israel, war against Iraq, war in Afghanistan and opposition to the regime in Iran has been the currency that purchased American support.

This seemed to work well when the United States built coalitions and secured statements of endorsement for the two wars against Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. The tempering of Arab hostility towards Israel from military to simply rhetorical has also been a part of this not so simple equation.

The political awakening of the people in many Middle Eastern and African countries has complicated the equation. With or without American support and endorsement, regime change is coming to these regions.

With or without American support there will be new leadership, new priorities and new visions being articulated in the near future. The right of self-determination is not an American right, it is a human right and that right is now being claimed by more and more people.

Incredibly, but predictably, some critics of the Obama Administration have actually gone on record to suggest that the United States should continue to support soon-to-be-deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak because he has been a “reliable ally” of this country.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, for example, conveniently omits reference to the many billions of dollars that have flowed to this “reliable ally”, enriching Mr. Mubarak, his family and his coterie of supporters, enablers and sycophants. For a billion dollars most people would be reliable.

During the mythologizing of Ronald Reagan that continued over the weekend with the celebration of his 100th birthday, there has been little reference to the inconvenient truth regarding his foreign policy. Wherever and whenever American business and political interests benefited, this country supported and endorsed dictatorial regimes and oligarchies around the world, especially in the Middle East and Africa.

President Obama inherited an American foreign policy tradition that many supported as long as the odor of oppression, torture and repression wasn’t unbearable. Of course, now the winds of change are blowing that odor in all directions and it is the unenviable task of the Obama Administration to come up with a new playbook right in the middle of the game. It’s just like trying to change tires on a moving car.

President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton have been very clear in supporting the concept of change in Egypt, for example. They have not allowed the United States to be anchored by the Reagan policy of supporting stability even in the face of repression. They have recognized the inevitable nature of the change that is sweeping across the region and are taking useful steps to keep America relevant instead of insuring that it will be reviled.

The eternally recalcitrant members of the Party of No will continue to suggest that facing reality doesn’t make sense. But in point of fact the Obama Administration is taking the logical path by supporting and endorsing a process of change.

In this case, it is also the right path.

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