Bush team has 'right' credentials
Conservative picks seen eclipsing even Reagan's
3.25.01   Dana Milbank & Ellen Nakashima WashPost pA1

  new R.Armitage AG J.Ashcroft Homeland Sec.Dir T.Ridge Sandy Berger J.Bolton Richard Breeden Wm Casey B.Chapman D.Cheney Richard Clarke Duke Cunningham Nigerian 419 L.Craner Wm Donaldson David Edwards Douglas Feith per Robert A. Hutchinson Mark Everson Jay Garner Porter Goss Alan Greenspan defence Col. Will Gunn Christopher Ryan Henry R.Huber W.Kansteiner frere Karzai & KSF Thos. Kean Bernard Kerik Lewis Scooter Libby Halford Mackinder J.Maisto Phillip Merrill J.Negroponte Treasury Sec. P.O'Neill Richard Perle Adm. John Poindexter C.Powell Wm Pryor C. Randt Jr O.Reich Condee Rice Tom Ridge Karl Rove D.Rumsfeld Jos. Schmitz Ted Shackley Geo. Soros J.P. Walters fils James Woolsey Shrub intl forecast foreign persecution nabobs Carrol Quigley diplomacy Nuoviso.com re 'noble' lies The Yes Men Bush league Vulcans bio Jack Abramoff Lyn Nofziger appt tracking embassy row Ctr for Public Inquiry CLW Euro summary FPIF national debt Perfectly Legal funeralgate Senator for Sale

Walter Kansteiner   Scowcroft
resources rapist; FIPF

John Bolton State Dept
asst atty general for Contra cocaine   CIRF
nukes enthusiast; ¹   FPIF   CV

John Maisto   NSC
Nicaragua amb. for Contra cocaine

John Negroponte   UN
Honduras amb. for Contra cocaine

Otto Juan Reich   State Dept
Venezuela amb. for Contra cocaine
Off. Public Diplomacy for LatinAm
munitions pusher; FIPF

Bruce Chapman   WHouse
Special Sci&Tech asst to Pres.
Intelligence Design Theory creationist

Lorne Craner   State Dept
GOP spinchief worked Balkan hustings
Coup fixer for Contra cocaine

Richard L. Huber   NorteSur
uberNAFTA cheerleader

John P. Walters   Narc czar
another NatSec brat gets career payoff for Contra coke contrib.

Bush's collection of "movement" conservatives, those identified with moral, religious or small-govt causes, is wide-ranging: Otto Reich, …; Christian activist Kay Coles James, … slated to be solicitor general is Theodore B. Olson, who served on Richard Mellon Scaife-funded American Spectator magazine's board & argued pivotal Supreme Court case against affirmative action. Bush admin officials say conservatives' appt should not be surprising because Bush is a conservative. They also say appts do not necessarily translate into right-wing agenda. They point out that Bush continues to make his campaign themes, incl education, tax cuts, and military & entitlement reform, top priorities. "The president is reaching out to experienced individuals of highest integrity who share his commitment to a conservative agenda with compassionate results," said Scott McClellan, Bush spokesman. Even moderate Republicans say they are pleased with the lineup. "I am struck by the depth of the Bush bench," said Rep. Phil English R-PA, noting that the appointments "don't run up any red flags."

Still, Bush's appts surprise those who interpreted Bush's soothing campaign rhetoric to mean he was, if not a moderate, then a "new kind of Republican," as the campaign often said. Liberals believe such appts explain why Bush admin has taken actions on controversial issues that did not surface much during the election: abandoning pledge to limit carbon dioxide emissions, restricting labor unions & abortion rights, revoking ergonomic & arsenic regulations, and tightening bankruptcy law. "What you're seeing is an administration that, believe it or not, is further to the right than either the first Bush or the Reagan's," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way. "Across the board, it's obvious that the right wing is in control. And it's a right-wing agenda that's being implemented." At first, conservatives & other observers believed Bush's gestures to the right were simply "outreach," building up loyalty from his base of support in order to strike deals with Democrats later. After all, Bush's top 3 advisers, Karl Rove, Karen P. Hughes & Andrew H. Card Jr., ^ç were not regarded as movement conservatives, and his appts in Texas tended to be establishment Republicans.
But conservatives no longer suspect Bush is merely placating them so they don't abandon him as they did his father. "These folks are good, solid conservatives, which warms my heart," said Frank Donatelli, who served as Reagan WHouse political adviser.

Although conservatives in the first Bush WHouse tended to be outcasts or relegated to VP Dan Quayle's office, they dominate many crucial areas of the White House now, incl VP Cheney's office. One reason for the larger number of conservatives in the new Bush admin is the expanded talent pool.
"At the time Nixon became president, there just weren't many conservatives in America of a philosophical base," said David Boaz of libertarian Cato Institute, noting there were mostly country-club Republicans or segregationists. "By the time Reagan became president, people who had read [economist] Milton Friedman or who were kids during [Barry M. Goldwater's heyday] were ready to be sub-Cabinet or WHouse aides." Now these same people are seasoned and ready to govern, joined by clerks of conservative judges.

At the same time, American culture has grown more conservative, with support for the welfare state fading. For conservatives now, "their views are based much more on academic support than Reagan ever had," said Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute.
Growing up in Texas, becoming a businessman during the Reagan revolution, serving as a governor of a southern state, Bush is the product of the changing times. "He's modernized the Reagan model," said GOP strategist Scott Reed.

But perhaps the most significant reason the new Bush admin has eclipsed Reagan's in conservatism is the absence of moderate dissent. There is no equivalent to Richard Darman, Reagan's former budget chief, a New England moderate who had no patience for conservatives' ideas.
"The Reagan administration was wracked by quarrels between people who had strong ideological commitment to the president's campaign positions who generally lacked expertise, and people who had expertise who, by and large, didn't respect the president's campaign positions," said a philosophical conservative working for Bush.

Now, they're one and the same. There is a danger that the lack of competing views in the famously tight WHouse could cause Bush's advisers to become stale & insular, but there is no concern about that yet. "There isn't a lot of competition in the policy arena," a Bush official said with satisfaction.

Ideological conservatives haven't won every influential position in the Bush admin. SecState Colin L. Powell & EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman have moderate credentials. And Transportation Sec Norman Y. Mineta is a Democrat. If there is one weak link in the administration for some movement conservatives, it is Treasury Sec Paul H. O'Neill, who has been advocating reductions in carbon dioxide emissions for years and supported the imposition of an energy tax in 1993. Another disappointment for conservatives is Tom Scully, chosen to head Health Care Finance Admin at Health & Human Services Dept. But social conservatives cheer Bush's pick of Claude A. Allen for deputy secretary. As Virginia's health secretary, Allen, former press secretary to Sen. Jesse Helms R-NC and a foe of right-to-die legislation, drew fire from health care advocates who charged he would cut services to women & children.
Movement conservatives are generally delighted as many of their own take positions of power. The recent hirings go far beyond the early naming of conservatives such as John D. Ashcroft to head Justice Dept and Gale A. Norton to lead Interior Dept. In virtually every instance where moderate candidates have vied with conservatives for key jobs, a conservative has won. Ashcroft, for example, was selected over former Montana governor Marc Racicot; & J. Steven Griles, a coal mining lobbyist, was selected over the more moderate John Turner as the No. 2 at Interior. Conservatives are particularly pleased with Office of Mgmnt & Budget. There, Jay Lefkowitz, former law partner of Kenneth W. Starr, is chief counsel, joined by strong conservatives Sean O'Keefe & Director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. This gives conservatives sway over most regulatory decisions.

Justice Dept is another favorite location. Michael Chertoff, who advised Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato R-NY during Whitewater investigation, was named criminal division head. Larry Thompson, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ally, is nominee for deputy atty general. In WHouse, Timothy Goeglein, former religious conservative Gary Bauer and Sen. Dan Coats R-IN aide, serves as liaison to conservative leaders. The speechwriting office features writers from the Weekly Standard & National Review, and former advisers to Wm Bennett, Jack Kemp & Quayle. WHouse counsel's office is staffed with former clerks to Justices William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy & Thomas, and members of the conservative Federalist Society. The group has been successful beyond the counsel's office; it counts as members Olson, Norton, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and his counsel, Lee Liberman Otis, among others.
Several Bush nominees were endorsed by Heritage Foundation, leading conservative think tank that has full-time staffer devoted to helping the administration with its appts, and who is in contact with WHouse every day. Labor Sec Elaine L. Chao comes from Heritage, as does Cheney adviser Nina Rees. Paula Dobriansky, conservative causes champion recommended by Heritage, was nominated to undersecretary of state for global affairs. American Enterprise Institute, with which VP & wife Lynne V. Cheney have been affiliated, also claims John R. Bolton, nominated to be State Dept undersecretary for arms control & intl security. Bolton is foe of intl organizations and is a man with whom, Helms has said, "I would want to stand at Armageddon." The institute also can claim Lawrence B. Lindsey, Bush's top economic adviser, and Diana Furchgott-Roth, staff chief to Council of Economic Advisers.

Most of the sub-Cabinet & WHouse appointees are unknown to public and will remain unknown throughout their terms. But they have extraordinary influence, and in some cases foes fear them more than Cabinet officers. A case in point is John D. Graham, named to head little-known Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs, which vets all significant or controversial regulations. Graham is founder of Harvard Ctr for Risk Analysis, which is funded by more than 100 large corporations & trade groups, incl Dow, 3M, Dupont, Monsanto, Exxon & American Petroleum Institute.

He is leading proponent of "comparative risk analysis" to balance the need for regulation against risk of the event, and he was prominent in the 1995 regulatory reform battles. "John Graham has a long history of opposing even the most broadly accepted public health protection measures, incl the measure to reduce drinking water contamination," said Greg Wetstone, Natural Resources Defense Council spokesman. Graham's nomination, Wetstone said, "is arguably the single sharpest stick in the eye of the public interest community yet."

J. Allbaugh

Joe Allbaugh was GW. Bush's good ol' boy in Texas. He hired his good friend Mike Brown to run FEMA. Now Brownie's gone and Allbaugh is living large. George W. Bush relied most heavily on 3 trusted staffers in his bid for the White House in 2000: political strategist Karl Rove, communications czar Karen Hughes and national campaign manager Joe Allbaugh, who had been Bush's chief of staff in Texas, when Bush was governor. The three were dubbed the "iron triangle" of Bush's top staff.
Allbaugh was "the enforcer," says Texan Robert Bryce, auth. "Cronies," about Bush and the oil industry. "And he looked the part: crew-cut, cowboy boots, and just slightly smaller than a side-by-side refrigerator."

When Bush moved into the Oval Office, Hughes took a job as counselor in a spacious White House corner office with a view of the Truman balcony. Rove moved in as senior advisor. Allbaugh, on the other hand, went down the road to C Street in southwest Washington to take over the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"Everybody thought [Allbaugh] was going to be White House chief of staff," Robert Novak said on CNN at the time. "And your initial reaction is, boy, what did he have against Allbaugh? But as I talked to politicians, they say this was a brilliant maneuver because FEMA is very important, politically, to any president dealing with disasters."

The FEMA director has turned out to have political consequences for the president all right, but not the kind that Bush supporters could have ever envisioned. Critics say Allbaugh hastened the decline of FEMA, even before he turned the agency over to his Oklahoma buddy Michael D. Brown, hapless captain when (Hurricane) Katrina struck (New Orleans 8/05), whose political career appears to have been shipwrecked for good.
As for the president, a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 54 percent of Americans disapprove of his response to Katrina. Allbaugh, meanwhile, has risen above the morass. He and his wife, Diane, now work as Washington lobbyists and consultants for such companies as Halliburton and Northrop Grumman, companies involved in homeland security and disaster relief that do business with the federal govt.

When Allbaugh inherited FEMA Feb. 2001, the relief agency may have been in its best shape since its inception in 1979. It had been in the hands of James Lee Witt for the previous 7 years. Witt was an experienced disaster manager who had been Arkansas Office of Emergency Services dir. for 4 years before going to FEMA. Witt is credited with implementing sweeping reforms to speed disaster relief, and he was the first FEMA director to get Cabinet-level status, crucial access to the president.
"Access to the president, I think, is critical in an agency like this," Witt told reporters over lunch just as he was leaving FEMA. Bush, however, did not hand the FEMA reins to Allbaugh because of any long experience in emergency services.

"Look at Joe Allbaugh's qualifications," says the King County WA Office of Emergency Management dir. Eric Holdeman, who last month penned an editorial in the Washington Post, "Destroying FEMA." "He was campaign manager for Bush. He was a political strategist. He saw FEMA as a federal entitlement program for people. He had no interest in the mission and functions of the emergency management agency."
At FEMA, Allbaugh led federal rescue efforts at Ground Zero with apparently good results, though NYC officials, notably Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, got most of the attention. Allbaugh could also move fast. In Feb. 2001, the Nisqually earthquake in Washington state occurred at 11 a.m. By 11 p.m., Allbaugh was in the Puget Sound area, leading a $157 million response.

Following 9.11.01, Allbaugh backed plans to fold FEMA into the Homeland Security Dept. "I fully support FEMA's transfer into the new dept and commit myself to ensuring its success," Allbaugh told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in September 2002. "This is the right action, at the right time, for the good of the country."
In March 2003, FEMA was folded into DHS. FEMA critic Holdeman explains that the move stripped the FEMA director of Cabinet-level status, buried the agency in red tape, and caused key talent to flee. DHS employees now rate it as one of the worst places to work in the federal govt, according to a nonprofit agency's report, "Best Places to Work in the Federal Govt," released this week.
"FEMA first became ill with the appointment of Joe Allbaugh," Holdeman says. Not only is it on the back burner of DHS priorities, he says, "it is not even on the stove."

After FEMA's move to DHS, Allbaugh promptly left the agency. "I have been a longtime advocate for the Homeland Security Dept, and now that it is a reality and the president has a great team in place, I feel I can move on to my next challenge," he said in a statement. Before he drove off, he appointed the now infamous Brown as team leader, whom he had brought to FEMA in 2001 as general counsel.
Appearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in June 2002, Brown said: "My friend, Joe Allbaugh, whom I have known for some 25 years, has asked me to serve with him. Our friendship goes back many years."

Allbaugh graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1975, the same year Brown moved from Southeastern Oklahoma State University to the University of Central Oklahoma. (It has been incorrectly reported that Allbaugh and Brown were college roommates. They did not attend the same college and were never college roommates.) Both were active in Oklahoma municipal or state govt. Allbaugh was once the Oklahoma deputy secretary of transportation, and Brown was the staff director of the Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee from 1980 to 1982.

Patti Giglio, Allbaugh's spokeswoman, says Allbaugh is unavailable for interviews. She says that she is not sure exactly how Allbaugh and Brown met in Oklahoma, but that Allbaugh is "absolutely" responsible for first bringing Brown to FEMA. "He hired him because he was a solid attorney with a strong ethics background," she says.
Like Allbaugh himself, Brown was no veteran of emergency services. He worked as general counsel for Dillingham Insurance in Enid OK 1988 to 1991, and evaluated judges for the Intl Arabian Horse Association for the 10 years ending in 2001.

Brown's sole piece of emergency experience before FEMA came in the 1970s, working for the city of Edmond OK. Spring of 2002, Brown delivered written biographical materials to a Senate panel considering his nomination to FEMA as a political appointee. In those papers, Brown said he worked as "Asst City Manger, Police, Fire & Emergency Response," in Edmond 1975 to 1978. He signed an affidavit stating that his biographical material and written answers to that Senate panel were "current, accurate and complete."
However, Edmond city spokeswoman Claudia Deakins says city records list Brown as an "assistant to the city manager", as opposed to "assistant city manager", from Aug. 1977 through Sept. 1980. Randel Shadid was on the Edmond City Council from 1979 to 1991 and was mayor from 1991 through 1995. He says he remembers Brown and described the Edmond job as relatively low level. "My best I can recall he was an assistant to the city manager, which basically means he did certain tasks for the city manager," he says. "He would not have been in charge of the police and fire depts. We had a fire chief and a police chief."

Shadid says Brown may have assisted the city in preparing a response plan for a tornado or a freight train spill. "He was a nice guy, hard worker and pretty bright," he says. "But the scope of doing anything in the city of Edmond is nowhere near the scope of trying to handle what's going on in the gulf."
Today, with the disgraced Brown having quit FEMA, and President Bush's post-Katrina poll numbers sinking, Allbaugh continues to prosper. His stint at FEMA has proven to be lucrative for him and his wife Diane, who are lobbyists and consultants for the Allbaugh Co. Review by Salon of lobbying registration records shows that 7 months after Allbaugh left what was to become Homeland Security Dept, Diane Allbaugh registered as a lobbyist with 3 companies to work on homeland security or disaster relief issues. Prior to that, she focused almost exclusively on energy companies and electric utility clients.
Records also show that Diane Allbaugh contacted DHS for undisclosed reasons on behalf of 2 of those clients. She did less than $10,000 of work for each company and all 3 contracts were terminated in the summer of 2004.

Washington is full of folks in power with spouses who are lobbyists. Allbaugh spokeswoman Giglio, points out that Diane has her own substantial credentials as an attorney and a lobbyist. "Her work is much broader than 'electric utility lobbyist,' as you have described it," Giglio says in an e-mail. "She is an experienced govt affairs consultant across many industry sectors."
Federal ethics law bars sr employees from contacting their former employers on business matters for a period of one year. But not necessarily their spouses. Project on Government Oversight general counsel Scott Amey says it is unclear if Diane violated any of a complex web of ethics laws, but there are provisions intended to prevent the use of spouses to skirt restrictions.

It is not the first time Diane's lobbying could be perceived as cashing in on her husband's connections. Then-governor Bush in 1996 learned from a report in the Dallas Morning News that Diane had been hired by TX utility companies who had business before the state. Diane and Joe Allbaugh had moved to Texas from Oklahoma because Joe had become Bush's exec. asst.
The paper said Diane could get $250,000 from the companies, even though she "had no previous experience with Texas legislators." Diane later dropped the clients to avoid the "perception of a conflict," she wrote Bush's general counsel.
This year, the Allbaugh Co. registered to lobby for Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, Northrop Grumman Corp., and Shaw Group, according to lobbying registration forms. In all 3 cases, the Allbaughs said they would "educate Congress" on either homeland security or disaster relief issues on the companies' behalf.

The Washington Post reported last week that Allbaugh was in Baton Rouge LA helping his clients get business in the wake of Katrina. Allbaugh told the Post that he guides his clients toward "entities" that might need their services but, he said, "I don't do govt contracts."
Press reports show that Kellogg Brown & Root received a $30 million contract to rebuild Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi, and Shaw got a $100 million FEMA contract for housing construction and management. Giglio says Allbaugh had nothing to do with those contracts at all. "He is not in the govert contracting business," she says. "Everybody is trying to connect the dots. They just don't connect. He did not secure these contracts for either of these companies."

Watchdog Amey says Allbaugh clearly got the job at FEMA because he was a political operative and he appears to be cashing in on his FEMA post now. "Bush may have stacked the [FEMA] administration with people who may not have been the most qualified, and who then steer business their way afterward. Cronyism gets them into the White House. The revolving door gets them business".

More battles over Bush's judgeship nominees
4.6.02   Neil A. Lewis NYTimes ¹

Justice Owen was elected in 1994 with help of an $8,600 donation from Enron, later wrote a majority opinion that reversed a lower court order, saving the company about $225,000 in taxes. Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Patrick J. Leahy D-VT recently sent a series of questions to the White House asking for comment on the issue of any relationship between the donations & her rulings. Mr. Gonzales said that he had examined the issue and found nothing improper on Justice Owen's part. He said he would soon write to Mr. Leahy outlining his position. "Based on our review she's superbly qualified to serve on the Fifth Circuit," he said. "She's extremely bright, extraordinarily dedicated and very principled."
Chief lawyer in the White House, however, rejected the idea that Mr. Bush would change his approach to choosing judicial nominees. "The president has made very clear he has definite ideas about the kind of people he wants to fill the judiciary," Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel, said in an interview this week. "The intention here is to keep sending up people like the ones we have sent up who we believe are qualified and in the mainstream."
Opponents of Justice Owen cite dispute that arose in 2000, when Mr. Gonzales was a fellow justice on the Texas court and Justice Owen was one of 3 court members who wrote dissents in a case involving a new Texas law regarding parental notification of abortions among minors. At the time, Mr. Gonzales suggested that the narrow reading of the law by the dissenters was "an unconscionable act of judicial activism." Anne Womack, a spokesman for Mr. Gonzales, minimized the significance of the disagreement. "Judge Gonzales's opinion and Justice Owen's dissent reflect an honest & legitimate difference of how to interpret a difficult & vague statute," Ms. Womack said.

Justice Owen's nomination is likely to bring the abortion debate into play. Kate Michelman, the president of the National Abortion Rights Action League, said that abortion rights groups would strongly oppose her. "We regard her as someone who exemplifies the most extreme hostility to reproductive rights of any of the nominees that President Bush has named," Ms. Michelman said.
On a recent campaign swing through the South, Pres.GWBush said he wanted a Republican-controlled Senate so he could put conservatives on the bench. Mr. Gonzales said the president was naming lawyers to the bench who are chosen for competence, character and a judicial philosophy that respects precedent and believes in judicial restraint. But Mr. Bush's use of the word conservatives in his campaign appearances was unusually direct.

Republicans have generally shown themselves willing to take casualties in their efforts to shape the federal bench to their liking. Even though Mr. Bush suffered a defeat with the Pickering nomination, the Republican Party is trying to extract some political advantage from the experience. Mr. Bush tried to use the issue against Senator Max Cleland GA, who is running for re-election, and a Republican strategist said he expected the Pickering issue to play a role in several races in the South. Sen. Lamar Alexander R-TN broadcast a television advertisement arguing that the treatment of Judge Pickering was unfair to the South. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, which holds hearings on all judicial nominees, have also tried to send their message by arranging the order in which they will consider Mr. Bush's nominees, delaying votes on those they consider most conservative.
Democrats, who control the committee, are generally planning to schedule hearings and votes on those Bush nominees they consider more acceptable, such as James Howard of NH, who has been nominated for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston. Mr. Howard is considered moderate & relatively noncontroversial candidate, Democratic staff aides said. Others whom committee members consider less ideological, and who thus may get early consideration, include Julia Smith Gibbons and John M. Rogers, both nominated for seats on U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati.
Other Bush nominees who could become the subject of sharp battles include Miguel Estrada, a strong conservative who has been nominated to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and D. Brooks Smith, nominated for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia. Mr. Leahy has promised hearings this year to Ms. Owen, Mr. Estrada and Prof. Michael W. McConnell of the Univ. of Utah, nominated to a seat on U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, in Denver. Professor McConnell is considered the least likely to engender opposition because of support for him among academics across the ideological spectrum.

There is a feel of something more creepy than just bad policies   8.11.03   M.Ivins op ed Salt Lake Tribune

Camden, ME   … mileposts on downward path to utter degradation of political discourse in this country. A recent newspaper advertising campaign by "independent" groups supporting Pres. GWBush shows a closed courtroom door with the sign, "Catholics Need Not Apply," hanging on it. The ad argues that Wm Pryor Jr, Alabama atty general and right-wing anti-abortion nominee to the federal appeals court, is under attack for his "deeply held" Catholic beliefs.

Actually, Pryor is under attack because he is a hopeless dipstick. That he also happens to be Catholic and anti- abortion has nothing to do with his unfitness for the federal bench. The only person I know who believes one's closely held religious & moral convictions should make one ineligible for the federal bench is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia argued last year that any judge who is opposed to the death penalty should resign, on account of it is the law.

By that reasoning, any judge who is opposed to abortion out of deep moral conviction should also resign. That would include Scalia's resignation … Pryor has said Roe vs. Wade "ripped the Constitution and ripped out the life of millions of unborn children." … His record on civil rights, states' rights and gay rights is equally ideological. He has a record of incendiary comments, which certainly bring into question his "judicial temperament." When the Supreme Court delayed an execution in Alabama, Pryor called them "nine octogenarian lawyers."
NY Times observed, "He has turned the Alabama atty general's office into a taxpayer-financed right-wing law firm." He has argued against a key part of the Voting Rights Act and was the only state atty general to argue against the Violence Against Women Act.

Who cares if he's Catholic? He'd be a disgrace on the bench if he were a Buddhist. … now House Judiciary Committee threatens to investigate sentencing records of every federal judge in the country for suspected "political" bias. This stems from Minnesota Fed. Dist. Court chief judge James Rosenbaum, who thinks sentencing guidelines for low-level drug dealers are too harsh.
Even Texas legislature decided we should provide treatment for first-time small drug offenders, rather than locking them up for years. Locking them up is getting to be a very expensive proposition in our very broke state, …
After Rosenbaum's testimony, Rep. James Sensenbrenner chaired Judiciary Committee prepared to subpoena Rosenbaum's records to see if he had imposed any "unlawfully lenient sentences." In fact he had, giving one guy 4 years (9 months below the guidelines) and another a month less that the minimum recommended.

Sentencing guidelines are consequent of 1984 crime law, passed at the height of the drug hysteria, that took effect in 1987. Rosenbaum's lawyer Victoria Toensing said: "I was present at the creation of those guidelines. May God forgive me for ever supporting them."
… TX Rep. Lamar Smith, … claims the 7 member Sentencing Commission is "systematically trying to lessen the drug penalties." … "Watch on the Rhine" quality of our public life these days deserves serious attention. Buried stories on major newspapers' back pages (show) a creepy advance of something more menacing than bad policies.
… Mussolini's definition of fascism: "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism,' since it is the marriage of govt & corporate power." …

Bush appointments avert Senate battles
1.5.06   Thomas B. Edsall Wash. Post

President Bush yesterday made a raft of controversial recess appointments, including Julie L. Myers to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau at the Dept of Homeland Security, in a maneuver circumventing the need for approval by the Senate. Myers, a niece of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers and the wife of the chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, had been criticized by GOP & Democrats who charged that she lacked experience in immigration matters.
Myers's nomination faced a bruising and potentially embarrassing fight on the Senate floor, where Democrats were prepared to argue that politics, not merit, drove her selection for an important job preventing terrorists and weapons from entering the country.

Bush appointed Tracy A. Henke as Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness exec. dir. She had been accused in her politically appointed post at the Justice Dept of demanding that information about racial disparities in police treatment of blacks in traffic cases be deleted from a news release.
The president avoided an abortion rights battle with the recess appointment of former Maryland GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey as assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration. Sauerbrey is an opponent of abortion rights.

For the Federal Election Commission, Bush picked Justice Dept employee and former Fulton County GA GOP chair Hans von Spakovsky for one of 3 openings. Von Spakovsky is widely viewed as a key player in two disputed Justice Dept decisions to overrule career staff in voting rights cases.
A Democratic vacancy will be filled by union lawyer Robert D. Lenhard. He has provoked opposition because of his participation as an attorney for the American Federation of State, Council and Municipal Employees in efforts to have the Supreme Court rule that the 2002 McCain-Feingold law is unconstitutional. Sen. John McCain R-AZ indicated that he would fight the Lenhard nomination when Democratic leaders first announced it in 2003.

McCain and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy D-MA issued statements critical of the appointments. Von Spakovsky may have undermined "enforcement of our civil rights laws," Kennedy said. "By appointing von Spakovsky, the White House missed an opportunity to fill this important position with a person clearly committed to these fundamental rights."
The other FEC appointment went to Nevada lawyer Steven T. Walther, who has close ties to Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid D-NV.
At the Pentagon, Bush granted recess appointments to Gordon R. England as deputy secretary of defense and Dorrance Smith, a former ABC producer, as assistant secretary for public affairs.
The recess appointments will end at the conclusion of the current congressional session in January 2007.

Karl Rove to leave White House
8.13.07   Terence Hunt AP

Wash.D.C.   Karl Rove, President Bush's close friend and chief political strategist, announced Monday he will leave the White House at the end of August, joining a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final year & a half of the administration.
On board with Bush since the beginning of his political career in Texas, Rove was nicknamed "the architect" and "boy genius" by the president for designing the strategy that twice won him the White House. Critics call Rove "Bush's brain".

"Karl Rove is moving on down the road," Bush said, appearing grim-faced on the White House's South Lawn with Rove at his side. "We've been friends for a long time and we're still going to be friends ... I'll be on the road behind you here in a bit," he said ruefully.
"I'm grateful to have been a witness to history. It has been the joy and the honor of a lifetime," said Rove, his voice quivering at times. "But now is the time. … At month's end," Rove said, "I will join those whom you meet in your travels, the ordinary Americans who tell you they are praying for you".

After a lengthy hug from Bush and then his wife, Laura, Rove joined them on the president's helicopter. Rove, his wife and their son were flying with Bush on Air Force One to Texas, where the president is vacationing.
A criminal investigation put Rove under scrutiny for months during the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's name but he was never charged with any crime. In a more recent controversy, Rove, citing executive privilege, has refused to testify before Congress about the firing of U.S. attorneys.

Rove's departure reinforces Bush's lame-duck stature and declining influence, particularly with Democrats in control on Capitol hill.
"Obviously it's a big loss to us," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. "He's a great colleague, a good friend, and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed, but we know he wouldn't be going if he wasn't sure this was the right time to be giving more to his family, his wife Darby and their son. He will continue to be one of the president's greatest friends".

Since Democrats won control of Congress in November, some top administration officials have announced their resignations. Among those who have left are White House counselor Dan Bartlett, budget director Rob Portman, chief White House attorney Harriet Miers, political director Sara Taylor, deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch and Meghan O'Sullivan, another deputy national security adviser who worked on Iraq.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was forced out immediately after the election as the unpopular war in Iraq dragged on. White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president's term in January 2009.

Rove became one of Washington's most influential figures during Bush's presidency. He is known as a ruthless political warrior who has an encyclopedic command of political minutiae and a wonkish love of policy. Rove met Bush in the early 1970s, when both men were in their 20s.
Once inside the White House, Rove grew into a right-hand man.

Rove is expected to write a book after he leaves. He disclosed his departure in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"I just think it's time," Rove said in an interview at his home on Saturday. He first floated the idea of leaving to Bush a year ago, the newspaper said, and friends confirmed he'd been talking about it even earlier. However, he said he didn't want to depart right after the Democrats regained control of Congress and then got drawn into policy battles over the Iraq war and immigration.
"There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family," said Rove, who has been in the White House since Bush took office in 2001.

Rove's son attends college in San Antonio and he said he and his wife plan to spend much of their time at their nearby home in Ingram. Rove, currently the deputy White House chief of staff, has been the president's political guru for years and worked with Bush since he first ran for governor of Texas in 1993.
Even as he discussed his departure, Rove remained characteristically sunny. This quality of unrelenting optimism about the president, which matches Bush's own upbeat, never-admit-disappointment nature, has at times gotten Rove into trouble.

Marcellus

Another economist, Stephen Lewis of Monument Derivatives, did not fall off his chair but is only a little milder in his critique. 'The shine has come off the Greenspan story over the last 2 years. Back then there was a feeling that everything he touched turned to gold, but now the new economy is in fragments. He was seen at the heart of arguments that the economic rules had changed and that the US economy was capable of far more growth, but perhaps the Fed should have come more on its guard.'

Greenspan's famous speech on 'irrational exuberance' in 1996, and the criticisms of the 'infectious greed' allowed by US corporate governance in his testimonies to Congress last month, were entirely consistent. But his accusers charge that the period between these speeches was marked by a Damascene conversion to 'new era' thinking as he kept the Federal Funds 'base rate' low & accomodative of spectacular rates of growth.
However, it could be argued that the bare statistics of Greenspan's decade-and-a-half at the apex of world economic policymaking speak for themselves. After a shaky start, US GDP posted an uninterrupted decade of strong growth, before a mild recession. The dollar weakened in the first half of his tenure, but in mid-1994 began an upward march, in trade-weighted terms, and was strong until 4 months ago. Stock markets also seemed to move into a different gear in mid-1994.

Inflation, Greenspan's key policy target, has been under control, and unemployment, although it has been creeping up since 2000, is lower than the figure he inherited. The other side of the coin is the collapse in savings as Americans poured money into stock markets, and the gaping hole that is the US current account balance. The deficit stands at $130 billion. The US boom years were fuelled by debts and cheap financing, both personal and external. By Q1 2002, household debt was equivalent to 76% of GDP. Non-financial corporate debt was another 47%. Total debt in the US is about $20,000bn.

Received wisdom said he was the second most powerful man in the world. Some argued that he was effectively number one, laying down the law to incoming presidents. On trade protectionism over steel & agriculture, the 56% increase in the budget deficit, and the Treasury Secretary's suggestion that the current account deficit is a 'meaningless concept', Greenspan has publicly clashed with members of Bush's team.
Although he had his foot on the accelerator & brake of the US economy, he didn't have his hands on the wheel. The real story is that the markets wanted to believe he did. HSBC chief economist Stephen King says: 'He had warned investors with those comments about "irrational exuberance" in 1996, way before the peak of the bubble.'

The low interest rates that followed these comments were more a reaction to financial shocks than his buying-in to 'new era' thinking. 'With the hedge fund, Asia & Y2K crises, Greenspan was dealt a bad hand. In attempting to save the rest of the world, he exaggerated imbalances in the US economy itself. You can't really blame him. You can blame the falsely held belief in central bankers' infallibility,' says King. If you take this view, it is the realisation that Greenspan isn't in charge of the US economy that has contributed to the emergence of a 'new stagnation'.

For his part, Greenspan says that there is not much that a central banker can do about the emergence of a bubble. 'It was far from obvious that bubbles, even if identified early, could be pre-empted short of the central bank inducing a substantial contraction in economic activity, the very outcome we would be seeking to avoid,' he said. Bank of England governor Sir Edward George in a speech on Friday, said: '20-20 hindsight is very easy, as a lot of commentators have demonstrated just recently in their criticisms of US policymakers in the light of the economic & financial market bubble which built up in the late 1990s.'

As for Greenspan's legacy, he will leave the US economy with the same rising budget deficits, and volatile oil, stock and currency markets that typified the era of Reaganomics when he arrived. The meat in this sandwich was the Clinton boom years, and the resilience of the US financial system to 9.11.01. 'But the markets won't fall away precipitously when they find out he's retiring, which might have been the case 3 years ago,' says Stephen Lewis. Recognising Greenspan's fallibility is probably no bad thing.

Rubble trouble at the Treasury
9.26   Financial Times

Greenspan duly heaped praise on Brown and Sir Edward George, the Bank of England governor, keeping a straight face as he called them "worthy custodians" of the financial legacy which Britain had left the world. Intriguingly, Greenspan had surfed the Treasury website to find out more about a past chancellor's decision, in 1711, to pay the government's debts with stock in the South Seas Company. When the "Bubble" burst in 1720, Greenspan noted, the chancellor ended up in the Tower for "dubious practices that appear eerily contemporary".

City diary
9.26.02   Richard Adams The Guardian

Greenspan praises London's success story
9.25.02   Financial Times
Ed Crooks econ ed. & Peronet Despeignes Wash.D.C.

… "London has stayed on top in the provision of financial services despite the emergence of the euro, which some expected would divert a significant share of foreign exchange trading to a single centre on the continent," he said. "Although financial sector activity in Frankfurt has increased substantially in the past few years, largely reflecting the growing importance of the euro, trading volumes there are still well below those of London & NY."
He cited as evidence of London's strength its world-leading positions in over-the-counter derivatives & foreign exchange trading. London conducts twice as much business as NY even though the dollar is by far the most heavily-traded currency.

The resilience of Britain's financial services industry to staying outside the euro has been widely recognised, but eurosceptics were heartened to hear the points made by such an eminent authority. Chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown, was unstinting in his praise for Mr Greenspan & the Fed, stressing the influence of the US model in shaping his plans to make the Bank of England independent. "You have been a great force for the advancement of the world economy and a great friend of the UK," said Mr Brown. "The world owes you a debt of gratitude for your stewardship of the world's greatest economy."

George Eustice of the anti-euro group, which will campaign for a "No" vote on any referendum on Britain joining the single currency, said London was thriving because of its favourable tax & regulatory framework. Locking into the euro would threaten some of those advantages.
But Robert Guy, chair of the City in Europe "Yes" campaign and NM Rothschild director, said joining the euro would strengthen London's position as Europe's pre-eminent financial centre and protect against threats such as the loss of exchange-traded derivatives business to Frankfurt. "Current success is no excuse for lack of concern for the future," he said.

The visit comes at a time of pronounced uncertainty for Mr Greenspan, the Federal Reserve and the US economy. The Fed decided on Tuesday to keep short-term interest rates unchanged for the sixth time this year, declaring credit conditions sufficiently stimulative to help the troubled economy along. But for the first time in a year, there was publicly declared internal dissent with its decision, highlighting growing disagreement within the Fed over the economy's prospects.
2 members of the Fed's policy-making Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas pres. Bob McTeer & Fed board of governors member Edward Gramlich, argued for a rate cut and publicly registered their disagreement. It was the first instance since May 1998 in which 2 FOMC members dissented.

Bush to nominate Greenspan for 5th term
4.22.03   Peter G. Gosselin L.A. Times

But asked during a session with reporters today whether the central banker deserved reappointment, Bush answered: "Yes, I think Alan Greenspan should get another term." The White House subsequently called attention to the remark by issuing a press release. Fed-watchers were caught flatfooted by the president's apparent decision.
"It's certainly a surprise to me because I'd have thought that a GOP president with a GOP Congress would want their own person in there," said Carnegie-Mellon economist Allan Meltzer, who is writing a multi-volume history of the Fed.

There may be something less than meets the eye to Bush's readiness to reappoint Greenspan. The chair must be a member of the Fed's governing board. Greenspan's 14-year appt as governor runs out in Jan. 2006, less than halfway through what would be his next chairmanship. The law allows for Fed governors to serve for only one full term.
Analysts suggested that the president's decision was at least partially a political holding action aimed at putting off a potentially sensitive appt until after the 2004 presidential election. "The last thing the administration wanted was the headache of looking for an acceptable successor to Greenspan," said longtime Fed-watcher David M. Jones. "There's nobody in the wings who's an obvious successor the way Greenspan was for [former Fed chair Paul] Volcker," he said.

Investors reacted to news of the likely reappointment, plus better-than-expected sales results from insurers & drugmakers, by pushing stock prices higher. S&P 500 Index climbed 19.36 points, or 2.2%, to close at 911.37, its highest level since mid-January. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 156.09, or 1.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 26.99, or 1.9%.

Greenspan to undergo prostate surgery
4.22.03   L.A.Times

  [ Given official & mortal term limits, Greenspan merits Wm Casey style self-induced black marble.

Unmitigated greed first yields wealth, which by necessity generates power, but ultimately only fame can satiate it. ]

And now some advice from the Fed chair
5.20.03   AP   ¹

Greenspan's appearance in a public service announcement, first for the central bank head, comes at a time when the struggling U.S. economy & rising job losses are increasingly squeezing the finances of many Americans. Personal bankruptcies reached a new high in 12 mo. ended 3.31.03
  [ Numerically or percentage per capita ? The former is invevitable w/ rising population, the latter needs more detail than mere citation to establish cause, effect & accuracy. ]
and percentage of U.S. home loans in foreclosure hit record high 2002 Q4.
  [ All the more reason for Supreme Court to proceed w/ GATA class action suit before the same embezzlers advance more such treachery. ]

The ad features Fed's new educational Web site & toll-free telephone number 800.411.5435 consumers can call for free brochure with tips on setting up monthly family budget and getting best loan deal.
  [ The discount window isn't open to retail borrowing. FRB marketing consumer lending counsel as public service is greater conflict of interest than military recruitment TV commercials. ]

Fed board member Edward Gramlich previewed the TV spot for reporters Monday and said the new Web site features consumer finance information aimed at helping people make the right decisions about such issues as savings & debt.
  [ Insultingly shallow greenwash. Savings are plundered by institutional lenders indemnified by govt in exchange for campaign funding and debt yields commissions for those same speculators. Corruption's puppets are clumsy because they steal w/ both hands. ]

"Credit is more widely available, particularly to young people, seniors and low moderate-income populations," Gramlich said. "With such changes come new opportunities but also risks, including the potential for fraud & abuse," he added. "Our hope is to encourage consumers to take advantage of the programs available in their communities, schools and on the Web," Gramlich said.
As part of the educational campaign, Greenspan & Richmond VA Fed bank pres. J. Alfred Broaddus Jr will address students at John Philip Sousa Middle School in Washington 6.5.03 on the importance of learning sound math & problem-solving skills.

Euro breaks $1 barrier
7.15.02   BBC

The euro hit its all-time high shortly after its launch at the start of 1999. But it began to slide there after, falling to a record low of 82.3¢ U.S. Oct. 2000. Its newfound strength is thought to reflect investor fears over the dollar, rather than an endorsement of the single currency. The combination of corporate scandal, falling profits, sliding consumer confidence and a massive imbalance in the money flowing in & out of the US means the US is no longer automatically the best place for investors to bet on.
The US is so deeply in debt to the rest of the world that it needs huge financial inflows amounting to billions every day, and their slowing means more stress for the economy. On the other hand, the dollar's weakness will increase the competitivity of US manufacturing exporters. "The value of the dollar had gotten so high that many domestic based producers were unable to compete effectively," said Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI head Thomas Duesterberg.

But it makes exports from Europe more expensive. Holidays for Americans travelling in Europe will also get dearer, in a further blow to the tourism sector. Monday's weakness was exacerbated by fresh falls on stock markets worldwide. Wall St toppled in early trading, building on falls of more than 600 points last week. The blue-chip Dow Jones index was down almost 300 points or 3.4% to below 8,400, a level which, leaving aside sharp selloff following 9.11.01, it last visited in Oct. 1998.
London's FTSE 100 closed down 229.6 points or 5.4% at 3,994.5, the first time the index had closed below 4,000 since Dec. 1996 and the sixth worst one-day fall in its 19-year existence. The trouble for the US is that investor trust in corporate America, already evaporating in the face of Enron, Andersen, WorldCom, Qwest, Halliburton and other alleged irregularities, faces a key test this week, as Wall St firms begin to deliver their latest trading updates.

Shareholders continue to fear that more firms will be forced to admit that their reported profits have obscured their true financial position. In the UK, anti-euro campaigners think the rapidly changing exchange rates make the UK's dilemma over whether to adopt the single currency more difficult. "Rapid moves in the euro exchange rate are going to make it difficult for the government to claim the five tests are clearly & unambiguously met," said No campaign dir. George Eustice.
But pro-euro campaigners have taken the opposite stance. "The instability of all currencies in the modern world is why most countries are choosing to operate as part of, or linked to, larger currency zones," said Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Matthew Taylor. UK PM Blair said the euro's rally would have no effect on the govt's assessment of whether it should join the single currency.
"You cannot judge this on the day to day. It has to be judged according to the economic tests & the convergence test," he said.

ECB recommends central banks sell U.S. agency debt   7.28.03   Bloomberg

European Central Bank is eliminating its holdings of debt issued by Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae, 2 biggest U.S. providers of mortgage financing, and recommended that its national central banks do the same, according to a person who has seen the ECB's recommendation. The Frankfurt-based central bank, which sets interest rates for the 12 countries sharing the euro, gave its opinion at 18-member governing council 7.10.03 meeting, said the person who declined to be named. ECB spokeswoman Regina Schueller declined to comment. Officials of the 12 central banks declined to comment.

Freddie Mac is under investigation by U.S. SEC &Amp; federal prosecutors after overstating earnings, leading to the ouster of its top 3 managers. Difference between yields on Freddie Mac notes and comparable U.S. govt debt has increased this year as investors perceive Freddie Mac debt to be more risky. "Some investors will ask themselves: Is this really as safe as I thought it was? And some will say: This is too risky for me," said Assn of German Mortgage Banks GM Louis Hagen in Berlin.

McLean VA based Freddie Mac said last month it understated profits by as much as $4.5 billion during the past 3 years as it made errors in applying generally accepted accounting principles in valuing derivatives contracts. Derivatives are financial obligations tied to the value of debt & equity securities, commodities and currencies.
ECB based its recommendation to the national central banks on credit risk, the person who declined to be identified said. Freddie Mac spokeswoman Heather Sieber declined to comment. "We do not comment about specific investors", Fannie Mae spokesman Jason Lobo said. "Our investors are broadly distributed around the world and those investors include central banks."

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac own or guarantee about 42% of $7 trillion U.S. mortgage market. Fannie Mae's mortgage portfolio is worth about $816 billion, while Freddie Mac controls about $573 billion of mortgages. The 2 companies, regulated by Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, are known as govt-sponsored enterprises. While the U.S. govt doesn't guarantee any of their obligations, both Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac have Aaa ratings from Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.

Freddie Mac notes maturing Jan. 2013 traded 43.5 basis points more than 10-year Treasuries, widening from 26 basis points before the co. announced management changes, according to J.P. Morgan Securities. Since 6.6.03, the yield spread widened to as much as 44.5 basis points before rebounding back to 33 basis points.
ECB doesn't disclose breakdown of its reserves and spokeswoman Schueller declined to comment on how much U.S. agency debt either the ECB or the 12 national central banks of the nations sharing the euro hold. ECB's foreign currency reserves are managed by the euro region's 12 national central banks on the basis of ECB guidelines. ECB can order the other central banks what to do with its own reserves, while the national central banks have control over their own reserves.

ECB &Amp; national central banks had combined foreign currency assets of 221.2 billion euros at the end of last week, of which 205.4 billion were claims on residents outside the euro region. The region's central banks sold 3.075 billion euros in foreign currency reserves in the week ended 7.18.03 that were owed to them by residents outside the euro region, second- biggest sale in more than a year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on ECB data.
So-called agency debt held in custody for foreign central banks has declined in 6 of the past 7 weeks to $183.25 billion from a record $189.9 billion, according to Federal Reserve. Foreign central banks sold $585 million in the week ended 7.23.03, the Fed said. By comparison, foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasury debt declined by $3.88 billion in the latest week to $753.74 billion. Those banks sold $3.27 billion Treasuries in the prior week.

Soros      
$dump '02 $dump '03 £dump '91 USAID NIS democracy pgms re NIS bioweapons re tissue trade intl med. textbook giveaway EU summit 527s domestic branding candy store shill red greenwash Rwanda papparazzi spook front Gordon Thomas Perfectly Legal



Soros warns of dollar plunge
6.28.02   BBC

The financier made his fortune running a hedge fund which speculated against weak currencies, incl the British pound, reportedly making a Ģ1bn profit by forcing it to leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992. Speaking to BBC business correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, Soros warned the Bush administration against its "market fundamentalism", the belief that markets are self-correcting and best left alone.
Mr Soros said: "When markets are going down, then all the weaknesses come to the fore, and they need to be dealt with. There is basically an attitude of market fundamentalism: leave the markets alone and they will take care of themselves. That is a false idea. Markets do not tend to equilibrium, but tend to excesses, and you need intervention at the right time to stop these excesses going overboard."

In recent years, Mr Soros has been an increasingly vocal critic of global capitalism, calling for more regulation and warning that the greatest dangers now came from the U.S. In the last few weeks, the value of the dollar has weakened substantially on intl currency markets, by around 10% against the euro, nearly reaching parity of one euro to one dollar.
US Treasury Sec. O'Neill is generally believed to think it would be impossible to stabilise the currency markets. But Mr Soros says that further falls in the dollar could have "negative implications" for the whole world economy, making the recession deeper in Japan for example, or exacerbating a currency crisis in Brazil.

Fears about further acounting scandals and further falls in American stock markets have made intl investors wary of buying US shares or dollars. Mr Soros said that the "cult of success at any price" was partly to blame for the accounting problems in the US "where anything goes as long as you can get away with it".
He said the UK system, which held the professionals liable for giving a "fair & accurate" picture of a firm's financial position, was better than the US approach, which allowed accounting firms leeway to bend the rules. He welcomed moves by US SEC regulators to require directors to ensure their accounts give an accurate picture.
But he warned that markets were now exagerating the scale of the accounting problems at US firms. "Clearly you had an excess of optimism & overstatement, and now you are plunging into an excess of doom & gloom," he told the BBC.

[ Doubtless Soros is correct, given the analytical resources at his command and regardless of his ulterior intentions when speaking truth.
The curiousity is media placement as annual anniversary. Cf. similar dates of prev. & following articles w/ matching message. The potential & purpose of his press release have more interest consequent to repeat schedule; how is the pump or dump affected ? ]

Soros dubbed "The Man who broke the Bank of England" for his 1992 role in amassing bets pound would fall , facilitating Britain's ejection from Europe's exchange rate mechanism that year. Though analysts say Soros' influence in markets has waned, many are reluctant to fight the trend that has seen the dollar fall sharply against major currencies.
With the dollar already under pressure, traders sent the euro above $1.17, fraction of a cent from Monday's 4 year high at $1.1738, hair below the single currency's launch price. Gold, meanwhile, set a 3 month high of $370 oz. Canadian $ held 6 year high against its US$, trading near C$1.3476 , or 74.21 US¢.

The man who broke the Bank of England
12.6.98   BBC

But Soros has aspirations to be more than a speculator. He has donated millions to charitable foundations, most notably to help Eastern Europe. Now he has surprised his critics by calling for more intl regulation of markets, a surprising admission perhaps from someone worth $5bn.
The 67-year-old financier was born in Hungary, but emigrated to England when he was 17, after the communists took power. He studied philosophy at the London School of Economics with Karl Popper, whose views on the need for open & tolerant societies as a precursor of economic growth, he adopted as his own.

After selling souvenirs in Wales, he joined London stockbrokers Singer & Friendlander before moving to Wall St in 1956. He set up the Quantum Fund in 1969 as one of the world's first hedge funds. Registered in Curacao in the Caribbean, but run from Manhattan, the fund took money from rich individuals and invested in risky, but potential highly profitable international deals.
The fund profited hugely from the collapse of fixed exchange rates in the l970s and the deregulation of global capital markets. By l980 Soros was worth $25m and his fund $100m.

In the l980s Soros moved into charitable giving, saying he already had enough money to live on. He began by setting up the Soros Foundation to give money to support democracy in Russia & Eastern Europe, calling his first initiative the Open Society Fund. By the l990s he was giving away over $300m a year, providing more aid for some countries than the US govt.
His interests recently turned to drug reform in the US, where he has supported efforts to legalise soft drugs, and help for immigrants affected by welfare reform.

Even the Quantum Fund, which has turned an investment of $1000 in 1969 into $3m today, is not infallible. Mr Soros lost $800m in the l987 stock market crash by betting that the Tokyo Stock Market would crash first, reasonable on economic grounds, but defeated by govt intervention.
He is also reported to have lost $600m this year betting the wrong way on the Japanese yen, which had to be rescued in June by US intervention. But he is part of a group of international private investors with an estimated $100bn in assets who can significantly affect global markets.

In September, another hedge fund, Long Term Capital Management, had to be rescued by the world's major banks for $3bn, at the behest of the US Federal Reserve, because of the risk to the whole world's financial system if that fund were to fail.
In Oct. Soros had to restructure his own investment companies. He closed the Quantum Emerging Growth Fund, which lost one-third of its value after taking a big loss on its Russian investments, and merged another, after disclosing losses of $2bn. It has perhaps been the experience of the past year, where global financial turmoil swept through the markets, that has led to his call for further international regulation of capitalism.

What Soros fears more than anything else is a protectionist backlash which would close markets and lead in his view to the strengthening of authoritarian regimes. He has clashed repeated with Malaysia PM Mahathir Mohamad, who has imposed capital controls on his country's currency. Dr Mahathir has criticised "immoral financial speculators" while Mr Soros has described Dr Mahathir as a "menace to his country."
Many of George Soros's prescriptions for reform, for more information about bank lending in developing countries, and for an IMF lending facility to prevent crises, are now being adopted by Western leaders. It would be ironic indeed if the king of speculators has become the saviour of global capitalism

Capitalism 'falling apart'
9.15.98   BBC

Soros said further turmoil could only be prevented "by the intervention of intl financial authorities but these prospects are dim." He said the global capitalist system involved not only free trade, but more importantly, the free movement of capital in "a gigantic circulatory system" in which capital was sucked up by markets & institutions at the centre and pumped out to the periphery.
Mr Soros said the Asian crisis had reversed the direction of the flow of capital. It had begun to flee the periphery, taking refuge in the centre. This was not good for either the periphery or the centre in the long term.

Mr Soros renewed a previous call for a new global credit insurance body to complement the efforts of the IMF & World Bank. Soros proposed the creation of special drawing rights whereby countries which could not repay their debts could restructure their loans to easier terms if their govts pursued policies approved by the IMF. He said countries should be rewarded for biting the bullet and confronting their problems, unlike Malaysia which has closed itself off to the world in a negative move that would hurt its neighbours.

"If there is no reward for good behaviour, meltdowns will multiply," he said. He said IMF loan programs had so far not worked but urged the US Congress to pass the IMF funding bill the agency needs to continue its work. "Unless Congress is willing to support the IMF the disintegration of the global capitalist system will hurt US financial markets because we are the centre of the system."

Treasury Dept announced it postponed until today its regular weekly auction of 3 & 6 month Treasury bills, normally held each Monday. The delay was caused by maneuvering the Treasury performed to make room for addtl debt sales given that Congress has not approved legislation to increase the current debt limit of $6.4 trillion.

Wash.D.C.   Fed chair Greenspan said 5.21.03 the nation's central bank is capable of fighting deflation but acknowledged Fed policymakers have only scant knowledge of how a broad price decline would affect the U.S. economy. Greenspan made comments in cong. testimony that appeared designed to provide a slightly more upbeat economic assessment than the Fed has offered in recent weeks.
At one point, Greenspan told lawmakers that forecasts of a pickup in growth this year were "not unreasonable." At another, he said, "Readings on production and employment have been on the weak side, but the economic fundamentals augur well for the future."

Greenspan went out of his way in testimony before Congress' Joint Economic Committee to assert that the Fed had lost none of its power to manage the economy even with its signal-sending federal funds rate at 4 decade low 1.25%. Even if it is forced to jam the federal funds rate to near zero to spur growth, "that does not mean the Federal Reserve is out of business," he declared.
Fear that the Fed may be running out of policy options with the economy still weak is part of what's behind the seemingly inexorable drive for another, deficit-boosting tax cut, third in 3 years. House & Senate negotiators reached tentative agreement 5.20.03 on 10-year, $350-billion package of cuts.

Fed alarmed observers this month when it suggested deflation may be greater threat to the economy than generally recognized. announcement signaling end of central bank's half-century-long battle to control inflation and start of a new & uncertain period. In testimony, Greenspan essentially declared victory over inflation. "Inflation is now sufficiently low that it no longer appears to be much of a factor in economic calculations of householders & businesses," he told lawmakers.
He has previously said eliminating inflation from decision making was Fed's goal in the inflation fight. W/ prices now rising at only about a 1% annual rate, Fed officials have begun saying that inflation has slowed as much as they want to see it slow, and they have stepped up talk about its opposite, deflation. Greenspan cautioned deflation was not "an imminent danger", but portrayed damage it could do to economy as so great that the central bank must begin planning how to counter it. "The threat, though minor, is sufficiently large that it does require very close scrutiny and maybe action on the part of the central bank," he said.

In his testimony, Greenspan offered a candid assessment of the limits of the central bank's knowledge about deflation. "We recognize that deflation is a possibility," he said at one point, later adding: "We do have a problem [in] that we have not dealt with this before." He sounded almost nostalgic for his old nemesis inflation. "We know how to deal with inflation We know how to suppress it. We know the consequences of suppressing it We are familiar with the mechanism," he said.
Economists are divided about how real danger of deflation is. Many note prices cars & computers have been plummeting but those for houses to haircuts are still on the rise. But almost everybody was brought up short when Fed deflation warning was followed by news that consumer price index, nation's chief inflation gauge, fell last month. Even when sharply declining food & energy prices were removed, the index remained stuck at zero for a second straight month, lowest level since the mid-1960s.

Analysts warn that unless the economy begins growing faster than the 1.6% pace it posted in the first 3 months of the year, prices will be tugged downward by unemployment and huge unused business capacity. They say result could be slow, downward spiral of prices that eventually becomes self-reinforcing.
Greenspan told lawmakers despite recent mixed signals, it remains too early to tell whether the economy is emerging from funk before the Iraq war. He said discouraging signs like unexpected loss of more than half a million jobs in the last 3 months reflected decisions made before the war, and so were not influenced by pickup in consumer confidence & stock prices in the aftermath of the fighting.

---

Last fall's financial meltdown triggered a plunge in stock prices and home values and wiped out 11%, $6.6 trillion, of household wealth in six months. It also put an end to easy credit, which had fueled the consumption that powered the economy for most of the decade.

Ever-lower prices have risks. The more shoppers expect prices to fall, the less they shop until prices drop. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that forces companies to keep cutting. That reduces profits, making it less likely companies will hire workers or raise wages.
Economists say the worst scenario would be a deflationary spiral, which Japan has been stuck in for the last two decades.

Recession fallout: America is on sale   excerpt
10.05.09   AP

The world's banker
1.30.06   editorial L.A. Times

When he became chairman in 1987, Cold War tensions were receding and a crop of small economic tigers had started to emerge in Southeast Asia. China and India were poor and stagnant. Today, the scale of global economic activity makes the world of 1987 look tiny. Trillions of dollars swirl efficiently through stock and bond markets each day, at a volume more than 10 times larger than in 1987. Global trade is booming, and Southeast Asia's spark became a prairie fire of economic growth in China and India, fueling an unprecedented level of integration with U.S. business.

The Federal Reserve remains a mysterious institution to many, although its primary job is to control the supply of money and credit in the economy, most visibly by setting short-term U.S. interest rates. The Fed also governs that slippery commodity known as confidence, which holds together a sprawling financial system essentially based on trust.
For the Fed, keeping the confidence of bond traders is one goal; earning the trust of U.S. consumers is another. In this day and age, however, inspiring belief in the U.S. financial system also supports global demand for the dollar and a supply of affordable consumer goods and services.
China now holds more than $800 billion in foreign reserves, effectively financing our low interest rates, which in turn finance the nation's seemingly perennial consumption binge. Over the last year, many economists have puzzled over why yawning U.S. trade deficits, we're buying more than we're selling, have failed to depress the value of the dollar.
The answer has to do with such intangibles as confidence in Greenspan's stewardship.
The chairman who left graduate school without finishing his doctoral dissertation has long prided himself on having an appreciation for real-world indicators. He understood early on how technology would contribute to productivity growth, and that the gradual integration of China and India into world markets is in the process of effectively doubling the overall supply of labor, holding down global inflation.

The conventional indicators of Greenspan's success are clear. He successfully kept inflation in check for nearly 2 decades. He presided over 2 of the longest economic expansions in U.S. history, and he helped keep recessions short. Greenspan also responded adroitly to financial crises, including the stock market crash 2 months into his tenure in 1987 and the Asian meltdown a decade later.
Greenspan always seemed to pride himself on being oblique in his testimony before Congress and in other speeches, with the notable exception of his "irrational exuberance" comment in 1996. More recently, the chairman deserves some criticism for failing to be more forthright in criticizing the wisdom of some of President Bush's tax cuts in his congressional testimony, even if the Fed has no direct role in setting fiscal policy.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Greenspan would eventually lose the God-like status he enjoyed during the bullish 1990s. Yet he leaves behind an impressive and global legacy.

Wash.DC   The Federal Reserve has dramatically expanded its role in the economy over the last 18 months, and the Obama administration has proposed enhancing that authority as part of an overhaul of financial regulations.
But many members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, are seeking to curtail the central bank's authority instead of expand it. Worried about the increased power of the complex and mysterious Fed, and upset it did not do more to prevent the deep recession, Capitol Hill has focused its anger over the financial crisis and its aftermath on the central bank.

The Fed finds itself at the center of a collision of traditional political concerns, conservatives' fears of heavy-handed government intervention in free markets, and liberals' complaints of regulators who favor corporate executives over average Americans.
More than two-thirds of the House of Representatives has signed on to a bill that would subject the central bank to increased congressional oversight through expanded audits. A key senator wants to strip the Fed of its authority to regulate banks. The House Financial Services Committee chair wants to rein in the Fed's emergency lending power, which it used to help engineer the sale of Bear Stearns Cos. and bail out American International Group Inc.

Fed chair Ben S. Bernanke defended the central bank during a congressional hearing Thursday. He reiterated his belief that the Fed was best suited for taking on the major new role the administration had proposed for it, supervising large financial institutions that pose a risk to the entire economy.
Bernanke also acknowledged the criticism of the Fed's actions during the financial crisis, saying he shared congressional frustration. "There's nobody more sick and tired of bailouts than me," Bernanke said.
Still, he appears to be fighting an uphill battle for increased power as Congress works to finish the regulatory overhaul this year. "There just aren't a lot of cheerleaders here for expanding the authority of the Federal Reserve," said Senate Banking Committee spokeswoman Kirstin Brost.

The Obama administration wants to add to the Fed's portfolio by giving it the task of supervising large financial firms, such as investment banks, that currently fall outside govt banking regulation. That increased power would be offset somewhat by the administration's proposal to take away the Fed's authority to write and enforce consumer protection rules for financial products. That power would go to a new consumer agency.
Although the Fed still could end up securing new authority, Bernanke has his hands full just trying to keep his agency from losing power, said Concept Capital's Washington Research Group financial policy analyst Jaret Seiberg.
"The Fed is running into unprecedented opposition on Capitol Hill," he said. "In the Senate, there's open hostility toward any expansion of the Federal Reserve's authority. And in the House, you certainly have Republicans looking to focus the Fed solely on monetary policy and strip it of any larger role in financial regulation."

House Financial Services Committee chair told Bernanke on Thursday that the panel "will be putting some limitations" on the Fed's powers. Among those would be increasing congressional authority to audit the Fed and creating the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
The Federal Reserve is largely known for its often cryptic pronouncements on the economy and its pivotal role in setting interest rates. But the central bank also is a sizable govt agency with about 2,100 employees that is a key player in regulating the financial sector. With 12 regional operations, the Fed is also responsible for supervising key parts of the banking system, including bank holding companies, and drafting consumer protection rules.

Critics have complained that the Fed faltered on all fronts leading up to the crisis. Years of low interest rates helped fuel the housing bubble, and lax oversight of financial institutions allowed consumers and banks to engage in increasingly risky behavior.
"If you look at the record here of the failure of the regulatory bodies . . . all roads seem to lead to the Federal Reserve," said Sen. Richard C. Shelby R-AL.
The Fed is being hit from both sides of the ideological spectrum. Liberals have sharply criticized it for taking 14 years, from 1994 to 2008, to adopt rules to protect consumers from unscrupulous mortgage lending. The Obama administration has hammered the Fed on that point as well, a major reason it has proposed shifting consumer protection powers from the Fed and other regulators to the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Bernanke has acknowledged the Fed's failures on consumer protection, which took place largely before he became chairman in 2006, but opposes creation of the agency. Still, he realizes damage has been done to the Fed's reputation in that area.
"I think the issue is essentially the confidence that Congress has in our focus going forward," he said.
Rep. Melvin Watt D-NC didn't show much confidence, chiding Bernanke for devoting little of his opening remarks at Thursday's hearing to consumer protection and for later referring to "the minutiae of consumer law."

At the same time, conservatives have strongly opposed the Fed's interventions in the economy, which they said have put trillions of taxpayer dollars at risk by vastly expanding the central bank's lending authority to bail out companies and back other commercial transactions to keep credit flowing.
House Republicans want to scale back the Fed's power so the bank focuses on monetary policy. And many have opposed the administration's proposal to give the Fed the new role of supervising large financial institutions, such as AIG, that are not traditional banks but pose a risk to the economy if they fail.

"I'm not alone with my concerns about the Fed as a systemic regulator," said Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.). Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) has similar concerns, as do others on his panel. In fact, Dodd has proposed stripping the Fed of all of its bank oversight functions as part of his plan for creating a single banking regulatory agency.
Former Fed Gov. Alice M. Rivlin also said it would be a mistake to increase the Fed's regulatory powers because it would distract from the central bank's monetary policy role.
"Do we want to augment the regulatory authority of the Fed? . . . My answer is no," said Rivlin, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "My sense is many people would be nervous about that augmentation."

Bernanke tried to allay some congressional concerns Thursday. He endorsed the administration's proposed creation of an oversight council of regulators to monitor the entire economy for risks, such as that of too many banks overextending themselves with credit-default swaps. But he did not go as far as some wanted.
Some lawmakers have said the proposed Financial Services Oversight Council, not the Fed, should have the additional task of supervising large financial firms that are not banks. The council would be headed by the Treasury secretary and include the Fed chairman and other regulators.
Bernanke, however, was steadfast in saying the Fed should supervise those large firms.

Rep. Brad Sherman D-Sherman Oaks said the Fed was less revered on Capitol Hill after the crisis, but there still was a worry that failing to follow its advice could lead to more trouble for the struggling economy.
"The Fed is very powerful, and it comes chiefly from fear and awe," he said. "I think there's more fear and less awe than there used to be."

Wash.DC   It started more than a quarter-century ago as just another far-out idea from decidedly outside-the-mainstream politician Rep. Ron Paul: allow detailed congressional audits of some of the most sensitive activities of the Federal Reserve.
For years, his proposal was as unlikely to become law as other longtime quests of the strongly libertarian Texas Republican, such as returning the nation to the gold standard and abolishing the Internal Revenue Service. But Paul's idea to hold the Fed more accountable has gained traction throughout the financial crisis.
On Friday, it moved a clear step closer to reality when the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said he would push it forward.

The bill got exposure when Paul ran for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Then the Fed became a huge, controversial player in battling the financial crisis, invoking emergency powers to use hundreds of billions of dollars to help engineer the sale of Bear Stearns Cos. and bail out American International Group Inc.
Paul's legislation now has become a rallying point for Republicans and Democrats angry over the bailouts and the Fed's increased and mysterious role in the economy. More than two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of Paul's "audit the Fed" bill.

The Fed strongly opposes the legislation, saying it would subject its decisions to political influence that could shake market confidence. The support of Rep. Barney Frank D-MA gives a major boost to Paul's 26-year push to allow the Government Accountability Office to conduct detailed audits of some of the Fed's crucial activities, such as setting monetary policy and short-term lending to banks through its discount window.
Both actions are couched in various amounts of secrecy: minutes of monetary policy meetings aren't publicly released for three weeks, transcripts are shielded for five years, and banks that borrow through the discount window are never revealed to avoid the perception that they might be in trouble.

Federal Reserve officials oppose the legislation, but Frank said he was committed to including it as part of a package of bills to revamp the financial regulatory system.
"We are serious about some legislation in this regard," Frank said during a hearing he held on the bill -- the first since Paul originally introduced it in 1983. Democrats and Republicans expressed strong support, reflecting anti-Fed sentiment in Congress, a hurdle to President Obama's plan to increase the Fed's power as part of his financial regulation overhaul.
"Nobody in my district thinks the Fed has done such a good job of running the economy that we should continue to cloak them in secrecy to protect them from second-guessing," said Rep. Brad Sherman D-Sherman Oaks.

Paul said the Fed's increased profile during the financial crisis has led to questions about its complex operations and anger over its ballooning balance sheet, which has taxpayers on the hook for trillions of dollars in lending related to the financial crisis.
Americans "are disgusted and they put pressure on Congress. . . . The people said that it's time you guys woke up and started the proper oversight," Paul said after the hearing.

The Obama administration wants to give the Fed authority to supervise and regulate large institutions whose failure would pose a risk to the economy. The proposal adds to worries about the limited information on Fed activities. Frank reflected that, saying he also wanted to rein in the Fed's emergency lending powers.
But he expressed concerns that information from GAO audits could disrupt financial markets, saying he would seek to mandate a delay in the release of some information.
"No one should be able to do business with the federal government in secret forever. But we do recognize that if it's instantly available, there can be a market impact that would not be a good idea," Frank said. Paul said a wait of three to six months seemed reasonable.

Armageddon nominee   ¹ ² ³
4.2.01   Boston Globe editorial

… Bolton does not belong in the arms control job because, as Carnegie Non-Proliferation Project dir. Joseph Cirincione, says: "Bolton is philosophically opposed to most of intl treaties that comprise the nonproliferation regime." Characteristically, Helms left no room for ambiguity at Thursday's hearing when he said to Bolton: "John, I want you to take that ABM Treaty and dump it in the same place we dumped our ABM co-signer, the Soviet Union, on the ash heap of history."
The 1972 antiballistic missile treaty that Helms & Bolton zealously oppose has served as what Cirincione calls "cornerstone of strategic stability in the world because it reins in the nuclear forces of the nuclear powers." Not only the ABM Treaty, but also the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Conference on Disarmament, the verification protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention and any effort to prevent an arms race in outer space are all valuable instruments for arms control. They would all be imperiled were Bolton to be put in charge of arms control at the State Dept.

Wash.D.C.   Except for AttyGen John Ashcroft, Pres. GWBush's nominees to administration posts have avoided Senate confirmation fights. That might change starting today. Democrats are gearing up to challenge a growing list of controversial conservatives chosen for key jobs. The critics say Bush's selections reflect his desire to placate GOP's right wing.
First up: Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today on John Bolton nomination, Reagan & Bush pere admin veteran, to be undersecretary of State for arms control & intl security affairs. Critics say he has shown disdain for the UN & many arms-control treaties. Democrats also question Bush's choice of Otto Reich as asst sec of State for LatinAm & John Negroponte as U.N. ambassador. Reich spearheaded Reagan administration pgm to build public support for anti-communist ''contras,'' or rebels, in Nicaragua. Negroponte has been accused of ignoring human rights abuses in Honduras when he served as U.S. ambassador there in the 1980s.

Democrats have been grumbling about other conservatives Bush has nominated or might tap:
•   Harvard prof. John Graham for regulations czar in Bush's budget office, has reputation as opponent of many environmental safeguards.
•   Kay Cole James to head Office of Personnel Mgmnt, former dean at Christian activist Pat Robertson's Regent Univ.
•   Michael McConnell, Univ. of Utah law professor who supports greater govt involvement with religious activities & Jeffrey Sutton, Columbus OH lawyer strong states' rights advocate, are top candidates for seats on U.S. appeals courts.

State Dept is focus of Dem. outrage for now. These nominations raise ''concerns about the real commitment of the Bush administration to a bipartisan foreign policy,'' says Sen. John Kerry D-MA. ''Never before have so many ideological choices been made to execute key elements of what a president argues will be a foreign policy beyond the ideological gridlock of the past.''

Philip Merrill to head Export-Import Bank
10.1.02   NOI MAHONEY The Capital

If confirmed by the Senate, he would head the bank until 1.20.05, filling the remainder of the 4 year term left vacant with the death of John E. Robson in March. "I am honored and flattered and pleased to join this administration," Mr. Merrill said. "This bank performs a useful function, promoting exports and creating U.S. jobs."

A spokesman for Sen. Paul Sarbanes D-MD said he supports Mr. Merrill's nomination for the post. "The senator believes he is well qualified and supports him for the job," Mr. Sarbanes' spokesman, Jessie Jacobs, said. "We hope to have his confirmation hearing by the time Congress adjourns next week."
An entrepreneur & investor, Mr. Merrill has combined publishing & public service throughout his career. He has served in 6 past administrations.
Before buying Capital-Gazette Communications in 1968, Mr. Merrill had served as special asst to deputy secretary of state, and had worked in the White House on national security issues. He is a member of the Defense Policy Board, the Pentagon's Business Board, was formerly counselor to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, and was senior State Dept intelligence analyst for South Asia.   [ cf. Armitage ]

He also held the highest ranking American position at NATO from 1990 to 1992, serving as asst secretary-general.
Mr. Merrill is a trustee of the Aspen Institute, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Johns Hopkins Univ. and serves on the Univ. of Maryland's Board of Visitors. In 1988, the secretary of defense awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Service, the highest civilian honor given by the Defense Dept.

He is a graduate of Cornell University, the Harvard Business School's Program for Management Development, and is a former fellow of the Institute for International Affairs of the University of Chicago. Merrill said if confirmed, he would resign as chair & publisher of Capital-Gazette Communications and his wife Eleanor would assume his position. In addition to The Capital, the co. also owns and publishes the Maryland Gazette, West County News, the Bowie Blade-News, the Crofton News-Crier, South County Gazette and Washingtonian magazine.

Although an agency little known to the general public, Export-Import Bank is a key player in the Bush administration's economic & trade policy. "It's an important appointment," said Robert Henel, president of Annapolis Banking & Trust. "(Ex-Im Bank's) impact is on larger banks that utilize intl trade." Created in 1934 to support U.S. jobs by backing exports, it has a budget of nearly $10 billion a year, roughly half the size of the World Bank. It has $57 billion in outstanding loans, and the statutory capability to issue $100 billion in loan guarantees.
The Ex-Im Bank's loan default ratio is less than 5%, about the same as most commercial banks.

NYC   Former police commissioner Bernard Kerik, whose rise from beat cop to nominee for Homeland Security head was derailed by ethics questions, dodged prison Friday in a plea bargain by admitting he took $165,000 in gifts from a company attempting to do business with the city.
Kerik, at a 10-minute hearing in state Supreme Court in the Bronx, pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanors under a deal that allows him to continue without interruption his new career as a security consultant in the Middle East. Kerik acknowledged accepting $165,000 in renovations on his Bronx apartment from a company attempting to land city contracts, Interstate Industrial Corp., a business reputedly linked to organized crime. And he admitted failing to report a $28,000 loan from a real estate developer as required by city law.

The transgressions occurred while Kerik was head of the city Correction Dept. In entering his plea, Kerik admitted speaking to city officials about Interstate, but never acknowledged a link between the renovations and his support of the company. Outside court, Kerik showed no sign of remorse and offered no apology.
"The last year and a half has been a tremendous burden," said Kerik, who must pay $221,000 in fines. "But today it's over. Now I can get on with my business."
City officials defended the deal with Kerik, saying he received the same treatment as any other defendant.
"He was arrested and booked, plain and simple," said Dept of Investigation commissioner Rose Gill Hearn. "He was fingerprinted and photographed, just like every other perp who gets arrested and processed by the agency he used to lead."

Kerik's close friend and former business partner, ex-mayor Rudolph Giuliani, said the guilty pleas do not diminish the former police commissioner's accomplishments.
"Bernard Kerik has acknowledged his violations, but this should be evaluated in light of his service to the U.S.A. & City of New York," Giuliani said in a statement. Giuliani has said he was unaware of the Interstate links when he selected Kerik as police commissioner in 2000.
Kerik first drew national attention while leading the Police Dept's response to 9..11.01. By late 2004, President Bush wanted him for homeland security chief, but he withdrew after acknowledging he had not paid all taxes for a family nanny-housekeeper and that the woman may have been in the country illegally.

More problems surfaced last year when the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement filed court papers seeking to revoke Interstate Industrial's license to work on casinos in Atlantic City. The papers cited testimony by mob turncoats that owners Frank & Peter DiTommaso were associates of the Gambino organized crime family.
The civil complaint also detailed Kerik's cozy relationship with an Interstate official. In 1999, he sent a series of e-mails to the official that "indicated his lack of sufficient funds to both purchase & renovate his new Bronx apartment" and "indicated he would provide information to Frank DiTommaso regarding New York City contracts," the papers said.
In recent months, a grand jury has heard conflicting testimony from the DiTommaso brothers, who denied paying for the renovations, and from a contractor who said they picked up most of the tab.