New American ambassador to Berlin named

[Kellanved]

BERLIN - Entrepreneur and prominent Bush donor William R. Timken has been nominated as the new American ambassador to Germany, according to a report in the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel. He will replace the previous ambassador, Daniel Coats, who left in February.

Ohio businessman Timken, whose ball-bearing and vehicle component company employs 26,000 people worldwide, was one of the largest donors during US President George W. Bush's re-election campaign. On the Republican donor list he is ranked as a 'Super Ranger', a title given to those who contributed more than USD 200,000 (EUR 156,000).

Bush calls Timken by his nickname 'Tim' and has visited him in his hometown of Canton in Ohio, according to the Tagesspiegel.

It is not clear when Timken, whose nomination has not yet been confirmed by the US embassy in Berlin, will come to Berlin. After being nominated by Bush, he still needs to be approved by the US senate, which could take four to six months.
...

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=19891&name=New+American+ambassador+to+Berlin+named


$200,000 for a posting as Ambassador? No requirements like language, grasp of history and history and present; not even experience in the field required?
A bargain

[democracyindanger]

1. He calls him 'Tim' because those multisyllabic words are hard work

[SalmonChantedEvening]

10. It isn't Timmy Tim?

Nothing like being rewarded for particitaing in a charade, a la Paul Bremer, George Tenet, Insert Pyscophant Here....

[Danmel]

2. A SUPER RANGER!

Gotta laugh at those titles. At my son's elementary school, the "student of the month" is called the "Ranger" of the month. It has nothing to do with the hockey team- it is because the second word of the school's name is Park. (Really, I kid you not). So in typical management gobblety gook, they made RANGER an acronym for Reliable, Attentive, Neat, Generous, Enthusiastic and Responsible or some other such horse shit. My son is dead in the water on Neat and Attentive.

What a shock that a big donor is awarded with an Ambassadorship. Does this guy know anything about Germany? Has he been there since 1975, the last time our new Canadian ambassador was north of the border? It gets more embarrassing by the day.

[0rganism]

11. Do you suppose he's a Mighty Morphin' Super Ranger?

Someone much wittier than I needs to develop a truly vicious parody of these phoney-ass GOP bigwig titles.

[Tempest]

3. Bush used him during a speech, and he later outsourced 1,300 jobs

www.business-journal.com/OhioDemocratsBlastBushEconomicPolicies.asp


----------------

Last April, President Bush visited a Timken Company manufacturing plant in Ohio to press for passage of new tax cuts that he said would spur the economy. During the speech Bush said that "the future of this company is bright and therefore, the future of employment is bright for the families that work here". Less than a year after the tax cuts for the wealthy passed, that same factory is shutting down -- putting about 1,300 people out of work and inflicting a "devastating" blow to the Canton community.

[DrDebug]

5. Yet on another story...

Published: April 25, 2003
(...)
Bush was welcomed warmly this morning at Timken Co., where top executives would stand to reap handsome rewards from his tax plan, especially his proposal to all but eliminate taxes on corporate dividends. Under the dividend proposal alone, Timken's top four executives would have received as much as $955,000 tax-free when the company cut its last 13-cents-per-share quarterly dividend checks, according to company records. Chairman William R. Timken alone would have received as much as $930,000 tax-free in a single quarter.
(...)
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/news/gop_holdout.cfm

So even though he 'had' to cut 1,300 job one year later, his contribution has been very fruitful.

[Lerkfish]

4. keep in mind, that's 200K THAT WE KNOW ABOUT...

chances are more than that was funneled through nefarious means.

[Tempest]

6. It's a whole lot more than $200,000, closer to $1.7 million

It's more than $300,000 in direct contributions alone since 2000.
http://tinyurl.com/apwa3


The company contributed $1.03 million in soft money.
http://opensecrets.org/softmoney/softcomp1.asp?txtName=timken


And he's contributed more than $300,000 personally in soft money.
http://opensecrets.org/softmoney/Softindiv.asp?txtName=timken&txtAmount=all&txtSort=Contrib

[Lerkfish]

7. yeah, I figured there had to be more money than that involved. thanks! nt

no text

[moondust]

8. Oh and incidentally, "he still needs to be approved by the US senate."

Keep those rubber stamps well inked boys.

[triguy46]

9. If you last more than a year

You come out a winner. Where else but the GOP can they have a raffle with a double your money in two year guarantee, backed by the full faith and credit of the middle class deficit owners.

What a prince, what a guy, another great choice by * and his handlers.