The
Party of Excess
July 13, 2002
By Bridget Gibson
"I get good advice, if you will, from their people
based upon how we're doing business and how we're operating
� over and above just the sort of normal by the books
auditing arrangement."
� Dick Cheney as CEO of Halliburton in a 1996
promotional video for Arthur Anderson
If, as has been said, money is the root of all evil, then
any and all new evil roots should be exposed as they appear.
The citizenry of the United States is awakening in a brave
new world of vast uncertainties and daily terrors. Almost
every able-bodied and working person goes out to do his or
her job wondering if the dreaded �pink-slip� awaits. Too many
good people have done the foot-soldiering for the corporations
that hands of greed and dishonesty have guided.
Many studies have been performed showing the disparity between
the wages of the general class of employees, and the compensation
packages of the corporate executives. They should study a
few other things, also. They hold the accountability of the
lowest rung of the ladder to a degree that the highest rung
never sees. If a document is mislaid, the secretary must answer
for the skill level that is in question. Yet it would appear
that the executive officers cannot be held accountable for
knowing any of the detailed workings and intricacies of the
financial statements that are part and parcel of their jobs.
A classic example is Dick Cheney. In 1999, Mr. Cheney�s CEO
compensation package for Halliburton was $26,400,000. It's
growing more obvious by the minute that things were not as
they appeared during Mr. Cheney�s tenure with Halliburton.
The SEC (chaired by the former attorney for Arthur Anderson,
Harvey Pitt) has had to acknowledge that there were accounting
improprieties, i.e., Halliburton cooked its books by registering
income as �received� that was �future money.� The amount in
question is not chump change either. The amount was one quarter
of the annual revenue for the corporation: $100 Million. Perhaps
Mr. Cheney should answer some questions about accountability.
The smoke and mirrors tricks taught by Arthur Anderson are
not holding up well to the light of day.
There should be a day of reckoning for the most basic lack
of compass that has enveloped our nation. This country has
sat back and idolized wealth as the end-all and be-all and
allowed anyone who possesses enough of the green to flout
any and all rules that they have not bought into legislation.
The United States flag has fifty stars depicting the states,
but with the corporate influence at the helm, perhaps those
stars will be exchanged for corporate logos. Ironically, it
would more accurately reflect exactly who is being represented
in this country.
Power companies (and I�m not just talking electricity) have
taken their �label� to heart and become power brokers in the
halls of justice. We have very few, if any, legislators or
elected officials that have not been tainted with the money
that is stuffed daily into their pockets. Senator Phil Gramm
of Texas is a poster boy for deregulation and privatization.
He has steadfastly refused to allow any investigations into
the money laundering techniques of the corporations or the
very wealthy and firmly stood in defiance to any common sense
legislation.
In no particular order, a short list of companies and their
actions
Enron - overstatement of profits - $2 Billion - over
700 offshore bank accounts
Arthur Anderson - found guilty of �Obstruction of Justice�
Tyco (based in Bermuda) - CEO charged with tax evasion
on $13 Million in art
Global Crossing - overstatement of earnings - $1 Billion
WorldCom - misstatement of earnings - $3.9 Billion
Merck (pharmaceuticals) - overstatement of earnings
- $14.05 Billion
ImClone - charged with �Insider Trading� Reliant Energy
(formerly Houston Industries) - overstatement of earnings
- $7.9 Billion
Xerox - overstatement of earnings - $1.4 Billion - fined
$10 Million
Merrill Lynch - settled charges �of systematically
misleading investors� - paid $100 Million fine
Qwest - currently under investigation for accounting
practices (revenue boosting)
Dynergy - currently being investigated for questionable
accounting practices
Halliburton - currently being investigated for questionable
accounting practices
El Paso Corporation - currently being investigated
for questionable accounting practices
Williams Cos. - currently being investigated for questionable
accounting practices
CMS Energy - currently being investigated for questionable
accounting practices
Piper Jaffray - fined $300,000 for extorting its business
services
Sotheby�s - its Chairman was given a one year prison
term for price fixing
EDS (Ross Perot�s firm) - currently being investigated
for marketing software to assist in crooked corporate bookkeeping
The last presidential election cycle was paved with millions
of dollars representing corporate greed, and the midterm election
cycle of money raising techniques has shown that nothing has
changed. So far this year (2002), the GOP has raised in excess
of $100 Million, mostly from corporate donors. They may call
this �soft-money,� but it's cold hard cash. When money buys
influence, it�s called a �bribe.� Let�s start calling a spade
a spade, and quit confusing it for a spoon. The dirty money
in the political arena is tainting all of the politicians.
For George W. Bush to stand before the assembled corporate
thieves and shake his finger as though he had a right to do
so made me laugh. Mr. Bush is a dirty ol� pot, and he�s calling
the kettle black.
The resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue may have shared
his secret of success with Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron,
on how to cover the losses from bad business transactions
from his experience with Harken Energy. Mr. Bush has managed
to leverage his way out of each of his corrupt business practices
with more of other people�s money in his pocket every time.
I�ll take bets that Kenny Boy will get to keep his $7 Million
Houston, Texas condominium. Nine months have passed since
Enron declared bankruptcy and they have filed no criminal
charges against him.
WorldCom�s $100,000 donation/contribution to the Republican
Party on June 19 (six days before they came clean with the
financial �misstatements�) has not been returned by the RNC
for use for the 18,000 workers that are currently being laid
off. And it's for certain that the $1 Million donated by WorldCom
to establish the Trent Lott Leadership Institute in Mississippi
will not be sent back either.
I would've thought that the government had completely given
up on enforcement of taxes and regulations but for reading
last month that the Internal Revenue Service had decided to
go after the waiters and waitresses of the United States for
�underreporting� tips. The IRS has determined that since everyone
receives a minimum 15% tip for every item served, whether
it's take-out or eat-in, those nasty wait-staffers were skimming
from the till.
The party is over folks and the greedy revelers have left
us a huge mess. What do you say? I say, let�s throw the bums
out!
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