Reply #216: Interesting sidenote: Rumsfeld & Weill 2 of the 13 Scariest White Guys!

[robertpaulsen]

The 13 Scariest White Guys in America

By Don Hazen, AlterNet
May 29, 2001

Sandy Weill, Chairman of Citigroup


Greed is maybe more understandable in the world of finance. But when legendary dealmaker Sanford I. Weill, Chairman of Citigroup, bought Associates First Capital for 31 billion, he was basically saying there is no money too dirty for him. Associate First Capital is notorious in the field of predatory lending, which takes advantage of unsophisticated homeowners. It has been named in at least 700 lawsuits. As Martin Eakes, founder of Self-Help Credit Union, says, "It's simply unacceptable to have the largest bank in America take over the icon of predatory lending."


Citgroup engages in high-interest lending in low-income communities across the U.S., and has long been a target of protest because of its redlining practices. Citigroup is also financing some of today's greatest environmental horrors, like the destruction of Indonesian rain forests, the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline and China's Three Gorges dam, which will displace two million people. "Sandy Weill is responsible for immense ecological and human disasters because Citigroup, as a huge global lender, finances so much destruction," says Shannon Wright, Communications Director at the Rain Forest Action Network.


Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense


As the bellicose head of the Defense Department, Donald Rumsfeld is in the position to do massive harm, as he aggressively pushes for a National Missile Defense (NMD) system – a redux of the Star Wars boondoggle discredited way back in the Reagan days.


Let's be clear here – such a missile defense system won't work, isn't needed and is hugely expensive. However, Rumsfeld needs to push it because it makes his friends and funders at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon, TRW and the other defense companies very happy. (Those four have contributed $7 million to both political parties, spent $32.3 million lobbying, and – surprise! – have received NMD contracts to the tune of $2 billion per year. Nice return on the dollar.)


But Bush and Co. want a huge new system, which would include a space-based, laser-firing satellite system. The cost: $240 billion. That's pretty expensive for something that won't make us safer but will make defense contractors rich, at the expense of seniors, education, health care, the whole nine yards.

http://www.impeach-bush-now.org/Articles/Rumsfeld/Rumsfeld.htm

I'll try to see what I can find on Prudential.