The Party of Excess
by Bridget
Gibson July 11, 2002
"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
de-regulation 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 off-shore
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 ole' 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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