Karen, if Caffeine does this to you, what was Dowd on over the weekend? REH
Rub-a-Dub in the Hot Tub By MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON - Dick and Rummy are in the Jacuzzi at Camp David. The two masters of the Bush universe have had a lousy week. And now, with the white cast on Rummy's hand buoyed by bubbles, they just want to sip Scotch on the rocks and review the knocks. They are keeping one eye on the Kid, who's been jogging circles around Aspen Lodge for the past nine hours. Junior is supposed to be inside practicing how to say "mal-fea-sance" with an "s." But he won't do it. He's sulking. He went to Wall Street on Tuesday to show that the hero of Sept. 11 could retaliate against the creeps who wiped out the neighborhood and also keep C.E.O.'s from looting. But the president who got elected on the backs of C.E.O.'s and said he wanted to run the country like a C.E.O. was about as convincing a sheriff as Barney Fife. Rummy's war has also run into a bad patch, bombing brides instead of bin Laden. As the two men soak, more steam is coming from the vice president than the hot tub. "The Kid never should have gone to Wall Street in the first place," Dick grumbles. "All those poppycock reforms he and Rove rushed into the speech. Who knew our Karl was also a Marxist? When the going gets tough, the weak go polling. Who cares what Americans think? They should care what we think." W. jogs past with a singsong chant: "It's NOT my fault, it's NOT my fault, it's BUBBA'S fault, it's BUBBA'S fault." Dick and Rummy laugh indulgently. "SWAT teams swooping down on C.E.O.'s?" Dick scoffs. "What nonsense. Will government lawyers ride around in stealth golf carts and read these guys their rights on the back nine? "We certainly don't need more transparency in this country. Transparency is just a fancy kind of indecent exposure, a sick counterculture idea, whether it's about the markets, accounting or giving up the names of our Houston buddies who dictated my energy policy. I say: Zip it. "We don't owe anybody any explanation for any thought or action that any of us have ever had or done." Rummy grins devilishly and skillfully balances his glass on his cast in a silent toast. "Those lily-livered liberals in Congress are outrageous - they're criminalizing greed!" Dick says. "And the spineless Republican fellow travelers on the Hill are almost worse - they'll dry up our donor base and destroy the party before they're through. McCain is just Norman Thomas with medals. "I have nothing against sharing, of course. As long as it's us getting the shares. "Our strategy is to slow down the House and Senate so these stiffer accounting and corporate-greed bills never see the light of day. Maybe you guys could accelerate your war on Baghdad. A righteous distraction would come in handy." The Pentagon boss indicates with a nod of his cast that this is possible. "Bunch of anticapitalist, world-government-loving wusses," Rummy says. "They don't understand how tough we had it as C.E.O.'s. It's lonely at the top." Junior jogs over to the Jacuzzi and tries to get Vice's attention. "Dude?" Dick waves him off and resumes his rant: "All that stands between America and socialism are stock options. Without options, companies can't lure great leaders who will take risks - with other people's money, of course. If Congress got its way, when the stock went down, the C.E.O. would lose money just like everyone else. But we are not everyone else." The president tries again to get Dick's attention: "Dude?" Dick goes on, his dander rising. "I'm sick and tired of these Sunday morning pinkos trying to impoverish the ruling class. People should get off my back about the way I cashed out of Halliburton. What's $20 million these days?" Rummy is astonished. For the first time in the many decades he has known Dick, his friend's face is no longer affectless. Dick gives the impression of something that can only be called emotion. But the Kid has finally lost patience. He jumps into the Jacuzzi, barely missing Rummy's cast, and sloshes right over to Vice, leaning into his ear and wailing plaintively: "Where's Karen?" ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 11:31 AM Subject: RE: Blasting Bush > Coca Cola to begin expensing stock options; more to follow? > http://www.msnbc.com/news/780286.asp?0dm=C16PB > > Bush really missed this one, failing to stay ahead of a reform tide that he > now is in danger of being caught in its undertow. > > McCain and Nader already have national platforms. My guess is that as we > finish breakfast there are campaign ads being born that will tap into voter > uncertainty. Last night I had dinner with a friend who is not generally > prone to skepticism, who relies on me for political updates because he is > too preoccupied to be attentive himself; when I made the statement "if it > weren't for the so-called war on terrorism, Bush's presidency would be in > tatters" he didn't even blink and nodded his head. There is less resistance > to the idea that Bush is untouchable due to "wartime" popularity. I'm not > saying that is clear evidence of a national trend, but 6 months ago I'd have > gotten an argument from him. > > The question is: does Karl Rove still think the war on terrorism will carry > midterm elections, and will GOP strategy concentrate on that theme rather > than economic and/or domestic issues? If the economy does not show more > significant signs of recovery while joblessness persists, you can expect > more in Congress running for reelection to bolt from Bush's shadow as > Hastert did over the weekend (incredible given that relationship so one > wonders if he is planning for changes by January's next Congress). If that > scenario occurs, Bush's political coattails will have been trimmed further > and there could be another one-term Bush in the White House. > > Unless, of course, there is a GOP Wag the Dog. Where is Karl Rove and what > is he reading this summer? > > Bush needs to read the FDR history bio, not the TR bio for a role model. But > I don't have the confidence he can transform himself as FDR did when events > demanded it of him. He's still a lightweight All hat, No cattle politician > who has relied on other significant men - and Karen Hughes - in his life to > lead him, not the other way around: His dad, Billy Graham, Dick Cheney. All > standing in the shadows of their previous glory. He has to decide if he will > owe his popularity and national authority to Osama bin Laden or to "getting > it" with some leadership of his own. > > Okay. I promise to start drinking decaf. > > Karen > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Keith Hudson > Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 12:45 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Blasting Bush > > I've mentioned the growing power of pensions funds several times recently > on FW as a growing counterweight to CEOs in large corporations. Here is a > quote from a correspondent of the Financial Times attending the annual > conference of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) in > Milan -- a very powerful body whose members control $10,000 billion of > assets. > > (It might also be mentioned that Boeing, Unilever, Coca-Cola and Citibank > are four US coporations which are also calling for much more radical action > than Bush is presently proposing.) > > Back to the ICGN conference: > > <<<< > US INVESTORS BLAST BUSH REFORM > by Simon Targett > > Pension fund giants TIAA-CREF and Calpers demand more radical action > > > President George W. Bush has not gone far enough in his bid to rid > corporate America of corruption, according to some of the country's more > powerful investors. > > Calpers, the largest US pension fund, and TIAA-CREF, the giant New > York-based fund, are to uyrge Mr Bush to take more radical action to > prevent a repeat of the scandals surrounding Enron and WorldCom. > > Calpers are also planning to take greater political and legal measures to > defend the retirement funds it invests on behalf of 1.3 million > Californians. > > In a speech to Wall Street last week, Mr Bush unveiled a crackdown on the > corporate crisis in the US. He plans to double the maximum jail sentence > for corrupt chief executives to ten years; strengthen the policing of Wall > Street with a new fraud task force; and increase funding of the Securities > and Exchange committee (SEC), the US financial watchdog, by $100 million. > > But, in an interview with the FT, Willian Crist, president of Calpers' > board, said: "Mr Bush misses the point. It's not just criminal activity . . > . it's the fact that these companies are run by insiders for their own > advantage." > > John Biggs, chief executive of TIAA-CREF and a director of Boeing, the US > aircraft manufacturer, said: "I'm encouraged that the President is talking > tough and taking coporate governance into every room with a TV in the > country. But I think that the specifics of the Repbuvlican propsals do not > amount to reform." > > Calpers, which manages $150 billiobn of assets for California's public > employees, is to prss for legislative changes that would boost the > influence of shareholders in the boardroom. > > Among other measures, it would like to see all shareholder resolutions made > binding on the company and great investor access be made available to the > director ballotting process. > > Calpers and TIAA-CREF are also demanding stronger regulatory oversight of > business wrongdoing. Mr Crist said Mr Bush did not go far enough in his > plans to increase SEC's funding. > > "We pay chief executives way too much and [regulators] too little," he > said. "We want to give the SEC three times what President Bush is > suggesting." > > Mr Crist added that Enron and WorldCom would have a substantial impact on > the way Calpers conducted its affairs. "I think we'll get more invoklved in > politics, and we'll get more involved in litigation. We'll be quick to > exercise our legal claims to recover our assets." > >>>> > > Keith Hudson > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ------------ > > Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com > 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > ________________________________________________________________________ >
