culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Thursday, August 16, 2007
Stick your Ownership Society up your ass. Owning things is sacred to Republicans. Unless the owners want to sue those accountable for fraud (
WSJ):
The Bush administration formally weighed in on the side of business in a closely watched Supreme Court case, finalizing the battle lines in a case that has big implications for Wall Street.

The administration's position is largely at odds with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which earlier this year took the side of the shareholder plaintiffs. The case centers on whether shareholders can sue to hold third parties accountable for their company's fraud. [...]

In a "friend of the court" brief, the Justice Department said finding for the plaintiffs would "considerably widen the pool of deep-pocketed defendants that could be sued for the misrepresentations of issuers."
God knows we don't want the rabble getting their hands in those deep pockets.

A similar case is being fought by Enron shareholders against Merrill Lynch & Co. who doctored Enron's financial image to appear healthier than it was. The Bush administration, contrary to the logic of ownership, does not want Merrill Lynch to be held accountable for its role in the Enron fraud. Enron shareholders should just shut up and take their losses, despite having been generated by a Republican cabal composed of Bush contributors at the tops of Enron, Merrill Lynch, and the defunct Arthur Andersen (Halliburton's auditor under Cheney).

The glory of ownership, often phrased by the GOP as the Ownership Society, is its blanket excuse for such ideas as the privatization of Social Security. But now they have proved that not only do they want all your money in the US Treasury, they also want all the money in your 401(k) and brokerage accounts.

You would think that a property-revering Republican would want to enforce accountability among his properties. But that's because the Republican party is no longer the party of property — such sacred cows are old school. Under Bush's son it has become the party of outright fraud.
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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