One Down, One to Go

[Ray]

ERAP resigned today and Clinton is out tomorrow.

Hallelujah!

Ray

[cc]

... in response to One Down, One to Go, posted by Ray on Jan 20, 2001

To compare Erap with Clinton, that's silly - but Erap and Ronald Reagan, I see your point. Both started out as movie stars. Both were "feel-good" Presidents who charmed their peoples with words. Erap still has lots of support among the poor of his Country, lets make no mistake about it. Both left their Country in debt. In case of Reagan about 4 Trillion $$$ - our sons and daughters will have to pay the price! Both were involved in muddy dealings, Reagan with Iranian weapons and contra rebels in Latin America, Erap with illegal games....

Yes, I see the parallels.

[tito]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

CC,

Comparing Estrada and Reagan is the stupidest comparison I have ever heard.Yea, they were both B movies actors and thats about it.To defame Reagans name by comparing him with an alcholic,womanizer,thief,shameless liar is an outrage.No matter your politics the comparison is disgraceful.Those trillions we went into debt for bankrupted the Soviet Union and caused their collapse.We are now getting that mooney back in defense speading savings and will continue to do so long after Bill Clinton has left office.BTW their are no more communist governments in Central America and eventually those rewards will be reaped by many.Estrada still has lots of support???I know poor people there and they feel ripped off.Who have you been talking to?You are ignorant.

tito

[Jay]

... in response to Re: Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by tito on Jan 22, 2001

Well said Tito,

Back when I was in the military serving under Reagan, there was nothing but PRIDE in the Armed Forces. Nobody was on foodstamp's. Funny thing also...while I was in during Reagan's time, I do not EVER remember any conversation's about liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican etc..

That is not to say these conversation's didn't happen, just that I never heard any. Reagan was a Commander-in-Chief
everyone could feel good about. At least in the military. We had just come out of Vietnam, Watergate, Iran hostage crisis etc. He made us feel proud to defend America. That is a good leader.

Clinton, a self admitted military hater, has brought morale to an all time low. His military related foriegn policies are unmanagable. They will be done away with soon, I'm sure, by Colin Powell.

America's military should not be spread so thin in mission's with no clear goal's or under the command of a foriegn entity (The UN). Most of all, our troop's should be well paid and NOT be on foodstamp's. That is WRONG, any way you look at it. Any true American of any political party should agree.

To Bill Clinton I say. Thank's for teaching every kid old enough to know, that oral sex IS NOT sex. Thank's for teaching them that even the president can be a liar and get away with it. That it's o.k. to avoid owning up to one's own mistakes. Thank's Bill, and don't let the door hit you in the behind on the way out. BA- BYE!!!

As far as ERAP, I just hope the Pilipino will wake up and stop electing moron's.

Jay
PL Board Political columnist :>

[curt]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

One of the world's wealthiest men is no longer one of the world's most wanted men.

After fleeing to Switzerland more than 15 years ago to escape U.S. charges of racketeering and tax evasion, Marc Rich was granted a pardon in the final hours of Bill Clinton's presidency on Saturday.

Rich's ex-wife, Denise, is a Democratic party fund-raiser, and reportedly a close friend of Clinton.

The decision to pardon Rich marked the final chapter in a remarkable legal and political drama between the United States and Switzerland involving the hugely successful and highly secretive commodities trader.

Rich, whose Marc Rich Group is based in central Switzerland, could not be reached for immediate comment Sunday. A man answering his home telephone said he was on vacation.

The commodities trader often took his holidays at the exclusive ski resort of St. Moritz and was a familiar face at conferences. But now he will be able to go beyond Swiss borders without fear of being snatched by U.S. law enforcement officers.

Rich, who has citizenship in the United States, Spain and Israel, was indicted in 1983 by a U.S. federal grand jury on more than 50 counts of wire fraud, racketeering, trading with the enemy and evading more than $48 million in income taxes -- crimes that could have earned him more than 300 years in prison.

He allegedly made vast profits through a huge, illegal oil pricing scheme in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and evaded taxes by shifting profits from his U.S. subsidiary to the parent company in low-tax Switzerland. He also was accused of making deals with Iran during the U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

''In 1980, Marc David Rich conspired with the Iranian government to purchase over six million barrels of oil, in violation of the trade embargo imposed against Iran by the United States,'' read the U.S. Department of Justice Fugitive Lookout notice.

''The payments were made fraudulently through American banks and the illegal use of American telecommunications facilities,'' said the notice, still posted on the Internet on Sunday.

In 1982, a New York judge subpoenaed documents from Rich's company, handing out a contempt fine of $50,000 per day until he complied. The Swiss regarded this as a challenge to national sovereignty, saying that normal diplomatic channels should have been followed. In a bizarre twist, the Swiss subsequently seized Rich's documents to prevent them from being sent to the U.S. court.

In July 1984, the United States demanded his extradition. The Swiss refused, saying that tax evasion was not a crime in Switzerland.

Although Rich later reached an out-of-court settlement in the United States for about $150 million in tax payments, he remained on the fugitives list for other charges. In 1992, a treasury department agency even briefly considered kidnapping Rich from Switzerland.

Rich also earned the hatred of U.S. labor unions. They accused him of being responsible for locking out 1,700 striking workers at the West Virginia-based Ravenswood Aluminum Corp., which he partly owned. After a 20-month dispute, the strikers were reinstated in mid-1992.

After boardroom battles, defections and dismissals, Rich left the company he had founded -- Marc Rich & Co. -- in 1993. It was subsequently renamed Glencore and remains one of the world's largest commodity dealers.

Rich went back into business in late 1995 with the Marc Rich Group. The Swiss business magazine Bilanz calculated his wealth at $900 million to $1.3 billion.

The business upheavals in 1992 coincided with a divorce battle. His wife, Denise, sued for a $500 million settlement after he left her for another woman, Gisela Rossi. Denise Rich is now a successful New York songwriter and fund-raiser for the Democratic party.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[curt]

... in response to Re: Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by curt on Jan 21, 2001

A financial supporter of the Gore presidential campaign, Denise Rich also gave more than $200,000 to the Democratic National Committee.

On Jan. 29, she is hosting a welcome home party at her Fifth Avenue penthouse for Andrew Cuomo, Clinton's housing secretary who is considering running for governor of New York in 2002.

The Rich case began shortly before Giuliani became U.S. attorney in Manhattan.

''A lot of my handling of the case was trying to figure out how to catch him,'' the mayor said after a state budget hearing in Albany.

Defending his pardons made in the last hours of his administration, Clinton had said Sunday, ''You're not saying these people didn't commit the offense ... You're saying they paid.''

[Jimbos]

... in response to Re: Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by curt on Jan 21, 2001

nt

[curt]

... in response to should be who's, not whose n/t, posted by Jimbos on Jan 22, 2001

nr

[curt]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

Why did Clinton need a new limo 5 days before leaving office?  

Why did Clinton insist on a 747 to NY instead of the smaller jet offered to him after leaving office?  

Why did Clinton try to hog the news during the inauguration?  

Why did Clinton pardon so many drug dealers?

What do Clinton, J. Jackson and W. Brown have in common?

[curt]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

Reagan was fighting communism in South America while the liberals were supporting the communists!  hmmmmmm.  Makes one think?

[curt]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

Clinton is the better comparison since his scandals had to do with personal gain.

The final ABC News/Washington Post poll of his term, released Wednesday, says 65 percent give him a favorable job rating, but 67 percent in the same poll say he is not honest and trustworthy and 77 percent feel he lacks high moral and ethical standards.
   
Clinton made oral sex a grade school topic and the phrase "it depends on the definition of is" a trademark of his legacy. He was the only elected president to be impeached, a certified liar under oath, a a documented rapist, a charge that MOST Americans believe to be true.

We now have back in place a moral leader.  It is a refreshing feeling.

[curt]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

Clinton was the ultimate "feel good" president.  One who's tenure was loaded with corruption.  Don't you remember that Reagan was a man of principles and ideals?  One who was focused in bringing down communism?  That is why the liberals are so into dissing him.  Don't you remember that Reagan had a DEMOCRATIC senate and congress that wrote all appropriations and budgets thus leading to the large deficits?

[Jimbo]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

...INcreased revenues.  That's a fact.  The deficit was run up by over-spending by the democratic congress.

Jim

[Ray]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

IMHO, Bill Clinton wouldn’t make a pimple on Ronald Reagan’s arse.

ERAP is a crook who lined his own pockets at the people’s expense. You think ERAP still has lots of support in the Phils? I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but everybody I talk to over there doesn’t know a single ERAP supporter. Man, read the news. The Filipinos are dancing in the streets.

At least ERAP had enough “honor” left to resign before they had to drag him out by his hair. Bill Clinton doesn’t even know the meaning of the word honor.

Ray

[Bear]

... in response to Re: One Down, One to Go, posted by cc on Jan 21, 2001

get the blame for 40 years of failed socialist government programs?

Bear