Bush's speech

I'm eagerly awaiting Bush's "corporate responsiblity" speech tomorrow. I'm sure Rove regrets scheduling that speech now. The Harken revelations last week came at an opportune time for the administration -- during a long holiday weekend when no one was paying attention to the news. Now, Bush's previously scheduled, high-profile speech tomorrow will bring all those new allegations back to the fore.

So let Bush call for criminal penalties against corporate abusers. Regardless what he says, it will come out reeking of hypocrisy, lest he singles out Army Secretary White (Enron), Veep Cheney (Halliburton), or even himself (Harken).

Drug giant Merck is the latest victim to phony accounting practices, having booked $14 billion in non-existent revenues over the past three years. The market is, of course, taking a dive.

The markets will not recover so long as they are exposed to scandal after scandal. And without the markets aboard, the country cannot stage the full-scale economic recovery Bush's team was counting on for the mid-term elections. 401(K)s are still getting hammered, and the Bush Administration was complicit in the activities that have led to so much wealth loss.

Now Bush is desperate to shed his pro-business image and distance himself from the Wall Street scandals that are plaguing the economy. This after bragging about being the country's first MBA president, and after promising to run the country like a business.

This should be fun.

Posted July 08, 2002 08:18 AM | Comments (1)