Ever heard of Neil Bush?
by Gerald Plessner
Ever heard of Neil Bush? No? Well, that's not surprising. Know anything
about the 1988 Silverado Savings and Loan failure in Colorado that cost
taxpayers at least $1.3 billion? Never heard of it? Maybe you are too young
to remember, or as a fan of the Bush family, you would rather forget.
Neil Bush is the almost invisible younger son of George and Barbara Bush.
He's the black sheep of the family, the one who missed being indicted for
his role in Silverado by the length of his father's presidential coat
tails.
But Neil has once again come to public attention for his role in helping
Chinese corporations increase exports to the United States, all for an
annual fee of $400,000. This at a time when his brother's administration is
trying to achieve just the opposite.
I was not surprised by Neil's absence from the Bush inauguration or his
non-appearance in any photograph with his presidential brother, who was
photographed with his folks and his other brother Jeb.
Not all the Bush boys grow up to be governor or president. Here's why. Neil
Bush was a member of the Silverado Savings and Loan board in Colorado from
1985 to August 1988. According to Denver Post financial reporter Steven
Wilmsen, Neil resigned just ahead of the regulators, saying he did not want
them to be constrained by his presence on the board. "The truth of the
matter", Wilmsen wrote, "was that Neil already was under investigation by
the regulators."
Neil Bush failed to disclose to his fellow board members his financial
involvement in loans he brought to the institution. Three of his friends
made millions by trading parcels of land with Silverado and other savings
and loans. They created wealth where none had existed, inflating two
parcels' value by a $3.2 million profit in six months.
But the regulators were called off when someone in the Reagan administration
stopped Federal Home Loan Bank officials from closing Silverado before the
1988 election, depriving Michael Dukakis of a volatile campaign issue and
guaranteeing that George H. W. Bush would become president. Two years
later, his son was fined $50,000 and banned from banking activities for
life.
According to Louis Dubose writing in the Austin, Texas Chronicle, a
Republican fund raiser soon set up a fund to help Neil defer the costs of
his prosecution and fine.
Neil Bush did appear in the press in February 2002 when Newsweek's Michael
Isikoff reported that he was in Jidda, Saudia Arabia, raising capital for
"a new educational software firm that could benefit enormously from the new
$26.5 billion education bill signed by president George W. Bush. Called
Ignite!, the firm had raised $18 million in venture capital from Japan,
Taiwan and the Middle East.
In October 2002 Neil was in Florida talking to state education officials
about their possible promotion of this new product. Although the product
gets high marks from its few competitors, the chance to sell it first to
Florida must have seemed too good to pass up.
Neil Bush has made a number of trips to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with his
father, brother Marvin, who also raises venture capital, and members of the
first Bush administration. Like his father, he has a number of interesting
connections in the Middle East, where the elder Bush is a hero for his
leadership in saving Kuwait from Saddam Hussein.
The Bush family is unique in American politics for making money as a result
of their fame and connections. Although Neil Bush has gotten into more
trouble than any of the others, they seem to have a special talent for
turning public service into personal profit.
But Neil Bush's most recent appearance in the press is just as interesting
as his business deals, if a bit confusing. The Houston Chronicle has
reported that, "President Bush's brother Neil provided a tissue sample . .
.. that will be used to determine whether he fathered a child by his
girlfriend while she was still married to another man."
It seems that the former husband of his girlfriend is suing Neil's ex-wife,
Sharon Bush for $850,000 alleging she defamed him(the girlfriend's former
husband) by suggesting in conversations with reporters and others that Neil
Bush fathered the child, a boy.
Sharon Bush asked the judge to order testing of Neil Bush, the former
husband and the child. Neil's girlfriend says that her relationship with
Neil began after the boy was born.
Why is it that stories about almost anything costing taxpayers $1.3 billion
always end up being about sex?
About the author: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who
writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to
hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.
http://www.geraldplessner.com/articles/article.cgi?doc=20031205003348
--
"Iraq is a rallying cause for al-Qaida - it's allowed them to attract new
recruits," said Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism specialist at the
Congressional Research Service, the think tank for the House and Senate.
"This was an organization that was under enormous pressure. Iraq has put
new wind in its sails, definitely."
.
|
