"Carlyle is as deeply wired into the current administration as they can possibly be," - veteran journalist Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity
DAVID M. MOFFETT, Adviser to Carlyle Group--Crony Capitalism at its Finest--given leadership of Freddie Mac. US Government, the Fed and their political partners are seizing more and more control over citizen-owned land than ever. The Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae takeovers constitute the "mother of all bailouts," and are simultaneously government acquisitions, and the citizens of the USA are going to pay for it, probably in more than just dollars. My fellow Americans, please realize that now is the time to prepare for the Greatest Depression (don't be fooled by temporary rallies!)... Human beings are free, and we can rise above our oppressors if we each exercise our freedom to its fullest, but the time is NOW!
Veteran Financiers to Head Fannie, Freddie (Washington Post - 8 Sept 2008)
Excerpts: "The new chief executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have long histories in the financial services industry... David M. Moffett, 56, who now heads Freddie Mac, spent most of his life as a chief financial officer at a series of banks, finishing at U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis. Since early 2007, Moffett has served as a senior adviser to the financial services team at Carlyle Group, the District-based private equity giant..."
US Tax Payer Takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The Mother of All Bailouts (MarketOracle.co.uk - 7 Sept 2008)
Excerpts: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from mortgage originators. They pool the mortgages and sell an interest in the mortgage pool in the form of bonds. The principal and interest payments from the homeowners pass-through to bondholders in the form of a payment. If some of the mortgage holders default or simply walk away, Fannie and Freddie guarantee principal and interest payments to the bondholders. In the very near future, you and I as taxpayers will guarantee the principal and interest payments to the bondholders. You and I will stand behind what the New York Times referred to as “huge potential liabilities” which could cost the taxpayers “tens of billions of dollars”. Welcome to the mortgage business..."
A little bit about the Carlyle Group, in case you're not familiar (or just search for it; lots of information from a variety of resources is available):
From The Carlyle Group website (Carlyle.com - 8 Sept 2008)
In their own words: "Our mission is to be the premier global private equity firm, leveraging the insight of Carlyle's team of investment professionals to generate extraordinary returns across a range of investment choices, while maintaining our good name and the good name of our investors... The Carlyle Group is one of the world's largest private equity firms, with more than $89.3 billion under management. With 64 funds across four investment disciplines (buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance), Carlyle combines global vision with local insight, relying on a top-flight team of 525+ investment professionals operating out of offices in 21 countries to uncover superior opportunities in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East/North Africa and Latin America."
Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton (InformationLiberation.com - 20 March 2008)
By Tim Shorrock
Cartoon at right also from Information Liberation
Excerpts: "The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity funds, may soon acquire the $2 billion government contracting business of consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the biggest suppliers of technology and personnel to the U.S. government's spy agencies. Carlyle manages more than $75 billion in assets and has bought and sold a long string of military contractors since the early 1990s. But in recent years it has significantly reduced its investments in that industry. If it goes ahead with the widely reported plan to buy Booz Allen, it will re-emerge as the owner of one of America's largest private intelligence armies."
The Carlyle Group: Crony Capitalism without Borders (ThirdWorldTraveler.com - 2003)
Excerpted from the book How Much Are You Making On The War Daddy? A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration by William D. Hartung
Excerpts: "The Carlyle Group is the most politically connected investment firm in the world. The company has mastered the art of influence peddling on a global scale, hiring executives and consultants ranging from Republican power broker James Baker and former president George Herbert Walker Bush to foreign leaders like former British prime minister John Major and former Philippine president Fidel Ramos... Carlyle's CEO, Frank Carlucci, served as secretary of defense and head of the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan and was Rumsfeld's college roommate at Princeton. His special relationship with Rumsfeld puts him in a perfect position to size up U.S. defense policies and programs for purposes of crafting Carlyle's investment strategy... The President's father, George Herbert Walker Bush, is on retainer to Carlyle, using his reputation and contacts as ex-president to help the firm recruit new investors in the Middle East, Asia, and beyond. He holds meetings with Saudi potentates, makes speeches or plays golf with potential investors in South Korea, and so forth. Press reports indicate that he may receive $100,000 or more a pop for every speech he gives on Carlyle's behalf..."
Bush Watch / Bush Money: Inside The Carlyle Group (BushWatch.com - older article, exact date unknown)
Excerpts: "With former US Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci as its chairman, it's no surprise that The Carlyle Group is drawn to defense. Defense and aerospace firms such as United Defense Industries make up a significant share of the world's largest private equity firm's portfolio. Also represented are information technology (Federal Data), health care, real estate, and bottling companies. Since Carlucci joined in 1989, a host of staffers from the Reagan and first Bush administrations have stinted at the company, including ex-Secretary of State James Baker and ex-budget chief Richard Darman. Former President Bush and former UK Prime Minister John Major have also made appearances... Traveling with the fanfare of dignitaries, Mr. Bush and Mr. Baker [use] their extensive government contacts to further their business interests as representatives of the Carlyle Group, a $12 billion private equity firm based in Washington that has parlayed a roster of former top-level government officials, largely from the Bush and Reagan administrations, into a moneymaking machine. In a new spin on Washington's revolving door between business and government, where lobbying by former officials is restricted but soliciting investments is not, Carlyle has upped the ante and taken the practice global... It owns so many companies that it is now in effect one of the nation's biggest defense contractors and a force in global telecommunications. Its blue-chip investors include major banks and insurance companies, billion-dollar pension funds and wealthy investors from Abu Dhabi to Singapore. In getting business for Carlyle, Mr. Bush has been impressive... For instance, Frank C. Carlucci, a Reagan secretary of defense who as much as anyone is responsible for Carlyle's success, said he met in February with his old college classmate Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense, and Vice President Dick Cheney, himself a defense secretary under former President Bush, to talk about military matters — at a time when Carlyle has several billion-dollar defense projects under consideration.... "Carlyle is as deeply wired into the current administration as they can possibly be," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit public interest group based in Washington. "George Bush is getting money from private interests that have business before the government, while his son is president. And, in a really peculiar way, George W. Bush could, some day, benefit financially from his own administration's decisions, through his father's investments. The average American doesn't know that and, to me, that's a jaw-dropper.""
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