George W. Bush, Bill Clinton Speak at Wealth Management Americas, UBS Event

[KoKo]

By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 5/10/11 5:05 PM EDT

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton appeared together Monday night for a private banking event — the first New York outing for the Texas-based 43rd president since Osama bin Laden was killed, a person familiar with the event said.

The two presidents were part of a private panel hosted by Wealth Management Americas, an arm of UBS bank, at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Manhattan’s West Side.

But Monday found the two most recent former presidents both on the West Side for the event, which was moderated by UBS Wealth Management Americas CEO Bob McCann, and focused on a new report by the bank reviewing the role of government in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The report recommends fixes including entitlement reform and a revamp of the tax code.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54698.html#ixzz1MAJDoSD5

[izquierdista]

1. How to get the government to cover your losing bets?

:shrug:

[hatrack]

2. Pardon me while I vomit.

nt

[Carolina]

8. I totally agree

[Whisp]

18. upchucking with you

what a sweet pair they are.

fucking tragic

[KoKo]

32. nasty tase in mouth...causing gag reflex..

:-(

[marmar]

3. "The report recommends fixes including entitlement reform and a revamp of the tax code"

:puke: :puke:

[lpbk2713]

4. Shrublet was a failure at every business venture he ever attempted

The irony here is overwhelming.

:rofl:

[Angry Dragon]

5. bill and george sure are traveling together a lot lately

they could be lovers.....

[Hannah Bell]

9. + clinton's appearances & ventures with george's daddy.

yeah, they're best buds, it seems.

[sabrina 1]

10. Babs says Clinton is like 'another son', 'part of the family'!

To think I spent years defending Clinton from Bush supporters!

That taught me a lesson, stick to principles not politicians.

They belong to a club which is not open to the average American.

[KoKo]

15. What I wonder, Sabrina, is WHY did we spend those years defending

Clinton from Bush supporters? Do you remember when MSNBC and Geraldo Rivera's Show was working to defend Clinton against the Mellon-Scaife organization/money? That was before "The Giraldo" moved to Faux News and became a charicature of what his "former self" was.

Without his show and Salon Magazine's Joe Conason and Gene Lyons I couldn't have survived that terrible time and birrage of hate against Bill Clinton. I didn't believe that there was EVER a blue dress with semen stains...I thought it was all lies. I defended Clinton so much that I lost friends over it and family members didn't want to talk to me because I kept saying that there was "NO WAY" that Bill Clinton who grew up in the South that I did and was close to me in age would EVER DO what he was accused of! NO WAY!

I was wrong. And, it turned out that while Clinton was being "investigated" that that there were people in Congress (yes Dems along with Repugs) who were putting together Bills to De-Regulate our Banks and Financial Community which would lead to the huge "Melt Down" that we as Taxpayers are now having to deal with to Bail out Wall Street!

That "Ken Starr Investigation" that went on for years seemed to be a "cover" for Clinton to sign bills that DE-REGULATED EVERYTHING...and we are paying the price for that today.

I'm sorry I don't have the time to post links for all I say...but it's here in the DU Archives and on Salon Magazine's Archives.

I think we were BIG TIME SNOOKERED...and it was personally devastating to Democrats that we were so deceived by Clinton and the Media at that time.

[sabrina 1]

16. I remember all that, Koko, even though at the time I was not

really involved in politics. It was just such a disgusting witch hunt I think most decent people were turned off by it all. And yes, I remember watching Geraldo's show and I also remember Hustler's Larry Flint finally exposing the sheer hypocrisy of the rightwing.

I was not online until after the Bush election and ended up on some rightwing dominated boards. I fiercely defended Clinton, got death threats and and all kinds of other threats as they were obsessed with Clinton still.

And then one day I saw a photo of Clinton with Bush. I guess my rightwing 'friends' felt used also as they watched that relationship develop. I agree with you that people like Geraldo and a couple of others, I feel Larry Flint played a big role in ending the whole circus, probably saved Clinton's presidency.

And then I remember when Hillary was running for president and Larry Flint, to whom she owed so much, donated to her campaign, and she returned the donation, scared that it might 'look bad'. Well, to me, what looked bad was refusing to accept support not only from a citizen who had a right to make that donation, but one that saved your husband's presidency. I lost a lot of respect for her then. And I also remember Geraldo saying that the Clinton's never thanked him or even called him.

Over the past several years, now that I am older and wiser, I see all of these people as ambitious, using people along the way and then dropping them as soon as they think it might not benefit their careers. That is a character flaw imo.

As for your point about all that legislation Clinton was pushing through while we were watching 'Monica' stories, I did not even know about it until not all that long ago and out of habit, denied it at first.

Maybe they can make good leaders, but I would not want any of them as a friend. And now, I stick to principles no matter which party is in power. Being a democratic party 'loyalist' made me blind. Like them, I only care about what they can do for this country and if they seem wrong for the job, I don't want them there. Not blind anymore. Same thing happened with my Repub sister, We nearly stopped speaking over politics. Now, she is as disillusioned with the Repubs as I am and we can actually talk about politics without ending up in a huge fight. We still disagree on things, but I am so glad I did not stop speaking to her over any politician as happened with some of my friends. They work for us, that is the only relationship we should have with them.

Btw, don't worry about links. I remember it all, all too clearly :-)

[KoKo]

19. Sabrina!

I think of myself as "Forever Young!" But, I chastise myself forgetting how many others are REALLY younger that I am who might not know the "nuances" of History for our Dems. When I joined DU back in 2001...there were so many "elders" like me that we could "commune" with each other..because we SHARED a History of Vietnam and Cold War and Music in Common.

BUT...That Time and Those Experiences have ALL CHANGED... Elders are considered "Welfare People who Support "Social Security and Medicare" because we (according to some) HATE our Children and "We are Boomers" who "Sucked life out of our Children's Lives" to support some "greed" that Republicans Say that we are doing against "Our Children" and Young Folks OUT THERE.

There are Republicans trying to pit Young Folks against their Parents/Grandparents that are considered "Authorities" on Medicare and Medicade and how we and it means to the RIGHT WINGERS...that they Pit Parent against Child, and Children against Parent and Grand Parent to DECIDE who get's the SPOILS OF WAR!

With so much Social Dysfunction in these times...with Divorce, Multi-Families, Racial Mixed Families, Cross-Cultural Families, Gay, Lesbian..Cross Cultural Families and what else...this is a time when RIGHT WING PEOPLE can SWOOP in and PIT GROUPS AGAINST EACH OTHER....

But...us OLDER FOLKS should STILL have a VOICE...and there's something CREEPY about BUSH/CLINTON ALLIANCE. I think we need to be vigilant on THIS!

(I had to cut short my post)...I would have wished to go further...but...no one cares and it was causing me some big angst and knowing that no one cares what I could post...I cut it short.

THE RESEARCH IS OUT THERE...PLEASE DO IT...GOOGLE IT... First Search for me would be: GOOGLE SEARCH:

"Clinton Administration, Deregulation and Wall Street"

SEE What Comes Up on that SEARCH...

Tired..outta here..

[Luminous Animal]

37. For Sabrina and Koko... I protested much of Clinton's policies from NAFTA to the dispicable welfare

reform.

This alliance does not surprise me in the least. I advise activists over and over again, concentrate on your own community. Be proactive, not reactive in your own back yard. Make connections with like minded people and calmly and persistently; educate, educate, educate. Groom local candidates but don't focus on electoral politics alone. Start your own democratic committee or organizational group, and issue position papers, show up for meetings, put out slate cards, develop and run candidates. At some point, you'll start winning an office here and there and some of those local people will make it to the state house where you can keep an eye on them. You've got to groom your candidates and then you have to keep them honest in office and if they've let you down, you need another to step up to the challenge.

The Federal government is lost. There is no dispute about this. The battlefield is on the state and local level.

[OwnedByFerrets]

36. All you say is so very true

[NightWatcher]

6. short speeches. they clasp hands and say to the rich "you're welcome"

they take a bow, collect their checks, and hit the golf course

[KoKo]

20. Short and Sweet...+1

[Whisp]

21. I've always despised Jr., but I have a special hate for that fucker Clinton

fucking traitor lieing bastard fuck

[KoKo]

26. I'm waiting for the Book on Clinton Administration that could EXPLAIN...

what they were about. In TRUE DETAIL...and not some kind of "SPIN."

When I think of what defending them cost me in friends and family... It wasn't worth it. I look like a fool.

That said... I don't like looking like a fool...but I try to live my life in a way departed...but...Dem DU'ers really need to KNOW what went on there and at that time...

It gets overwhelming...and one always has the point of asking: "Why Bother with it?" I don't know the answer.

[daggahead]

7. Did they have to use a picture book so "W" could keep up? n/t

[otohara]

11. I Need A Bucket

Fixing entitlement reform = privatization - UBS wet dream

boo on Bill Clinton

[TimLighter]

12. The banking and commodity "reforms" of the '90's set the stage

for the excesses of the 2000's so it really comes as no surprise to me.

Thank DOG the current administration has driven the money changers from the Temple.

[KoKo]

13. Yet...it's hard to understand what Bill & Hillary Clinton went through at the hands of Repugs

that they would be hanging around with the Bushies. I haven't seen Hillary with them but Bill is with one or the other out there involved in Haiti, Globilization and "Policy." Hillary, on the other hand, has turned into a War Monger.

I have no idea what's going on with the Clintons. I can't imagine being accused of killing Vince Foster and stashing his body in a park in DC (RW Attack against Hillary in the first year of Clinton's Presidency) and then getting hit on a small about of money for Whitewater and then having the Starr Investigation spend over three years dragging out that you were "teasing with cigars" a woman called Monica Lewinsky who "snapped her thong" in your face as President so you went down on her in a cubicle off the Oval Office while being President. Your wife and daughter forgave you and you know end up hanging around with Bush, the Elder, and Bush the Junior....and this is supposed to be acceptable behavior?

:eyes: It makes no sense to me ...no matter how I try to explain it all to myself that Bill would be hanging around with Bushies and that Hillary would be doing their work for WAR, WAR and More War.

[Whisp]

22. they know what distracts us

the plan was to go along with this crazy shit so the American Idolers of the past wouldn't look any further that their need for soap opera and gossip.

the clintons were most likely in on it.
theatre for the pleebs

[KoKo]

28. "theater for the pleebs"...its likely.... So much bizarre stuff going down...

it's possible to look at all possibilities.

I don't know, anymore...but go with gut instinct which really isn's always the best, either.

There's just SO MUCH...bad stuff going down that's messing with our brains and realistic reasoning that we are adrift.. We don't know WHO or WHAT INFO to TRUST.

That alone is a chilling thought.

[rbrnmw]

25. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford became best friends

I think it has to do with only other Presidents could really know what you have been through

[KoKo]

29. But...the Carter/Ford Connection is a STRETCH...Is it not?

And so long ago compared to the Presidents we are talking about here...it seems so distant...but the "progression" of how Dems Morphed is good to point out!

[Arugula Latte]

14. Disgusting, but not surprising, sadly.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

17. bill just wants to be loved....

by rich people.

[KoKo]

23. yes..but who "allowed him to be loved by rich people" when he was TRASHED by Starr Commission?

That's what puzzles Me.. How could the "Tarnished, Bill Clinton" ...have been rehabed so soon?

How could that be after what his "Supporters" went through ...those years..."Supporting, Clinton?"

NOW....he hangs out with the BUSHIES as if they are his OWN FIRST FAMILY? :eyes: You gotta be kidding me!

[senseandsensibility]

24. Ew. What a downer.

Could have done without hearing about this.

[KoKo]

27. Believe me...I could have done without this "Downer"...too..

It's depressing beyond imagining. Really.

BUT...I believe in the "TRUTH" OUTING! I'm Masochistic....I guess.

Still ...my hope is if we can "Find the Truth" we can "Move On" and correct the Ills that have gone on for Future Generations.

It's all some of us can hope for. We remain to our Death...Altruistic..and Hopeful. "Fools That We Are!" And...we do seem fools these days.

[senseandsensibility]

33. I agree

and I am so cynical now that this story does not surprise me in the least. You definitely were right to post it, lest some DUers begin to romanticize Clinton again. He's been a huge disappointment to me since he left office. Of course, some of his "in office" shenanigans weren't exactly inspiring either. And, no, I'm not talking about Monica. I literally couldn't care less about that.

[KoKo]

35. he's a "weird bird." What we don't know about him..is probably important.

He's been raked over coals by Starr Commission...and he comes up On Top? After what he put us through ..DEFENDING HIM? It defies reason. I don't know how to deal with this...but something just isn't believable.

And...I guess that was what it was about.. What else? :shrug:

[TheKentuckian]

30. You mean the fella there is no sense in prosecuting because he is "virtually on house arrest"?

That Georgie Bush???

[mmonk]

31. The power of UBS

UBS is very much a part of that permanent government. Though not a household name in the United States, UBS is a major player in the Beltway game. During the 2008 campaign, while Robert Wolf was courting Democratic hopeful Obama, his UBS cohort, former Senator Phil Gramm, was working the other side of the street. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee in the 1990s, Gramm, a corporate-friendly Texas Republican, played a key role in the deregulation of the banking industry, an act so central to the nation’s financial collapse. Since 2002, Gramm has been UBS Americas’ vice chairman. In 2008, he was the leading economics adviser for Obama’s opponent, John McCain—and even touted as a possible treasury secretary in a McCain administration.
The bottom line: UBS hedged its bets, and so had an inside track no matter which party took the White House. Thus, when Obama won, it was Wolf who ascended. The new president named the banker-donor to his White House Economic Advisory Board.

http://whowhatwhy.com/the-game-that-goes-on-and-on.html

[KoKo]

38. Good point about how Phil Gramm and UBS played the game...but it get's into

finance and what went down with the Global Finance Implosion...and get's so complicated that unless you are Financial Savvy it's hard to parse it all out.

But, this goes "way back" with Phil Gramm and why Clinton signed it. And the "Revolving Door" that BOTH Parties..Dem/Repug...have allied themselves with Financial Wall Street and that hurts the Average American.

Until folks wake up and see this...we just gotta keep hammering it home as to how Wall Street/Financial Implosion affected Average American Homeowners ...and WHY we are ALL IN DEEP SHIT because of Deregulation from Phil and Wendy Gramm and how they influenced so much that NOW we all need to give Up Retirement Benefits that we PAID INTO for our FUTURE...Like "Social Security and Medicare for ALL!"

[mmonk]

39. As long as the media helps the politicians hide it and gives

them other fabricated issues to follow or ideology, it appears the people won't see it.

[KoKo]

40. true....

[OwnedByFerrets]

34. Not the least bit surprising. And very sickening

[Odin2005]

41. Clinton's college mentor Caroll Quigley was an infamous defender of the Capitalist Elites.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x444782