Jeb Bush and the State of Florida's subprime shitpile

[swag]

from Bloomberg, some interesting questions about former Governor Bush's role as a Lehman consultant and the state's ownership of bad debt:

excerpt:

On July 2, Lehman Brothers sold Lombardi $250 million of one-month commercial paper from a structured finance company called KKR Atlantic Funding Trust yielding 5.37 percent, state records show. KKR Atlantic was rated A-1+ by Standard & Poor's and Prime-1 by Moody's.

It matured, and on Aug. 2, Lehman Brothers sold Lombardi $200 million of one-month KKR Atlantic paper yielding 5.53 percent. It was downgraded to default by Fitch Ratings on Oct. 8, and Not Prime, or junk, by Moody's on Oct. 29.

From July 3 to July 9, Lehman Brothers sold the pool $153 million of commercial paper from another structured finance company called Ottimo Funding yielding 5.36-5.38 percent.

Lehman Brothers spokeswoman Cohen says there's no link between Bush and Lehman's sale of debt to Florida. ``Bush is a member of the Lehman Brothers private equity advisory board and his company has been retained by the firm for consulting and advisory services,'' she says. The former governor declined to comment.

Craig Holman, of Washington-based nonprofit public interest group Public Citizen, disputes Lehman Brothers' view. ``That defies credibility,'' says Holman, who lobbies for ethics in government. ``It's a clear conflict of interest. Bush is a consultant to the company selling bad investments to the same agency on which he served as a trustee until January.''

[cliss]

1. Got problems?

Not just problems, but mega - problems? Look around, you'll always find - a BUSH.

[Bitwit1234]

2. Not being nasty to the bush cult

but, have you noticed that everytime a bush gets involved in any kind of money project, it either goes bankrupt or they take the money and run. bush jr had two failed businesses. Neil had several before he got bush administration backing for his CD school project. Uncle Buckie was on the verge of bankruptcy before bush administration bailed the company by giving him the no bid contract to make armor. Which did turn out to be defective. That was right after Uncle Buckie bailed on the company and made millions and millions in profit over the no bid contract.

In the not so distant pass remember Grandpappy Prescott had to had his bank consficated because he was raising all that money for Hitler.

And now Jebbie boy got caught with his pants down in this scheme with the state of Florida's money.

THERE IS NOT ONE OF THE BUSH CLAN THAT HAS AN HONEST BONE IN THEIR BODY. The old man is the only one who did not bankrupt a company or steal money. Maybe because he does not own the Caryle group outright, I don't know but out of all those so far he's the only one not caught in the cookie jar.

[Generic Other]

3. but Poppy married money...his hand WAS in the cookie jar

okay that was an ugly image...please sterilize my eyeballs...

[flashl]

4. More from Florida ...

State funds have $1.5B in troubled mortgage-backed investments

As Florida tries to restore calm to the state's investments for local governments, the same troubled securities lurk in the state's own funds, particularly those used to pay hurricane claims.

A review of public records show both Citizens Property Insurance and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund have another $1.5 billion in troubled mortgage-backed investments managed for them by the state, under names like Countrywide and Citigroup.

Cat Fund Director Jack Nicholson said he is reassured those hapless holdings will be gone by the time Florida is back in hurricane season next May and has a potential need for quick cash.

Meanwhile, Citizens is taking a beating from lawmakers for allowing so much — $1.5 billion to become trapped in the state-managed investment pool that had to be shut down last month.

Citizens, which insures 1.3 million Florida homes, did not participate in the mass withdrawals last month that closed Florida's Local Government Investment Pool.

The result is that Citizens shares the fate of hundreds of local government entities that cannot make further withdrawals without paying penalties.

More pain for Floridians
Across Florida, home construction has slowed. Unemployment is rising. Residents are screaming about gas prices, medical costs and property tax bills. State tax receipts show consumers buying fewer cars and businesses investing less. Retailers fear a weak holiday shopping season.

Leading economists say the Tampa economy is one of the likeliest in the nation to slip into decline in 2008, and they give Florida—along with California, Arizona, Nevada and several other states socked hardest by America's mortgage woes—a 50 percent chance of falling into recession, perhaps bringing the nation with them.