Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Carlyle Shows its Blue Side to Keep Green Flowing


The Carlyle Group hired its first lobbyist to head global regulatory affairs. They pegged David M. Marchick, a former staffer in the Clinton Administration and senior advisor to Kissinger McLarty Associates. Carlyle has long mined its "A list" of ex-political insiders on the payroll, but suggests this is its first foray into "lobbying".

Even with ex-IRS chief Charles Rossotti on staff, the firm is nervous that it might lose its preferred tax status on "carried interest". So they hired a new waterboy with strong Clinton connections to wander the halls of Congress. Democrats and Republicans drag our democracy down with their competition for business campaign donations. Carlyle sees the writing on the wall and is deepening their blue bench. While they gorge at the campaign money trough, let's hope someone throws the rest of us stool pigeons a crumb every now and then.

Update 12-7-14:  Henry Kissinger played a critical role is getting the Union Carbide plant built in Bhopal, India, then helped Union Carbide avoid criminal prosecution for killing 25,000 people.