Friday, June 21, 2013

Obama Dinner Host for Carlyle Cofounder

President Obama hosted an intimate dinner for Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein at the White House.  Rubenstein was a frequent visitor to the White House during the first two years of Obama's Presidency.  Forbes reported:

By midday he’s back in the capital, lunching at the White House with an old friend, National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon, before returning to the office to prepare with some of his dealmakers for Carlyle’s upcoming investors conference.
 
The Globe and Mail added Tony Blair attended an Obama White House dinner.  Rubenstein bought high political access for Carlyle since its founding in 1987.  Carlyle profited from its governmental associations and continues to do so today.  Blair facilitates political access, work important to Carlyle and company:

He (Blair) employs some 200 staff and is worth anywhere between CAN $95 and $125-million–-not bad for an old leftie. Clients include J.P. Morgan, the American banking giant that pays him $4-million a year; a consortium of South Korean investors and oil companies; Zurich Insurance; governments in Columbia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China (the China Investment Corporation), Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and various others.

Both Rubenstein and Blair legitimized Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, yet neither paid a price when the West decided Gadhafi had to fall.  Instead the media sacked Michael Porter. 

President Obama pretends to be against private equity underwriters (PEU).  If he's like most ex-politicians, someday Obama will be one.