[Novak: Clinton Cooked Government Books?]Can We Remove the "?" Now?

CNN/Inside Politics ^ | August 9, 2002 | Robert Novak

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Through all of President Clinton's last two years in office, the announced level of before-tax profits was at least 10 percent too high -- a discrepancy rising close to 30 percent during the last presidential campaign. Most startling, the Commerce Department in 2000 showed the economy on an upswing through most of the election year while in fact it was declining."

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Related Links:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/729856/posts
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/08/09/column.novak/
http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/8/8/80549

[Tijeras_Slim]

Why not, he lied about everything else.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Eight consecutive blunders in a row!


"Revised figures last week showed profits were really lower by 10.7 percent, 12.2 percent, 15.2 percent and 18 percent for the four quarters of 1999. In 2000, this gap became a chasm. The revised quarterly profits for the election year are lower than the announced figures by 23.3 percent, 25.9 percent, 29.9 percent and 28.2 percent.

"Most startling, original estimates showed a generally rising profit outlook for the two years preceding the election. Starting with $503.7 billion in the last quarter of 1998, the quarterly estimates rose steadily to $543.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 1999 and then took off in the first two quarters of 2000 to $574.9 billion and $606.6 billion, leveling off to $602.9 billion in the third quarter (before falling to $527.3 billion in the fourth quarter after the election).
...
"Moulton, who was in charge of both the old figures and the new revision, said the problem was the two-year delay in obtaining corporate tax returns (reflecting changes in telecommunications and business services)."

Why on earth would it take two years to access corporate tax returns?

[DB]

Because current returns didn't show the proper Clinton image.

[TwoStep]

**Bump**

[Newbomb Turk]

The Clintons should be made to do the perp walk !

[Devil_Anse]

Maybe I'm no visionary. Maybe I think small instead of thinking big. Maybe I'm no great risk-taker, and it's only the big risk-takers who make the really big money.

But the ONLY "economy" to whose "indicators" I ever pay attention, is my own personal financial status. (If I owned a company, I would include my company in that. If I worked for a company, I would at least try to find out its true status.)

"The economy" this, "the economy" that. The heck with it--one man's loss is another man's gain. One business may boom b/c of a trend for another type of business to fail. I say, forget the really big picture (not predictable), and watch your own wealth--if you're so concerned about not having money.

And imagine ANYONE thinking that ANYTHING that appeared good about the Clinton admin., was actually worth a crap. Puh--leeze! I was taught about a phrase in school--the phrase was "Coolidge prosperity." Seems to me that that's what they called the apparent wealth and growth of the Roaring 20's--they called it that after the bubble had burst.

Some of the '90's was a holdover from the prosperity of the 80's. Some of it no doubt had to do with new growing industries. Some of it probably had to do with the trend towards even less prosperous people buying stocks--money was being pumped into the whole game.

NOTICE that the prosperity of the EIGHTIES was called by democrats "the decade of greed." Remember that one? That's all they could come up with to attack the prosperity we enjoyed under Reagan. I remember well how their house media suddenly swamped us all with constant remarks about how "greedy" everyone had gotten during the '80's.

Then, when the prosperity (both real and fake) continued on into the '90's, suddenly they SHUT UP about "the decade of greed." Suddenly profit wasn't a bad word--because it was happening during the administration of their own "man", the Fat-Hipped Rapist. Amazing how we never heard another word about "the decade of greed."

[backhoe]

Thanks- it's been added to the morning email.

[gulfcoast6]

He didn't find this is the 'Zip' Clinton lie book? Found on page 76 item 4.

[redbaiter]

one man's loss is another man's gain.

This may be correct in a figurative sense. Economic downturns are good for pawnbrokers for example. But it is literally false and an economic fallacy, and in its reverse form - 'one man's gain is another man's loss' - is often used by the Left to support one nonsensical redistributionist scheme or another.

[yoe]

"Why on earth would it take two years to access corporate tax returns?

The wrong set of books are being attacked here, we need for the Federal Bureaucracy’s books to be audited. During the Clinton/Gore years those departments were larded with anyone who was warm and had two eye-balls for DNC votes. The departments handed out credit cards like candy and 55% were misused for personal uses. We taxpayers should demand the government be audited like any other business concern; government is not supposed to be in business against the people. Billions of dollars are wasted and unaccounted for in these vast depositories called agencies for the federal government.

For those Freepers who no longer have the list, here it is. We need to write the GOA about this and demand an accounting.

Credit card list:
The number of active purchase, travel and fleet credit cards... By Associated Press, 8/14/2001 15:20
The number of active purchase, travel and fleet credit cards held by civilian and military employees of federal agencies as of June 30; the average number of cards per employee in the agency; and the total bad debt write-offs on travel cards billed to individual employees in each agency since the program began in 1998:
Agency or Department Cards Avg. Write-offs Agency for Int. Development 2,582 1.13 857
Dept of Agriculture 157,752 1.67 1,346,735
Dept of Commerce 36,601 0.93 1,106,907
Dept of Education 3,966 0.86 131,517
Dept of Energy 19,815 1.27 361,107
Dept of HHS 46.061 0.73 1,321,797
Dept of HUD 8,288 0.81 438,879
Dept of Interior 82,835 1.22 1,153,329
Dept of Justice 140,244 1.11 2,250,119
Dept of Labor 19,085 1.19 408,650
Dept of State 13,835 0.50 562,474
Air Force 609,778 1.21 10,844,789
Army 538,271 0.76 31,051,019
Navy 450,907 0.81 12,846,875
Dept of Transportation 119,465 1.87 2,711,110
Dept of Treasury 132,854 0.81 743,495
Dept of Veterans Affairs 109,284 0.49 838,150
Environ. Protection Agency 18,370 1.02 217,381
Federal Emerg. Manag. Agency 13,391 2.59 708,873
General Services Admin 24,190 1.73 219,953
NASA 24,949 1.32 125,025
Nuclear Regulatory Comm 3,163 1.11 19,301
Small Business Admin 5,124 1.26 234,916
Social Security Admin 4,262 0.07 694,395
Source: General Services Administration; Office of Personnel Management; Department of Defense

2 Posted on 08/14/2001 12:50:46 PDT by Native American Female Vet

[M. Peach]

Can't we ever get rid of this traitorous rapist? I am sickened every time I think of what he's done, and sickened more that he's never going to pay for it, or even have it acknowledged by his own party all of the damage he's done.

[M. Peach]

He not only cooked the books for the economy, but it has been demonstrated here that he's also "reassigned" criteria for other bureaus to make unemployment and crime statistics look more favorable than they really were.

[M. Peach]

And where is Ashcroft through all of this? He's not much worse than Reno.... This really stinks!

[11B3]

Remember the "budget surplus" of the Sinkmeister's economy? That was touted as one of his greatest accomplishments. Well, if he 'cooked the books' at the levels stated, there never was a balanced budget much less a 'surplus'. Even when this fictional surplus existed because someone said it did, the Rats were still calling for a tax/spending INCREASE.

So here Dubya inherits this bogus bubble economy that goes to hell in a handbasket just as the Rats knew it would. The problem was, he pushed through the tax cut package (even though it wasn't full strength) and it helped slow the recession, and now is fueling a slight recovery. That's why the Rats scream so loudly and try to demonize the tax cuts - it ruins their plans politically. They need the economy to tank. If that's not criminal, it sure should be.

[thedugal]

Did Clinton, in fact, lie ...

No, but if he did it's between him and those adults who were involved. It is none of the public's business what consenting adults do in private. Wouldn't you lie if you were confronted with the same problem? Hypocrit, bigot, fascist! F***ing scum sucking Nazi baby killer, warmongerer, sure Bush never cooked the books. Regan never lied, Bullshit! Fascist pig scumsucking Nazi, Hitler wannabe.

Egad, I was possessed by a demonrat. Someone call the Catholics quick I need to be exercised.

[TommyDale]

"Did Clinton...lie...?

Is the Pope Catholic?

[yoe]

I am not sure through the chain of command if this is an Ashcroft problem, yet. It surely is the GOA's though. I periodically send this list to my elected with a terse letter about the waste etc. It is a huge problem and so is the growing government. Think twice about an entitlement for prescription drugs, it will be another burdensome bureaucratic mess, rife with corruption. Most seniors have monetary help with their prescriptions now, the list of those drugs insurance companies and Medi Care will pay for is just too short; many more drugs need to be added to it and that is simple and costs no one. Any-hoo send the list to everyone in your state and to your senators asking them to demand the GAO move NOW to rectify this theft of money from the taxpayers.

[stickywillie]

Properity in the 90's was largely driven by technology, and the tremendous productivity it delivered. The biggest player in technology was, of course, Microsoft. Users of early computer technology had been clammering for applications that would run under a single Operating System, which was delivered as Microsoft "Windows", so they could fully utilize their all data more transparently, usefully, easily and dynamically. Business could make better decisions faster. bubba sued the engine of the economy that was giving the United States buiness tremendous advantages, and then cooked the books when his legal maneuvering began to slow the economy. Therein lies bubba's one and only economic policy that people have tried to identify.