Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, smile during a news conference at Echelon Corp. headquarters in San Jose on Friday (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)
Posted on 07/27/2007 9:28:22 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are scheduled to spend part of today at a San Jose networking company in which the governor has an indirect financial stake.
The company, Echelon Corp., manufacturers energy-saving control systems and will host the governor and the U.N. chief for a morning tour and press conference where both leaders are expected to praise California companies and their efforts to address global warming issues.
But Schwarzenegger, who has a personal fortune estimated at more than $100 million, also has a holding of at least $1 million in an investment fund that is the fifth-largest institutional shareholder of Echelon stock, according to the governor's disclosure reports and company financial filings.
Because the governor's investments are held in a blind trust that prevents him from following the individual investments of the fund managers, there is no evidence that Schwarzenegger had any idea he had a financial connection to the company.
Still, some political ethicists pointed out that the positive publicity generated by the visit will have enormous benefits to the firm and raise questions about whether the governor should have found some other company to visit once the financial connection was pointed out to his staff on Thursday by The Chronicle.
"The visit is a huge deal for the company," said Bill Hogan, senior fellow at the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan political watchdog group based in Washington.
"This will get them on the map, it will make their investors very happy," he said. "It's really not an issue whether Schwarzenegger might stand to profit personally, but was this property vetted and is this something they should be doing."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Because the governor’s investments are held in a blind trust that prevents him from following the individual investments of the fund managers, there is no evidence that Schwarzenegger had any idea he had a financial connection to the company.
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Get a load of this one.
No mention about the guy who handles his “Blind Trust”. lol
I believe they are speaking of Dimensional Fund Advisors, Inc. (third largest institutional owner of ELON), a firm that Arnold reportedly also owned/owns a huge financial stake in (his "independent" trustee Paul Wachter also owns a chunk). The firm was started by Shroder/Wertheim... of Tony Coelho fame.
Nope... he didn't know--wink, wink.
Paul Wachter is the one (one of many insiders) who flies along on all the trade junkets with the GUb, huh?
CA: Powerful but obscure, Paul Wachter works his magic on Arnold’s blind trust ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1470822/posts
The GOP needs to keep the pressure up on him to return to Republican principles in more areas. Opposing gay marriage isn’t enough. He needs to do more.
Arnold has used his two vetoes of gay marriage as a smokescreen for passing a slew of pro-GLBT legislation. On the same day he sends out headlines opposing same-sex marriage, he quietly signs legislation giving new rights to homosexuals. He has been the most gay-friendly Governor in history.
He needs to do more.
I'd settle for Arnold doing NOTHING for the next 3 years--it would be a vast improvement! What he has done is run the state into overwhelming debt and deficit spending, promoted huge subsidies for special interests, backed some of the most economically damaging environmental legislation in the country, and forced whole new layers of pseudo-government over multi-million acre land masses (to name a few offenses).
This is a drop in the bucket compared to the other forms of self enrichment the Austrian has parleyed from the governorship.
Had California's governance been allowed to reduce the 2003/2004 General Fund expenditures by 9% for the 2004/2005 Budget Act the, Austrian would be millions (that's $MILLIONS$ with an M) poorer today.
He's way ahead of the game and a small profit from controllers are the least of his longer term goals.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, smile during a news conference at Echelon Corp. headquarters in San Jose on Friday (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)
I'd say I don't think they are listening anyway but since the great purge of 07 no one argues about the Austrian's credentials.
An NRA release was just published by neverdam on the forum that included the sentence:
It is now en route to the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (D) for his consideration ...
lol.. You’re an easy target , come to think of it, the only one today. ;-)
That was one mean arse purge, Glad to see the FReepathon is about to wrap with or without “moderate” support.
OH and as to anyone listening,, there is a lot of that going around in California political circles.
When the bottom drops out which it eventually will, who ya gonna call?
Well, whoever the hell it is better be gettin ready in a hurry, cause if this market shocking correction goes over 10%, CA is gonna get just as volitile as the market!!!
Bingo! Another connection to "The Great Valley Center" which is connected to "The Sierra Nevada Alliance" which is connected to "The Sierra Business Council" which were all major movers and shakers for "The Sierra-Nevada CONservancy!"
As you recall, Coelho and Jim Wright both had to leave government in a pall of corruption that made the Cunningham, Delay, Doolittle, et al pale by comparison. The people that man the boards of directors of these militant environmental groups are folks I've engaged in near hand-to-hand political combat for the past dozen years!!!
Hipocrites each and everyone!!!
You betcha! I went back and read a bunch of old articles on that scandal. I also read the book "The Daisy Chain" about Don Dixon and the "fall" of Vernon Savings and Loan. Coelho and Wright were prominently discussed in there, as well.
Wouldn't we all...
Well, sometime when you have nothing better to do, you ought to go through that “daisy chain” of organizations websites I listed in my previous reply. These people send tentacles off in all directions of the compass. It’s like they’re forming “root balls!” (as opposed to root beer, I guess)(snort!)
So many scandals, so little time...
;-)
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