Posted on 02/19/2020 9:55:45 AM PST by Red Badger
He also set up the Prostate Cancer Foundation and has raised over half a billion dollars for research into prostate cancer. The foundation is responsible for funding drug research into advanced prostate cancer. Most of his charitable donations go to medical, educational and Jewish causes.
Also his prosecution was somewhat dubious, in my opinion. There was definitely more than a hint of the Wall Street establishment getting rid of a an uppity newcomer.
Milken was the opposite. The second he got out of prisoned he was embraced. And you can't even find reference to his "legal troubles." It was all forgotten as the Clintons and the rest of the establishment smothered him in it's warm embrace.
Seriously, all the article written about him in the 90's just said how wonderful he is, and omitted and reference to his crimes.
Also, they let Milken keep most his money.
I guess you are okay with Soros too. He gives money to all kinds of charities.
I remember a news report that Boesky donated a bunch of money to NYU to the extent that they put his name on the School of Business building.
After he was indicted or convicted, NYU took his name off...[probably to be able to "sell" the naming to the next guy in line...]
Most of Soros's money goes to The Open Society Foundation which I don't regard as a legitimate charity. Also I find Soro's unrepentant attitude to his WW II activities to be revolting. And, as an NRA life member, Soros's position on the second Amendment is anathema to me.
I don't think Milken will be donating much to the Democrats in the future. A lot of people do stupid things when they're young and dumb, like supporting socialists it doesn't mean they're not capable of redemption.
You are extremely naive, if you believe that. The Democrats made him a billionaire and an icon.
A lot of people do stupid things when they're young and dumb,
You consider between the ages of 47 and 73 to be young?
like supporting socialists it doesn't mean they're not capable of redemption
He went to jail, and he came out worse.
In addition to being an actor and a writer Ben Stein has some expertise in finance. Years ago he wrote an article explaining what Milken was doing.
Milken would buy companies that had good retirement plans for their employees. These were invested in Triple A bonds, an excellent and appropriate instrument for a retirement fund.
Milken would strip these accounts of their Triple A bonds and replace them with junk bonds. Junk bonds that he created and that he and his family owned. So he ended up with the Triple A bonds, and left the employees with junk.
Junk that often failed, contrary to the PR bullshit that Milken and his cronies claim. This left a lot of little people, who don’t obviously don’t count in Milken’s world, with a diminished retirement, or none at all.
Milken dishonestly used the performance of “Fallen Angel” bonds to represent the performance of the garbage that he was inventing and selling. But Milken’s junk bonds weren’t “Fallen Angel” bonds, Milken bonds were junk from day one. And that’s entirely different.
Raiding retirement accounts like Milken was doing isn’t illegal, it’s just grossly immoral and a reflection of his character which also includes actual criminal behavior. Milken still benefits from what he was doing, a reverse Robin Hood who stole from the poor and gave to himself. All of his posturing charity doesn’t begin to make up for what he did.
At the end of the day, Trump pardoned Milken because either the Clintons, or Romney, or both, asked him to. Why? (Yes, Milken has been in bed with Romney since the 80's. Romney even helped him and risked his own reputation by doing a deal with Milken when the later was being prosecuted.)
Yet so many people are defending this swamp monster.
Utter nonsense. Milken made his own millions.
One report (I don’t recall which) said Rudy actually recommended the Miliken pardon to the President.
“Yet so many people are defending this swamp monster.”
They hear Limbaugh and Hannity and other pop-conservative celebrities praise Milken and assume that they have vetted what that crook was doing.
I used to tell some of my friends that if you wanted to hide something from the pop-conservatives who now rule the media that all you had to do is put it in a book. Or in this case a long article devoted more to finance than politics.
In a related vein of financial corruption Bloomberg is up to his eyeballs in Chinese investment money and his firm censors news harmful to China. This is bipartisan behavior and it poses a real and present danger to the United States.
“Utter nonsense. Milken made his own millions.”
Crime pays.
Milken is a slithering swamp monster who is no different than Soros.
He made his multi-millions during the 1980's when one Ronald Reagan was President. His maximum annual earnings were earned in 1987, well before B.J. polluted the Oval Office.
This is good to know.
I agree. It amazes me that this never gets mentioned.
“He made his multi-millions during the 1980’s when one Ronald Reagan was President. His maximum annual earnings were earned in 1987, “
Amazingly enough those were the very same years that Milken was engaged in a white collar crime spree. In 1989 he was indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud, followed by guilty pleas in 1990.
Brian Lamb interviews Ben Stein about his 1992 book on Milken, “A License to Steal”:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?37701-1/a-license-steal
Ben Stein’s book:
Around here, lots of Jewish parents send their kids to his high school, thought to be such a great school, and they are snobby about it. Might as well send their kids to Cosby High or Epstein High. Thanks.
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