Former Congressman Ron Paul spoke to the insidious nature of what I call the Government-Corporate Monstrosity, Dwight Eisenhower's MIlitary-Industrial Complex engorged by trillions in federal steroids. Dr. Paul targeted the media:
"Some of these major (television) stations, their consultants about the military or foreign policy..you know they've been in the Pentagon but now are with some manufacturing firm. You never hear the disclosures there." Ron Paul, MD.
In addition to manufacturing firms, there are their owners, many private equity underwriters (PEU's).
Take Frances Townsend. a Homeland Security Advisor to CNN. She proved her incompetence from a public accountability standpoint with her hapless White House Lessons Learned Report on Hurricane Katrina. Who leaves out the hospital with the highest death toll, 35 deaths in Tenet's Memorial Medical Center? Townsend did in February 2006. Roughly one year later Jeb Bush was added to the Tenet's Board of Directors. Twenty five of those deaths belonged to LifeCare Hospitals, owned by The Carlyle Group.
As for what's never disclosed, Fran sits on the board or advises SIGA Technologies, Scientific Games, DRS Technologies, SAP NS2, MacAndrews Forbes, and Monument Capital. Monument Capital specializes in buying and selling homeland security oriented companies.
NPR hosted Former Ambassador Tom Pickering, recently seen defending Hillary Clinton on Benghazi. NPR wanted Pickering's perspective on Egypt's implosion into chaos. Pickering is co-chairman of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit group established in 1995 to inform on global conflicts.
"Any commercial or economic crisis creates business opportunity." - Frances Townsend on CNN
As Fran noted, with crisis comes opportunity. Pickering is a Strategic Advisor at NGP Energy Capital Management. The Carlyle Group invested in NGP in December 2012.
In early 2010, NGP Energy Capital Management initiated the formation of NGP Global Adaptation Partners, which focuses on evaluating investments in two sectors linked to the need for the world to Adapt to a changing planet: Water Resources & Services and the Food & Agriculture industries.
Dr. Paul is correct. Red and Blue love PEU and neither see a reason to disclose.
