Carlyle Promotes Lobbyist Stacey Dion

GovConWire reported:

Stacey Dion, a managing director of The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG), has been promoted to global head of government affairs at the Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm.

In her new role, she will work with the company’s senior executives and investment professionals in efforts to drive its legislative and regulatory efforts, Carlyle said Wednesday.

Before she joined the investment firm in 2016, she was vice president of corporate public policy at Boeing (NYSE: BA).

Dion was Policy Advisor and Counsel to Republican House Leader John Boehner from 2007-2008.
That's the period of the Financial Crisis that produced TARP and multiple government programs that enriched Carlyle (BankUnited, Boston Private Financial).

Dion served as Carlyle's lobbyist since 2016.  Carlyle spent $590,000 on lobbying in 2018 and $390,000 in 2017.  Last year Dion lobbied for Carlyle on the following issues:

• Issues related to corporate tax reform (H.R. 1 - Tax Cuts and Jobs Act); issues related to Opportunity Zones; TCJA (H.R. 1) Regulations

• Issues related to infrastructure and public-private partnerships (P3s)

• Issues related to EPA administered program; H.R.8 - Water Resources Development Act of 2018, provisions related to the use of Army Corps data by non-federal interests

• H.R. 4267 - Small Business Credit Availability Act, provisions related to leverage ratio

A similar era as the Fall 2008 Financial Crisis may be nearing.  At risk is corporate junk debt issued by the likes of Carlyle and its PEU brethren.  

I'm sure GHGA Dion has many willing listeners on Capital Hill.  America's Red and Blue political teams love PEU.  Add that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair Randall Quarles have Carlyle Group pedigrees.  Dion, Congress and the Fed to the PEU rescue?

PEU Greed Behind Weath Inequality

Private equity underwriters (PEU) are behind the rise of financialization, debt-fueled speculation and globalization that has enriched the rich since 1984.   Bain Capital was established that very year.  Pete Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman started Blackstone in 1985.  The Carlyle Group began in 1987.  Leon Black founded Apollo in 1990 while David Bonderman started TPG in 1992.

Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson spoke on America's mercenary leaders who don't bother to understand our problems.

Romney spent the bulk of his business career at a firm called Bain Capital. Bain Capital all but invented what is now a familiar business strategy: take over an existing company for a short period of time, cut costs by firing employees, run up the debt, extract the wealth, and move on, sometimes leaving retirees without their earned pensions. Romney became fantastically rich doing this. Meanwhile, a remarkable number of those companies are now bankrupt or extinct. This is the private equity model. Our ruling class sees nothing wrong with it. It’s how they run the country.

Both of America"s political teams cater to the PEU class.  Tucker's Red Team has long served the greed and leverage boys.  The Blue Team began its PEU lean-in under President Bill Clinton.  For decades both parties grovelled to the Billionaire boys club which recently met in Davos, Switzerland.

PEUs paid ex-U.S. Presidents hefty sums for an hour long talk at their annual accredited investor meeting.  Publicly traded PEU unit holders were not invited.

Carlyle Group co-founder Daniel D'Aniello wants every citizen to have a PEU investment.  He recently said:

“You’re talking about retail investors coming into the asset class, and that could eventually occur; everybody’s working on the formula for it."  

The article called it "democratizing private equity."  That statement is patently laughable.  It's made even more so by PEUs not giving unitholders a vote, as Carlyle did after it went public..

The PEU model infected our country.  It will take strong medicine to drive that toxin away.  Neither party is able to address toxic PEUs. 

Rubenstein Reminds Davos of Dubai Ports World

CNBC interviewed Carlyle Group cofounder David Rubenstein from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Reporter Becky Quick referred to Rubenstein as "deeply sourced in Washington, D.C."  Later she remarked  how comfortable Fed Chair Powell felt with Rubenstein, but failed to mention Powell once worked for The Carlyle Group.

Rubenstein talked about political risk in the United States.  He said:

"Remember the famous Dubai Ports case?" 

Salesman Rubenstein knows Carlyle sold affiliates Landmark Aviation and Standard Aero to Dubai Aerospace just months after the Dubai Ports World debacle.  Fifty airports vs. six ports, which is worthy of greater outcry?  Deeply connected Rubenstein's deal went through without a peep.  He reminded the Davos crowd and CNBC anchors of this accomplishment ever so indirectly

The annual meeting of the billionaire boys club is over.  The world still aims to serve them.  Slap your bootstraps on and enjoy being ridden.  It's the PEU way.