Wolfowitz : "If they f**k with me..."

Wolfowitz will not resign today.ABC News is now reporting that "Paul Wolfowitz will not resign and would rather push the issue of his tenure to a vote by the World Bank board, his lawyer says." Earlier today, ABC reported that Wolfowitz would likely "resign this afternoon." 5:50 pm | http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/16/wolfowitz-will-not-resign-today/ Oh well.

0 Replies

oralloy wrote:

So we are spending our money on a de facto veto ability?

What is so momentous about this organization that it matters to us whether they make a major change or not?

It's as powerful a tool as the US military is. Together with other such financial institutions it can, in certain situations, bring whole nations to their knees economically when the US influence is used to deny loans.

Quote:

We have a veto at the UN Security Council. That's a veto that means something.

Given that most major security council disputes are in situations where the disputing parties will ignore the council I contend that for true foreign policy hawks the World Bank is a powerful bludgeon.

0 Replies

georgeob1 wrote:

The truth here is that this is a hatchet job to get rid of a figure the Europeans on the bank don't like -- for reasons unrelated to the so-called "scandal" they are using as the hatchet.

Of course! I hope it works too. And like fbaezer I don't think the desire to remove someone with whom they have deep political differences from a deeply political organization should surprise anyone.

And given that they are offering to delay the push to cease to have the US nominate the president I think the US should not fight it too hard. Replacing a deeply disliked individual for another US nomination is a good deal for the US.

0 Replies

fbaezer wrote:

Georgeob1 has cited envy and jealousness as the reasons behind Europe's attack on Wolfowitz.
I believe that is a nationalistic opinion, a commonplace.

Couldn't it be that they disagree on policy matters and on the neocons world view and have used a petty pretext to defenestrate an unwanted political operator?

Why is it Germany -and not despised France- the spearhead of the movement? Couldn't it be because Germany is the true center of European macro financial decisions?
(And macro financial decisions are always political).

This is possible, even plausible. Though I believe that nationalistic jealousy and rivalry are a part of the motivation. Wolfowitz has made a number of fairly disruptive initiatives in the World Bank with an expressed intent of improving the focus of the loans on the truly poor and deprived. That may be far easier to say than do, and it is possible that he has stepped on a few institutional (or national) toes in the process.

I don't know enough of the details to be sure, but I did hear a talk by Wolfowitz about a year ago at which he described his new initiatives and his impressions of the institution he had joined. He is a confident and determined individual so fbaezer's speculation is a real possibility.

Even in this case, however, there has been no public reporting of discord over priorities among the Bank's governors. If there is policy disagreement it should be resolved on that plane. As principal stockholder it is most certainly not in our interest to allow the other partners to resolve policy disputes by putting a hatchet in the back of our appointed President.

Craven rates the importance of the World bank higher than I do. I am aware of the sometimes intense political maneuvering that surrounds the getting of World bank loans. However, I am mindful of the large personal financial and political stakes for the project developers and the government officials involved. These should not be confused with the good of the population at large. In the contemporary global financial market the World bank is less critical than it once was - indeed it has become a bit of an anachronism -- perhaps less so than the IMF, but less vital nonetheless. (It might even be beneficial to give the esteemed Mr Chavez of Venezuela greater scope to throw the cash derived from his national partimony around, rather than our own.)

In any case the behavior of our European partners in this sorry affair is truly shameful. We should not allow the malefactors to be deprived of their just deserts.

0 Replies

Wolfowitz faces a final showdown
The World Bank's board has resumed its deliberations about the fate of its president Paul Wolfowitz after adjourning at the request of the US.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said they had to "figure out a way forward to maintain the integrity of the institution" after the current scandal.

The comments have been taken as a signal that the Bush administration's support for Mr Wolfowitz is waning.

Mr Wolfowitz is accused of being too involved with his girlfriend's payrise.

He is under pressure to resign after the panel said he had broken the bank's code of conduct by helping to secure a pay rise for his partner, Shaha Riza.

He told the board that their decision would affect how the US and the world viewed the World Bank.

"You still have the opportunity to avoid long-term damage by resolving this matter in a fair and equitable way that recognises that we all tried to do the right thing," Mr Wolfowitz said in a statement.

After the hearing in Washington Mr Wolfowitz's lawyer Robert Bennett said his client's performance justified "the full support he has from leadership in the White House".

'Opposition building'

Mr Snow denied that White House support was diminishing, saying: "We support him. We have confidence in him."

But opposition is mounting, especially in Europe.

"He would do the bank and himself a great service if he resigned," according to the German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul.

She suggested he would not be welcome at the World Bank's forum on aid for Africa, which is due to start in Berlin on Monday.

"I would not advise him [to take part] if he's still in office," she said.

0 Replies

Quote:

Though I believe that nationalistic jealousy and rivalry are a part of the motivation.

I find the notion that others are jealous of the US at the moment to be, yeah, a little laughable...

We are still the powerful tiger in the room, but our current political position is not enviable.

Cycloptichorn

0 Replies

US set to yield on Wolfowitz
By Krishna Guha in Washington

Published: May 16 2007 23:48 | Last updated: May 16 2007 23:48

The board of the World Bank on Wednesday delayed deliberations on the fate of Paul Wolfowitz for several hours at the request of the US amid mounting indications that a divided Bush administration was close to conceding that the bank president would have to stand down.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/73ad6812-03fb-11dc-a931-000b5df10621.html "Both sides are anxious to find a way to avoid a contested board vote to fire Mr Wolfowitz. But it appears likely that the votes would be there to dismiss him as a last resort if the administration failed to move."

0 Replies

Well I hope we don't cave in. As a minimum we should force the governors to vote and, if we can, disclose their real "reasons" for the action. Clearly the relatively trivial matter of the transfer and new salary of his girlfriend - actions taken as a result of Wolfowitz' prior disclosure of a relationship that long preceeded his tenure at the bank, were not the real reason. This defies common sense.

We should try hard to surface the so far hidden motivations, force our national partners to declare their intentions, and, if he is voted out, settle the scores later. The bank is far less important to us now that (1) the Cold war is over (we no longer need to bribe developing countries to avoid socialism), and (2) Better developed global capital markets generally operate with greater efficiency and more accurate response to real emerging market forces than this somewhat bureaucratic and self-serving organization.

0 Replies

georgeob1 wrote:

Well I hope we don't cave in. As a minimum we should force the governors to vote and, if we can, disclose their real "reasons" for the action. Clearly the relatively trivial matter of the transfer and new salary of his girlfriend - actions taken as a result of Wolfowitz' prior disclosure of a relationship that long preceeded his tenure at the bank, were not the real reason. This defies common sense.

We should try hard to surface the so far hidden motivations, force our national partners to declare their intentions, and, if he is voted out, settle the scores later. The bank is far less important to us now that (1) the Cold war is over (we no longer need to bribe developing countries to avoid socialism), and (2) Better developed global capital markets generally operate with greater efficiency and more accurate response to real emerging market forces than this somewhat bureaucratic and self-serving organization.

Al Capone was arrested and convicted for what?

0 Replies

georgeob, Wolfie promised to fight corruption when he took over. Including the kind of corruption he is guilty of and admitted to. The hypocrisy is not trivial. Compared to lying us into a war in Iraq it is trivial but still it is no small thing to be caught doing what he had sworn to stop others from doing. Poor Wolfie is exposed as a crook and a great big crybaby. I'm almost embarrassed for him.

0 Replies

Income tax evasion. However Raza's income from the bank was not subject to income tax. Her raise (from $133K to $180K) was just enough to leave her with the same net income in her new post where her income would be taxed.

Wiolfowitz voluntarily disclosed this preexisting relationship before accepting the World Bank post, and worked out her transfer with the governors before he assumed office. Grossing up her compensation so she would not be hurt by the action of the Bank was merely fair and entirely in keeping with common business practice.

This is a personal hatchet job motivated by other reasons, but carried out by cowardly partners who do not wish to disclose their real reasons. We should make them pay dearly for the priviledge.

0 Replies

georgeob1 wrote:

Income tax evasion. However Raza's income from the bank was not subject to income tax. Her raise (from $133K to $180K) was just enough to leave her with the same net income in her new post where her income would be taxed.

Wiolfowitz voluntarily disclosed this preexisting relationship before accepting the World Bank post, and worked out her transfer with the governors before he assumed office. Grossing up her compensation so she would not be hurt by the action of the Bank was merely fair and entirely in keeping with common business practice.

This is a personal hatchet job motivated by other reasons, but carried out by cowardly partners who do not wish to disclose their real reasons. We should make them pay dearly for the priviledge.

Really? It's my impression that she isn't being taxed on the 180k, sorry, it's 193k now, either.

And, can you tell me what it is she actually does for the State department now? I can't find any information on this at all. So what is she being paid for?

Cycloptichorn

0 Replies

CBC radio just said he's negotiating the details of his departure.
Who knows what daylight will reveal.

0 Replies

TPM has a two-word news bit just now:

Quote:

Wolfowitz Out

Cycloptichorn

0 Replies

Per CNN,

Quote:

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to resign at the end of June, bank directors announced in a written statement.

Now, he gets a 400k bonus in June, anyone think that this is a coincidence?

Cycloptichorn

0 Replies

June 30th

0 Replies

It's so nice to see that he realizes what he did was wrong, and that the board has the honor and decency to see that. NOT!

Wolfowitz, who had fought the pressure to resign for weeks, said in his own statement Thursday that he was pleased that the board "accepted my assurance that I acted ethically and in good faith in what I believed were the best interests of the institution, including protecting the rights of a valued staff member."

Isn't that sweet. He really didn't do anything wrong at all. It must be nice to live in a world where words can mean whatever you like.

I heard he went on to say "Furthermore, I'm gratified that the Iraqi people welcomed the American troops with wreaths of flowers, Iraq is now a stable pro-U.S. democracy, and my penis is fourteen inches long."

What an assh*le.

0 Replies

I'm not solid on one side or the other here, and I don't like Wolfowitz for myriad other reasons than this one.

0 Replies

blueflame1 wrote:

georgeob, Wolfie promised to fight corruption when he took over. Including the kind of corruption he is guilty of and admitted to. The hypocrisy is not trivial. Compared to lying us into a war in Iraq it is trivial but still it is no small thing to be caught doing what he had sworn to stop others from doing. Poor Wolfie is exposed as a crook and a great big crybaby. I'm almost embarrassed for him.

I have several aquaintences who work at the World Bank. They are highly paid drones who get by very well with very little accountability. The notion that Wolfowitz, by this action, violated existing standards in that rather ineffective organization does not pass the laugh test.

Whether one agrees with Wolfowitz' political views or not, this was a hatchet job done for reasons other than those being put forward by the supposedly outraged governors. Some outrage!

0 Replies

Wolfowitz : "If they f**k with me..."

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know