The Troubles With Terry McAuliffe
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
I think Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Chairman, is one of the the most disingenuous, hypocritical men alive.
Every time I hear him talk it makes me want to retch.
OK, that's overstated, I just want to gag.
Just the other day he was on CNN talking about how the Democrats are going to take over the White House.
And that's cool. After all, that's his job. He's paid to live in La-La land.
Look no further than the last election to see how out of touch with reality he really is.
The Republicans made hay. They got the House. They got the Senate. They got somewhere around 20 of the 36 governorships that were up for grabs.
W's popularity was high.
But going into the election, McAuliffe was giddy with anticipation. "Jeb Bush is gone," McAuliffe blustered.
Tim Russert, of "Meet The Press" fame, asked McAuliffe if he would donate $2,000 to charity if his predictions of certain Senate wins for Walter Mondale and Jean Carnahan didn't come true.
McAuliffe lost the bet.
And even as the momentously negative news rolled in on election night, McAuliffe shoved his head further into the sand. "I think it's going to be a very good night for the Democrats" and "I think it's going to show that we can win north, south, east and west."
Whatever, dude.
And just the other day McAuliffe was blathering on CNN about how his party is "in the best shape we've ever been in."
Yeah, maybe on the planet cornball. Really, what is this guy smoking?
His party lost the U.S. House in 1994, the White House in 2000 and the U.S. Senate, again, in 2002.
Again, I realize McAuliffe is a paid political hack, but "best shape we've ever been in?" Better than when Bill Clinton took office in 1992 and then again in 1996, you think?
Apparently being the Demo chairman precludes having a grasp on reality.
And that's not even what really tripped my trigger this week.
What really bugged me was when I saw him blathering on to a CNN anchor earlier this week about jobs.
"Jobs, jobs, jobs" he said. That's the issue for the Demos because W only created a lousy 1,000 jobs last month.
OK, first of all, I never saw a president create a job, but that's neither here nor there.
And second of all, of course jobs is the issue for the Demos. It's the only negative economic indicator. And it's going in the right direction, just not as quickly as McAuliffe and his buddies think it should.
If I was McAuliffe, I'd say the federal budget deficit is the top issue for Demos, but what do I know.
McAuliffe likes to talk about how W is screwing thousands of poor hardworking Americans out of jobs.
Always the sop to the labor lobby, McAuliffe talks like he and the Demos are the champions of the working man.
Well here's a little story about the honorable Demo chairman that shows just how much he truly cares about American workers and members of labor unions.
You see, in the 1990s, some of McAuliffe's business ventures came under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.
(That's the labor department under Clinton, remember.)
Labor ended up suing two International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers officials. The labor officials were working with the union's pension fund.
According to the government, the officials entered into some questionable business arrangement with McAuliffe.
The two officials agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties for their actions and the union itself had to reimburse a cool $5 million to its own pension fund.
The lawsuit is pretty involved. If you want the whole story and have access to the Internet, type Herman v. Moore into Google search.
It's really quite fascinating stuff.
But here's a short version.
McAuliffe and his wife created this outfit called American Capitol Management Company.
That company created a partnership with the union fund to buy a big chunk of commercial real estate in Florida - a shopping center and five apartment complexes.
In 1990, McAuliffe put up $100 for the deal and the pension fund put up $39 million. No, I didn't forget any zeroes. That's $100. Nonetheless, McAuliffe got a 50-percent stake in the in the investment.
Next, McAuliffe proposes another venture for the pension fund: The purchase of a parcel of land near the shopping center that could be divided into as many as 500 residential lots. This time the fund loaned McAuliffe up to $10 million to buy the property, which was known as Country Run.
As collateral, McAuliffe put up the Country Run property as well as his stake in the shopping center. All $100 of it.
After the Country Run deal was done, McAuliffe got out of the shopping center deal. The suit says the pension fund paid McAuliffe $450,000 for a portion of his 50-percent stake in 1992. Then, a year later, the fund paid McAuliffe $2 million for the rest of his share, netting him a cool $2.45 million on a $100 investment.
It was pretty unbelievable that the fund officers would give him that deal. Remember, now McAuliffe no longer owns the property he used as collateral for the Country Run deal.
So you know what happens next.
The Country Run lots don't sell. The pension fund's loan to McAuliffe was in default. In 1997, McAuliffe found another investor and bought out the loan.
The labor department points out that the union's pension fund lost money as a result of the Country Run loan and the buyout of McAuliffe.
"If the fund had not made these investments, it would have had the money it invested in Country Run and the additional partnership purchases available to invest in prudent investments that would have earned a greater return," the suit says.
The fund managers got hammered by the government and, of course, McAuliffe was not charged with any wrongdoing. His $2.45 million take didn't break any law. It was just vile.
So when I hear McAuliffe talking it almost makes me physically ill. Here's a guy who basically fleeced a union pension fund decrying the plight of the poor American worker.
Spare me.
In an earlier column I outlined McAuliffe's incredibly well-timed investment of $100,000 in the now-bankrupt Global Crossings company. That little gem netted him a cool $18 million.
Here's a quote from McAuliffe on the DNC Web site:
"Despite his empty calls for corporations to hold themselves accountable for their misdeeds, President Bush continues to refuse to take responsibility for his own questionable business practices in the past."
This guy has the gall to criticize W for corporate responsibility? Who's he trying to kid?
McAuliffe is the posterboy for corporate irresponsibility. [[In-content Ad]]
I think Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Chairman, is one of the the most disingenuous, hypocritical men alive.
Every time I hear him talk it makes me want to retch.
OK, that's overstated, I just want to gag.
Just the other day he was on CNN talking about how the Democrats are going to take over the White House.
And that's cool. After all, that's his job. He's paid to live in La-La land.
Look no further than the last election to see how out of touch with reality he really is.
The Republicans made hay. They got the House. They got the Senate. They got somewhere around 20 of the 36 governorships that were up for grabs.
W's popularity was high.
But going into the election, McAuliffe was giddy with anticipation. "Jeb Bush is gone," McAuliffe blustered.
Tim Russert, of "Meet The Press" fame, asked McAuliffe if he would donate $2,000 to charity if his predictions of certain Senate wins for Walter Mondale and Jean Carnahan didn't come true.
McAuliffe lost the bet.
And even as the momentously negative news rolled in on election night, McAuliffe shoved his head further into the sand. "I think it's going to be a very good night for the Democrats" and "I think it's going to show that we can win north, south, east and west."
Whatever, dude.
And just the other day McAuliffe was blathering on CNN about how his party is "in the best shape we've ever been in."
Yeah, maybe on the planet cornball. Really, what is this guy smoking?
His party lost the U.S. House in 1994, the White House in 2000 and the U.S. Senate, again, in 2002.
Again, I realize McAuliffe is a paid political hack, but "best shape we've ever been in?" Better than when Bill Clinton took office in 1992 and then again in 1996, you think?
Apparently being the Demo chairman precludes having a grasp on reality.
And that's not even what really tripped my trigger this week.
What really bugged me was when I saw him blathering on to a CNN anchor earlier this week about jobs.
"Jobs, jobs, jobs" he said. That's the issue for the Demos because W only created a lousy 1,000 jobs last month.
OK, first of all, I never saw a president create a job, but that's neither here nor there.
And second of all, of course jobs is the issue for the Demos. It's the only negative economic indicator. And it's going in the right direction, just not as quickly as McAuliffe and his buddies think it should.
If I was McAuliffe, I'd say the federal budget deficit is the top issue for Demos, but what do I know.
McAuliffe likes to talk about how W is screwing thousands of poor hardworking Americans out of jobs.
Always the sop to the labor lobby, McAuliffe talks like he and the Demos are the champions of the working man.
Well here's a little story about the honorable Demo chairman that shows just how much he truly cares about American workers and members of labor unions.
You see, in the 1990s, some of McAuliffe's business ventures came under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.
(That's the labor department under Clinton, remember.)
Labor ended up suing two International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers officials. The labor officials were working with the union's pension fund.
According to the government, the officials entered into some questionable business arrangement with McAuliffe.
The two officials agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties for their actions and the union itself had to reimburse a cool $5 million to its own pension fund.
The lawsuit is pretty involved. If you want the whole story and have access to the Internet, type Herman v. Moore into Google search.
It's really quite fascinating stuff.
But here's a short version.
McAuliffe and his wife created this outfit called American Capitol Management Company.
That company created a partnership with the union fund to buy a big chunk of commercial real estate in Florida - a shopping center and five apartment complexes.
In 1990, McAuliffe put up $100 for the deal and the pension fund put up $39 million. No, I didn't forget any zeroes. That's $100. Nonetheless, McAuliffe got a 50-percent stake in the in the investment.
Next, McAuliffe proposes another venture for the pension fund: The purchase of a parcel of land near the shopping center that could be divided into as many as 500 residential lots. This time the fund loaned McAuliffe up to $10 million to buy the property, which was known as Country Run.
As collateral, McAuliffe put up the Country Run property as well as his stake in the shopping center. All $100 of it.
After the Country Run deal was done, McAuliffe got out of the shopping center deal. The suit says the pension fund paid McAuliffe $450,000 for a portion of his 50-percent stake in 1992. Then, a year later, the fund paid McAuliffe $2 million for the rest of his share, netting him a cool $2.45 million on a $100 investment.
It was pretty unbelievable that the fund officers would give him that deal. Remember, now McAuliffe no longer owns the property he used as collateral for the Country Run deal.
So you know what happens next.
The Country Run lots don't sell. The pension fund's loan to McAuliffe was in default. In 1997, McAuliffe found another investor and bought out the loan.
The labor department points out that the union's pension fund lost money as a result of the Country Run loan and the buyout of McAuliffe.
"If the fund had not made these investments, it would have had the money it invested in Country Run and the additional partnership purchases available to invest in prudent investments that would have earned a greater return," the suit says.
The fund managers got hammered by the government and, of course, McAuliffe was not charged with any wrongdoing. His $2.45 million take didn't break any law. It was just vile.
So when I hear McAuliffe talking it almost makes me physically ill. Here's a guy who basically fleeced a union pension fund decrying the plight of the poor American worker.
Spare me.
In an earlier column I outlined McAuliffe's incredibly well-timed investment of $100,000 in the now-bankrupt Global Crossings company. That little gem netted him a cool $18 million.
Here's a quote from McAuliffe on the DNC Web site:
"Despite his empty calls for corporations to hold themselves accountable for their misdeeds, President Bush continues to refuse to take responsibility for his own questionable business practices in the past."
This guy has the gall to criticize W for corporate responsibility? Who's he trying to kid?
McAuliffe is the posterboy for corporate irresponsibility. [[In-content Ad]]