TRUST OR HUSTLE: The Bush Record

David E. Scheim

 (Details)  (Absentee ballot fraud in 6 Florida Counties)

“What you’ve got with Bush [George senior] is absolutely the largest number of siblings and children involved in what looks like a never-ending hustle.”

- Republican pundit Kevin Philips.¹

In 1992 under President George Bush Sr., taxpayers were stuck with a $500 billion S&L bailout² and the largest budget deficit in U.S. history. Eight years after Bush was defeated, the largest surpluses ever accrued.  Coincidence? Consider the Bush family financial record:  

GEORGE W. BUSH: Refused to answer news questions about an $848,000 stock sale probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).³  Bush later claimed he was exonerated by the SEC when the SEC’s report on the probe specifically stated he was not exonerated.⁴  US News and World Report compared his financial record to brother Neil’s.⁵  (New developments on Bush stock cover-up.)

BROTHER JEB BUSH (campaigned recently with George): Lobbied to enable a Mob-linked Florida HMO to receive $1 billion in Medicare payments; its owner later fled the U.S. under indictment, suspected of up to $100 million in Medicare fraud.⁶  Jeb helped trigger the $285 million collapse of a Florida S&L by defaulting on a $4.5 million loan that was arranged thru a front with no repayment schedule specified.⁷ 

BROTHER NEIL BUSH: Played a key role in the $1 billion collapse of Silverado Banking in Denver.⁸ 

UNCLE JONATHAN BUSH: Fined in two states for violating securities laws.⁹ 

UNCLE PRESCOTT BUSH: Arranged investments for a Japanese Mob front in two U.S. firms; both later filed for bankruptcy.¹⁰ 

GEORGE BUSH SR.: Disbanded the independent federal organized crime strike forces, which had been successfully prosecuting S&L looters.¹¹  (See complete details and documentation on all of above at http://www.campaignwatch.org.)

Republican pundit Kevin Phillips called this Bush family record a “never-ending hustle.”¹²  Do we really want this bunch to do to privatized social security what they did to the S&Ls?

David E. Scheim, PhD, is the author of the 1989 New York Times bestseller, Contract on America.  He is a retired commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. 

1.  Washington Post, 7/4/1992, p. A1.

2. LA Times, 7/31/1990, p. 1.

3. Wall Street Journal, 4/4/91, p. A4; US News and World Report, 3/16/1992, pp. 57-59; Wall Street Journal, 9/28/1999, p. A26.

4. Washington Post, 7/30/1999, p. A1.

5. US News and World Report, 3/16/1992, pp. 57-59.

6. Wall Street Journal, 8/9/1988, p. A1; Austin American- Statesman, 5/17/92, p. G1.

7. Washington Post, 10/15/1990, p. A24.

8. Washington Post, 7/4/1992, p. A1.

9. Washington Post, 7/4/1992, p. A1.

10. Wall Street Journal, 12/6/1991, p. A4; Washington Post, 7/4/1992, p. A1.

11. Washington Post, 12/28/1989, p. A21; San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/1/1990, p. B8.

12. Washington Post, 7/4/1992, p. A1.