INTO THE WEEDS 8

Dow is one of the bigger pesticide producers in the world, and holds its own ground in an agrochemical arena flooded by Monsanto and Syngenta strongholds. Since 2011, it has been revealed that Dow’s donations to a Clinton-aligned firm, range in the tens of millions. Douglas Band has been described as the man who encouraged big corporations to donate money to “Bill Clinton Inc.,” to prop the Clinton’s income. Companies such as Coca Cola and Dow Chemical, which were clients of Band’s firm, Teneo, were those named in the 2011 memo named “Attorney-Client Privilege.” The memo was sent by Band to two attorneys who were reviewing the Clinton Foundation.

For me, it would really be comical, if it weren’t so criminal. You can’t look at a donor to the Clinton Foundation, without discovering some less than honest behavior. So many special favors, sweet deals, access, and criminal behavior, with a total disregard for ethics, national policy, or law! My latest adventure was to investigate a man named Andrew Nicholas Liveris. Not many people would immediately recognize the name, but he is a multi-national industrial CEO. He runs the Dow Chemical Company, based in Midland, Michigan. They make chemicals….chemicals for every conceivable endeavor and industry. They have plants all over the world, but we are concerned with only one. A brand new, state of the art, plant in Saudi Arabia. Yes, that’s right, Dow partnered with Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, ARAMCO to build a $20 billion factory in Al Sharqiya, Saudi Arabia. So once again, we have to ask the question, what does this have to do with the Clintons? You have to start with understanding the magnitude of a 20 billion dollar plant. Even though Dow and the Saudis are more than capable of financing that big of a deal, they had to get taxpayer help. Before I go into the details, let me just say this is about the bigger picture. It’s wonderful that an American company like Dow needs to expand. I might even be able to accept that Saudi Arabia was the best place to build a state of the art factory. What I cannot accept is that, we, the people of America, have to help finance such a venture. OK, now that I got that off my chest….let me continue.

Let’s start with Andre Liveris, the CEO of Dow Chemical. As with most of the Clinton’s friends and donors….this guy is a piece of work. After an internal audit was conducted, after a whistle-blower came forward, Liveris was found to have used nearly a million dollars of company money for personal expenses. He was forced to return nearly $800,000 to the business. He also started his own foundation in Greece called the Hellenic Initiative. It has the makings of another Clinton Foundation….a charity that does good works, while siphoning off millions for founders and friends. I don’t suppose then, it would be surprising to find out that two of the biggest funders of “Bill Clinton Inc” Dow and Coke, both sit on the board of this new charity. Liveris is a close and long time friend of Bill Clinton. Now nothing so far is illegal or even dubious, maybe incestuous, but nothing indicates foul play, to this point.

Enter Teneo. You would have to read all my pieces to understand how important Teneo is to the Clinton Foundation. I’m not going to go into all of it again. At the time that the Sadara plant was being conceived, Teneo was a consultant to Dow, raking in 2.8 million a year. E-mails have been released recently that disclose conversations between Doug Band, a Teneo founder and CEO of the Clinton Foundation, and a director of the Exp/Imp bank, Kevin Varney. He writes: “If you guys think there is an opportunity to work together I remain very interested and excited by the possibilities, Thanks again for considering me. Teneo is doing some amazing work and has a great team.” Mr. Varney was trolling for a job. There were meetings and conversations between Band, Declan Kelly and two other Ex/Im Bank directors concerning possible employment. This was all going on in the context of many conservatives in congress trying to end the Bank….here’s a piece of the timeline. The Export/Import Bank Re-authorization Act of 2012 was introduced in June of 2011. It was passed by the House on May 9, 2012, passed by the senate on May 15^th and signed by the president on May 30^th 2012. The next morning, May 31^st, Varney sent the following to Band, Kelly and head of Teneo’s investment bank, Michael Madden: “The President signed Exim’s re-authorization yesterday, With that done I’m free to move forward” The job wrangling went on for another two months through August of 2012. Meanwhile, prior to these negotiations, Dow was spending millions lobbying congress on Exp/Imp Bank. Fred Hochberg who I’ve mentioned in another post……the Chairman of the Exp/Imp Bank, recused himself from the vote, not sighting a reason. On August 22^nd, 2012, the Exp/Imp Bank authorized the loan to Sadara….the largest loan ever underwritten by the bank….4.975 billion dollars. What’s purely coincidental was Teneo’s fees to Dow dramatically increased in 2012 and 2013 to $16 million, from $2.8 million. You can read more about this here:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421081/hillary-clinton-ex-im-5-billion-loan-saudis-dow-chemical

Something has occurred to me while doing all this research. Big picture stuff…..throughout history people have been used by the rich and powerful elite for their own benefit. As far back as ancient Egypt there were the Pharaohs. They had all the power, they were gods, looked down on the people and used them for their own benefit.  Then came Rome and its republic….things changed for a little while. Then the Caesars took control, they were gods. They took all the power and used the people for their benefit.  The rise of the Church changed things for a while, but it too, became corrupt and used the people. Next were the monarchies. The Kings and Queens took control and used the people for their benefit. Finally, came America and it changed again for awhile…..but then came the carpet baggers, the Robber Barons and the Captains of Industry…..they took control and used the people for their benefit. Along came Ronald Reagan and there was a short respite…..it didn’t last long. Now it appears we have the Foundations, the charities, the lobbyists, the consultants, and the multi-national corporations. They have taken control and look down on the people as merely a tool to use for their benefit. The theme of Lamentations from the Bible is that there is nothing new under the sun. The Clintons and the rest of this global elite are just one more group of individuals that want control and are willing to use us for their benefit. They are the gods of the 21^st century.

Author: kgeorge152

Retired small business owner in manufacturing View all posts by kgeorge152