10-27-2008, 12:35 PM
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 | Ultimate Member | | Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Land of the Sky
Posts: 2,354
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No I never heard of them until I read your post and googled them. There seems to be a lot of info on them. Here is what wikipedia says in relation to controversy. I did watch MM's movie but don't remember that he talked about them specifically. Quote:
Carlyle Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Carlyle Group is a global private equity investment firm, based in Washington, D.C., with more than $89 billion of equity capital under management.[1] The firm operates four fund families, focusing on leveraged buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance investments. The firm employs more than 575 investment professionals in 21 countries with several offices in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia; its portfolio companies employ more than 415,000 people worldwide. Carlyle has over 1200 investors in 68 countries.
The firm has employed political figures and notable investors. Some of these figures, such as former US President George H. W. Bush and former US Secretary of State James A. Baker III, have generated controversy stemming from allegations of conflicts of interest.
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Controversy
Connections between the Carlyle and the Bush family have created controversy, particularly in relation to the War on Terror and the Iraq War. George H. W. Bush and his Secretary of State James A. Baker III have at times been advisors to the group. One writer claimed that Saudi Arabian interests have given $1.4 billion to firms connected to the Bush family.[citation needed] Of this figure, $1.18 billion comes from contracts awarded to defense contractor Braddock, Dunn & McDonald, which Carlyle sold before George H. W. Bush became an advisor.[21] A Carlyle spokesman noted in 2003 that its 7% interest in defense industries was far less than several other Private equity firms.[22] The group has in the past had links with the Bin Laden family, although the group argues investment was relatively minor and made by relatives including a half brother to Osama Bin Laden who had "disowned" him.[23]
In February 2008, a U.S. Senate bill was introduced that would increase the regulation of nursing homes such as those run by HCR Manor Care which Carlyle purchased in December 2007.[24] Furthermore in February 2008, a bill was introduced in California that would have barred CalPERS from investing money "with private-equity firms that are partly owned by countries with poor records on human rights," which would include Carlyle because Mubadala Development is owned by part of the United Arab Emirates. The California bill was later withdrawn.[25]
In the documentary film Farenheit 911 Michael Moore makes nine allegations concerning the Carlyle Group, including: That the Bin Laden and Bush families were both connected to the Group but following the attacks on September 11, the bin Laden family’s investments in the Carlyle Group became an embarrassment to the Carlyle Group and the family was forced to liquidate their assets with the firm; That the Carlyle group is, in essence, the 11th largest defense contractor in the United States. Moore lists and provides evidence for the allegations on his website
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