Democrats Lose the Money, the Guns and the Jobs

December 15, 2011

Corzine Doesn’t Know Where the MF Money Is, Holder Doesn’t Know Where the Guns Are and House Democrats Don’t Know Where the Jobs Are

Embattled former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine has claimed that he simply “do[es] not know where the money is” amidst a growing investigation into how his firm lost $1.2 billion in customer money, but testimony from an MF Global employee Tuesday suggested Corzine knew exactly what was going on.
While Corzine has been dodging questions about how he lost $1.2 billion in customer money, Attorney General Eric Holder has been squirming his way through a congressional inquiry into how his Department of Justice put 2,000 guns into the hands of Mexican narcoterrorists and then lost track of the guns.
Top Democrats also can’t seem to explain what happened to the millions of jobs they promised would be created by their failed stimulus and job-destroying government takeover of healthcare. Americans aren’t likely to get an answer from Democrats any time soon.

BACKGROUND

Embattled former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine has claimed that he simply “do[es] not know where the money is” amidst a growing investigation into how his firm lost $1.2 billion in customer money, but testimony from an MF Global employee Tuesday suggested Corzine knew exactly what was going on:

“MF GLOBAL EMPLOYEE SAYS CORZINE KNEW FUNDS WERE TAKEN FROM CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS”: (“MF Global Employee Says Corzine Knew Funds Were Taken From Customer Accounts,” Real Clear Politics, 12/13/2011)

“CORZINE: ‘I SIMPLY DO NOT KNOW WHERE THE MONEY IS’”: (Scott Patterson and Aaron Luchetti, “Corzine: ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where the Money Is,’” The Wall Street Journal, 12/8/2011)

AMOUNT OF MISSING MF GLOBAL CASH “COULD BE MORE THAN $1.2 BILLION”:(Michael J. de la Merced, “MF Global Trustee Says Shortfall Could Exceed $1.2 Billion,” The New York Times, 11/21/2011)

REGULATORS SUSPECT CUSTOMER “MONEY IS NOT SIMPLY MISSING,” BUT “GONE”: (Ben Protess, “MF Global is Said to Have Used Customer Money Improperly,” The New York Times, 11/17/2011)

“ANALYSIS: MF GLOBAL PROVES ENRON-ERA ACCOUNTING LIVES ON”: (Nanette Byrnes, “Analysis: MF Global Proves Enron-Era Accounting Lives On,” Reuters, 12/2/2011)

“OFF-BALANCE SHEET ACCOUNTING METHODS THAT ENRON AND LEHMAN BROTHERS MADE FAMOUS… HAVE A MODERN DAY POSTER-CHILD: MF GLOBAL”:(Nanette Byrnes, “Analysis: MF Global Proves Enron-Era Accounting Lives On,” Reuters, 12/2/2011)

While Corzine has been dodging questions about how he lost $1.2 billion in customer money, Attorney General Eric Holder has been squirming his way through a congressional inquiry into how his Department of Justice put 2,000 guns into the hands of Mexican narcoterrorists and then lost track of the guns:

LATEST WHOPPER FROM ERIC HOLDER: NOT A LIE TO DENY KNOWLEDGE OF OBAMA’S GUN-RUNNING OPERATION BECAUSE LYING “HAS TO DO WITH YOUR STATE OF MIND”: “Well, if you want to have this legal conversation, it all has to do with your state of mind and whether or not you had the requisite intent to come up with something that would be considered perjury or a lie. The information that was provided by the February 4^th letter was gleaned by the people who drafted the letter after they interacted with people who they thought were in the best position to have the information.” (Remarks from Attorney General Eric Holder, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. House Of Representatives, Hearing, 12/8/2011)

HOLDER ADMITS LOST GUNS WILL SHOW UP IN CRIMES “FOR YEARS TO COME”:“Attorney General Eric Holder suggested Thursday that weapons lost during the course of the failed ‘Fast and Furious’ gunrunning operation will continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico ‘for years to come.’” (“Holder Suggests ‘Fast and Furious’ Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for ‘Years to Come,’” FoxNews.com, 12/8/2011)

FLASHBACK: HOLDER SAID IN MAY 2011 THAT HE JUST RECENTLY HEARD ABOUT “FAST AND FURIOUS”: (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011)

HOWEVER, DOCUMENTS DIRECTLY CONTRADICT HOLDER’S TESTIMONY, REVEAL HE KNEW ABOUT FAST AND FURIOUS AS FAR BACK AS JULY 2010: “New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News,10/3/2011)

BUT A TOP DOJ OFFICIAL ADMITTED HE KNEW ABOUT GUN-RUNNING OPERATION AS EARLY AS APRIL 2010: (Jonathan Strong, “Top Justice Official Expresses ‘Regret’ at ‘Gun Walking’ Omission,” Roll Call, 10/31/2011)

HOLDER DODGED, CLAIMING “I CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF EVERY OPERATION”: “But I cannot be expected to know the details of every operation that is ongoing in the Justice Department on a day-to-day basis. I did not know about ‘Fast and Furious,’ as indicated in the chart you have up there, until I guess – well, until it became public.” (Remarks from Attorney General Eric Holder, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Testimony, 11/8/2011)

AND EVEN PRESIDENT OBAMA SAID HOLDER KNEW ABOUT FAST AND FURIOUS IN MARCH 2011: “He [Attorney General Holder] has been very clear, our policy is to catch gunrunners and put them into jail. So what he’s done is he’s assigned an I.G., an Inspector General to investigate what exactly happened here.” (“Obama On ‘Gunwalking’ – ‘Serious Mistakes’ May Have Been Made,” CBS News, 3/23/2011)

Top Democrats also can’t seem to explain what happened to the millions of jobs they promised would be created by their failed stimulus and job-destroying government takeover of healthcare. Americans aren’t likely to get an answer from Democrats any time soon:

BROKEN PROMISE: PELOSI PROMISES HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER WOULD CREATE “4 MILLION JOBS” AND “400,000 ALMOST IMMEDIATELY”: “It’s about jobs. In its life, it [the health bill] will create 4 million jobs — 400,000 jobs almost immediately.”(“Pelosi: Health Reform Will Create 400,000 Jobs ‘Almost Immediately,’ Real Clear Politics, 2/25/2010)

AFTER BROKEN PROMISE: DEMOCRATS SAID STIMULUS WOULD KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 8%: “…[T]wo of [Obama’s] chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Last month, the jobless rate in the U.S. hit 9.5%, the highest level it has reached since 1983.” (Stephen Gandel, “Obama’s Stimulus: Failing by its Own Measure,” Time, 7/14/2009)

NEW NBC/WSJ POLL: 57% OF AMERICANS DISAPPROVE OF OBAMA’S HANDLING OF THE ECONOMY: (NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey, 12/7-11/2011)

1.9 MILLION JOBS LOST SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 12/12/2011)

“CBO: STIMULUS HURTS ECONOMY IN THE LONG RUN”: (Stephen Dinan, “CBO: Stimulus Hurts Economy in the Long Run,” The Washington Times, 11/22/2011)

“THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS 11 PERCENT”: “But today, the most important sentence isn’t a report on something that just happened, but a fresh look at something that’s been happening for the last three years. In particular, it’s this sentence by the Financial Times’ Ed Luce, who writes, ‘According to government statistics, if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent.’” (Ezra Klein, “Wonkbook: The Real Unemployment Rate is 11 Percent,” The Washington Post, 12/12/2011)

REAL “UNDEREMPLOYMENT” RATE “NEAR 20 PERCENT”: “In that sense, the real unemployment rate — the apples-to-apples unemployment rate — is probably 11 percent. And the real un- and underemployed rate — the so-called “U6” — is near 20 percent.” (Ezra Klein, “Wonkbook: The Real Unemployment Rate is 11 Percent,” The Washington Post, 12/12/2011)