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[Zan_of_Texas]

Bush, Cheney confront renewed interest in past business dealings
BY DAVE MONTGOMERY
Knight Ridder Newspapers
JULY 17, 2002

Knight Ridder, "Bush, Cheney confront renewed interest in past business dealings," 7/17/02
WASHINGTON - KRT NEWSFEATURES
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/politics/3679545.htm

(KRT) - In the business world, they were regarded as gregarious front men who delegated day-to-day details to others, with well-known names that added luster to their companies' portfolios.
Now, as the top two occupants in the White House, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are confronting renewed questions over their past life in the business arena, giving Democrats an opening in the forthcoming midterm elections and raising questions about the administration's commitment to dealing with America's recent wave of corporate scandals.

Bush has been forced to again defend himself for his oft-scrutinized role as a board member for Harken Energy Corp. of Grand Prairie, Texas, before he became governor in 1995. Cheney faces a fresh lawsuit alleging he condoned fraudulent accounting practices as chairman and chief executive officer of Halliburton Corp. of Dallas before he resigned in 2000 to become Bush's running mate.
The White House, supported by some independent business experts, maintains the accusations are without substance and are part of a Democratic political assault to discredit the Republican administration in advance of the November elections.

But other analysts and watchdog groups argue that Bush and Cheney's past activities are similar to widely condemned practices exposed in recent investigations involving Enron Corp., WorldCom and other prominent companies.

"The bottom line is, you have an administration whose president and vice president were involved in some of the very practices that have become such a problem for the country as a whole," said Bill Allison of the Center for Public Integrity, which has repeatedly investigated Bush's activities with Harken. "It's a little bit hard to imagine that, given their own behavior, they're going to be zealous about going after companies accused of doing this."

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