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| Is Harold Ford Jr. a Merrill Lynch Bonus Baby? |
| 2009-02-14 |
| This past week, a Tennessee journalist, George Poague of the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, surveyed the Tennessee power structure in light of the nation's current economic crisis and, by way of noting the bad aroma now attaching to the financial sector, had this to say: "We've read about the Merrill Lynch CEO (since fired) who spent more than a million bucks redecorating his office. That included a trash can costing $1,400. Just before Christmas, he gave billions in bonuses to Merrill executives - their reward for destroying the company." From there Poague, pointing out the U.S. automakers had a harder time coaxing bailout money from Congress than had Wall Street, went on to excoriate U.S. Senator Bob Corker for taking positions which he deemed detrimental to the domestic auto industry and concluded: "When Corker showed up at the Detroit auto show last month, auto workers said the senator should receive a pay cut, or should have his job outsourced. See how you like it, Bob! That made me laugh. At the very least, Corker should be given a buyout and replaced. Is Harold Ford Jr. still available?" Connecting the dots reveals an irony not touched upon by Poague: Included in the lucky Merrill executives getting those pre-Christmas bonuses was almost certainly Ford, a ranking Merrill Lynch executive since February 2007 and one so highly regarded that Bank of America, which absorbed the fallen brokerage, kept the former Memphis congressman on as a rainmaker. Indeed, Ford reportedly was the featured speaker only last week at a hedge fund group on behalf of the Merrill Lynch division. And a googling of his activities on behalf of the brokerage since his initial appointment in February 2007 (some three months after losing a U.S. Senate bid) as a Merrill Lynch "vice chairman and senior policy advisor," shows a vast and varied itinerary -- ranging from a visit to China as the face of Merrill Lynch to featured spots on financial panels organized by the likes of the prestigious Brookings Institution. And Ford continues to be a hot property on the political market as well. His name is continually put forth on lists of potential Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidates in 2010, and any number of traditional party brokers are angling to get him to make that race. As of now, the recently married Ford has not closed the door on running for governor, though those who know him wonder if he would be wiling to undertake an administrative job confining himself to the Volunteer State and to forgo his current vistas, which -- besides the Merrill Lynch position, estimated by the New York Post to pay him $3 million annually -- include heading up the Democratic Leadership Council, appearing as an analyst on national political affairs at MSNBC, and maintaining a relationship to Vanderbilt University as a featured adjunct professor. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 My 2 cents. He'll run if he believes he can win and make boodles of money in the process. His Father was convicted of bribery while a State Congressman. He did run a clean campaign when running for the Senate, though. He is a Spread the Wealther, as long as it's not hia wealth. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-02-14 09:33 |