Don’t let’s beat about the bush, here’s two more negative stories on Cayman’s Alternative Investment Summit

George Bush’s secret Cayman vacation

By Andrew Leonard

Don’t tell anyone! The former president just gave a speech at Romney’s favorite parking place for offshore cash

George W. Bush gave the keynote address at an “investment conference” in the Cayman Islands on Thursday night. But we don’t know what he said, reports NBC News, because Bush’s own team required a complete “blackout” on any details about the speech.

The keynote speech by the former president was “totally closed to all journalists,” and conference organizers were banned from discussing any aspect of it even in general terms, spokesman Dan Kneipp said.

One would assume that as a former president who evidently does not aspire to do anything socially useful for the rest of his life, George Bush doesn’t particularly care about how awful the “optics” of his visit to one of the world’s largest offshore financial centers look. Let’s give him points for consistency: Bush devoted his presidency to lowering taxes on the rich and easing the regulatory burden on corporations. Four years after leaving his country in a state of complete ruin, he’s busying himself giving a speech in one of the world’s most popular destinations for avoiding taxes and financial oversight. There’s a stark, savage purity to his commitment that can’t be denied. George Bush is a true believer, a dedicated servant of the 1 percent.

But why the blackout? Why this cowardice, this pusillanimous unwillingness to preach his gospel in the light of day without fear of public disfavor. Doesn’t he believe that it is appropriate for hedge fund managers to keep their tax liabilities as low as possible? Isn’t it a point of faith with him that corporations must flee U.S. jurisdiction to escape the dread claws of the nanny state? What’s he got to be ashamed of?

That’s your Republican Party, America. Your last GOP president is too chicken to let the world know what he’s saying to an audience of people dedicated to the proposition that it is right and proper for them to avoid sufficiently funding their own national governments. Meanwhile, your current GOP candidate president is a man who has personally invested some $25 million in Cayman Islands-registered funds, and whose former company, Bain, boasts more than a hundred Cayman funds.

It’s just really embarrassing.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.salon.com/2012/11/02/george_bushs_secret_cayman_vacation/

Nope, you can’t know anything about George W’s speech on investing in the Cayman Islands

By Alex Moore 22 hours ago

As we reported in September, George W. was scheduled to give the keynote address this week at the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit in the Cayman Islands. Given Cayman’s reputation as a place for hiding funds in shelters safe from U.S. taxes; and given that one of the event’s two main sponsors is KMPG, “a company that provides tax advisory services” according to NBC; and given that our last commander in chief was tapped to give the keynote address to “offer his thoughts on eight years in the Oval Office”; and given that Mitt Romney is known for storing funds in the Cayman islands; and given that Romney is up for presidential election himself next week; W’s appearance and its timing was an extremely curious thing. You might be interested to know what he told attendees who paid $4,000 a ticket to be there.

But you can’t. Because the Cayman association who threw the event imposed a total media blackout over W’s speech.

The event was completely closed to all journalists, and NBC reports a spokesman for the event says “organizers were banned from discussing any aspect of it even in general terms.”

“We’ve got a complete blackout on discussing the Bush details,” said spokesman Dan Kneipp. “It’s totally their decision.”

Which seems appropriate—W was “the decider,” after all.

Was there anything untoward in W’s speech? Who knows. But the timing, in the middle of Hurricane Sandy and a week before the election, is straight-up bizarre.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/190472/nope-you-cant-know-anything-about-george-ws-speech-on-investing-in-the-cayman-islands/