BREAKING: Wolfowitz Out

[Shakespeare]

Source: Talking Points Memo

No excerpt yet, just the headline...

Read more: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/014201.php

[VolcanoJen]

1. Also a Red Bar "CNN BREAKING" item, no link yet

June 30?????!!!!!?????

[whistle]

2. He got $400k to leave though

[Frank Cannon]

6. hush money n/t

[VolcanoJen]

7. Nice work if you can get it

Now, why did the World Bank roll over on this? Letting him stay until June 30? Saying he acted "in good faith" when he gave his mistress/lover a pay hike and promotion?

[Honeycombe8]

56. If you or I had done anything like this, we would've been FIRED pronto...

no ifs, ands, or buts.

Yeah...nice work if you can get it.

[Honeycombe8]

57. If you or I had done anything like this, we would've been FIRED pronto...

no ifs, ands, or buts.

Yeah...nice work if you can get it.

[tblue37]

35. Which suggests how desperate they are to get rid of him.

Wow, what a racket. Be so absolutely, catastrophically crappy at everything that people pay you huge sums of money to just freakin' go away.

[arewenotdemo]

68. A dollar or two for every dead Iraqi

[ProudDad]

75. More like 60 cents for each Iraqi corpse (n/t)

[FatDave]

3. Confirmed at CNN

Say it with me: w00t! w00t!

[VolcanoJen]

4. LINK - MSNBC/AP

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18665386/

Wolfowitz to resign presidency of World Bank
Board says he acted ‘in good faith’ during girlfriend compensation scandal

[callous taoboy]

5. So, what's he going to wreck next? And did anyone see Andrew Young

the other night on the Newshour defending Wolfie? If so, what was your impression?

[Henny Penny]

8. Just heard on rte news here...

:-) :toast: :party: :hippie: :evilgrin: :bounce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :silly: :nopity: :+ :7 :evilgrin: :party: :toast: :bounce: :hippie:

[CountAllVotes]

34. one by one ...

down they go as their lies eat them alive.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :nopity: here either!!

:dem: :kick:

[SpiralHawk]

9. One less republicon crony scumbag ripping off the planet

But SO many more cronies in the effete corp of impudent republicon snobs

[GoddessOfGuinness]

64. He'll just find another way to rip off the planet...

Just like the rest of the scum that resigns without having to face any consequences of their criminal behavior.

[MaineDem]

10. I hate the "deal" but I'm glad he's a failure - - - again. n/t

[VolcanoJen]

11. Maybe Wolfie really did have the goods....

... to "f" the World Bank Board, as he claimed. :eyes:

You'll have that, with rampant illegal wiretaps, I suppose.

[MaineDem]

13. Not sure what you mean

I hate to see this creep leave with the World Bank saying he acted in good faith rather than firing his sorry butt. Maybe I'm missing something but, no, I don't like the idea of illegal wiretaps if that's what you were saying.

[VolcanoJen]

14. Well.....

There's this:

Angry Wolfowitz in four-letter tirade - The Guardian

Sounding more like a cast member of the Sopranos than an international leader, in testimony by one key witness Mr Wolfowitz declares: "If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too."

The remarks were published in a report detailing the controversy that erupted last month after the size of Ms Riza's pay rises was revealed. The report slates Mr Wolfowitz for his "questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest", saying: "Mr Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply."

Just makes me wonder if that wasn't a thinly-veiled threat. He must have the goods on them one way or another... the World Bank had the high ground here, and lost it.

What gives, that's what I'm asking. And I think that Paul "Sex Machine" Wolfowitz quote speaks volumes, and may have more than a little to do with illegal wiretaps...

[medeak]

12. Gonzales replacing him? heard on Gregory show on msnbc?

n/t

[VolcanoJen]

27. You're joking!!!

Right??

I mean, that wouldn't exactly heal any wounds, would it?

I realize that the goal here, for the Administration, was to keep the appointment of World Bank chiefs in American control. It was the one bargaining chip the Bank held over the Administration. So... what was the tipping point? Why did they give in?

[medeak]

40. as arrogant as they are....

nothing would surprise me. But yes...heard it said but was in other room and unable to tell if it was a joke?

[VolcanoJen]

42. That would be funny, though!

Not in a "ha-ha" way, of course.

I can't imagine who these buffoons will nominate as the next head of the World Bank. Why do I hear circus music in my head?

[medeak]

50. Olbermann just now...."Gonzales to replace Wolfowitz?"

good grief....msnbc is certainly running this story...

[diane in sf]

62. So this admin dumps all its losers on the world bank when they get sacked?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

67. John Bolton - World Bank bLEeder!

let's start a campaign.

[medeak]

72. let him stay as Guiliani's advisor

and continue to make G look like an ass.

[TheWraith]

15. Wolfowitz to resign presidency of World Bank [Effective June 30th]

Source: MSNBC

Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will resign at the end of June, his leadership undermined by the generous compensation he arranged for his girlfriend.

His departure was announced late Thursday by the World Bank board.

Wolfowitz's departure ends a two-year run at the development bank that was marked by controversy from the start, given his previous role as a major architect of the Iraq war when he served as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon.

...

His departure was all but forced, however, by the finding of a special bank panel that he violated conflict-of-interest rules in his handling of the 2005 pay package of bank employee Shaha Riza.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18665386/

[Fresh_Start]

16. I guess he's sold his dignity for the next installment payoff

what was he getting in June? was it another $400K?

[rurallib]

17. So he gets his $400,000 bonus, right?

Hope he spends it in legal fees.

[BrotherBuzz]

32. With just enough jingle left over to buy a pair of socks

[leftwingnut]

55. Dude...I did not need to see that! n/t

[BrotherBuzz]

58. The sock photos are tame compared to the image of the ass sucking on his damn comb, no?

[diane in sf]

61. So gross and disgusting!

[Amonester]

38. Actually, that $400,000 belongs to our "collective" wallet but hey...

Warcriminal Wolfie will sure take it and make it "his" as soon as they'll hand it to him, along with his pink slip :grr:

What else would be new with this bunch of cheating and lying neocon gangsters...

[LibertyLover]

59. Actually that money comes from

interest paid on loans that The Bank makes, not from payments made by our member countries. It doesn't make me happier about the $400K mind you, but at least he's gone. I'm figuring that my photo with him from a year or so ago commerating 10 years at The Bank Group will be a collector's item soon.

[Amonester]

79. Thanks for the info.

Nevertheless, I wonder how many "$100 loans to help kick start their own small business" to the poor would that $400K provide.

400,000 / 100 = 4,000 new small businesses to kick start by the poorest of the poors in developing countries! :bounce:

OTOH, I also wonder how much of that bundle the war criminal will give to the RNC. :mad:

[LibertyLover]

82. It's a bit tricky really, and I agree that $400K would do a lot of good besides his pocket -

Basically, what everyone refers to as The World Bank is really the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("IBRD"). It makes loans and grants to governments and works on the reform of laws and developing legal and economic infrastructure. There is a small section of the IBRD that does make loans to private companies, but it is very small. The part of The World Bank Group (IBRD, IFC, MIGA, ICSID) that makes most of the loans and grants to the private sector, including many small and medium sized companies, is International Finance Corporation ("IFC"). I work for IFC and am very proud of our job. We make many small loans and grants to very small companies in our member countries. For example, we have provided loans for small fishing boats in Papua New Guinea and sewing machines in Fiji. We also have provided funds for on-lending to any number of small financial institutions that do make $100 loans to individuals, like Grameen Bank does. It is very rewarding when a project works the way it was intended. I love my job and frankly, what we have been referring to here as "the unfortunate situation" has really made things tough at work. But hopefully it will start to improve.

[Amonester]

85. Thank you for all the good things you and your co-workers do!

May these many little candlelights grow and shine on.

[Herman74]

88. Wish I could work with you, LibertyLover!

Alas, I have no degree in economics.

I read that the World Bankers tend to be celebrating Wolfie's impending departure, so hopefully things will get better for you and your colleagues.

[Gregorian]

How will the poor of the world live without him!

So the bank probably gave him his letter of immunity and good standing just to get him the hell away.

You know he had the hearts and minds of the poor. NOT!

It's like a game of bowling. With conservatives for pins. I'm loving this. But I'd have rather done something else with my country.

[LiberalEsto]

19. What will he do next?

Move to Dubai?
Get appointed ambassador to someplace?
Become a CEO?

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[Demeter]

30. There's a Lovely Court in Hague, Belgium

They'd love to see Wolfie for an extended visit.....

[Herman74]

87. Isn't The Hague in the Netherlands? Nonetheless, I get...

...your fine point.

[hunter]

65. Do you think Dubai is big enough to hold all these guys?

No wonder there's a building boom there, it's housing for Bush's family, friends, and associates.

May it someday be their gilded cage...

[dweller]

73. note to 2010 ...

attack Dubai



dp

[Vidar]

81. I like the idea of all the assholes concentrated in a very small area.

[unkachuck]

66. maybe....

....he'll end up working on wall street or for a defense contractor?....they do take good care of their own, don't they?....it seems, if you join their team, you'll never lose no matter how poorly you play....

[whistle]

20. Jesus Christ, Wolfowitz should be clearing out his desk tonight and

...be escored out of the World Bank by two guards.

[anitar1]

23. I agree with you. They should have fied him outright.

We haven't seen the last of this sucker .

[Herman74]

24. Damn Right. Well, at least another corrupt Bushie will be gone.

Still, why the hell does the world (and the World Bank) have to wait until the end of June???

[Hand]

70. Yep.

And then handcuffed and escorted onto the next plane for The Hague. :grr:

[Up2Late]

21. It's about F*#$ing time.

:mad:

[LiberalFighter]

22. He should be gone NOW at the latest 5/31/2007!!!!!!!!!!!!

[54anickel]

25. June 30th?!?!?! WTF? Sheesh, even whorepit America would say

thank you for the notice but your services are no longer required. Officer Dave here will escort you to your car. We'll ship your belonging to your home address. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Buh-bye.

[Mojambo]

18. Big deal. The head of the hydra was cut off.

The monster lives on, and on, and on.

[Faygo Kid]

26. Bye, Neocon Paul. Go learn about casualties in Iraq, you bastard

Remember when he couldn't come within two hundred of U.S. military deaths in Iraq? Back when 100 was a large percentage of the deaths? Like all the neocons, it's just a number. Go rot in hell, Paul, and take the rest of your bloodthirsty crew with you.

[BlueManDude]

28. He's got "FoxNews All Star" written all over him.

[VolcanoJen]

33. Indeed!! Paul "Sex Machine" Wolfowitz...

... is the new John "Sex Machine" Bolton.

[DuaneBidoux]

49. Your right! He'll be the liberal contributor on a new news face off show.

[aquart]

29. ABC Evening News announced it.

[greiner3]

31. This has been a pretty good week for me;

I believe I did well on my biodiversity midterm, falwell died and wolfie just ate the big one! Can it be a 4-bagger? Come on gonezales, we believe in you. I hear georgie doesn't anymore and you know what that means; you can resign and turn on all those fat fucks in the WH!

[callous taoboy]

52. Congrats on the mid-term! Yes, it's been a good week. n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. And take your damn socks with you!

[FightingIrish]

37. Bush's legacy is a gallery of corrrupt incompetents

forced to leave their offices under a cloud. Can his own exit be far behind?

Bolton, Rummy, Brownie, Tenet, Perle, Feith, Wolfowitz..... Next?

[proud patriot]

39. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee ! ! !

:woohoo:

[struggle4progress]

41. Wolfowitz bows to pressure and quits World Bank (Financial Times)

~snip~ The report by the investigating panel had asked the bank’s board to consider, in the light of its findings, “whether Mr Wolfowitz will be able to provide the leadership needed to ensure that the bank continues to operate to the fullest extent possible in achieving its mandate”.

It suggested the board should take into account in making this judgment the “damage done to the reputation of the World Bank group and its president, the lack of confidence expressed by internal and external stakeholders in the present leadership, the erosion of operational effectiveness ... and the important strategy and governance challenges the World Bank group is facing”.

Following the release of the panel’s report, 37 of the bank’s 39 country directors sent a letter to the board demanding it “practice what it preaches on governance and accountability”. ~snip~

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/023bffd4-03cb-11dc-a931-000b5df10621.html

[struggle4progress]

43. Timeline: Notes on a scandal (Financial Times 16 May)

Published: May 16 2007 12:16 | Last updated: May 16 2007 12:16

~snip~ Spring 2005 ~snip~

Mr Wolfowitz orders the head of human resources not to inform the bank’s general counsel of what happens next ~snip~

Mr Wolfowitz directs the head of human resources to award a generous pay and promotion package to Ms Riza, as part of a secondment that exceeds the terms recommended ~snip~

Spring 2007 ~snip~

Mr Wolfowitz’s aides tell publications including the Washington Post, New Yorker and FT that all arrangements for the secondment were approved or directed by the board and ethics committee ~snip~

On the morning of the bank’s annual spring meeting the FT discloses that Mr Wolfowitz directed the terms of Ms Riza’s secondment. Later that day the bank president apologises to staff ~snip~

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7ae8eb42-0397-11dc-a931-000b5df10621.html

[rodeodance]

44. Lehrer announced Wolfie has resigned. I have to admit that I did not believe

this would actually happen--great vives for Gonzo to go also.

[rodeodance]

45. Bush would be wise to get rid of Gonzo right now--2 or 1--!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

46. BBC: he gets a year's salary for resigning

The Bank gave no further details of its agreement with Mr Wolfowitz, who was appointed for a five-year term on 1 June 2005.

His contract states that he is entitled to a year's salary should he resign or be removed from office as long as he served a year in the job.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6667975.stm

Kachinnngg!!

Why do normal jobs never come with free money?

[entanglement]

86. A whole years pay for doing nothing = business as usual for the parasitic class

n/t

[Kagemusha]

47. Just to point out, the $400k severance was part of his contract

So the board would've had to try to openly humiliate him to deny him that and it'd have been a major lawsuit too and so on.

As for declaring Wolfowitz acted in good faith, that just means Wolfowitz was, rather than overtly malicious, really f***ing stupid.

[ckramer]

48. Too bad he didn't ask * to bomb the World Bank

LOL

[Warren Stupidity]

51. All of you dancing in glee should be ashamed!

Just kidding. Kick off you shoes and dance!

[Bigmack]

53. The only honorable thing Wolfie could do...

is to commit hara-kiri on the steps of the bank HQ.... or the steps of Congress.

Both cuts... up and down as well as back and forth.

[Mad_Dem_X]

54. W00t!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :woohoo: :applause:

[diane in sf]

60. Good riddance to more bad neocon rubbish

[NeoConsSuck]

63. Another NeoCon death merchant bites the dust..

what is he going to do now to keep himself occupied? Burn ants with a magnifying glass?

Total scumbag, traitor to America.

[Hand]

69. Na Na NAH Na....

Na Na NA-AH Nah,
HEY HEY-EY,

GOOD BYE!

(asshole)

Took ya long enough... Don't let the back door hit ya where the good lord split ya. On second thought, let it. You got it coming.

[rocktivity]

71. I think it had more to do with the board hinting that they'd stop Bush

from picking his replacement if something wasn't done. And I hope it's true that the $400k was part of a contract buyout rather than anything "extra." But these days, they'll print anything.

:headbang:
rocknation

[ProudDad]

74. One down now for the rest of the imperial world bank

Dumping wolfie in ignomy is a great idea but...

I'm much happier about Hugo Chavez and the rest of Latin America making that bunch of imperialist, "structural adjusting" fucks irrelevant.

Down with the IMF, world bank and WTO... :nuke:

[Eugene]

76. Reuters: Paulson says American should head World Bank

Source: Reuters

Paulson says American should head World Bank
Thu May 17, 2007 7:09PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
said on Thursday he believed it was important for an American to
continue to be appointed to the presidency of the World Bank.

Paulson made the comments in an interview with PBS-TV host Jim
Lehrer in an interview taped before the World Bank announced Paul
Wolfowitz' resignation on June 30.

"We look forward to putting this behind us all and refocusing the
bank on its mission going forward," Paulson said.


Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSWAT00752320070517

---

Also: Wolfowitz resigns; Bush to nominate successor soon - Reuters

[fshrink]

77. Turd about to be excreted.

Relief in sight.

[rpannier]

78. NA NA NA NA...NA NA NA NA...

Hey, hey...ey...Gooood bye-i-eye

[librarycard]

80. I don't get it.

Why not allow the full vote, as Wolfie wants, and isolate the US (as if it could be more isolated than it already is?).

Is this a forced resignation, then, because of the Bank's refusal for a full vote?

[bikebloke]

83. He wants to spend more time with his comb.

[Felix Mala]

84. Bush to name nice guy who sold him and Laura ice cream as replacement!