Snow, JW

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/cerberus-collected-ex-government-opportunists/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/cerberus-collected-ex-government-opportunists/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> originally appeared at Truthdig. Robert Scheer is the author of The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street (Nation Books).</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>How fitting that Dan Quayle, a bumbling excuse for a vice president of the United States, should end up as a top executive of a $20 billion private equity firm mired in controversy. Quayle, who signed on with Cerberus in 1999</b>, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">was with that company during its takeover and subsequent bankruptcy of Chrysler, questionable military contracting deals in Afghanistan and, most recently, manufacturing the assault rifle used in the Newtown massacre.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The former Indiana senator, to whom most of us in the press corps covering George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 1988 referred to as the Ken doll, must have <b>found life in the private sector so much more rewarding, but how much so is not known, since Cerberus is privately held.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Dan and his son Ben Quayle, a congressman from Arizona, have been ardent supporters of the NRA</b>, but even they must have been shocked by the latest—and not only—incident involving one of Cerberus’ product lines. The company now acknowledges that its gun unit, Freedom Group Inc.—which refers to itself as “the largest manufacturer of commercial firearms and ammunition,” sold in eighty countries—is a public relations embarrassment and has put it up for sale.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In case you missed the connection, as did too many in the mainstream media, the former vice president was rewarded for his gaffe-filled performance in that job with the far more lucrative position of chairman of Cerberus Global Investments LLC. He was hired for that post by Cerberus CEO Stephen Feinberg, an alum of the disgraced and defunct junk bond emporium Drexel Burnham Lambert.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition to owning Bushmaster, the manufacturer of the assault weapon used in Connecticut, Cerberus’ holdings have included Chrysler Corp., bailed out by US taxpayers, and<b> DynCorp, the military construction contractor that is the subject of a major special inspector general’s investigation of its activities in Afghanistan.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">All three businesses are deeply dependent on decisions of the federal government once served by Quayle and other high members of the Cerberus team.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>One of those is<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> John W. Snow</span>, listed on the Cerberus website as another member of its “senior executive leadership.” Snow was secretary of the Treasury in the George W. Bush administration</b>. He resigned from that position effective June 29, 2006, and four months later, on October 19, Cerberus issued a press release announcing that Snow had been named chairman of Cerberus Capital Management LP. <b>The appointment proved helpful, given Snow’s government experience, when Cerberus took over Chrysler in 2007 and soon went shopping for Washington’s assistance to keep the company afloat.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Feinberg,</b> who in reality runs all of Cerberus as its CEO and chief investment officer, is one of those financial backers of the GOP who derides government interference in the market any time it threatens to help ordinary folk.<b> But when he bought Chrysler, one of those distressed companies that he specialized in dismembering, he quickly found a need for massive federal intervention to preserve a fraction of the Cerberus investment.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">With the aid of Quayle, <b>Snow</b> and other politically connected members of the firm, Feinberg made the rounds in Washington at the end of the Bush administration begging for what right-wing free-marketeers would label as the socialization of Chrysler to the tune of $4 billion in federal aid.</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> It was not enough to avoid eventual bankruptcy and additional government support, but by then Feinberg and Cerberus had bailed.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Cerberus’ use of the various Bush administration veterans was on full display in a call between Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and his predecessor Snow, then chair of the investment firm.</b> “That investment company,” wrote New York Times reporter Louise Story, “is <b>Mr. Snow’s employer, Cerberus Capital Management, which has used its wealth and deep connections in Washington to shape the debate over the foundering automakers to its advantage.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In its attempt to save Chrysler, Cerberus had hired former Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli to turn the company around, but he failed. He reappeared in 2010 as CEO of <b>Cerberus’s Freedom Group Inc., with its “family” of fifteen gun and ammo companies including Bushmaster, Remington</b> and other top selling brands. Nardelli continued in that position until March of this year, when he stepped down. During his tenure, he was instrumental in advocating against stronger gun control as well as enlisting endorsements from the NRA, and he remains a senior adviser to Feinberg.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In mythology, Cerberus is the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades. How perfect a name for a company whose leaders have sold their souls</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow</a>

</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>John William Snow</b> (born August 2, 1939) was the CEO of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSX_Corporation" title="CSX Corporation">CSX Corporation</a>, and served as the 73rd <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Treasury" title="United States Secretary of the Treasury">United States Secretary of the Treasury</a> under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States" title="President of the United States">U.S. President</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a>. He replaced Secretary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_O%27Neill%28cabinet_member%29" title="Paul O'Neill (cabinet member)" class="mw-redirect">Paul O'Neill</a> on February 3, 2003 and was succeeded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson">Henry Paulson</a> on July 3, 2006, in a move that had been anticipated.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow#cite_note-0"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow#cite_note-1"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup> Snow submitted a letter of resignation on May 30, 2006, effective "after an orderly transition period for my successor."<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow#cite_note-3"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup> Snow announced on Thursday, June 29, 2006 that he had completed his last day on the job; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kimmitt" title="Robert Kimmitt" class="mw-redirect">Robert Kimmitt</a> served as acting secretary until Paulson was sworn in.</font>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Following his departure from government service, the private Cerberus

Capital Management group, currently managing Chrysler Corporation

during the 'bailout' or 'government aid to the domestic automakers'

period, appointed John Snow chairman as announced in a press release on

October 19, 2006 [effective at that time].</font></span></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Further_affiliations"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Further affiliations</font></span></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Snow has served as a director for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassett_Furniture" title="Bassett Furniture">Bassett Furniture</a> Industries, Inc.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_City_%281949_company%29" title="Circuit City (1949 company)" class="mw-redirect">Circuit City Stores, Inc.</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NationsBank_Corp." title="NationsBank Corp." class="mw-redirect">NationsBank Corp.</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textron_Inc." title="Textron Inc." class="mw-redirect">Textron Inc.</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USX_Corporation" title="USX Corporation" class="mw-redirect">USX Corporation</a>; the U.S.-Japan Business Council; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Communications" title="Verizon Communications">Verizon Communications</a>; and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Railroads" title="Association of American Railroads">Association of American Railroads</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He has served on the Board of Trustees of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Johns_Hopkins_University" title="The Johns Hopkins University" class="mw-redirect">the Johns Hopkins University</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darden_Graduate_School_of_Business_Administration" title="Darden Graduate School of Business Administration" class="mw-redirect">the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He has been a member of the Business Roundtable; the Executive

Committee of The Business Council; the Virginia Business Council; and

the National Coal Council.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On October 19, 2006, Snow was named chairman of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Capital_Management" title="Cerberus Capital Management">Cerberus Capital Management</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On August 15, 2007, Snow was appointed the inaugural Newman Visiting Fellow at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_Center_of_Public_Affairs" title="Miller Center of Public Affairs">Miller Center of Public Affairs</a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Virginia" title="University of Virginia">University of Virginia</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since 1992, Snow has been an avid supporter of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> as he stated on Charleston, South Carolina's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Good_Morning_Charleston&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Good Morning Charleston (page does not exist)">Good Morning Charleston</a></i> television program.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from August 2012">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup></font></p>

</font><div class="thumbcaption">

John W. Snow at the 2004 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund" title="International Monetary Fund">IMF</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank_Group" title="World Bank Group">World Bank</a> Annual Meeting.</font></div>

</div>

<h2> <span class="mw-headline" id="Secretary_of_the_Treasury"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Secretary of the Treasury</font></span></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Snow was nominated as Secretary of the Treasury by President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> on January 13, 2003 and unanimously confirmed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate">U.S. Senate</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In July and August 2003, Snow and his colleagues, Labor Secretary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Chao" title="Elaine Chao">Elaine Chao</a> and Commerce Secretary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Evans" title="Donald Evans">Donald Evans</a>, took a bus across the country on their <i>Jobs and Growth Tour</i>, aimed at promoting the benefits of the Bush Administration's tax cuts.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Snow#cite_note-5"><span>[</span>6<span>]</span></a></sup></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May 2004, it was revealed that Snow's brokers had bought $10 million of debt issued by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Mae" title="Fannie Mae">Fannie Mae</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mac" title="Freddie Mac">Freddie Mac</a>

on the day and day after Snow was sworn into office as Treasury

Secretary. Snow claimed this was done without his knowledge in February

When Snow found out, he divested the debt holdings. A Treasury

ethics lawyer has found that the holdings did not represent a conflict

of interest but had the potential to do so in the future.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Snow#cite_note-6"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a></sup>

On May 26, 2006 Snow announced that he would resign effective July 3.

He said the White House would make an official statement the following

week. On May 30, it was formally announced that Snow would leave this

position. On this same day, it was announced that President George W.

Bush had nominated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson">Henry Paulson</a>, CEO of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a>, to replace Snow.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Snow#cite_note-7"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a></sup></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Snow was forced to resign when it was uncovered that Snow failed to

pay income taxes on the $24 million of loan forgiveness he received

while CEO of CSX Corporation. Bush stated publicly that he wanted a "new

face" to head the Treasury Dept., even though the stock market grew 40%

during Snow’s tenure as secretary.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow#cite_note-8"><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W.Snow#cite_note-9"><span>[</span>10<span>]</span></a></sup></font></p>
</div></div>