Big government conniver
Wikipedia defines “rent seeking” as:
In economics, rent seeking occurs when an individual, organization or firm seeks to earn income by capturing economic rent through manipulation or exploitation of the economic or political environment, rather than by earning profits through economic transactions and the production of added wealth.
So, you tell me, if this company is “rent seeking”:
We access funding for international projects using government support from U.S., European, Asian, and Multilateral Developmental Institutions .
In other words, using political connections to profit, not adding wealth as a by product of their economic transactions.
Hold on… let’s add some more to this tale:
The original company was founded by Tim Bridgewater and Neil Bush to focus on business relationships between the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Today we have business relationships and a focus that has broadened to include Latin America, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.
Oh, a PRESIDENT’s son and BROTHER founded the firm. But it isn’t preying on political connections. Nope.
Who is the other founder? Tim Bridgewater. He is running for Senate in Utah.
He’s the candidate that reportedly dealt with the devil to gain a temporary lead in the delegate counts. What was the deal Tim? A cushy gig for Bennett’s son? Will Utah’s sophomoric media even ask?
If Utah jumps from Bennett to Bridgewater we probably won’t be changing much.
What a political class and state we have. The true conservative was ousted because she was a woman. The only conservative in the race is a lawyer (like we don’t have enough of them running around D.C.). And the front runner is a rent seeking DC insider that runs a business raking off a take from government financing of “green” investments outside the U.S.
Sigh… this would be funny if it weren’t so damn sad.
May 11th, 2010 at 5:29 am
Are you seeking a fairy godfather for your Senate seat? Why would the perfect candidate you seek want to be in the Senate anyway? Three days a week in Washington, three days in Utah, and one day on a plane. Unlimited abuse, unlimited need to solicit contributions, way limited ability to make anything happen, just a lever to stop things from happening. In a Groucho Marx parallel, you wouldn’t want to elect anyone who would want the job.
May 11th, 2010 at 6:55 am
That isn’t a bad analogy. You know I prefer to randomly select representatives.
Rent Seeking Tim claims “tea party” roots when he is really rent seeking Tim, making money off government influence.
I’m not looking for perfect, just not a hypocrite.
May 13th, 2010 at 12:03 am
Wow, this post about Tim is so offensive. The derogatory terms “conniver” and “rent seeker” really annoy me. Tim has created actual jobs in Utah. He has worked his way up from humble beginnings and physical labor jobs to become a successful multi millionaire businessman that understands economics, finance, currency, trade, and global markets. (we could a few more of those types in the Senate don’t you think) He started a charter school. He runs a venture capital firm that invests in start up companies. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he is not part of the Washington elite. He has volunteered his time to promote Republican ideals and candidates and in the process he made some connections and friends within the Republican party. So what, that makes him tainted? You make all kinds of wild speculations including a so called deal with the devil by Tim to get the Bennett votes at the convention. That is just plain rumor mongering.
It takes a lot of guts to run for office. I respect and admire Mike Lee, Tim Bridgewater, and Cherilyn Eager for putting themselves on the line to run for the Senate. I think it’s very exciting that Mike and Tim knocked Senator Bennett out at convention. So now we have two conservative Republicans in a primary and trash talking by the supporters of either candidate is not productive. Once one of them is elected then we have to hold their feet to the fire, pay attention to how they vote, and make sure they stick to their conservative principles. If they don’t, we field another candidate and try again. By the way, I noticed that you are no longer my facebook friend. So I guess you can say obnoxious things in a public forum but you don’t like being called out on it.
May 13th, 2010 at 7:15 am
I’m not saying Tim isn’t accomplished. Or a nice guy. He clearly is the first, and probably is the second based on reports I’ve had from people that know him.
As to the rumor about a “deal’. I said it was “reported” – it was. I then asked if the Utah media would investigate it’s details. Which i doubted. It was more negative about the press than Tim.
My point was that his core business exploits the federal government doing a role it has no business doing. It exploits it through political connections. It may not be illegal, but it is certainly engaged in activities I – and most conservatives – wouldn’t support.
I unfriended you on Facebook because you aren’t really a friend. You are a political acquaintance, who used the account to solely send me stuff on Tim. Since that serves no purpose now that I’ve decided to not vote for him, and because you were getting personal (as you are in this post), I saw no reason to continue the connection. Nothing personal. You are a nice person too. As am I. We just differ on what we value in candidates.
I stand by this post. It is correct. It may used charged terms, but has nothing factually incorrect, and it matches exactly my feelings on the nature of the business your candidate is involved with.
As to Mike Lee… couldn’t care less about him. I may vote for him by default, but he certainly isn’t my type of candidate. I simply investigated Tim first, because I was strongly considering him. I wish I hadn’t found something so inconsistent with conservative views in his day to day life.
The stakes are incredibly high in this election. I’m not interested in sending somebody claiming tea party sentiments that actually plays the government spending game in his business life.
May 13th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Republican doesn’t equal conservative. My vote is too valuable to believe what any candidate says, because, unfortunately, we have to assume they are lying. What I can do is determine and prioritize what I value in a candidate and then look at what they’ve done, who they associate with and yes, listen to “rumors” etc. It’s what we have to do as voters. Had America been this diligent in our last presidential election, we may have had a different and, IMHO, a better result from primaries to general.
May 13th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I assume many are lying, but not all. I do assume, however, that ALL will face pressures of mammoth levels to “go along”, “get along”, “cut a deal”. That’s why Bridgewater’s business strikes me so wrong. It smacks that “anything is okay if its legal” thinking that also makes me think he will give in to the Washington pressures. If you can rationalize that the Federal government should fund “green” investments, then anything seems fair game when in office.