GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- Organizers of an investment conference in the Cayman Islands have been forbidden from disclosing any details about a speech by former President George W. Bush in the offshore financial haven, an event spokesman said Thursday.
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.
"We've got a complete blackout on discussing the Bush details," Kneipp told The Associated Press.
In an exclusive interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, the former President George W. Bush spoke frankly about alcohol abuse and his decision to quit drinking.
The restrictions were imposed by the former president's staff, he said. Bush was scheduled to speak Thursday evening at The Ritz-Carlton on Grand Cayman Island.
"It's totally their decision," Kneipp said of the decision to close the event to the media.
According to the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit website, Bush was to "offer his thoughts on eight years in the Oval Office, the challenges facing our nation in the 21st century, the power of freedom, and the role of faith."
Members of the Bush family, including George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, are featured in a video presentation at the Republican National Convention.
Sponsors of the conference include KPMG, a company that provides tax advisory services, and Deutsche Bank. It costs $4,000 to attend and other speakers include billionaire Richard Branson.
Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com
Cayman Islands officials are proud of the British territory's role as an offshore finance center. But members of the U.S. Congress and advocates for changes in tax laws have accused corporations and wealthy individuals of using so-called financial havens to improperly avoid taxes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The princes of England had more honor than Dubya....him and his cushy job with the National Guard...went AWOL....and daddy covered it up for him.
Do the research. He truly is a gutless wonder.
Oh really, what branch did Obama serve in? And which Prince of England, Harry or William.
gutless yes....wonder...no.
Bush should have a 90% tax rate...no deductions...pay us back for some of the pain he's caused. Then let that idiot make all the speechs that those greedy low-lifes want.
Chit, that means Obama owes us 100% of his for the next 200 year than.
The pain Bush has caused to so many will never be paid in this world.
You have to "black out" or restrict journalism with an agenda to smear these days.
The liberal media doesn't simply report an event anymore, they use it to try and score political points.
The best thing to do is keep them out if you don't want them spinning the story.
Bush has done nothing wrong, but the attitude of this story is automatically negative.
The only liberal media is MSNBC. Other than that, most networks are fair. The thing is this: conservatives view facts as liberal. When you tell them what they want to hear, then they think it's balanced. You have to praise Hitler and the KKK before they recognize you as being on the far right fringe.
Both KKK and Hitler were on the far left fringe. Hiltler killed more than 4 million christian catholics, and KKK was founded by the democrats. Read about them.
Wow, are you ever CONFUSED about history. Try to learn to read the historic records of these folks.
Except Hollywood is part of the USA and a big source of jobs and revenue for America.
Funny how BhO doesn't get critized for no new conference on Bengazzi??? Hmmm!!!
It was a blackout due to the 1% ers. Hoping Americans are dumb enough to vote Romney in and they can hide their money taken from the middle class and invest it right there. 1/3 of the people are very dumb to vote against their family and own economic interests so clowns like this can laugh at them all the way to the bank !!!!
If i had to guess, Bush was meeting with investors to start making plans when we throw the socialist out of the WH and America can get back on track.
Yeah. That is exactly what he is doing. We would be on track to exactly what we had four years ago. Hallelujah.
As opposed to more people in poverty, on welfare and food stamps, higher unemployment and taxes under Obamy. Good point Buffaloe. Hallelujah for 4 more years of that.
Yea go to you local scholl board meeting where the member discuss who to hire, and negotiate the next big phat teacher's salary increase. Which is you the taxpayers money all in private. And all the liberal progressive Dumbocrats that live here in this once great state of NY don't have a problem with it.
First, "scholl board" meetings may be private, but I am unaware of any school boards that get to negotiate without public knowledge. Second if you think teachers get "phat" pay increases, you are living in a parallel universe.
buffalo - 17% pay increase for chicago union teachers during this economy is a "phat" pay increase indeed.
If AARP meets privately in Obama's office concerning our health coverage it's no problem to the liberal media.
Bush gives a speech in the Cayman Islands and he's not even the President anymore and it's big news.
I am fed up with the drive by media!
On your six bepatient!
Use a condom us.
Just 3 more days.
Let's not forget Willard and his 5 sons, never seen a day in a military uniform, and never will. The privileged Prince Harry and William have more honor than Willard and his 5 sons put together. Yea, I know they got cushy duty, but they suited up anyway.
And he wants to be commander in chief, where he will bow down to defense contractors and commit us to war.
I must have missed when Hussein enlisted. You're an imbecile
I wonder why Bush wanted it that way? Could it be because most of the corrupted politicians have accounts there? Bush must have the biggest account there; thanks to 911.
Reporters were restricted at George Clooney's fund raiser events for Obama,,,,,,no problem.
Are you so loony that you are comparing George Clooney to an ex-president? The former Chief of State is on an off-shore tax haven, advising rich people on how to avoid taxes. You think that is like a Hollywood actor raising money for an election? You have lost all sense of proportion and reality.
Buffoloes roam. Did you realise that monies banked off-shore are not immune to taxes? In fact all profits gained from those monies are subject to tax, any money gained anywhere in the world by a US subject is subject to US income tax!
So now tell me some more about rich people avoiding taxes!
Quite simply, US...they are not:
A tax haven is a state, country or territory where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all.[1] Individuals and/or corporate entities can find it attractive to establish shell subsidiaries or move themselves to areas with reduced or nil taxation levels. This creates a situation of tax competition among governments. Different jurisdictions tend to be havens for different types of taxes, and for different categories of people and/or companies.[2] States that are sovereign or self-governing under international law have theoretically unlimited powers to enact tax laws affecting their territories, unless limited by previous international treaties.
There are several definitions of tax havens. The Economist has tentatively adopted the description by Geoffrey Colin Powell (former economic adviser to Jersey): "What ... identifies an area as a tax haven is the existence of a composite tax structure established deliberately to take advantage of, and exploit, a worldwide demand for opportunities to engage in tax avoidance." The Economist points out that this definition would still exclude a number of jurisdictions traditionally thought of as tax havens.[3] Similarly, others have suggested that any country which modifies its tax laws to attract foreign capital could be considered a tax haven.[4]
According to other definitions,[5] the central feature of a haven is that its laws and other measures can be used to evade or avoid the tax laws or regulations of other jurisdictions. In its December 2008 report on the use of tax havens by American corporations,[6] the U.S. Government Accountability Office was unable to find a satisfactory definition of a tax haven but regarded the following characteristics as indicative of it:
BuffalosRoam
Did you notice that big follywood fundraiser the George threw for Hussein? Did yo also notice the 1/2 billion he got to take to Africa? Please, go stand in front of a Buffalo stampede
Wow...wikipedia heaven right there. How quaint.
He got a half billion to take to Africa? What the hell are you talking about? And BW...you are exactly right. Everyone knows there are tax havens. What do you think they send the money there for...a vacation? Denying that you can save taxes that way is like denying the world is round.
Bush is just volunteering to help Romney. Romney plans to move the White House to the Caymen Islands, so the he can connect a management fee/royalty each time the White House is mention in the news.
Everyone knows Bush was a terrible president. Everyone.
And EVERYONE knows obama IS a terrible president EVERYONE and after next week we will be saying that obama WAS a terrible president "WAS"
I love it! All the Lib/Dem/ Socialists are going: "Look over there, look over there! So they can take away from the cowardly, socialist we now have as the leader of our great country!"
Why was G.W. shut down? Who was behind it? I think I know but...I won't say!
So convenient he gets shut down!
Do the supporters of the Dems. don't think they have the backing of some major corps.? What about the backing of the unions who refused to allow non-union workers to help on Staten Island?
Oh yeah! I love the hypocritical libs. Ignore the disaster we have for a President, blame it on Bush! Four years of crap, no budget, drive towards socialism and the worst of all causing the death of four citizens with the stand-down order! In fact, is that not 2nd degree murder, or at least aiding and abetting!
Then put Willard in office, dummy! You and your children can work at Big Box Store for $8.00 an hour with a maximum of 30 hours a week, so the company doesn't have to offer health benefits. It's the trend of the future, though higher wages in China is helping to reverse the trend a bit. Willard sure doesn't get any credit, though.
Come on!!! You label all dems as bad, and all repubs as good. Grow up!!!
Fair is fair,I voted for Bush the second term. Only because he admitted he made some mistakes and he wanted to clean it up. I know he did not have help from his VP. So he was on his own. I also know that a lot did not get cleaned up and Obama had to do that. So give credit where credit is due. Knowing we had a largeclean up. I also know President Obama could not do it in four years. It take longer. I know Romney can not do it because of what he wants to do. We can not go backwards. Republicans put in place to make the President a bad person. Its like we mean nothing to them. They want him to go down as being a bad person. they also know if he gets four more years, things will be different and better for Americans. We need to wonder why the large storm we just had and why higher up had no choice but come together and get something done.
First of all, I don't appreciate your term "dummy". Secondly, I, and all of my family, have worked their asses off because we don't believe in hand-outs!
I am not stupid, as you seem to imply, not all Dems. are bad and not all Reps. are good!
What scares me is Obama's strong tendacy towards socialism! Can the Dems. stop, or at least, curtail or slow this trend down? Because we are on the wrong road!
Franky has no clue who Jeremiah Wright is, and says it matters none who Obama associated with his entire career. Because he can't destroy the country in 4 years. But let's give him 4 more to try...lmao...Franky....tssshhh.
What is the difference between Rev Wright and The Mormon church. Rev Wright went through a lot being a black man all coming from the hate of whites years ago. He will not forget what happened. The Mormon church have their own values and just started to let some blacks join. They have a lot of hate to get over. So I quest they are both the same except. The mormons do the hate crime and get away with it. and Rev Wright went through the hate.
BW. Give Franky a break! He is entitled to his opinion, if it differs from mine, so be it! I will not insult him just because I diagree with him, I will not lower myself to insulting terms like: "dummy", or "grow up"! It's so immature.
No more comment! :-)
openvisions, open your eyes. What is the difference? Since when has the Mormon Church preached for the downfall of all blacks, jews and America? What did Jeremiah Wright preach for? But that's ok because he is black? What hate do the mormons have? They travel the world and send missionaries to help all. How is that hate, and how does that correlate to just their own.
What would you call it when someone will not see what is right in front of them? And I don't appreciate your calling our President a "cowardly socialist", so that bat swings back & forth.
Secondly, Willard does not think you should get a handout either. Don't you recall he told you to ask your parents for the money to go to college, or start a business. And if he has his way in organizing America's future, he & his 5 princes, & the Bush princes (next up Jebbie, then George the 3rd) & the cheney princes & princesses will be supported by the tax money of their subjects just like Princes' William & Harry are.
Then America will have come full circle back to the church supported Kingdom our ancestors ran from. You know, when serfs were conned into believing certain people were born better than others even when they were NOT. So obviously the converse must be true-some folks are born inferior to me & I can rightously treat them that way.
Which are you? Inferior to me, or superior? God would say............
Bush is not helping Romney, maybe thats why nothing could be discussed. Makes you wonder why he is not taking and campaigning for Romney. Did we all forget what Republicans said about Romney the last time and this time when he was running. What a mess.
W's timing is impeccable, though. The weekend before the election and two days after a huge hurricane to remind all Americans why they don't want anyone from the GOP near the White House.
Nope, they just want them IN the White House.
We need another one just like Bush, and Nixon great profit to big business while the peaple suffer!!!!!
Thhe repubs historicallty fight minimum wage increases and unions. Oh, they are the party that will put a chicken in every pot, alright!!! The alternative is working at Dollar General, selling Chinese made goods, at $8.00 an hour and 30 hours maximum a week, so they don't have to pay any benefits.
Come on, neoconservatives are concentrating the wealth. It's statistical fact....look it up!!!
Ok franky...let's take California, 100% Liberal Democrat run, as an example of non-republican capabilities. Let's see, $18 Billion dollars in debt even though it is the #1 taxed state in the union, is underfunded by $114 Billion in the retirement benefits to state and county workers, has the worst funding for schools, state colleges, police forces, fire departments in the nation, allows 4.3 million illegal aliens into L.A alone and demands services to be provided to them- healthcare, housing allowances, additional 2nd language teachers for schools, schools period, food for their kids lunches, college tuition, GED's for the adults... The Mayor of L.A wants to hand out Photo IDs to all 4.3 million so they can have access to banks, schools, libraries.. The Police Chief states they will NOT follow Federal Law and turn over an illegal alien to ICE when an arrest is made and it is determined by checks (done on all arrested). The Governor says taxes MUST be raised for the schools, demands they be raised yet stumps for a $64 billion High Speed rail he and his cronies want built between LA and the central valley because they received $3 billion from Obama for "clean" energy. Somehow they have no money for schools, police, health-care, but they have $61 billion lying around to build a high speed rail to no where, and the money to support 4.3 million illegal aliens. I suppose you would consider that a typical Democrat success story...
On the plus side, California had a governor who's maid's son look exactly like his wife's son.
I'm sure Lewinsky could have had a Presidental looking son. If Obama had the balls to have a son, he may even have looked like him.
The scary thing is that McCain says it was a mistake to leave Iraq. He is a part of the U.S. Senate. Tell that to all the families, McCain, of Iraq/Aghan veterans who have committed suicide.
War mongering fool!!!
That was a true American Hero that fought for this country, was a POW for years, totured and almost died for this country. You are a weak ass pos. Guess who I'll listen to. You are literally disgusting.
Then McCain gave up his fellow soldiers to the enemy. Sang to the Cong like a caged bird.
He was a war hero. That doesn't mean he is right. I have a Bronze Star. I can't say it raised my IQ.
It obviously never did raise it Buffalo. Ricardo, I'd bet you'd piss your pants if someone said boo to you at dusk you candyass.
Hilarious, BW. How many medals did you get?
When I grew up I must honestly say I got very lucky if you consider not being shot at or imprisoned as a pow lucky. They ended the Vietnam war just as I had graduated from HS and taken my physical for the draft. My father and brother both served, my father was in WWII and brother in Nam, and what I can say is I appreciate anyone who served this country, I appreciated what my father and brother did for this country. Do I wish I had gone, no. Would I have gone, yes. Are all these wars right, I have no idea because I do not have the intelligence data the folks in DC have. But to call out a war hero who did what his country asked of him to me is disgusting. Maybe McCain has a ell of a lot more intelligence data to make the calls he made. But he sure has the resume as a man to listen to.
Well, BW, my Dad was a WW II vet, also. I must be older than you. I love McCain...especially when he is being his own man. But I just don't equate my service (or anyone's) with diplomatic knowledge. I hadn't a clue about the reasons behind the Nam when I fought there.
It matters not that the Camen Islands are British lands. The rich mogals around the world have havens where they protect their money in secrecy and pay little or no taxes on it. Working people, peons, and the poor are their pawns to play with as they gather their riches. Secrecy is their motto. Money is their motivation and power is their manifest right.
Cayman.
Should all of the ignorant voters who are about to go for Romney realize their motions are senseless...they are voting for rich guys who are only in politics for personal control and the quest for wealth. They love wars for they end up with contracts and more money in their bank accounts. The foolish people lose their sons and daughters but hey ! they voted republican ! and they feel good about it. Ignorance is NEVER, EVER a blessing but certainly a curse. Nothing replaces education and information.
I know lots of educated, well informed people who are functionally illiterate and need written directions to tie their shoes. I choose wisdom and common sense over biased education and faulty information any day. Maybe those who support Romney actually vote with their brains, not their treacherous hearts or "other" parts.
I can guarantee I have far more education than you in not just degrees, but experience. You know that thing most liberals lack considerably. Liberals seem to think books make them smart. It is not books, it is experience. Obama lacks experience in anything. Therefore, as an educated person with decades of experience, I see Romney as the obvious logical choice. Any other worthless drivel you want to spew alumette?
Blackout ? a blessing...keep that fool in the dark. He likely staged it. He had nothing to say..." Gees I made so much money after these wars I started "....never mind I killed thousands of people....it's all collateral damage....yeah...collateral. Yeah...that's what it was......not my fault......Dick and my daddy told me how to do it.....I just did what they wanted me to.......
Why is Bush even allowed to walk this planet as a free man..a stupid ignorant criminal should be in jail along with Cheney...
Why are you, you are obviously worthless.
WHAT PERFECT TIMING for a secret meeting of the rich off-shore account experts in the Caymans. All of the crappy things stated here about W. .....ARE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! From revoking W's passport, thru W's business failures, all the way back to his not-actually-there Texas National Guard stint. NOTE THAT Jebbie has the same kind of big money schemes well underway.
WHAT PERFECT TIMING for a secret meeting of the rich off-shore account experts in the Caymans. All of the crappy things stated here about W. .....ARE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! From revoking W's passport, thru W's business failures, all the way back to his not-actually-there Texas National Guard stint. NOTE THAT Jebbie has the same kind of big money schemes well underway.