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George Bush entered the White House after one of the closest and most contested elections in U.S. history. Since taking office, the two-term president has served during some of the nation's most turbulent times. Take a look at the pivotal images from George Bush's presidency.
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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Leave a Comment:
What could he say: "My black disciple (in another party) will carry on with a total of eight years (four more) of what I started?"
After all, that might let the "true believers" think there wasn't any difference between the Republicans and Democrats! But, of course, we all know there is... a difference that is (at least a difference in name).
Uh, Oh...wait till Chris Whatsisface finds out.....Hurricane Sandy is BUSH'S FAULT....HE WAS THERE AT THE START!!!!!
A real man isn't afraid to let people hear what he might have to say. This is just more of the underhanded crap that marked the Bush presidency. Cockroaches flee the light.
I agree 1533412. You only stay in the dark when you have something to hide..
People are paying $4,000 to hear what the speakers have to say. Come on, they've got to keep it sort of exclusive...
George W. Bush speaks at Cayman Islands sponsored by a German Bank Deutsche. George's grandfather was Prescott Bush a federal government official in charge of coordination and assistance to major weapons contractors and a director of Union Bank (a German Bank) that was sized by FBI at the begining of WW11 because of deling with Adolf Hitler. I guess the nut doesn't fall far from the tree..
You figure it out..
World War Eleven?
Yes, did you miss that one too?? Hello, is anyone home??
It seems that Bush is not to be mentioned, as If his 2 terms as president never happened, as a "dream sequence in a movie".
Hussein can't mention him, don't have him speak at the repub convention, keep details of his speeches secret and then you ask why Hussein became president!
Hussein has failed, but Romney, as a bush clone is no solution!
Who do we choose??
Hussein? Didn't they find him in a rathole in Iraq, then try and execute him?
Of course, they never did find the WMD.
Romney, Bush and the rest of the CAVEMEN want justice, but it's really JUST-US for the elite and justice to throw our dumba$$es in jail for making noise and getting in the way.
These idiots are seeking wise words from bush? Thats almost like asking palin for lessons in geography. No wonder the gop is floundering in its own muck and mire.
Willard, future ex-candidate for President, will have his chance to address next year's Cayman Alternative Investment conference. He can offer fellow multimillionaires tax avoidance tips that have benefited him.
Gotta love it, even George Bush does not care for Romney.
Way to go Mr.President, put the spotlight back on the Caymans 4 days before the election.
Yes folks, this is what Mitt Romney is all about - secrecy and big money.
To top it off, UAW files charges against Mitt Romney today:
For Mitt Romney, it's one scary Halloween. The Presidential candidate has just learned that tomorrow afternoon he will charged with violating the federal Ethics in Government law by improperly concealing his multi-million dollar windfall from the auto industry bail-out.
At a press conference in Toledo, Bob King, President of the United Automobile Workers, will announce that his union and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have filed a formal complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics in Washington stating that Gov. Romney improperly hid a profit of $15.3 million to $115.0 million in Ann Romney's so-called "blind" trust.
The union chief says, "The American people have a right to know about Gov. Romney’s potential conflicts of interest, such as the profits his family made from the auto rescue,” “It’s time for Gov. Romney to disclose or divest.” current.com/community/93948391_uaw-files-charges-against-romney-on-his-auto-bail-out-profiteering.htm
dear marginalized: Ok this is a new one. Will this be on Faux News?
Faux news will call it a left wing communist plot - Mr. Paragon of Virtue can do no wrong.
Fortunately at least 50% of the American public can see Romney for the fraud he is.
It's kind of late to comment but I just had a chance to look at the article. My first and last impression is "So What?". This is nothing more than last minute politiking by desperate union officials who want to retain their power with a pro union president. This is about as newsworthy as me reporting that Marginalized is a tax cheat and j.d a serial adulterer. Come on guys. Let's try to deal with fact not rumor.
Funny how even Bush is so ashamed of himself that he doesn't want the world to hear what he has to say.
No, only those who pay to hear his "wisdom."
Let me understand this right. Bush & wisdom???
Bush Derangement Syndrome is real and is the #1 indicator of one being a mindless liberal idiot.
I know this article is on NBC news because they're deranged leftists who see boogymen everywhere. Ooh! Scary GW Bush... Run and hide, then cry like bitches!!!
Stupid liberals.
I guess it take a highly intelligent being to recognize stupidity? Or in simpler
terms "it takes one to know one"
So Sammy Johns you think baby bush was a "good" president?
lets keep bush name out of the public! Hussein should not mention his name and now I see why all the fuss was given to Hussein when he talked about the so called "Bush's Fault" comments! I would not want to remember those 8 years either.
The only way Hussein became president, was due to Bush failures and McCain suffered for it!
The question is where is Mittens ? These are his people ,the off shore bank account billion and multi millionaires ! The great gathering of Tax evaders ! His type of people ,the great destroyers of the middle class ! Yes sir Mitt Romneys people, the wealthy and corporations !
coming out today is the newstory concerning the ethics violation and complaints of disclosure from several organizations concerning mitt romney's failure to disclose over 15 million dollars he made from delphi when the auto-bailout happened google it or just wait till later in any case delphi took millions from the us govt. in bailout money,fired 25,000 people from the u.s. then moved their jobs to mexico and china, they now employ 25,000 people outside the u.s. when the recession happened delphi shares went down to .69 cents after the bailout the stocks jumped to 30 dollars, romney made a killing,somewhere between 15 million and 115 million-he hid this money in a blind trust under ann romney's name-he is supposed to show that when he becomes a presidential candidate-it's the law-how any one could want this guy to run the country is crazy
Yeah,... we know the upper levels of the 1% hide their monies in highly secretive offshore tax havens...
I'm thinking that maybe,... just maybe,.. some rather clever soul, will get a video device into the proceedings...
Kind of makes you wonder what he possibly could have said that would be so injurious to our rich Republican rulers.
Only thing I could think of is that somehow he knows how much loot Willard is stashing over there and since they know Georgie is kind of brain dead and might leak it they decided to err on the side of keeping the American public as ignorant as possible about what they're doing.
To think that a former president of the United States would stoop to giving an address to a select group of diverse, but wealthy individuals under the cloak of secrecy is just stunning. Such an activity exhibits contempt for Americans and the notion of equality. I'm sure someone will come up with a similar event with a past democratic president, but you just have to hand it to the Republican mindset to always generate the appearance of guilt and impropriety. Good timing, I might add.
Hey, it happens all the time. After he left office, Reagan was a prolific speaker, often commanding more than $100,000 per speech. His highest-paid gig was to a Japanese business gathering in 1989, where he earned a cool $2 million.
I personally want the opportunity to make it big without knowing that if I do someone takes it from me. Lower the taxes here and quit spending on losing propositions!
This secretive money handling advice doesn't look too good for the Republicans and their ilk.
fly,
The secretive Benghazi handling doesn't look too good for the DEMOCRATS and their ilk!!
FOX News Channel will keep Benghazi front and center, at least until Election Day.
@Bernie
The Benghazi tragedy is only secretive to the those who worship personal ignorance. Individual diligence into reading a variety of stories points to nothing secretive, nothing covered up and some confusion about events which need time for investigation. Even Condoleezza Rice, who sat in the office you critique, agreed that the "fog of war" makes it difficult to assess the facts at this time ( http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-condoleezza-rice-libya-obama-20121025,0,4555322.story ).
Get a grip, Bernie, and read some non-hard-right news once in a while.
I am surprised they thought a black out was necessary. Who else would be paying attention anyway. I like him personally but even his most ardent political supporters merely claim that the bad stuff that happened on his watch was not his fault. Not that he was responsible for any good stuff.
Tax havens can be circumvented by taxing all business, FLAT TAX before it ever comes or goes from US territories. People will support flat tax if it is fair. Those that don't want the US market can go find some other consumers who pay higher prices for same products. The laws of international commerce are being broken by the Cayman Islands and it needs to go before UN for application of sanctions on banks there. P.S. Secrecy is a sure sign of hiding something. Who do they think they are? Illuminati?
Common this is a good old boy meetin..Where the Rich and A Moral can learn from other rich and amoral how to hide there assets from taxation by the U.S. of A...so the middle class can bear the brunt of Americas exspenditures...Thats right...The Caymens is th land off shore accounts..It aint Swisseralnd anymore no no no it's the Caymens....Just aske CARL ROVE his entire America Crossroads opperation is headquartered in the Caymens so they dont have to disclose who there Political Contributions come from....What vile B.S. is being hasked out by Baby Bush and his merry band of kill the American Dream ...Brothers...There sick but ya know what..Loyal GOP voters keep ..The corrupt in power...they vote Party line outta habit rather than any kinda rational thinking...It's like Religion ... There Baptist because there parents were Baptist and there Grand parents were Baptist...Most Voters vote the way there parents do or did...It's like a habit..They defend the RIch and Powerful that are out to get them..Because of some kinda loyalty to there Party of there Parents..It's sick and distrubing because Politics is a ever changing thing..The Parties of TODAY are not the same parties your Parents and certainly not your Grandparents voted for...No way shape or form..
The Bushe's can afford to be the SAME..There Swimming in Money..But the rest oif us have to WAKE UP and see that these very same men..That are meeting in the Caymens are out to Destroy the American Dream for 85% of Middle Class Americans...the tail tell sign here the truth to there LIE.....JUST TAKE A LOOK A WHERE THEY ARE.......THE CAYMENS......The rest is just fluff...
I understand there's also a blackout and reporters are being forbidden to ask Obama about Benghazi.
You can get Benghazi overload by watching FOX News Channel...
So if the "liberal media" is to blame for a cover up in Benghazei, who is responsible for the cover-up for the 268 Marines killed in Beirut while they were sleeping under the Reagan Command. Or how come the investigation into lapses of security during 9/11 just sorta faded away under the Bush Command? If Swiss bank accounts can be questioned why not Cayman accounts? I don't care if your Republican or Dem on this one. Secrecy always makes things more questionable.
A lot of the stuff our State and Defense Departments do is classified. They're keeping information from our enemies, as well as the public.
More like how close they brought the US to economic collapse for the new world order, currency one world UN government and slave labor under martial law.
President Obie DOES have a Cayman Asset from his Illinois Retirement. So, what's all this about rocks and glass houses >>>> and He will have more when he leaves office (I hope very soon) and collects what George Soros has promised to pay him for all the dirty work.