World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has apologised for “mistakes” made over the promotion and pay of a ex-colleague with whom he is romantically involved.
Mr Wolfowitz’s partner, Shaha Riza, was moved to the State Department when he took the Bank’s top job in 2005.
But the bank’s staff association says she then received pay rises and promotions which were “grossly out of line” with the Bank’s staff rules.
When Mr Wolfowitz took over at the Bank in mid-2005, Ms Riza – then a Bank employee for eight years – was transferred to work for the US State Department, to avoid any conflict of interest.
But rapid rises in her tax-free World Bank salary to about $193,000 – more than the $186,000 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice receives before tax – have aroused ire among other Bank employees.
Is anyone surprised when a political hack says he’s “fiercely anti-corruption” – then turns up playing the same old greed games, after all?
That is a perfectly acceptable Ferengi business practice.
These thugs are nothing if not consistent.
He’s such a typical conservative — If you want to know what corrupt or freaky think they’re secretly into, just listen to what they campaign against.
WHAT!!!
A corrupt govt official?
wow, imagine that…
3. Greg, can you elaoborate just a little, I would really like to know.
1, mxpwr03, cool.
He wouldn’t make a good Ferengi. According to the Rules of Acquisition:
He kept two:
27 There is nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman.
189 Let others keep their reputation. You keep their latinum.
He broke two:
94 Females and finances don’t mix.
229 Latinum lasts longer than lust.
No ‘Grand Nagus’ he. 🙂
I see you know your Rules. Most impressive.
In regards to #27 – Wouldn’t this move qualify as a dishonest businessman? Judging from the comments, I think they would agree.
#189 – You probably have a case there.
#94 – The subjugation of woman, which is embodied in the Rules, is something that I have issues with. It must be a primitive hu-man trait.
#229 – Yes, but I take that one as more of a guideline.
I LIKE this staement…which no one has posted…
Quote:
tax-free World Bank salary .
End quote:
Add at LEAST 1/3 to that wage.
7, mxpwr03, I stand (looking like Quark) corrected. Thanks 🙂
Regards the 27. There is nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman: New rule: In world affairs, there is no such thing as an honest businessman. [ The unwritten rule – When no appropriate rule applies, make one up. ]
He did manage to keep this one —
19. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
Perhaps Wolfowitz is Ferengi…
Just another case of a man thinking with his penis.
Just another neo-con thief. Wolfowitz studied under Leo Strauss at Chicago, who took Machiavelli a step further and advocated lying to the public since explaining nuance would be a waste of time and effort. The neo-cons took that into full-fledged corruption, as their record shows. And attracted closeted people of all stripe (how many closets do the right-wing moralists have? who can count that high?).
As it said in a long, mostly complimentary piece in The New Yorker (http://tinyurl.com/2o85tg ) there has been a perception at the World Bank that Wolfowitz’s real agenda remains hidden. In his circles, that truly would be par for the course, and raises for the girlfriend wouldn’t rate a second thought.
I just found the Wonkette headline on the story: “Wolfowitz Corrupt, Incompetent, In No Danger of Losing His Job”
Heh. http://tinyurl.com/35jchs
I have to start having sex with my superiors more often.
To think… I found out my peer, who did the same amount of work as I, was being paid 60% more than I was — so I asked for a raise from the YMCA of St. Paul/Minneapolis, and subsequently got fired. Unfortunately, at the time, I was being reviewed by the CFO/interrim-CIO (the CFO holds the keys to the bank, and I was inadvertently put under his supervision in a computer position) of the “Corporate Non-profit”. Does anybody see a conflict of interest in having a CFO do ANY reviews leading to a raise? Isn’t that like having bankers personally determine their interest rates?
Let’s reflect on the Non-profit, YMCA, for a moment. We’re talking about an organization that promotes the Core Values of: Caring, Responsibility, Honesty, and Respect. Yet, they didn’t Care about me (my own improvements to their computer network paid nearly 2x my salary). They were utterly IRResponsible with donor money ($1.6 MILLION dollars for TWO OUTDOOR POOLS in Minneapolis/St. Paul, habla WINTER; st00pid or what?). They refused to HONESTLY accept my proof of considerably low compensation by their own standards. Ultimately, they crapped me out with utter DISRespect.
So, as a citizen, should I be worried about the “$186,000 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice” (before tax) — NO, FUCK NO!!!! That’s $186,000 of OUR (your and my) TAX MONEY!!! Why do government employees even HAVE to pay income tax? I mean, hell, isn’t that like pumping oil from the ground, then putting a little of it back?
In conclusion: SPREAD THE WORD: THE SYSTEM IS FAILING.
10. Angel H. Wong. Just another case of a man thinking with his penis.
NO, the man already his grip steadily on the throats of everyone in the world. He doesn’t need one of those anymore.
#14
Maybe he’s one of those super powerful businessmen who hide a dominatrix when no one is watching him 😉
This is terrible. He was actually moving hard on the anti-corruption angle. He had shut down all sorts of funding, and some of those officials would have been going to jail. It would be terrible if all that stopped because he did this.
#16. I find myself in the position of saying, “The alleged malfeasance of a Bushie is not as bad as it is being portrayed.”
That is new for me.
The IHT story (linked to on this blog) notes that Wolfie repeatedly tried to recuse himself from WB matters involving his girlfriend, but the ethics czar at the WB didn’t let him. I think it could be fairly said that the message the WB were sending was that this was OK, so he went from there.
That being said, I think it is generally an atrocious idea for a big boss to be involved with anyone in his organization. The perception of favoritism is unavoidable and is a morale-killer.