Request for Question Clarification by
politicalguru-ga
on
05 Nov 2005 06:48 PST
Dear Ron,
I've spent all day on the subject and came out with very little.
Schwarzenegger is very reluctant to have his finance examined and to
reveal all of his transactions and business dealings, and his finances
were not at the centre of attention before he became politically
involved. Nigel Andrews tells us at the beginning of his
Schwarzenegger biography (_True Myths: the Life and Times of Arnold
Schwarzenegger_, Backwell 2004) that he got lots of refusals from
Hollywood personalities (9 out of 10 requests), because the biogrpahy
was nto authorised, and it doesn't matter that at the end, Andrews has
written an extra-sympathetic biography. No trash there (and I've read
his passages about Schwarzenegger's business dealings, but except for
few anecdotes, there's nothing there).
I've gathered the following, but I think that only a couple of
paragraphs answer your question directly (regarding tax issues), and
the rest are speculations that might indicate something about the way
he's doing business, but not tell us anything:
There are several points of critique regarding Arnold Schwarzenegger?s
business dealings. The most recent critique, since his election as the
Governor of California, is regarding conflict of interests. This has
to do mostly with his involvement with the nutritional supplement
industry and the consumer food industry.
Conflict of Interests
=====================
Regarding the nutritional supplement section, Peter Byrne reveals that
the Governor has blocked propositions to limit its sales to minors:
?The governor goes girlie man when it comes to clamping down on
teenage dietary supplement abuse? [?]IN LATE September?in what appears
to be a conflict of interest?Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill
that could have affected his personal finances. [?]According to
Schwarzenegger's Statement of Economic Interests, he had extensive
financial ties to the PEDS industry when he assumed office in November
2003. [?]According to his disclosure statement, Schwarzenegger earned
"more than $100,000" last year from Classic Productions Inc., based in
Worthington, Ohio. Using the trade name Schwarzenegger-Lorimer
Productions, Classic Productions is producing a fitness expo in
Columbus known as the Arnold Classic in March.? (SOURCE: Peter Byrne,
?Pumping Poison?, Metro Active, November 17th, 2004,
<http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/11.17.04/arnold-0447.html>)
Similar problems are with his dealings with ?Red Bull? and the
proposition to limit the sales of ?junk food? in schools. ?A new
conflict of interest test now looms for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
who flunked his first one when he followed the terms of a
now-cancelled contract with two muscle magazines by vetoing a 2004
bill that aimed to restrict use of anabolic steroids by high school
athletes. This time Schwarzenegger has vocally backed a measure that
could adversely affect another of his former financial benefactors:
the Red Bull energy drink. Involved is the so-called "Healthy Schools
Now Act," aiming to ban sales of junk food and highly sugared drinks -
including Red Bull - from high schools (selling them already is
verboten on elementary and middle school campuses).? (SOURCE: Tom
Elias, ?Red Bull Gives Governor Test?, Sierra Star, August 2, 2005,
<http://www.sierrastar.com/columnists/telias/story/11017129p-11778574c.html>).
And finally, read also :
Don Thompson, ?Governor cuts business ties with bodybuilding's Arnold
Classic?, NC Times, July 23, 2005,
<http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/07/24/news/state/15_08_527_23_05.txt>
Schwarzenegger's $8 Million Conflict of Interest
http://www.ctj.org/blog/2005/07/schwarzeneggers-8-million-conflict-of.html
From the California Democratic Party website:
Arnold Said He Was "Beholden to NO ONE"
< http://www.cadem.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=jrLZK2PyHmF&b=983389&ct=1321199>
Arnold Plays Coy With His Tax Returns
< http://www.cadem.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=jrLZK2PyHmF&b=983389&ct=1469395>
Harrison Sheppard and David M. Drucker , Governor's finances remain a
closed book for now, daily Bulletin, August 6, 2005, <
http://www.dailybulletin.com/>
Conflict of Interests and Contribution Problems before Elections
================================================================
However, before he got elected, ?The Foundation for Taxpayer and
Consumer Rights? has also claimed that before the elections,
Schwarzenegger met with top Enron executives:
?Internal Enron e-mails confirm that Arnold Schwarzenegger was among a
small group of executives who met with Lay at the posh Peninsula
Beverly Hills hotel in May of 2001, in the midst of California's
energy crisis. View the e-mails. The Foundation for Taxpayer and
Consumer Rights, which obtained the e-mails, is calling on
Schwarzenegger to acknowledge the meetings and disclose the
information that was presented and discussed. The meeting with Enron
occurred ten days after rolling blackouts darkened California for two
consecutive days; Schwarzenegger has previously said that he does not
remember such a meeting.?
(SOURCE: Cached version of the FTCR press release, on their site:
http://66.249.93.104/u/FTCR?q=cache:4PZwV2LyAHMJ:www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr003708.php3+enron&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
).
See also:
Carla Marinucci, John Wildermuth, ?Governor didn't report $250,000 contribution
Critics say silence may have violated state ethics laws?, San
Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 2005, <
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/08/13/BAGOHE7IPQ1.DTL>
Claims Regarding Tax Evasion
============================
Schwarzenegger?s candidacy and campaign brought up some information
regarding his business dealings before the elections, which indicated
some irregularities in his business dealings. Associated Press
reported on October 2003 that ?Schwarzenegger avoided $800,000 in
sales taxes in 1990 jet deal?: ?Although proud of the millions of
dollars he's paid in taxes, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger avoided
paying nearly $800,000 in state sales taxes in 1990 in a complex
transaction with the producers of the Terminator movies that provided
the actor with a $12 million jet. [?]While Schwarzenegger's purchase
of the Gulfstream III appears to have broken no tax laws, the
transaction shows some of the actor's complicated business dealings
and how he accumulated his personal fortune estimated at over $800
million. According to records from the Federal Aviation
Administration, the corporate jet was owned by a company organized by
Kassar and Vajna and incorporated in Reno, Nev. At the time,
Schwarzenegger was finishing up his role in the producers' new action
firm, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." The company that owned the plane,
G-3 Charter Corp., had no other assets except the jet, according to
records of the sale. But instead of just buying the plane -- which
would have triggered a sales tax of between $765,000 and $796,000 --
Schwarzenegger purchased the stock of the company and assumed
ownership.
(SOURCE: Tom Chorneau and Don Thompson, ?Schwarzenegger avoided
$800,000 in sales taxes in 1990 jet deal?, Associated Press, October
1, 2003, as quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle, on the SFGate site,
< http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/01/state2115EDT0179.DTL>
).
?Playing with Money?
====================
Schwarzenegger has allegedly been playing some tricks with his money,
for example, in his campaign finance : ?using a $4.5-million bank loan
to help finance his campaign [?] Superior Court Judge Loren E.
McMaster, saying that such loans could open the way for money
laundering of campaign donations, ordered Schwarzenegger to cease
raising money to retire the debt, and not use money he has already
raised to repay the loan. In a preliminary injunction, McMaster
ordered that the governor place any contributions he has raised to
repay the loan in an escrow account "so that they may be returned
should that relief ultimately be ordered in this proceeding." (SOURCE:
Dan Morain, ?Gov.'s Loan for Recall Ruled Illegal?, The Los Angeles
Times, Jan 27, 2004,
<http://www.arnoldwatch.org/articles/articles_000165.php3>
(ArnoldWatch is a site monitoring Schwarzenegger:
http://www.arnoldwatch.org).
I know that's not much. If you'd like to, I can inform other
Researchers, that the stage is free, after I've thrown the towel.
