Thursday, August 11, 2005

More on the Stones Tour

Think this is getting icky yet? This is going to be a bit more interesting than I thought. A former Democrat-turned-major-Bush-fundraiser is the CEO of the company, Ameriquest, that is sponsoring the Stones tour...you know, the one supporting the album with Sweet Neo Con on it, about the Bush administration?

I may have to give Mick and the boys more credit than I originally thought. This is a level of irony I neveer imagined they were capable of. Talking about biting the hand that feeds you...

From the New York Daily News:

New Stones tune may have
honcho turning a deaf ear

President Bush's controversial nominee for ambassador to the Netherlands, Ameriquest Capital founder Roland Arnall, might be regretting his company's high-profile sponsorship of the Rolling Stones' U.S. concert tour.

Arnall's mortgage company is spending millions of dollars to tout the Stones tour and Ameriquest's sweepstakes for travel, lodging and concert seats - never mind that Mick Jagger is releasing a tune apparently attacking Arnall's patrons in the Bush administration.

The lyrics of "Sweet Neo Con" include such broadsides as: "Democracy's our style/ Unless you are against us/ Then it's prison without trial./ But one thing that is certain/ Life is good at Halliburton."

The billionaire mortgage mogul - a former bigtime Democratic donor who, with wife Dawn, changed parties and has raised and given more than $12 million to Bush - is already coping with enough trouble. He's facing Senate scrutiny over Ameriquest's allegedly deceptive sales tactics to low-income, credit-risky customers, and trying to settle lawsuits in 30 states for more than $300 million.

A Democratic Senate aide gloated yesterday: "The same day the White House announced billionaire Arnall's nomination, his company announced it would set aside millions to settle with 30 states for predatory lending. Either this was the Bernie Kerik vetting team or Bush's 'ownership society' run amok. Either way, it shows how this President will do anything to put his corrupt friends in high places."

The aide added: "The one redeeming factor in this whole mess is that Arnall will be paying for 10 lucky winners to hear Jagger sing 'Sweet Neo Con' in person."