As published in the

Pasadena Star-News - December 4, 2003

San Gabriel Valley Tribune - December 4, 2003

Whittier Daily News - December 4, 2003

Ever heard of Neil Bush?

by

Gerald Plessner

Ever heard of Neil Bush? No? Well, that's not surprising. Know anything about the 1988 Silverado Savings and Loan failure in Colorado that cost taxpayers at least $1.3 billion? Never heard of it? Maybe you are too young to remember, or as a fan of the Bush family, you would rather forget.

Neil Bush is the almost invisible younger son of George and Barbara Bush. He's the black sheep of the family, the one who missed being indicted for his role in Silverado by the length of his father's presidential coat tails.

But Neil has once again come to public attention for his role in helping Chinese corporations increase exports to the United States, all for an annual fee of $400,000. This at a time when his brother's administration is trying to achieve just the opposite.

I was not surprised by Neil's absence from the Bush inauguration or his non-appearance in any photograph with his presidential brother, who was photographed with his folks and his other brother Jeb.

Not all the Bush boys grow up to be governor or president. Here's why. Neil Bush was a member of the Silverado Savings and Loan board in Colorado from 1985 to August 1988. According to Denver Post financial reporter Steven Wilmsen, Neil resigned just ahead of the regulators, saying he did not want them to be constrained by his presence on the board. "The truth of the matter", Wilmsen wrote, "was that Neil already was under investigation by the regulators."

Neil Bush failed to disclose to his fellow board members his financial involvement in loans he brought to the institution. Three of his friends made millions by trading parcels of land with Silverado and other savings and loans. They created wealth where none had existed, inflating two parcels' value by a $3.2 million profit in six months.

But the regulators were called off when someone in the Reagan administration stopped Federal Home Loan Bank officials from closing Silverado before the 1988 election, depriving Michael Dukakis of a volatile campaign issue and guaranteeing that George H. W. Bush would become president. Two years later, his son was fined $50,000 and banned from banking activities for life.

According to Louis Dubose writing in the Austin, Texas Chronicle, a Republican fund raiser soon set up a fund to help Neil defer the costs of his prosecution and fine.

Neil Bush did appear in the press in February 2002 when Newsweek's Michael Isikoff reported that he was in Jidda, Saudia Arabia, raising capital for "a new educational software firm that could benefit enormously from the new $26.5 billion education bill signed by president George W. Bush. Called Ignite!, the firm had raised $18 million in venture capital from Japan, Taiwan and the Middle East.

In October 2002 Neil was in Florida talking to state education officials about their possible promotion of this new product. Although the product gets high marks from its few competitors, the chance to sell it first to Florida must have seemed too good to pass up.

Neil Bush has made a number of trips to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with his father, brother Marvin, who also raises venture capital, and members of the first Bush administration. Like his father, he has a number of interesting connections in the Middle East, where the elder Bush is a hero for his leadership in saving Kuwait from Saddam Hussein.
The Bush family is unique in American politics for making money as a result of their fame and connections. Although Neil Bush has gotten into more trouble than any of the others, they seem to have a special talent for turning public service into personal profit.

But Neil Bush's most recent appearance in the press is just as interesting as his business deals, if a bit confusing. The Houston Chronicle has reported that, "President Bush's brother Neil provided a tissue sample . . . that will be used to determine whether he fathered a child by his girlfriend while she was still married to another man."

It seems that the former husband of his girlfriend is suing Neil's ex-wife, Sharon Bush for $850,000 alleging she defamed him(the girlfriend's former husband) by suggesting in conversations with reporters and others that Neil Bush fathered the child, a boy.

Sharon Bush asked the judge to order testing of Neil Bush, the former husband and the child. Neil's girlfriend says that her relationship with Neil began after the boy was born.

Why is it that stories about almost anything costing taxpayers $1.3 billion always end up being about sex?

About the author: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.