Originally Written in
April 2014
Edited on January 9th and June 10th, 2016
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Mortgage Industry Bailouts: Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac
3. The Banking and Financial Services
Industry Bailouts:
Citigroup,
and A.I.G. (and T.A.R.P.)
4. The Automotive Industry Bailouts:
Chrysler, General Motors, and G.M.A.C.
5. Spencer Stuart's Relationship with Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae
6. Spencer Stuart's Relationship with
Citigroup, A.I.G., and the Treasury
7. Spencer Stuart's Relationship with
Chrysler, General Motors, and G.M.A.C.
8. The Rise of Spencer Stuart
9. “Meritocracy”?
10. Politicization and Corruption at Spencer
Stuart?
11. Criticism by Former Employees
12. Summary of Complaints Against Spencer
Stuart
13. Did the Seven Major Bailed-Out Firms Make
the Money Back?
14. What Other Questions Should We Be Asking?
Content
1. Introduction
In 2009,
Spencer Stuart, Inc., a privately owned executive search consulting firm,1
conducted what the Wall Street Journal called the “Lion's Share of Headhunting
for Bailed-Out Firms”,2 reshaping “the boards of seven big U.S.
businesses that accepted significant federal bailouts”.2
Spencer
Stuart's bailout clientele included seven companies, representing each
of the industries that were bailed-out by the federal government under the
George W. Bush Administration in 2008; mortgage, banking, and automotive. Yet
astonishingly, few Americans have ever heard of the company or its involvement in
the 2008-2009 restructuring, which began under Bush, but was supervised by the
administration of Barack Obama.
Spencer
Stuart was founded in 1956 and based in Chicago, Illinois.1 Its
office on Park Avenue in New York City sits in a building which also houses
JPMorgan Chase offices. Spencer Stuart has 331 consultants worldwide (174
inside the United States), 54 offices worldwide (24 in the United States), and
over 2,000 client companies.3 Spencer Stuart's managing director is
Kevin Connelly,4 and its chairman and head of operations in the
United States is Thomas Neff.5
According
to its website,1 Spencer Stuart's offered services include
senior-level executive search and assessment services, board director
appointment services, strategic leadership services, board services, and
various chief executive offer succession services. It serves “entrepreneurial
businesses, private equity firms, family-owned companies, and nonprofit
organizations”, operating in a variety of industries, including “business and
professional services”, “consumer goods and services, education, nonprofit”, “industrial,
life sciences”, “technology, and communications and media”.1
Spencer
Stuart's clientele includes Yahoo,6 Boeing,2 and Morgan
Stanley.2 The “only major executive search firm with a specialized
practice dedicated to recruiting global agriculture leaders”, the firm conducts
and published interviews with executives working for agro-industrial companies
like Monsanto and Cargill.7 Additionally, Spencer Stuart's
clients include multinational corporations, and it operates in the industries
of government, financial services, private equity, and clean technology.1
In 2009,
Spencer Stuart conducted executive searches for seven firms that accepted
bailouts: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in the mortgage industry; Citigroup and
A.I.G. in the banking and financial services industry; and Chrysler, General
Motors, and G.M.A.C. in the auto industry. On August 6th, 2009,
the Wall Street Journal reported that earlier in that week. Spencer Stuart had
handled the search for a chief executive for A.I.G., then “the latest
high-profile crisis-manager placement”;1 A.I.G. tapped Robert
Benmosche as its chief as Spencer Stuart recommended.
The
Journal also reported that in the spring of 2009, Spencer Stuart helped A.I.G.
find six additional directors; “matched up General Motors Co.” … “with Edward
E. Whitacre Jr.”; “recruited C. Robert Kidder to become chairman of Chrysler
Group LLC”2. Additionally, Spencer Stuart has helped “reshape the
board of” … “Citigroup, Inc.,” … “Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, GM and GMAC Inc.”.2
Before
proceeding further, some background on the bailouts and restructuring is
necessary.
2. The Mortgage Industry: Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac
Fannie
Mae (F.N.M.A.; the Federal National Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) is a public
government-sponsored enterprise, publicly-traded corporation, and mortgage
securitizer. At the time of the bailouts, Freddie Mac was ranked the
53rd-largest American company by revenue.8
Freddie
Mac (F.H.L.M.C., the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) is a public
government-sponsored enterprise, publicly-traded corporation, and mortgage
buyer and mortgage-backed security seller. At the time of the bailouts, Freddie
Mac was ranked the 54th-largest American company by revenue.8
Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac operate in the secondary mortgage market, a market
pertaining to the sale and purchase of securities or bonds collateralized by
the value of mortgage loans.
The
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (H.E.R.A.), which was designed
primarily to address the subprime mortgage crisis and restore confidence in
Fannie and Freddie, authorized the Federal Housing Administration (F.H.A.) to
guarantee up to $300 billion in 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for subprime
borrowers.
On July
30th, 2008, H.E.R.A. was enacted, and on September 7th,
Fannie and Freddie were placed under the conservatorship of independent federal
regulatory agency the Federal Housing Finance Agency (F.H.F.A.).9
Hank Paulson, President Bush's Treasury Secretary, put a ceiling of $100
billion for investments in Fannie and Freddie to cover the companies' losses.9
Five
months later, after Barack Obama was elected president and inaugurated, and
appointed Timothy Geithner to the position of Secretary of the Treasury,
Geithner raised that investment limit to $200 billion.9 The total
combined cost of bailing out Fannie and Freddie was estimated at $400 billion
in April 2009.9
3. The Banking and Financial Services
Industry: Citigroup, and A.I.G. (and T.A.R.P.)
Citigroup
Inc. (or Citi) is an American multinational banking and financial services
corporation. Citigroup was the eighth-largest American company by revenue at
the time of the bailouts8 and is now one of the four major American
banking corporations.
American
International Group, Inc. (A.I.G.), is an American multinational insurance and
financial services corporation. A.I.G. was the 13th-largest American
company by revenue at the time of the bailouts.3
The
Troubled Asset Relief Program (T.A.R.P.) was enacted in pursuance of the
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which was passed in October 2008 and
authorized the Treasury to spend $700 billion.9 The Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act reduced that amount to $475 billion,
although the spending cap was later reduced to $418 billion.10
Citigroup
received a total of $45 billion in T.A.R.P.; $25 billion in October 2008 and
another $20 billion in November.9 Additionally, the Treasury
committed $5 billion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (F.D.I.C.)
committed $10 billion, and the Federal Reserve contributed $220 billion,
estimated as of April 2009.9 Citigroup received additional aid from
the government to limit its losses from a $301 billion pool of toxic assets.9
According to ProPublica's April 2009 estimate, the bailout of Citigroup would
cost a total of $280 billion.9
A.I.G.
was given an initial $85 billion credit line from the Federal Reserve.9
The federal government offered aid to A.I.G. to keep it from collapsing on four
separate occasions.9 The Treasury offered $70 billion to A.I.G., and
the Federal Reserve offered it $110 billion.9 While the total cost
of that A.I.G. bailout was $180 billion, the total cost of bailing out A.I.G.
was $220 billion, due to the $40 billion spent by the Treasury as part of
T.A.R.P. (all according to ProPublica's April 2009 estimates).9
Aside
from Citigroup and A.I.G in 2008, Bank of America also became a beneficiary of
T.A.R.P. in 2009, receiving an estimated total of $142.2 billion.9
According to the Treasury, 97 percent of the loans (non-inflation-adjusted)
which were disbursed under the program had been paid back as of December 2012.10
Spencer
Stuart was not requested to make executive recommendations for Bank of America.
According to the Government Accountability Office (G.A.O.), the government had
minimal or no involvement with Citigroup (being only an investor in the firm),
while having involvement with A.I.G. as a condition of that firms receiving
government assistance.13
4. The Automotive Industry: Chrysler, General
Motors, and G.M.A.C.
Chrysler
Group L.L.C. is an American automobile manufacturer and one of the “Big Three”
(also known as the “Detroit Three”) American automakers.
General
Motors Company (G.M.) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in
Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the “Big Three” American automakers. General
Motors also sells financial services. It was the fourth-largest American
company by revenue at the time of the bailouts.3
G.M.A.C.
Inc. (the General Motors Acceptance Corporation) is the former name of Ally
Financial Inc., a bank holding company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. G.M.A.C.
was the 78th-largest American company by revenue at the time of the bailouts.8
The firm provides financial services to people who buy automotive vehicles.
Chrysler,
General Motors, and G.M.A.C. were the primary beneficiaries when a $630 billion
spending bill authorized by Congress in late September 2008 allocated a total
of $25 billion in low-interest loans to the auto industry, which are intended
to aid the industry's push to build more fuel-efficient,
environmentally-friendly vehicles.9
According
to the L.A. Times, “In 2011, Treasury closed the books on its $12.5-billion
bailout of Chrysler and took about a $1.3-billion loss”.11
Concerning the “$49.5-billion bailout” of General Motors11, which
was only $14.5 billion as of May 200912, the Times reported “an
approximately $10.5-billion loss for taxpayers”.11
5. Spencer Stuart's Relationship with Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae
In August
2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that “Spencer Stuart's work at
government-aided companies began last fall, after the government seized Freddie
Mac.” 2 This “last fall” time frame means that Spencer Stuart's
involvement with these companies began in fall 2008; during the Bush
Administration, and within weeks in either direction of Barack Obama's
election to the presidency.
The
article from the Journal continues, “the big mortgage company” (i.e., Freddie Mac) “tapped Spencer
Stuart to help find six board members because the recruiter had handled
previous hunts for Freddie directors, recalls John Koskinen, Freddie Mac
chairman. … Three of six new Freddie Mac directors announced in December came
from Spencer Stuart's list, according to Koskinen, who also said Spencer Stuart
“gave us a wide range of very qualified people”, although “not everybody said
yes” to all of Spencer Stuart's recommendations.2
By August
2010, all of each of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's ten directors had
been designated by the government; with Fannie Mae receiving eight new
directors since November 2010, and with Freddie Mac receiving nine new
directors during the same period.13
Rahm
Emanuel was Barack Obama's Chief of Staff in 2009, and therefore had the key
role in influencing Obama's pick for Secretary of the Treasury. Obama and
Emanuel chose Timothy Geithner, who was then President of the New York Federal
Reserve Bank. In 2000, Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors of Freddie
Mac by president Bill Clinton, whom he had served as a campaign donations and
policy adviser.
In May
2001, Emanuel resigned to run for the U.S. House of Representatives; this means
that he was on Freddie Mac's board between 2000 and 2002, when according to the
Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) the company misrepresented its
income in order to “present investors with the image of a company that would
continue to generate predictable and growing earnings”.14 While at
Freddie Mac, and while the company was plagued with scandals involving campaign
contributions and accounting irregularities, 15, 16 Emanuel earned
at least $320,000, including later stock sales 15, 17.
As a
congressman, Emanuel recused himself from votes concerning Freddie Mac until at
least several months before the presidential election in November 2008.14
Within months of Barack Obama assuming office, his administration rejected an
F.O.I.A. (Freedom of Information Act) request to review correspondence and
board minutes during Emanuel's time as a director.15 The Office of
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight subsequently accused Freddie Mac of having
“failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention.” 14
Despite Emanuel's
bad reputation, he was elected the mayor of Chicago, Illinois in 2011, and
Spencer Stuart conducted the consultation work for the employees of his office.
Upon Emanuel's election, his transition committee website announced online that
the mayor's office was hiring: “When you submit your resume today, it will be
stored confidentially at Spencer Stuart, a well-known and reputable executive
search and human resources firm. It will be reviewed by Chicago2011 staff, and
every resume will be handed over to the City Hall human resources department on
May 16.” 18
Aside
from Freddie Mac, Spencer Stuart also did consulting work for Fannie Mae, the
company that was in charge of securitizing the sub-prime secondary mortgages
which were bought and sold by Freddie Mac. Such securitization involves pooling
various types of contractual debt in order portray loans and mortgages as
secure investments to potential buyers.
Being
that the two companies, Fannie and Freddie, have such similar interests (i.e., evaluating versus investing
in mortgages), it would follow that Fannie Mae might be susceptible to the same
kind of presenting “investors with the image of a company that would continue
to generate predictable and growing earnings” 14 which Rahm Emanuel
and his contemporaries at Freddie Mac possibly sought to achieve through
misrepresenting income and earnings.
6. Spencer Stuart's Relationship with
Citigroup, A.I.G., and the Treasury
After its
work in the mortgage industry, Spencer Stuart was tapped again, this time to
help in the banking and financial services, reshaping the boards of Citigroup,
Inc. (citing “people close to the situation”)19 and the American
International Group (A.I.G.).2
Between
November 2008 and August 2010, Citigroup (which as of August 2010 had 15
directors) got eight new directors, none of them designated by the government13.
During the same period of time, A.I.G. also got eight new directors, ending up
with two of their thirteen directors (as of August 2010) having been
designated by the government13. For A.I.G., those other designators
were shareholders and board members13.
According
to the Wall Street Journal, which cites “someone close to the situation”,
“Spencer Stuart was chosen because the recruiters” (i.e., Spencer Stuart) “were already up to speed”.2
A.I.G. accepted the Treasury Department's appointment of Spencer Stuart's
recommendation. Robert Benmosche2, as its president and chief
executive officer. Benmosche had previously worked in retail and consulting; as
well as life insurance, overseeing the demutualization of Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company20.
The Wall
Street Journal reported that Spencer Stuart's Chairman Thomas Neff “helped
recruit” … “Timothy Geithner to be president of the New York Federal Reserve in
2003”,2 where he served until 2009, when he began to serve his four
years as Secretary of the Treasury. As a brief reminder, the person advising
President Obama on his cabinet picks at that time was Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel, a former director of the Board of Freddie Mac, and a client of Spencer
Stuart via his Chicago mayoral office.
7. Spencer Stuart's Relationship with
Chrysler, General Motors, and G.M.A.C.
Aside
from the mortgage, banking, and financial industries, Spencer Stuart was also
tapped to conduct executive searches for three companies in the auto industry,
reshaping the boards of automobile manufacturers Chrysler and General Motors,
as well as the General Motors Acceptance Company (G.M.A.C.).2
Between
November 2008 and August 2010, General Motors and Chrysler got all new directors.
As of August 2010, ten of G.M.'s thirteen directors, and three of Chrysler's
nine directors, had been designated by the government.13
Additionally, during the same period of time, G.M.A.C. got eight new directors,
ending up with three of its nine directors having been designated by the
government.13
Other
designators include shareholders and board members, and could include union
representatives.13 In May 2009, The Street reported that, according
to the Wall Street Journal, the “United Auto Workers union” (U.A.W.) “has been
offered 39% of GM in exchange for health-care concessions”, and “will likely
get to pick at least one board member in the future”.12
In May
2009, A.B.C. News reported that the U.A.W. had yet to vote to approve receiving
“17.5% of” G.M.’s “common stock, $6.5 billion of preferred shares and a $2.5
billion note to finance a trust that will take over retiree health care costs
starting next year.” 14 The next month, Slate.Com reported that
United Auto Workers controlled “about 65 percent of Chrysler and 17.5 percent
of General Motors”.21
Spencer
Stuart “recruited C. Robert Kidder” (Charles Robert Kidder) “to become chairman
of Chrysler Group LLC”,2 and the Treasury Department appointed him
as the company's chairman. Kidder had previously served as chief executive
officer of 3Stone Advisors LLC (an investment firm that focuses on clean-tech
companies)22. Kidder was also the C.E.O. of Duracell23
and Borden, Inc.; and he currently serves on the boards of Merck and Morgan Stanley.23
In early
2009, General Motors announced that it was hiring Spencer Stuart to find
replacements for at least half of its twelve directors12, and also
“to find a permanent chief executive with extensive global, manufacturing and
turnaround experience”.19 Kent Kresa, the interim chairman of
General Motors, hired Spencer Stuart “in a bid to line up new directors to join
the board as early as this summer”.12
According
to the Wall Street Journal, “Spencer Stuart won a competitive “shootout” that
GM officials conducted Thursday in Detroit. Its unsuccessful rivals for the
assignment were Egon Zehnder International, Korn/Ferry International” (America's
#1 consulting firm by revenue) and Heidrick & Struggles International
Inc.”.19
In
December 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that G.M. was “hoping to
attract a current or past CEO familiar with operating in Asia”, and that G.M.
officials “prefer a “global-minded” CEO but don't favor a European or Asian
executive for the job”.19 Sources close to the matter said that
people at G.M. were “willing to consider executives outside the auto industry”,
and that the “successful candidate” … “should have restored staff morale
following a successful corporate turnaround”, and “can work well with U.S.
government agencies and prepare the now private manufacturer for an initial
public offering.” 19
Spencer
Stuart recommended that chairman and interim C.E.O. Edward E. Whitacre become
chairman of General Motors.19 The Treasury Department appointed
Whitacre; and then on June 9th, 2009, Steven Rattner (then the head
of the Treasury Department's Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry) announced
Whitacre's appointment.
In his
book Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency
Rescue of the Auto Industry, Rattner wrote that “Ed Whitacre, with his
reputation for toughness and intolerance of bull, was an important symbol of
what we were trying to achieve”, continuing, “I was delighted to hear that Ed
has served as campaign finance chair for Kay Bailey Hutchison”, and “that he
had contributed to the campaigns of other Republicans, such as John McCain, as
well as a handful of Democrats, including Rahm Emanuel.” 24
8. The Rise of Spencer Stuart
The Wall
Street Journal reported that this “string of placements reflects the” … “firm's
strong position in U.S. director searches and the way it is plugged in to
government officials, who several times have turned to Spencer Stuart as they
took big stakes in troubled companies over the past year.” 2 New
Hampshire based consultant David Lord, who counsels companies about choosing
recruiters, estimated that, around the time of the bailouts, Spencer Stuart
conducted at least half of all board searches.2
While
becoming what the Wall Street Journal called “the go-to recruiter when Uncle
Sam wants bailed-out companies to install new directors and other top
officials” in 2009,2 Spencer Stuart went from being the number three
executive search firm in the United States by revenue 2 to number
two as of late September 2012.4 In 2008, when it conducted over 400
board searches, it raked in $267.8 million,2 and in 2012 it earned
$365.7 million.4
9. “Meritocracy”?
But not
everyone is pleased with the success of Spencer Stuart, Inc., nor are they
convinced that the firm is truly seeking to drive “mobility and diversity”, and
create “a culture based on meritocracy”,24 as an employee said
in the firm's publication “Building Corporate Leadership in India”. That employee, according to the firm's website, is a “core member of the firm's North American
Board and C.E.O. practices, as well as ... Consumer and Private Equity
Practices”.
In May
2009, Wordpress.Com finance blogger NanceFinance reported that “Spencer Stuart
is having a field day. … it doesn't look as if it even had to compete for the
business” of searching for executives for bailed-out firms.26 In
2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Spencer Stuart's competitors felt
that the company was coasting by on what its former directors had achieved on
behalf of the company.2
The
Journal reported that Spencer Stuart's “near-lock on searches for companies
receiving taxpayer dollars also is ruffling feathers among rival recruiters”.2
In the same article, the Journal reported that work which was “done by
individuals who are no longer there” helped establish Spencer Stuart's role in
director hunts, another rival grouses.” 2
As an
aside, I can't help but wonder, what's with all this talk of grousing and
“ruffling feathers”? Do the financial news media have inside jokes about the consulting
industry that focus on likening rivals and competitors to annoying birds?
Anyway, the
Journal continued, “Gerard Roche, senior chairman of rival firm Heidrick &
Struggles International Inc.”, “concedes [‘]a whole lot of jealousy[‘] about
Spencer Stuart's board searches for federally assisted concerns. Some other
competitors privately express dismay that Spencer Stuart has handled so many
board assignments from bailed-out concerns.” 2
Adding
fuel to concerns that Spencer Stuart's achievements were the result of a
strategy designed to allow the company to cruise by on their past reputation,
the Wall Street Journal reported that John Koskinen – then chairman of Freddie
Mac, now (as of April 2014) Obama's I.R.S. chief – said that Freddie Mac
“tapped Spencer Stuart to help find six board members because the recruiter had
handled previous hunts for Freddie directors”.2
But it's
not just an independent financial blogger, Spencer Stuart's rival recruiters,
and a former chairman of Freddie Mac who are complaining about the company's
good (ahem) fortune; General Motors is also getting into the mix. In August
2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that at G.M., “interim Chairman Kent
Kresa had planned to rely on his professional network to conduct the company's director
search. But Treasury officials this spring “strongly” suggested that he use
Spencer Stuart”.2
In May
2009, citing people close to the situation, Joseph Woelfel of The Street
reported that “Kresa was hoping to conduct the search for board members on his
own, without the assistance from an outside search firm”, and that “Kresa and
CEO Fritz Henderson … have been subject to strong government oversight in the
weeks since they've been running the company”. 13
In May
2009, NanceFinance wrote that the Journal had recently reported that “the White
House had forced its hand-picked chairman at troubled GM to hire a search firm
to replace at least half of the members of its board. And even then, Kent
Kresa, the former chairman of Northrop Grumman” (an aerospace and defense
technology company) “wasn't free to select his own recruiter: Spencer Stuart
was the one and only.” 25
According
to the Wall Street Journal, at the General Motors Acceptance Company
(G.M.A.C.), “Ennis Krupp & Associates, a Chicago pension consultant, helped
the Treasury line up a recruiter to find new directors for GMAC as that company
transformed into a bank-holding company”.2 The Journal article also
reported that “Ennis Knupp held a competitive “shootout” among several search
firms, then recommended Spencer Stuart.” 2
Additionally,
the article reported that “Treasury had the right to appoint two board members
as part of GMAC's aid”,2 that the “government picks joined the GMAC
board in May” 2009, 2 and that G.M.A.C.'s choice of Spencer Stuart
had nothing “to do with Mr. Geithner's prior interaction with Neff” (Spencer
Stuart chairman Thomas Neff). According to the Government Accountability
Office, the government had minimal or no involvement with G.M.A.C. (being only
an investor in the firm), while having involvement with G.M. and Chrysler as a
condition of those firms receiving government assistance.13
In May
2009, finance blogger NanceFinance complained about government micromanaging by
allowing the president to “select … an executive recruiting firm for basically
government-run firms”. 25 She also complained about “micromanaging
pay”, saying that “word that the President is debating how to restructure pay
for financial services firms – whether or not they have taken taxpayer bailout
funds – is reversing all the feel-good energy in the markets. The Dow is off
more than 2%; some bank stocks are down two to three times as much. You can
blame the unexpectedly weak report on retail sales for the pullback, but I'm
blaming the return of “lemon socialism” – the stealthy socialization of the
private sector.” 25
She
continued, government “micromanagement is the poison of the private sector” …
The Obama Administration “is showing little imagination in addressing the
structural flaws in the system. … hewing to an old model that assumes
government can simply pull the strings of needy corporations and the chips will
fall where they expect.” 25
NanceFinance
also commented on a quote from an article co-written by Thomas Neff which
appeared in the April 14th, 2009 issue of Business Week.26 In the article, entitled “Why Boards Need to Keep an Eye on Value”, Neff wrote
that shareholder “panic and activism are soaring, especially when it comes to
CEO compensation. There is a strong move now to put limits on CEO pay, some of
which we consider ill-advised. It is a board's responsibility to get incentives
aligned with shareholders' interests and focused on longer-term value
creation.” 26
Commenting
on this quote by Neff, NanceFinance wrote that even “Neff has implied that the
heavy-handed federal interference can hurt more than it can help”, and that the
statement could reveal that “Neff has a fundamental conflict of interest: Does
his pay go up if he can score richer compensation packages for the candidates
that get hired at taxpayer-backed corporations?” 25
10. Politicization and Corruption at Spencer
Stuart?
Another
issue which Spencer Stuart, Inc. has yet to face is the perceived
politicization of the company's executive search process.
Considering
that Spencer Stuart's involvement with bailed-out companies began under Bush
and continued under Obama, and that Steven Rattner of the Treasury Department
wrote that he was delighted to hear that Ed Whitacre (who soon thereafter
became chairman of G.M.) had contributed to the campaigns of John McCain and
Rahm Emanuel, it seems that Spencer Stuart's apparent bias towards recommending
executive candidates who donate to winners in both major parties could have
negative effects on the company's “meritocratic” reputation.
The facts
that Spencer Stuart client Steven Rattner, client Rahm Emanuel, recommended
executive Timothy Geithner, and recommended executive Robert Benmosche are
Jewish – and the facts that they, as well as George W. Bush, John McCain, Kay
Bailey Hutchison, and Barack Obama, have significant political, business, and
spiritual or religious interests in the State of Israel, and in protecting U.S.
foreign aid to that country – do not do anything to support Spencer Stuart's
claims that it desires “diversity” and “meritocracy”, especially given that
Jewish Americans only make up approximately 2% of the U.S. population, and are
already over-represented in the various federal legislative bodies.
Neither
does the fact that General Motors went to Spencer Stuart when it admittedly
hoped “to attract a current or past CEO familiar with operating in Asia”, and
prefers a “global-minded” C.E.O., but didn’t
favor “a European or Asian executive for the job.” 19 It is hard
to help but wonder whether Spencer Stuart's willingness to serve a company that
admits a bias against European and Asian executives yet still supports
global-mindedness indicates something other than “diversity” and “meritocracy”?
Perhaps “economic imperialism” would be a more appropriate stated cultural
goal.
What is
also disturbing about this political bias is the depth of Treasury auto chief
Steven Rattner's involvement in politics and finance. In the 1980s, he worked
for banking firms Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, and Lazard Freres & Co.,
and in the 1990s he worked as an economist for the Clinton Administration
(which, as a reminder, employed Rahm Emanuel, who was once a finance regulator,
as a campaign and policy adviser).
However
disturbing, the idea that Rattner would approve of Spencer Stuart's suggestion
of Whitacre in consideration of his support of McCain, Emanuel, and Hutchison –
and due to their mutual support of continued U.S. foreign aid to the State of
Israel – is not so far-fetched. Spencer Stuart would likely find it difficult
to explain why General Motors would choose an executive based on the
recommendation of a Treasury official speaking on behalf of his own hyper-focus
on the State of Israel, when it originally stated that it wanted a C.E.O. with
a “global vision”. Whitacre's “reputation for toughness and intolerance of
bull” being “an important symbol of what” G.M. was”trying to achieve” 24
couldn't have been the only reason for hiring him.
It is
also important to note that Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and C. Robert Kidder
each have political and business relationships to all three of the industries
which received bailouts; the finance and banking, mortgage, and automotive
industries (and also that Steven Rattner and Timothy Geithner lack ties to only
the mortgage industry; that is, if we include Geithner's family history with
Ford Motor Co., the only one of the Big Three to have not needed taxpayer
support during the financial collapse). This suggests that the 2008-2009
bailouts and subsequent restructuring were rife with the kind of revolving-door,
C.E.O.-shuffling practices which are reviled by so many Americans.
But
perhaps most importantly, we must note and understand the confusing
patterns of persons and firms which serve as one another's consulting clients;
of people who conduct consultant searches for other consultants (such as
New Hampshire based consultant David Lord, who counsels companies about
choosing recruiters); and of government agencies being simultaneously creditors
of and investors in bailed-out, restructured companies (that is, in A.I.G.,
Chrysler, and G.M.).
The
significance of the facts that Barack Obama recommended Rahm Emanuel for Chief
of Staff; in order for Emanuel to recommend Spencer Stuart; in order for
Spencer Stuart to recommend executives for troubled firms in the auto,
mortgage, and financial industries; has yet to be fully understood.
Moreover,
we compound the confusion when we acknowledge three additional things:
1) that G.M.A.C. claimed to have chosen
Spencer Stuart for reasons unrelated to Timothy Geithner's history with the
firm;
2) that Rahm Emanuel and Spencer Stuart
served as one another's consultants (due to Spencer Stuart's work for
Emanuel's mayoral office, and Emanuel's influence as Chief of Staff in the
restructuring); and
3) that Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama also
served as one another's consultants (due to Obama's pick of Emanuel as
Chief of Staff, and Emanuel's subsequent role making recommendations about
cabinet-level and other government positions).
Perhaps
we could remedy this confusion by learning about the office environment
of Spencer Stuart, Inc..
11. Criticism by Former Employees
Anonymous
reviews by people claiming to be former employees of Spencer Stuart may be
found on GlassDoor.Com.27 Together, they tell a story of an
“extremely political”,27 “extremely hierarchical” 28
organization with a “toxic atmosphere and culture”,27 in which
employees cannot progress without polishing “egos and” playing “political
games”;27 games which one former employee described as “silly”.27
One
former employee commented that management “decisions and promotions” are “largely
politically motivated”.27 Another commented that senior partners do
not have “enough courage and conviction”,27 and that they “are
unwilling to make unpopular decisions for fear of losing their own political
influence”.27 Yet another former employee complained about deals “cut
under the table for those who abide by the country club rules”.27
One
former employee complained about seasoned “and junior consultants too busy
looking over their shoulders and trying to protect their patch, yet the public
story is that of “being collegial” yet the reality is” so “different”.27 Another former employee addressed the management team, saying, “open your eyes
and address the political minefields that exist across the organization. …
Address the issue of the [‘]old boy network[‘] and the hierarchical mindset
that still seems to exist within its most senior ranks”, “which means the rest
of the business does not stand a chance...”. 27
The same
person wrote that management should take “more of an interest in” employees “and backed” them “up” … “below the Consultant level”, continuing that the firm
“has lost many good people because Management is only concerned about keeping
consultants happy: even if it means terminating a good employee. There have
been a few Managing Directors at the office level who cared about how lower
level employees were treated and stood behind them. Now leadership is spineless
unless you're a consultant.” 27
Yet other
former employees complained about “arrogant, egotistical, degrading
consultants” 27 and a C.E.O. (presumably referring to Kevin
Connelly, but possibly to his predecessor) who had “no grasp of reality in
terms of the amount of good people walking out of the door”.27 One
former employee wrote that the company should “Start being team players at the
top and perhaps the rest of the organization stands a chance”.27 Other complaints included that big “billers” were “allowed to get away with bad
behavior and treating colleagues inappropriately”,27 and that there
was inconsistent “treatment of its employees”; “some get the red carpet
treatment”, while “others” were “nickel and dimed”.27
But
politics, hierarchy, and mistreatment of employees are not the only
complaints which former employees have levied against Spencer Stuart on
GlassDoor; as claims against the company include incompetence, as well
as consultants allowing themselves to get distracted from work to enjoy the
indulgences of wealth, thus necessitating deadlines. Wrote one former employee,
“Deadlines are integral in search”, “but a lot could be avoided if consultants
weren't so “panic” stricken or busy running off during the day to attend events
for their kids, getting facials, etc.”.28
Claims of
incompetence include complaints about a lack of “qualified”, “genuinely
talented consultants within the organization”.28 One former employee
wrote that consultants “who claims to be [‘]experts[‘] in their fields when
pitching the searches, yet make no calls when” asked to “develop profiles for
the search”,28 adding that “clients take notice” 28 of
this, and that some consultants are just glorified “sales executives” 28 with
“egos a mile wide”.28 Another former employee offered the following
advice to management: “Start paying attention to the real problems that are
being overlooked by focusing purely on revenue performance”. 28
But is it
possible that there is something besides all this which most people actually
care about, which could serve as an impartial indicator of whether the bailouts
and restructuring, as well as the choices to employ Spencer Stuart in executive
searches, were wise, and truly done for the benefit of consumers, workers,
shareholders, and taxpayers (or, as Thomas Neff put it, “to get incentives
aligned with shareholders' interests and focused on longer-term value creation”
27)?
12. Summary of Complaints Against Spencer
Stuart
Is there
something that we should be focusing on besides all of the following?:
1) the ties possessed by Rahm Emanuel and C.
Robert Kidder across all three major industries that were bailed-out
(automotive, mortgage, and banking and finance);
2) the ties possessed by Timothy Geithner and
Steven Rattner to both the banking and finance industry and the automotive
industry;
3) Rahm Emanuel's relationship to Spencer
Stuart, the consulting profession in general, Bill Clinton, and Freddie Mac;
4) Rahm Emanuel's having been in a position
to recommend Geithner for Secretary of the Treasury just two years before
choosing Spencer Stuart to staff his mayoral office;
5) the claim by the Wall Street Journal that
G.M.A.C.'s choice of Spencer Stuart “had “nothing” to do with … Geithner's
prior interaction with Neff”,2 who helped recruit Geithner for the
New York Federal Reserve Bank;
6) the self-published admission of Steven
Rattner (the head of the Treasury Department's Presidential Task Force on the
Auto Industry) that he was pleased to learn of Ed Whitacre's bipartisan
political contribution history from Spencer Stuart;
7) the close ties between the State of Israel
and the politicians who employed and received contributions from Whitacre (i.e.,
Kay Bailey Hutchison, John McCain, and Rahm Emanuel);
8) the favorable relationship which many
other officials within the administrations of both George W. Bush and Barack
Obama possess with the State of Israel (as well as the over-representation of
Jewish-Americans within various branches of both administrations, and among
Spencer Stuart's high-profile government clients and recommended executives for
bailed-out firms);
9) the admitted and open lack of favor
expressed by General Motors regarding hiring a European or Asian executive as
opposed to a North American;
10) the potential assertions which could be
made about Spencer Stuart's tolerance of clients having possibly prejudicial
racial, ethnic or national preference, having catered to clients admitting such
open favor for Jewish-Americans and defenders of the State of Israel and
against Europeans and Asians;
11) that the push for low-interest loans to
automobile companies to fund the development of fuel-efficient,
environmentally-friendly vehicles, for which the Obama Administration became so
well-known, actually began under the Bush Administration while Henry
Paulson served as Treasury Secretary;
12) that Ed Whitacre had donated to both
parties, including McCain and Emanuel, before that bipartisan push for loans to
car companies for green-friendly vehicles began;
13) anonymous claims, made by alleged former
employees, that Spencer Stuart Inc. has a political, hierarchical office
environment which is plagued by mistreatment of employees, firing good people,
incompetence, consultants distracted from work, and management focused only on
making money even to the point of ignoring other problems;
14) signals from the choice of Robert
Benmosche for A.I.G. (and from Benmosche's history) that more demutualization (i.e.,
privatization) of large American banking firms is still ahead;
15) that the already very wealthy and
profitable Spencer Stuart – which conducts about half of executive searches in
North America, and was already the #3 American executive search firm when the
bailouts began – received the bulk of the executive recruiting assignments,
only making Spencer Stuart more profitable and elevating it to the #2 North
American recruiting firm (second only to Korn/Ferry International);
16) that the already very wealthy and
profitable Spencer Stuart received what could be defended as amounting to
ingratiation and under-the-table special favors (especially considering that
the choices to use Spencer Stuart which were made by publicly-traded companies
and public officials were apparently made with a complete lack of congressional
oversight);
17) the scarcity of coverage in the
mainstream media outside of the Wall Street Journal concerning Spencer Stuart's
involvement in the restructuring, and the resulting lack of public awareness of
the firm;
18) suggestions that the federal government
micromanaged the restructuring of pay for financial services firms, even for
firms that didn't take bailout funds; as well as the executive recommendations
themselves, down to the very recommendation of Spencer Stuart in the first
place, which took place as part of the restructuring; and suggestions that this
negatively affected some bank stocks;
19) that the government not only may have
micromanaged the restructuring, but also inserted itself into the situation at
General Motors, getting business for Spencer Stuart in the process; Treasury
officials having “strongly” 2 suggested that then interim Chairman
Ken Kresa, who “had planned to rely on his professional network to conduct the
company's director search” instead, use the firm;
20) suggestions that Spencer Stuart Chairman
Thomas Neff could stand to benefit financially from the kind of government
micromanagement he has criticized and warned against;
21) claims made by the Wall Street Journal
and Spencer Stuart's competitors that the firm is coasting by on the reputation
and work of its past chairmen; and
22) the complicated web of multiple people
and firms serving as one another's consultants, as well as government serving
as both creditor and investor of several firms?
As it
turns out, there is something that we should be focused on, and it
happens to be the bottom line.
And
fortunately for Spencer Stuart, Inc., that is what we are talking about right
now, instead of any of the numerous aforementioned concerns. We must do this in
order to honor Spencer Stuart's reputation among its former employees as
focused solely on making money and increasing revenue, even to the point of
overlooking other problems.
Most
importantly, we must explore whether the firms that received money through the
bailouts made the money back, because we cannot trust any expert in the
government or the corporate world to give us reliable numbers, partially owing
to the fact that, evidently, there's about a 50/50 chance that such an expert
would have been recommended by Spencer Stuart in the first place.
13. Did the Seven Major Bailed-Out Firms Make
the Money Back?
Before
exploring the numbers surrounding the returns made by the bailed-out firms, it
would be helpful to note that when we speak of the bailouts of the banking and
mortgage industries, we are discussing bailouts at least some of whose costs
had been estimated lower than later estimates and allowances, the
sequence of the nominal figures which were requested having ratcheted up
exponentially as the financial crisis unfolded.
Additionally,
estimates and allowances were also initially high-balled by government
officials, as in the case of T.A.R.P.; and estimates regarding the bailouts of
all three industries were high-balled by the news media (including in
estimates published by ProPublica in April 20099). This is why it is
important to be precise about whether an objective measure of success of the
bailouts should focus on returns relative to the initial estimates and
allowances, to later estimates and promises, or to the total
amount spent on the bail-out of the particular firm or industry.
According
to ProPublica,28 $608.9 billion in total outflows were spent
(invested, loaned, or paid out)28, and $621.4 billion in total
inflows have been returned (including to the Treasury as interest, dividends,
or fees to repurchase their stock warrants)28 on all of the
bailouts combined (including the bailouts of Bear Stearns and Bank of America,
in whose restructuring Spencer Stuart apparently played no role).
This
$621.4 billion total inflows figure includes $384 billion that has been returned,28 and $237 billion in Treasury earnings.28 This comes out to a $12.6
billion net return as of March 24th, 2014,28 yielding a
+2.053% return over about five years. This comes fifteen months after the
Treasury reported that only a non-inflation-adjusted 97% of the T.A.R.P. loans
had been paid back.10
Next we
shall explore the financial outcome of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (which
includes the bailouts of A.I.G., Citigroup, and other housing and financial
institutions); followed by the bailouts of mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie;
at last followed by the auto industry bailouts.
While
Hank Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury under George W. Bush, originally
estimated that T.A.R.P. would spend $700 billion,9 Paulson's
successor Timothy Geithner oversaw the lowering of that spending cap – first to
$475 billion (in pursuance of the Dodd-Frank Act), then to $418 billion10
– only to have that figure end up at a promised $458 billion for the 13
programs that T.A.R.P. created.28
The $458
billion figure is $40 billion and 9.6% above the low estimate of $418 billion
in total spending on T.A.R.P., but $242 billion and 34.6% below the original
estimate of $700 billion. This example shows why it matters whether we judge
the success of T.A.R.P. and the mortgage and auto bailouts based on the returns
relative to the initial estimates and allowances, or to later
estimates and promises, or to the total amount spent.
According
to ProPublica,28 the government has committed a total of $421
billion in bailout money (out of the $438 billion promised) to 935 recipients
through T.A.R.P..28 Only 780 of the 935 recipients in which the
government invested were intended to return money to taxpayers;28 the rest received a total of $9.6 billion in subsidies through T.A.R.P.'s
housing programs.28 Out of those investments, 533 resulted in a
profit (totaling $44.6 billion),28 106 resulted in a loss (amounting
to $17.3 billion),28 and 141 of the investments are still
outstanding.28
Additionally,
according to ProPublica, the “Treasury has been earning a return on most of the
TARP money invested or loaned. So far the total return is 52 billion” 28 in dividend or interest payments, sales of equity or other assets the Treasury
required, and “stock warrants which the Treasury received as part of most of
the investments”.28 When we take into account the warrants that are
“either sold back to the company or auctioned off” 28 when companies
pay back the T.A.R.P. investments, “the government's profit totals $14.9
billion”.28
$245
billion of the $608.9 billion in total outflows were spent on banks and other
financial institutions.28 After receiving an initial $85 billion
credit line and being prevented from collapsing four times,9 A.I.G.
was estimated by ProPublica in April 2009 to have received up to $220 billion.9
However, ProPublica reported in March 2014 that the firm had only received a
total of $67.8 billion.28
After
receiving an initial $45 billion combined in October and November 20089,
and after reportedly receiving an estimated total of $280 billion in order to
limit losses from a $301 billion pool of toxic assets9, banks and
other financial institutions besides A.I.G., including Citigroup, only received
a total of $177.2 billion.28 The exponential growth of the size of
the figures requested is worth noting here in regards to both of these
major banks.
While
Hank Paulson originally placed a $100 billion ceiling for investments in Fannie
and Freddie9, Timothy Geithner oversaw the raising of that limit to
$200 billion.9 Although ProPublica estimated the cost of the
mortgage bailouts at $400 billion in April 20099, just under $200
billion was spent (28).
Of the
$608.9 billion which was spent, invested, or loaned as part of the bailouts,
$197.15 billion was spent on the mortgage industry.28 Fannie and
Freddie took the bulk of this ($187 billion combined); and the Mortgage Mod
Program, state housing programs, and the F.H.A. refinance Program received the
remaining $10 billion.28
In March
2014, ProPublica reported that, so far, “the companies have paid $185 billion
in dividends to the Treasury”,28 which “has been earning a return on
its investments and will likely ultimately earn a profit”.28 Assuming these figures are accurate, the mortgage bailouts made back over 98.6%
of the investments which were intended to return funds, excepting the $9.6
billion spent on T.A.R.P. housing program subsidies.
In
September 2008, before George W. Bush and Henry Paulson left office, the
Treasury gave G.M. and Chrysler $25 billion in low-interest loans for more fuel-efficient,
environmentally friendly vehicles.9 The Obama Administration
continued this push for environmentally friendly vehicles with its subsequent
“Cash for Clunkers” car exchange program. In March 2014, ProPublica reported
that out of the $608.9 billion spent on the bailouts, $79.7 billion went to
auto companies.28
In May
2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that the federal government had spent
$14.5 billion on General Motors,12 but that figure rose to $49.5
billion in a report which appeared in the L.A. Times in December 2013.11
The Times reported that the G.M. bailout had resulted in “an approximately
$10.5-billion loss for taxpayers”.11
The Times
also reported that the Treasury had “closed the books on its $12.5-billion
bailout of Chrysler and took about a $1.3-billion loss”.11 Assuming
these figures are accurate, the auto bailouts made back no more than 85.2% of
the funds disbursed.
To answer
the original question succinctly, the banking and finance industry bailouts
made back 102.053% of funds spent, the mortgage industry bailouts made back
about 98.6% of funds spent (that is, on investments which were intended to
yield returns), and the auto industry bailouts made back no more than 85.2% of
funds spent.
To
clarify, these are non-inflation-adjusted total returns, compared to the
final amount spent on each industry, rather than compared to any original
or early estimates made by government officials or news media.
But the
success or failure of the bailouts and restructuring does not necessarily
indicate whether the firms that chose Spencer Stuart, Inc. to recruit their
executives made the right choice. Furthermore, there are a host of potential
objections to the very manner in which these data are portrayed, which could
throw the validity of the conclusions into question.
14. What Other Questions Should We Be Asking?
Aside
from asking whether the three bailed-out industries made back all of the money –
that is, all the money that had been spent by the time the bailouts ended,
concerning only those investments which were intended to result in returns, and
without adjusting for inflation – we should also ask whether it is wise for the
government to repeatedly revise spending estimates and caps, and to spend money
on programs which are not intended to yield returns. We should also acknowledge
that neglecting to account for inflation makes the final numbers look more
positive than they really are.
We should
bear in mind that we may never know what the inflation or deflation rate, nor the
growth rate of the economy, would have been, had officials in the federal
government 1) not bailed out any firms and not intervened once the financial
crisis hit; 2) never securitized sub-prime and toxic assets in the first place;
and/or 3) spent more funding and attention on relieving borrowers and
foreclosure victims, instead of on the firms whose speculation and other
questionably ethical activities drove the financial collapse.
As a
reminder, the federal government's having been a creditor of – in addition
to an investor in – three firms (A.I.G., Chrysler, and G.M.), was what made
the difference in excusing greater government involvement and interaction with
companies' personnel (as compared to Citigroup and G.M.A.C., in which
government was an investor but of which it was not a creditor).25 This should prompt us to ask, “then why was the federal government not then
required to stop investing in A.I.G., Chrysler, and General Motors, as
a condition of being permitted to restructure those companies (given the
influential inside position which such an arrangement would bestow upon
government)?”
We should
be wary of both the legal precedents and the financial risks involved with
allowing the federal government to bail out and restructure entire industries
in this manner. The ratcheting-up of the funds requests which we observed in
the bailouts of A.I.G., Citigroup, and Fannie and Freddie, combined with the
magnitude of the nominal scale at which the bailouts occurred (i.e., the
hundreds of billions and the trillions), risks exposing government and
taxpayers to not only the debts incurred through the bailout programs, but also
to debts and deficits resulting from deceptive accounting practices.
On
February 5th, 2011, the New York Times reported that, through April
30th, 2011, “the government has made commitments of about $12.2
trillion and spent $2.5 trillion” aside from T.A.R.P., including $9 trillion in
commitments (but only $1.6 trillion in actual spending) on “direct investments
in financial institutions, purchases of high-grade corporate debt and purchases
of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie
Mae”.(29) Ginnie Mae, abbreviated G.N.M.A., is the Government National
Mortgage Association, a government corporation within the Department of Housing
and Urban Development.
It is
important to note that when such large amounts of what appears to be wealth are
committed to be spent by the federal government, that wealth has not even been
earned yet; not by governments, banks, nor individual taxpayers. This wealth is
essentially based on the full faith and credit of the American banking system.
Some have speculated that the United States federal Government is not $17 trillion
in debt, but closer to $200 trillion in debt, due to the wealth which the
government has projected the need to spend, and committed to spend, over the
next several decades.
Other
questions which could be helpful to ask also include the following: “Considering
the rising security state in the United States, the low fuel efficiency of
American vehicles as opposed to Chinese and Japanese vehicles, and a banking
sector that seeks more privatization and further limitation of liability even
as the public outcry from Occupy Wall Street sheds light on what these banks
are doing, who wants American homes, cars, and bank accounts anyway?”
Also, “Did we learn nothing from the overproduction of automobiles in the
lead-up to the Great Depression?”
However,
one last very important question has yet to be asked. As a reminder, Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac operate in the market for secondary mortgages; also known as
mortgage-backed securities, which are securities or bonds that are
collateralized by the value of mortgage loans. It is precisely these securities
which were combined into with other types of debt obligations (such as
corporate loans) into C.D.O.s (collateralized debt obligations).
Since the
late 1980s, when junk bonds and C.D.O.s became popular (as if that in
itself isn't telling enough), auto loans and credit card receivables have
been parts of C.D.O.s. The questions that we should be asking regarding all
this are: “Do the bailouts of the banking, mortgage, and auto industries have
anything to do with our debts to firms in those industries being combined,
collateralized, securitized, and then sold on the open market as if it were an
ordinary commodity?”
Additionally,
whose “future” is being sold here; futures of a commodity or the futures of
individual human lives? Is there even a difference between human life and
commodities in the eyes of those at the top of the government and corporate
structures? Have the futures of individual human lives been transformed into
junk bonds? How can me being in debt, something I consider “bad”, be treated as
a market “good” that people want to buy and sell?
What
should we do when we find out that our jobs and our ability to pay back our
debts are dependent upon an economy that has already bet on our failure; and
furthermore dependent upon government to securitize that debt and
convince traders that it is worth more than what someone is willing to pay for
it?
I hope
that, some day, officials at both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and
Spencer Stuart, Inc. may help the public answer these questions. I can only
hope that such enlightenment would occur at a congressional hearing.
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For
more entries on budgets, finance, debt, and the bailouts, please
visit:
http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/05/debt-and-federal-budget.html
For
more entries on housing and homelessness, please
visit:
http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-panhandling.html
http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-panhandling.html
http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/04/social-policies-for-2012-us-house.html
For
more entries on transportation, transit, travel, and the automobile
industry, please visit:
This comment has been removed by the author.
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