Wolfowitz asked to resign
Paul Wolfowitz has been asked to step down as head of the World Bank:
WASHINGTON April 23 (UPI) -- An agency that oversees the World Bank is asking for the resignation of the bank's president, former deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
In a document obtained by the Financial Times, the Independent Evaluation Group asked for Wolfowitz's immediate resignation, saying a continuation of his leadership will lead to "irreparable harm to worldwide efforts in poverty reduction and sustainable development."
World Bank overseers are still deliberating over whether Wolfowitz broke bank rules by securing a huge tax-free raise, automatic "outstanding" ratings on performance reviews, and a security clearance, for his companion Shaha Riza.
"Automatic 'outstanding' ratings?"
Pardon my skepticism.
Posted by: mudkitty | April 23, 2007 at 07:04 PM
His financial prediction about the Iraq War turned out so badly, some us knew before he took office that Paul Wolfowitz shouldn't be head of the World Bank:
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Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Defense Secretary at the time of the war and now head of the World Bank, told Congress: "We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."
But this optimism has proved unjustified. Since the invasion, Iraqi oil production has dropped off dramatically. The country is now producing about two million barrels per day. That is down from a pre-war peak of 3.5 million barrels.
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Posted by: Eric Jaffa | April 23, 2007 at 07:32 PM
If you don't mind me asking, what's with the green double-underline of the "Paul Wolfowitz" and the "Wolfowitz's" links in the body of the post? It appears the same way in Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer on my computer. What gives? Is this some type of liberal trickery? Are you trying to tip off al-Qaeda or something?
Posted by: John Lucid | April 23, 2007 at 08:51 PM
It's a Firefox tick/bug/feature. If you copy some text in an FF tab and paste the results into a TypePad textbox opened in FF, the most of the formatting from the C&P gets reproduced verbatim.
Why did UPI web designers decide that a double underline was double-plus cool? Dunno.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | April 23, 2007 at 09:47 PM
Thank you for catching the tax-free point. I actually work across the street, literally, from Paul Wolfowitz and there are a lot of people who work both there and at the IMF around the corner who, by treaty, pay no taxes on their salaries. They are also immune from state taxation; many of them choose to live in high-tax DC and pretty-high tax Maryland and pay... nothing, because the definition of gross income for local taxation is also affected by the applicable treaties.
Not only are their salaries exempt, but the other income that they earn from, e.g. investments, starts off at the lowest brackets. Not only is the ample salary tax-free, but any investments are taxed as if the non-taxpayer started the year on food stamps. The U.S. Treasury funds a lot of the IMF and World Bank's activities, and taxes essentially none of its DC-based employees.
Nice work if you can get it, and if you get it, won't you tell me how...? (Actually, PLEASE don't....)
Posted by: Bruce | April 24, 2007 at 12:49 AM
yet another display of the mind boggling incompetance of the guy who got him the job. Fire BOTH of them.
Posted by: greensmile | April 24, 2007 at 08:10 AM
Goodbye, Wolfie. Auf wiedersehen. Au revoir. Hasta la vista. Tot ziens. Sayonara. Shalai po. Annyong-hi kashipshio. Selamat tinggal. Tata. Tchau. Salám. Paalom na po. And good riddance!
Posted by: swampcracker | April 24, 2007 at 11:57 AM
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Posted by: kyqlsnx idukjhlwn | April 25, 2007 at 08:29 PM
Lindsay Byerstein information about tax free salaries for world bank employees is revealing. However, she did not list the other abuses by these world bank employees,
Most of the employees get a slave (so called maid) from their county of origin. They make her/him work for free and illegally allow her to work a few days a week at other households to make money.
Some of the world bank/IMP employees have been in USA for 30-40 years. Their spouses and kids got free education at the US private high schools and colleges. Just after they complete their education, they become US citizens even though the world bank employee does not change his citizenship.
The bank employees live in expensive homes in the DC and Potomac. They can afford these homes because they get subsidized mortagages from the bank.
They have exclusive and free use of a golf course in Potomac.
Posted by: abdul | May 05, 2007 at 01:37 PM