Bill Richardson
William Blaine "Bill" Richardson (born November 15, 1947) is the current Governor of the State of New Mexico. He previously has served as a Congressman, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and U.S. Secretary of Energy.
Shaking hands with Saddam
In 1995 Richardson accompanied by Peter Bourne traveled to Baghdad for a meeting with Saddam Hussein to negotiate the release of two Americans at the request of the Clinton White House. Richardson and Bourne subsequently collaborated on a number of such efforts in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, and North Korea.[1]
Richardson alleges Saddam has WMD
On 11 February 11 1998 Bill Richardson told Margaret Warner of the PBS News Hour regarding Saddam Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction,
- "We think this man is a threat to the international community, and he threatens a lot of the neighbors in his region and future generations there with anthrax and VX....Are we going to stand back and allow Saddam Hussein to continue developing Weapons of Mass Destruction?" [2]
As governor, Richardson continued activities in foreign policy. During the summer of 2003, he met with a delegation from North Korea to discuss its nuclear program.
Embraces trickle down
Richardson was elected governor of New Mexico in November 2002. In his first year, Richardson proposed and won passage of Reagan-style "tax cuts to promote growth and investment" and passed a broad personal income tax cut and won a statewide special election to transfer money from the state's Permanent Fund to meet current expenses and projects. [3]
Enron accounting
The Albuquerque Journal reported on June 12 2005, that a New Mexico State Auditor concluded the Governor used "Enron type accounting" after his administration "circumvented the Legislature and proper accounting procedures when it opened the office in 2004 because it used money intended for the Taxation and Revenue Department to pay for the governor's Albuquerque digs." The Governor had opened an office in Albuquerque five minutes from the airport to meet with potential out of state donors for his 2008 Presidential campaign without inconveniencing them with the two hour round trip to Sante Fe.
Tainted cash
In April 2007 it was revealed Richardson had been the beneficiary of tainted cash donations to his campaign by several federally indicted high-level New Mexico conspirators who had bilked the State out of about $4 million for construction of a new courthouse in Abluquerque.[4]
References
- â *Annals of Diplomacy Backfire, Carl Nagin, The New Yorker, 1998.
- â Ambassador Bill Richardson, Online Focus, The News Hour Transcript, 11 February 1998.
- â New Mexico cuts taxes to stimulate economy, Phil Magers, United Press International, 2/19/2003.
- â Scandal Players Donated to Richardson, By Barry Massey, Associated Press 2 April 2007.
Sources
- Governor Bill Richardson's official website
- Richardson's Campaign Contributions
- Annals of Diplomacy Backfire, Carl Nagin, The New Yorker
- Richardson Named As Likely Source of Wen Ho Lee Leak, By Adam Rankin, Albuquerque Journal (Sunday, July 10, 2005)
- Final Report of the Attorney General's Review Team on the Handling of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Investigation ("The Bellows Report") (May 2000)