The O'Frauding Factor

Well, who would be surprised to find you that the folks at Air America were Big, Fat, Frauding, Frauders who Fraud people with Fraud?

Inside Air America’s troubles: Optimism and shaky finances

The Wall Street Journal

On March 30, the night before Air America went on the air, the liberal radio network threw itself a $70,000 party at Manhattan’s hip Maritime Hotel. More than 1,000 guests, including Yoko Ono and Tim Robbins, drank red, white and blue vodka cocktails as they toasted the network’s bid to challenge the dominance of conservative talk radio.

But behind the scenes, Air America was running out of money. Today several employees say they still haven’t been reimbursed for the costs of attending the New York launch. “It was a fun party, until I knew I was paying for it,” says Bob Visotcky, Air America’s former Los Angeles market manager, who hasn’t been reimbursed for his hotel room and flight.

Mr Visotcky gives us the defining quote of liberalism. “It was a fun party, until I knew I was paying for it,” as long as they can play with other people’s money their motto is “Party On!”

Mr. Visotcky wasn’t the only insider in the dark about the company’s problems. Many of Air America’s investors and executives say they thought the network had raised more than $30 million, based on assurances from its owners, Guam-based entrepreneurs Evan M. Cohen and Rex Sorensen. In fact, Air America had raised only $6 million, Mr. Cohen concedes. Within six weeks of the launch, those funds had been spent and the company owed creditors more than $2 million.

When the problems came to light, “we realized that we had all been duped,” says David Goodfriend, the company’s acting chief operating officer. Messrs. Cohen and Sorensen say they didn’t mislead anyone about the company’s finances. They say they planned to invest more over time but didn’t because of cultural differences with other managers. Both resigned in early May.

In addition to potential securities fraud, they are involved in another shaky business deal…

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Basically, they are selling Air America’s assets (but not the liabilities) to a company with a new name as a means to stiff creditors.

UCLA law professor Steven Bainbridge analyzes the WSJ story and says that criminal charges are not out of the question. (Read the whole thing.. To excerpt it would be to take it out of context.)

Further down in the WSJ story we get another glimpse into the liberal mind:

“When you believe you’re doing work for the greater good, you don’t question as much,” says Javier Saade, a former Air America executive vice president. “People never questioned the curves and obstacles on the road. People just said, ‘We’re on the road.’ ”

Another core tenant of liberalism… Their work is so important the rules don’t matter. Lose an election? Sue. Getting ready to lose an election? Switch candidates. — The rule of law is secondary to spreading liberalism… That is not my opinion, Saade says it in his own words. Clinton supporters have said that for over a decade.

I wonder if Al Fraudin Franken is going to take to the air tomorrow and decry corporate greed and shaky business transactions at his own company? Somehow I bet he won’t have the time but the words Halliburton and Enron will cross his lips more than a few times.

No one should be surprised by this news, after all, the whole network has been a clever farce to subvert campaign finance law from the beginning. Its very existence has been a fraud. Why should we be surprised if they break other laws along the way?

This is to be expected. After all– they are “doing work for the greater good.”

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BTW- This may be your last chance to enter the original Air America Dead Pool.

The next pool might be for when the first indictment is handed down.