Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Goodnight, moon
Does anyone besides me think Coingate is probably even worse than it sounds?
Sure, Republican and Bush Pioneer Tom Noe taking money from Ohio's workman's compensation fund and "investing" it in rare coins (!) through his own company (!!) and taking a hefty commission (!!!) is pretty bad, and does make you wonder what the Republicans would do if they got their greedy mitts on your Social Security money.
But what leaps to my (jaundiced, paranoid) eye is the possibility of a money laundering scheme. Noe "invests" in rare coins with a dealer. The dealer "loses" the coins (121 of them have been lost, that we know of). Well, suppose the lost coins really turned up somewhere—say, as an untraceable payment to an (Ohio-based) rogue Diebold programmer, who then cashes them in?
It would be irresponsible not to speculate! And please refer all complaints that contain the words "tinfoil hat" to The Department of No! They Would Never Do That!
Sure, Republican and Bush Pioneer Tom Noe taking money from Ohio's workman's compensation fund and "investing" it in rare coins (!) through his own company (!!) and taking a hefty commission (!!!) is pretty bad, and does make you wonder what the Republicans would do if they got their greedy mitts on your Social Security money.
But what leaps to my (jaundiced, paranoid) eye is the possibility of a money laundering scheme. Noe "invests" in rare coins with a dealer. The dealer "loses" the coins (121 of them have been lost, that we know of). Well, suppose the lost coins really turned up somewhere—say, as an untraceable payment to an (Ohio-based) rogue Diebold programmer, who then cashes them in?
It would be irresponsible not to speculate! And please refer all complaints that contain the words "tinfoil hat" to The Department of No! They Would Never Do That!
