Monday, June 18, 2012

Bob Johnson Pushes Black PEU's

Carlyle Group joint venture partner Robert L.Johnson proposed the following measures "to enhance Black businesses and increase Black wealth."

1.  Allow black businesses to be eligible for government set aside contracts if they own 10 percent of a business rather than the existing 51 percent rule due to the 10-to-1 wealth gap; and significantly increase the dollar volume of set aside contracts for Black businesses across all government agencies. 
Private equity loves the security of government business.  It provides a core foundation and the politically connected can grow government contracts dramatically.  That's why ex-politicians and bureaucrats plaster the Senior Advisor ranks of most private equity underwriters (PEUs)

Robert L. Johnson partnered with The Carlyle Group to go after minority owned business.  Johnson's proposed change would increase dramatically the number of "black owned enterprises" eligible to get guaranteed business from Uncle Sam.  It's literally minority owned by minority owner. 
  
2.  Encourage majority-owned businesses to invest in black-owned companies by deferring the taxes on the economic gain similar to the FCC "tax certificate program" which motivated major media companies to sell to minorities. 

PEUs hate taxes and would love to take advantage of this loophole.  Taxes are evil and one loophole is never enough:
3.  Allow African American families earning less than $250,000 annually to defer federal income taxes, without interest, provided tax deferrals are placed into a 401(k) type savings account which can only be drawn out at retirement or upon death at which time the government would be reimbursed for the deferred taxes. The gain on the 401(k) investment would be available to the families at retirement or passed on to future generations. 
While the Treasury is deferring all those taxes, it's expected to back bank loans to private black individuals, which will be securitized by Wall Street, i.e. fee generating..
4.  Create a Treasury-backed fund to securitize short-term borrowing or emergency loans made by minority banks or other lending institutions to Black families provided these loans are marketed and made in a regulated and transparent manner. The securitized loans would encourage banks and lenders to make short-term or emergency borrowing available at reasonable rates and end "payday" lending as we know it today.
Who will keep Wall Street predators at bay? 

5.  Require large banks under the Community Reinvestment Act to fund a nationwide marketing campaign targeted to the Black community with a focus on financial literacy and savings

What about the minority banks making the Treasury backed short term/emergency loans?  Aren't they obligated to educate potential customers? 

How might the founder of Black Entertainment Television be in a unique position to create this "nationwide marketing campaign?"  And what kind of car loan interest rates does RLJ's auto dealerships, partly owned by The Carlyle Group's T.F. "Mack" McLarty,  charge their black clients?

Something is distorted when the PEU model becomes the answer to all of America's ills.  Board room and trading floor greed can't be the answer to everything.
 
Update 7-1-21:  RLJ suggested reparations to black people for lost income due to slavery.