Peter G Peterson , the Blackstone Group and selling it all away to China.... but Ex Comptroler General has the correct analysis of the problems ...

Peter G Peterson founded the Blackstone Group with Stephen A. Schwarzman with $400,000 in seed capital. "Blackstone" is a wordplay on the founders' names, Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson. Schwarz is German for black. Peter, or Petra in Greek, means stone or rock.

On June 21, 2007, The Blackstone Group went public. Their IPO was to raise $4 billion on March 22, 2007 by selling 133.3 million shares priced at $31.00 per unit. The stock began trading on the NYSE on July 22, 2007.

The Chinese State Investment Company took 10 % stake ($3 billion) stake. By the way the People's Bank of China announced today that total reserves at the end of June reached $1.809 trillion (around 45-50% of annual GDP). This breaks down to $153.9 billion growth in the first quarter of 2008 and a $126.6 billion growth in the second.

Anyway this made Mr Peterson very, very, rich. So, as the Peter G Paterson Foundation website says, he set about giving the money back.

It also made his co-partner very, very rich but if you read Friday, July 13, 2007 Tax cuts for the very,very rich - how it works... and where some of the money goes you will find he has a fucking expensive wife with a fucking expensive lifestyle....

A philanthropist and student of philanthropy, as well as a longtime advocate for securing America's fiscal future, Pete decided to devote much of his new fortune - $1 billion - to a foundation that would tackle some of the critical challenges threatening the nation's well-being. Among them: large and growing budget deficits, dismal national and personal savings rates, and a ballooning national debt that endangers the viability of Social Security, Medicare, and our economy itself.

For too long, these issues have been the increasingly costly gorilla in the room. Policymakers of all stripes know they are unsustainable, and yet they've been politically untouchable, with special interests and career-minded elected officials lined up to block efforts to address them. The media and the business community seem to share Washington's short-sightedness, preferring to focus on today instead of covering and investing in the future.

Pete decided to invest much of his personal fortune in an unprecedented effort blah, blah read the est of this self promtional stuff on his tax dodging Foundation website.....Finally, Pete decided that this foundation would make a special effort to inform and engage the people who are most threatened by the collective reluctance to address these issues: young adults.

Pete's dedication to America stems from his own life story, a classic tale of the American dream. He is the son of a Greek immigrant who moved to America as a teenager with no money, no knowledge of English, and only a third-grade education. Taking a job as a railroad dishwasher, he slept and ate in a caboose and saved his wages, eventually opening an all-night restaurant in Kearney, Nebraska. He sent his son to college. From there, Pete went on to succeed in the corporate world, serve in the Cabinet, and on one summer morning, become an instant billionaire.

The Foundation is dedicated to securing the future of all Americans, and to reversing the recent loss of faith that our children will have better lives than we do. By promoting responsibility today and opportunity tomorrow, we will do our best to keep the country strong and keep this very American dream alive.

Tonight Lord Patel cannot make a screening in "downtown" Washington laid on for the Press about I.O.U.S.A WHICH IS HIS BIG IDEA ..

Our Vision
To keep America strong and the American Dream alive by promoting responsibility and accountability today to create more opportunity tomorrow.

Go to the website and see the movie trailer ... we've even got a scrappy crappy screen shot for you .. guess what ? The US of A is in hock to China.!!!!!..Guess what ..he thinks that's a bad idea and wants to change it.

Skadden represented Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets as the lead underwriters in The Blackstone Group's initial public offering.Skadden is representing Fresenius AG, a health care company in Germany, in its approximately US$5 billion acquisition of APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a provider of pharmaceutical products which we wrote about last week.

Skadden (AKA Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP) a big Washington / global outfit and no doubt involved in Peter's IOUSA have spent quite some time looking at this post ... there's a surprise.

We now discover that IOUSA is exoplained on Wikipedia ....I.O.U.S.A. is a 2008 documentary film directed by Patrick Creadon.

It is scheduled to compete in the Documentary Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
The film focuses on the shape and impact of the United States National Debt. The film focuses on Robert Bixby, director of the Concord Coalition, and David Walker, 55 the U.S. Comptroller-General, as they travel around the United States on a tour to let communities know of the potential dangers of the National Debt. This is a tour carried out through the Concord Coalition, and is known as the "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour." In February 2008, Walker announced that he would be resigning from his post as Comptroller General of the office of Goverment Accountability to become the president and CEO of the newly established Peter G. Peterson Foundation. His term was supposed to end in 2013. He states that he feels he can more freely draw attention to the serious issues the U.S. is facing from this position.

Walker said. “My new position will provide me with the ability and resources to more aggressively address a range of current and emerging challenges facing our country, including advocating specific policy solutions and courses of action.”

There are some excellent clear and well illustrated Presentations from Former Comptroller General David Walker to be found here especially recommended Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today

Here is a fascinating slide - remember the GAO serves Congress...