Friday, July 01, 2005
"Silverado", it's not just for Bushes anymore
The Clean Cut Kid has a very interesting post over at Daily Kos about freshman Sen John Thune R-Silverado.
Seriously, it would be very hard for any bank to concentrate this much into one borrower without a very good friend on the banks' board.
Last week disturbing news came out about a Sioux Falls auto dealership that had filed for bankruptcy. Dan Nelson Automotive, with dealerships in Iowa and South Dakota, filed on June 21, 2005 disclosing that the dealership was in financial straits with $6.4 million in assets and just short of $30 million in debt. The filing listed over 275 creditors that the dealership owes funds. At the top of the list is a bank by the name of MetaBank, which has branches in Sioux Falls, SD and is based in Spirit Lake, IA. The debt owed to MetaBank makes up an overwhelmingly significant 94% ($28.015 million) of the total $30 million in debt that Dan Nelson Automotive claims in debt in the filing.Nothing like having a private piggy bank, even if it is full of other peoples money.
A look at Meta’s financial statements from 2004 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the $30 million out to Dan Nelson would have represented 7.2% of the bank’s total loan assets.
The name change is significant because without being aware of it, you wouldn’t make the connection between MetaBank being named as Dan Nelson Automotive’s most significant creditor and the fact that South Dakota Senator John Thune sat on the board of First Federal Savings/First Midwest Financial/Security State Bank from January 27, 2003 until November 18, 2004. In fact, Thune sat on the Audit Committee for the institution. According to Personal Financial Disclosure Reports required by the Senate for candidates, Thune was in a fiduciary relationship with the institution by being paid $35,750 as a board member.
Now all of this doesn’t really mean a whole lot except for the fact that Thune and Dan Nelson, who owns 75% of Nelson Automotive, are close friends. So close that Nelson managed Thune’s first run for Congress in 1996. So close that Nelson contributed $9,000 to Thune’s campaigns over the years. Nearly half of that amount came into Thune’s coffers while Thune was serving on MetaBank’s board. Thune and Nelson are so close that a search of the Senator’s Federal Election Commission Reports show Thune disbursed funds to Dan Nelson Automotive in 2004 to the tune of nearly $90,000 for vehicle leases and renting office space.
Seriously, it would be very hard for any bank to concentrate this much into one borrower without a very good friend on the banks' board.
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I find it interesting in the Dan Nelson saga that the Mainstream Media are not all over this story. The Randy Cunningham story has nothing on John Thune's problems. This Norm Savery who has run interference for Dan, but nobody has any information about him. There are some people who think he is ficticious. Why would there be a ficticious character who allegedly is really Dan Nelson not wanting to face irate customers who are told to call him while they are waiting on hold to actually speak with him. This theory of Norm Savery not actually existing is very possible. If you put in the phone number or address for Michelle Tapken the result is the name and either the address or phone number of the person. You can do this on the white pages website. Anyway, it has been suggested that when this information spits out Michelle's information, Norm Savery is also listed at that address with the same phone number. Since there have been no credible sightings of Norm, what other explanation could there be? Anybody????
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