With Both Hands

Oh, the indignity of it all.

General Electric Capital Corp. and VFS Financing Inc. lent Sarasota legend-in-the-making Art Nadel $4.7 million for two airplanes and now they want them back because he defaulted on the loan. Oh, and he's in jail. And he beat his investors out of $350 million. And his assets are being frozen by the SEC.

No wonder he was zipping from Sarasota to Slidell to North Carolina and back on one of his private planes. Sort of a farewell tour, I suppose. They probably haven't even lost that 'new plane' smell yet.

I understand US Marshals escorted Uncle Art from the Pinellas County pokey around 7:00 AM (how dare the Feds wake him that early!) to go to New York to face charges in federal court. The SHT article says, "The service declined to provide any details of Nadel’s transport." I wonder if they took one of his jets? You don't think they made the poor man fly commercial, do you?

But judging by the SEC's performance yesterday on Capitol Hill, I wouldn't worry too much about that watchdog agency even being able to find your airplanes, let alone seize them. With both hands. And the lights turned on.








You know, it's one thing when corporate CEOs act like this, but when our own government officials act like this.....

Rep. Ackerman's sound bite will forever be: "You couldn’t find your backside with two hands if the lights were on.”

As for the investors swindled by Madoff, Nadel, Cosmo and the rest, this admonition does not apply to you. Since you've already lost your ass, you can't be expected to find it, even with two hands and lights on.