Quote:
Originally posted by nostatic
wow...quite a stretch. Air America is indicted (now) for something a former chairman alledgedly did while he was there.
One word for you: Enron
Another word: Worldcom
If you're going to talk scandal, let's get to something serious. Oh, and here's the other (ie not hard right) side of the story:
http://www.airamericaradio.com/press/gloriawise
......
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Enron and Worldcom were not political entities like Air America.....and their side of the story that you posted is apparently much like most of what they have done since their inception...lies and evasion.
Oh..and you have got to love "Camp Air America" Sounds like a liberal version of Hitler Youth to me.
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 11:26 a.m. EDT
Air America Keeps Poor Kids Waiting
After promising to pay back a nearly $1 million "loan" it obtained from a South Bronx community group that services poor children, the liberal radio network Air America now says the organization will have to wait for its money.
"We are waiting for direction from investigators on how to proceed," an Air America official told the New York Post on Wednesday - referring to a New York City Department on Investigations probe into "inappropriate transcations" by the group in question, the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club.
The news didn't sit well with Gloria Wise spokeswoman Matta Rose, who complained to the paper: "Air America reached a legal agreement to have the [Gloria Wise] loan repaid in full."
The trouble started last year when former Gloria Wise development director Evan Cohen allegedly persuaded club officials to make the suspect $875,000 loan.
Cohen, it turns out, also helped found Air America - but left the network a month after its start amidst a wave of funding problems.
After first denying any responsibility, the new owners of Air America promised the refund on Friday, in a statement still posted to the network's Web site:
"We are very disturbed that Air America Radio's good name could be associated with a reduction in services for young people, which is why we agreed months ago to fully compensate the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club as a result of this transaction."
Top Air America talker Al Franken hasn't had much to say on the air about the Gloria Wise "loan" - but he went out of his way to trash Cohen in an interview Tuesday in the New York Sun.
Franken recalled that when Air America was launched in March 2004, Cohen told the staff they had enough funding to survive for three years without making a profit.
"It turned out to be three weeks," Franken lamented. "We were all shocked."
Franken said Cohen often cited health problems to explain why funds had dried up, recalling that when studio equipment wasn't working, Cohen would say, "You know, I have brain cancer."
"Brain cancer seemed to be his answer to everything." Franken complained.
Attempts by the Post and Sun to reach Cohen have been unsuccessful.
In its Friday statement, Air America said that because Gloria Wise is now under investigation, it was severing all ties to another Gloria Wise project, Camp Air America.
"We have offered any individuals who contributed to the camp as a result of Air America's promotion the option of a refund paid for by Air America Radio and the Club offered the alternative option of having their donation redirected to Kip's Bay Boys and Girls Club," the statement said, claiming that both Camp Air America and Gloria Wise had been closed.
But five days later, the Gloria Wise Web site is still up and running - and still touting Camp Air America while soliciting contributions in the name of the network.
Air America listeners are invited to sponsor an array of activities by offering donations of $35 to $750. The larger donation is supposed to pay for "a life changing week" at Camp Air America for two children from the same family.