The hypocrite in chief: President Bush is talking tough about pinstriped rip-off artists -- ignoring the skeletons in his and Cheney's own corporate closets.

July 2, 2002 | WASHINGTON -- After the shock of two more multibillion-dollar corporate fraud cases last week, WorldCom and Xerox, President George W. Bush has taken up the mantle of corporate responsibility. "Corporate leaders who violate the public's trust should never be given that trust again," he told listeners to his radio address on Saturday.

But even to the most objective observer, this pitch, from this White House, is one tough sell.

Although Bush evaded most of the political fallout from the Enron debacle despite his adminstration's close ties to that company, the growing scandal of corporate irresponsibility is threatening to engulf the business-friendly White House. And with every move Bush makes to respond, his own corporate past, and that of Vice President Dick Cheney, the former Halliburton CEO, may well come back to haunt him.

Bush is planning a big address on the issue, complete with proposals for reform, for July 9. He already put forward a 10-point proposal for corporate reform back in March. But these very moves could help remind Americans of the corners Bush and Cheney cut during their days in the executive suites of corporate America.