<html> February 14 , 2002 AUDITORS ARE "PAPER TIGERS" – FORBES <a href="http://www.odwyerpr.com/0214forbes.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.odwyerpr.com/0214forbes.htm</a> Auditors such as Arthur Andersen, CPA firm for Enron, have become "paper tigers," Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes, Inc., told the Dutch Treat Club, New York, Feb. 12. Forbes noted with approval that the big accounting firms are already spinning off their management consulting wings. Forbes blasted Washington and the IMF, and said auditors have become 'paper tigers' Feb. 12 in New York. Also under fire, he said, are the audit committees of outside directors on company boards. An advocate of the "flat tax" when running for president in 1996, Forbes said that, "Without tax cuts, we will hobble the recovery of our economy." He likened Washington to an "errant child" when it comes to taxes. "They just want to figure out how to get more money out of you so they can go on," he told the Club. Forbes blasted the International Monetary Fund, saying it "wrecked Argentina, wrecked Brazil, and now they're wrecking Turkey." He believes the solutions they give to countries are "toxic advice." Forbes feels that the U.S. will survive the budget deficit. He favors private rather than government action on the subject of campaign finance reform. The answer, he said, might be posting the information on the web where everyone could see it and make their own decisions. The Dutch Treat Club has about 500 members including media figures such as Mike Wallace and Hugh Downs and many figures in the performing arts such as Beverly Sills of the New York City Opera. It met at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park.   </html>