Tuesday, March 4, 2008 by CommonDreams.org | Half New Orleans Poor Permanently Displaced: Failure or Success? | by Bill Quigley
Government reports confirm that half of the working poor, elderly and disabled who lived in New Orleans before Katrina have not returned. Because of critical shortages in low cost housing, few now expect tens of thousands of poor and working people to ever be able to return home.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) reports Medicaid, medical assistance for aged, blind, disabled and low-wage working families, is down 46% from pre-Katrina levels. DHH reports before Katrina there were 134,249 people in New Orleans on Medicaid. February 2008 reports show participation down to 72,211 (a loss of 62,038 since Katrina). Medicaid is down dramatically in every category: by 50% for the aged, 53% for blind, 48% for the disabled and 52% for children.
The Social Security Administration documents that fewer than half the elderly are back. New Orleans was home to 37,805 retired workers who received Social Security before Katrina, now there are 18,940 - a 50% reduction. Before Katrina, there were 12,870 disabled workers receiving Social Security Disability in New Orleans, now there are 5350 - 59% less. Before there were 9425 widowers in New Orleans receiving Social Security survivor’s benefits, now there are less than half, 4140.
Children of working class families have not returned. Public school enrollment in New Orleans was 66,372 before Katrina. Latest figures are 32,149 - a 52% reduction.
Public transit numbers are down 75% since Katrina. Prior to Katrina there were frequently over 3 million rides per month. In January 2008, there were 732,000 rides. The Regional Transit Authority says the reduction reflects that New Orleans has far fewer poorer, transit dependent residents.
...
The displacement of tens of thousands of people is now expected to be permanent because there is both a current shortage of affordable housing and no plan to create affordable rental housing for tens of thousands of the displaced.
In the most blatant sign of government action to reduce the numbers of poor people in New Orleans, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is demolishing thousands of intact public housing apartments. HUD is spending nearly a billion dollars with questionable developers to end up with much less affordable housing. Right after Katrina, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson predicted New Orleans was “not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again.” He then worked to make that prediction true.
According to Policy Link, a national research institute, the crisis in affordable housing means barely 2 in 5 renters in Louisiana can return to affordable homes. In New Orleans, all the funds currently approved by HUD and other government agencies (not spent, only approved) for housing for low-income renters will only rebuild one-third of the pre-Katrina affordable rental housing stock.
Hope House sees four to five hundred needy people a month. “Most of the people we see are working people facing eviction, utility cutoffs, or they are already homeless” reports Everard. The New Orleans homeless population has already doubled from pre-Katrina numbers to approximately 12,000 people. ...
...
The political implications of a dramatic reduction in poor and working mostly African American people in New Orleans are straightforward. The reduction directly helps Republicans who have fought for years to reduce the impact of the overwhelmingly Democratic New Orleans on state-wide politics in Louisiana. In the jargon of political experts, Louisiana, before Katrina, was a “pink state.” The state went for Clinton twice and then for Bush twice, with U.S. Senators from each party. The forced relocation of hundreds of thousands, mostly lower income and African-American, could alter the balance between the two major parties in Louisiana and the opportunities for black elected officials in New Orleans. ...
Friday, March 14, 2008
Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor .. avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security
Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore | Source: Boston Globe
CAYMAN ISLANDS - Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.
More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.
The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.
. . .
In interviews with more than a dozen KBR workers registered through the Cayman Islands companies, most said they did not realize that they had been employed by a foreign firm until they arrived in Iraq and were told by their foremen, or until they returned home and applied for unemployment benefits.
"They never explained it to us," said Arthur Faust, 57, who got a job loading convoys in Iraq in 2004 after putting his resume on KBRcareers.com and going to orientation with KBR officials in Houston.
Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/03/06/to... /
CAYMAN ISLANDS - Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.
More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.
The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.
. . .
In interviews with more than a dozen KBR workers registered through the Cayman Islands companies, most said they did not realize that they had been employed by a foreign firm until they arrived in Iraq and were told by their foremen, or until they returned home and applied for unemployment benefits.
"They never explained it to us," said Arthur Faust, 57, who got a job loading convoys in Iraq in 2004 after putting his resume on KBRcareers.com and going to orientation with KBR officials in Houston.
Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/03/06/to... /
CDC tests confirm FEMA trailers are toxic .. Sierra club warned in early 2006 ...
CDC tests confirm FEMA trailers are toxic | Agency to relocate Gulf Coast residents because of formaldehyde fumes | By Mike Brunker | Projects Team editor | MSNBC
updated 6:23 p.m. CT, Thurs., Feb. 14, 2008
...
More than two years after residents of FEMA trailers deployed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast began complaining of breathing difficulties, nosebleeds and persistent headaches, U.S. health officials announced Thursday that long-awaited government tests found potentially hazardous levels of toxic formaldehyde gas in both travel trailers and mobile homes provided by the agency.
...
Levels of formaldehyde gas in 519 trailer and mobile homes tested in Louisiana and Mississippi were — on average — about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes, the CDC reported. In some trailers, the levels were nearly 40 times customary exposure levels, raising fears that residents could suffer respiratory problems and potentially other long-term health effects, it said.
...
Paulison also defended FEMA’s response to the problem, which surfaced in late 2005, when some travel trailer occupants began reporting breathing difficulties, headaches and nosebleeds.
“I think we have moved very quickly based on what we knew,” Paulison said Thursday. “… We did the best we could do with the information we had.”
The Sierra Club began warning about formaldehyde levels in travel trailers by early 2006, after conducting its own air-quality tests. FEMA officials initially dismissed the environmental group's testing, saying the trailers conformed to industry standards. ...
updated 6:23 p.m. CT, Thurs., Feb. 14, 2008
...
More than two years after residents of FEMA trailers deployed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast began complaining of breathing difficulties, nosebleeds and persistent headaches, U.S. health officials announced Thursday that long-awaited government tests found potentially hazardous levels of toxic formaldehyde gas in both travel trailers and mobile homes provided by the agency.
...
Levels of formaldehyde gas in 519 trailer and mobile homes tested in Louisiana and Mississippi were — on average — about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes, the CDC reported. In some trailers, the levels were nearly 40 times customary exposure levels, raising fears that residents could suffer respiratory problems and potentially other long-term health effects, it said.
...
Paulison also defended FEMA’s response to the problem, which surfaced in late 2005, when some travel trailer occupants began reporting breathing difficulties, headaches and nosebleeds.
“I think we have moved very quickly based on what we knew,” Paulison said Thursday. “… We did the best we could do with the information we had.”
The Sierra Club began warning about formaldehyde levels in travel trailers by early 2006, after conducting its own air-quality tests. FEMA officials initially dismissed the environmental group's testing, saying the trailers conformed to industry standards. ...
payday lenders, who notoriously charge effective interest rates of up to 400 percent on short-term loans
Dave Zweifel: Payday loan sharks circle the vulnerable | 2/18/2008 1
While our Legislature just can't come to grips with the payday loan phenomenon, which is sucking hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest and penalties from the most financially vulnerable among us, there's yet more evidence of just how sleazily this industry operates.
...
The newspaper used as an example a payday loan store in Dotham, Ala., where on a recent morning dozens of elderly and disabled people, some propped on walkers and canes, gathered to get their monthly check, minus the store's cut.
It's illegal, the paper noted, for the government to send a recipient's checks directly to a lender. But the payday loan people are clever. Many have made arrangements with banks where people on Social Security and other benefits have their government checks directly deposited. The banks then immediately transfer those deposits to the lenders, who, in turn, subtract debt payments, fees and interest, before giving the recipients the leftovers, according to the Journal.
Consequently, the payday lenders, who notoriously charge effective interest rates of up to 400 percent on short-term loans, effectively gain control over Social Security recipients' finances.
The Social Security Administration has received numerous complaints about the arrangements that some banks have with the payday lenders, but in what has to be a classic Catch-22, the SSA can't monitor the activity because of privacy rules that prevent the release of financial information. ...
While our Legislature just can't come to grips with the payday loan phenomenon, which is sucking hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest and penalties from the most financially vulnerable among us, there's yet more evidence of just how sleazily this industry operates.
...
The newspaper used as an example a payday loan store in Dotham, Ala., where on a recent morning dozens of elderly and disabled people, some propped on walkers and canes, gathered to get their monthly check, minus the store's cut.
It's illegal, the paper noted, for the government to send a recipient's checks directly to a lender. But the payday loan people are clever. Many have made arrangements with banks where people on Social Security and other benefits have their government checks directly deposited. The banks then immediately transfer those deposits to the lenders, who, in turn, subtract debt payments, fees and interest, before giving the recipients the leftovers, according to the Journal.
Consequently, the payday lenders, who notoriously charge effective interest rates of up to 400 percent on short-term loans, effectively gain control over Social Security recipients' finances.
The Social Security Administration has received numerous complaints about the arrangements that some banks have with the payday lenders, but in what has to be a classic Catch-22, the SSA can't monitor the activity because of privacy rules that prevent the release of financial information. ...
Massachusetts accused Merrill Lynch on Friday of defrauding the city of Springfield with subprime-linked investments
Massachusetts Accuses Merrill of Fraud | By JENNY ANDERSON | Published: February 2, 2008
The top securities regulator in Massachusetts accused Merrill Lynch on Friday of defrauding the city of Springfield with subprime-linked investments, casting light on how Wall Street banks sold complex mortgage securities that are now plummeting in value as the housing slump deepens.
William Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of state, filed a civil fraud complaint against Merrill a day after the firm took the unusual step of agreeing to reimburse Springfield for losses on the investments. Merrill agreed to buy back the securities at their original value, $13.9 million, after determining that its brokers had not been authorized by Springfield to buy the securities on the city’s behalf. ...
The top securities regulator in Massachusetts accused Merrill Lynch on Friday of defrauding the city of Springfield with subprime-linked investments, casting light on how Wall Street banks sold complex mortgage securities that are now plummeting in value as the housing slump deepens.
William Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of state, filed a civil fraud complaint against Merrill a day after the firm took the unusual step of agreeing to reimburse Springfield for losses on the investments. Merrill agreed to buy back the securities at their original value, $13.9 million, after determining that its brokers had not been authorized by Springfield to buy the securities on the city’s behalf. ...
"So what can a corporation do to protect itself against punitive-damages awards such as this?" ... "hire fit and competent people"
At the High Court, Damage Control | By Dana Milbank | Thursday, February 28, 2008; Page A02
Chief Justice John Roberts was pained.
Chief Justice John Roberts was pained.
Exxon Mobil, the giant oil corporation appearing before the Supreme Court yesterday, had earned a profit of nearly $40 billion in 2006, the largest ever reported by a U.S. company -- but that's not what bothered Roberts. What bothered the chief justice was that Exxon was being ordered to pay $2.5 billion -- roughly three weeks' worth of profits -- for destroying a long swath of the Alaska coastline in the largest oil spill in American history.
"So what can a corporation do to protect itself against punitive-damages awards such as this?" Roberts asked in court.
The lawyer arguing for the Alaska fishermen affected by the spill, Jeffrey Fisher, had an idea. "Well," he said, "it can hire fit and competent people."
The rare sound of laughter rippled through the august chamber. The chief justice did not look amused. ...
...
Arguing for the Alaskans, Fisher, a tall and lanky Stanford professor with unruly gray hair, pointed out to the justices that the spill "destroyed an entire regional economy." Yet Exxon fired only one person, Capt. Joseph Hazelwood, who even the oil company admitted was drunk at the time of the accident, while executives received bonuses and pay raises. "What you have today are 32,000 plaintiffs standing before this court, each of whom have received only $15,000 for having their lives and livelihood destroyed and haven't received a dime of emotional-distress damages," Fisher argued. ...
one wealthy client who allegedly avoided reporting or paying taxes on more than $57.6 million, saving $20 million
February 22, 2008, 2:33 pm | Wealthy Client Avoids $20 Million in Taxes
... The real issue is getting the wealthy to pay their official taxes in the first place.
This article, by David Twiddy of the Associated Press, mentions two attorneys in Kansas City, Mo., who have been accused of helping wealthy clients avoid millions of dollars in taxes. They allegedly did it through setting up sham companies in Nevada.
The sham companies “would receive payments for bogus management services to the clients’ companies, which were then claimed as tax deductions. Other bogus corporations distributed the management fees as stock to the customers’ Roth Individual Retirement Accounts, which are not taxable.”
The most-shocking part of this story, however, is the example of one wealthy client who allegedly avoided reporting or paying taxes on more than $57.6 million, saving $20 million. ...
... The real issue is getting the wealthy to pay their official taxes in the first place.
This article, by David Twiddy of the Associated Press, mentions two attorneys in Kansas City, Mo., who have been accused of helping wealthy clients avoid millions of dollars in taxes. They allegedly did it through setting up sham companies in Nevada.
The sham companies “would receive payments for bogus management services to the clients’ companies, which were then claimed as tax deductions. Other bogus corporations distributed the management fees as stock to the customers’ Roth Individual Retirement Accounts, which are not taxable.”
The most-shocking part of this story, however, is the example of one wealthy client who allegedly avoided reporting or paying taxes on more than $57.6 million, saving $20 million. ...
Exxon oil spill: Nearly 20 percent of the 33,000 fishermen who triumphed in court that day are dead ... and unpaid
Exxon Oil Spill Case May Get Closure | Almost 20 Years After Valdez Wreck, Justices to Weigh In | By Robert Barnes | Washington Post Staff Writer | Sunday, February 24, 2008; Page A01
When a federal jury in Alaska in 1994 ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion to thousands of people who had their lives disrupted by the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, an appeal of the nation's largest punitive damages award was inevitable.
...
In the time span of the battle -- 14 years after the verdict, nearly two decades since the spill itself -- claimants' lawyers say there is a new statistic to add to the grim legacy of the disaster in Prince William Sound: Nearly 20 percent of the 33,000 fishermen, Native Alaskans, cannery workers and others who triumphed in court that day are dead.
"That's the most upsetting thing, that more than 6,000 people have passed and this still isn't finished," said Mike Webber, a Native Alaskan artistic carver and former fisherman in the Prince William Sound community of Cordova. "Our sound is not healthy, and neither are the people. Everything is still on the surface, just as it was."
"The bottom line,'' said Tim Joyce, the mayor of Cordova, where half of the town's 2,400 full-time residents are parties to the suit, "is that there is still oil on the beaches. And this lawsuit still isn't finished." ...
...
"I'm a capitalist, I'm a conservative Republican, I am pro-development and pro-industry," said Palin, who is herself a former commercial fisherman once party to the suit. "But consider what Exxon has made in terms of profits in all these years. The American judicial system came down with this judgment, and they've appealed and they've appealed and they've appealed." ....
When a federal jury in Alaska in 1994 ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion to thousands of people who had their lives disrupted by the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, an appeal of the nation's largest punitive damages award was inevitable.
...
In the time span of the battle -- 14 years after the verdict, nearly two decades since the spill itself -- claimants' lawyers say there is a new statistic to add to the grim legacy of the disaster in Prince William Sound: Nearly 20 percent of the 33,000 fishermen, Native Alaskans, cannery workers and others who triumphed in court that day are dead.
"That's the most upsetting thing, that more than 6,000 people have passed and this still isn't finished," said Mike Webber, a Native Alaskan artistic carver and former fisherman in the Prince William Sound community of Cordova. "Our sound is not healthy, and neither are the people. Everything is still on the surface, just as it was."
"The bottom line,'' said Tim Joyce, the mayor of Cordova, where half of the town's 2,400 full-time residents are parties to the suit, "is that there is still oil on the beaches. And this lawsuit still isn't finished." ...
...
"I'm a capitalist, I'm a conservative Republican, I am pro-development and pro-industry," said Palin, who is herself a former commercial fisherman once party to the suit. "But consider what Exxon has made in terms of profits in all these years. The American judicial system came down with this judgment, and they've appealed and they've appealed and they've appealed." ....
Bush Administration invoked an obscure Banking clause 1863 to enable predatory lending practices
Bush Administration invoked an obscure Banking clause 1863 to enable predatory lending practices | By: John Amato on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 3:16 PM - PST |
Gov. Elliot Spitzer explains:
Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York’s, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.
That sounds good. I witnessed such practices and saw prices skyrocket before my eyes . That was a huge reason that the Bush economy held up as long as it did—I think Bush called it the “ownership society.” I guess we can call it the foreclosure society…. The right wingers usually try to say that we blame Bush for everything. Well, let’s see how he did, shall we…
Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.
The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers. In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative.
Payday loans: typical borrower pays back $793 on a $325 loan ... interest can top 500 percent in annual terms
Payday loan limits passed | Lynch says he will sign cap on interest | By LAUREN R. DORGAN | Monitor staff | February 15, 2008 - 7:33 am
New Hampshire's payday lenders will likely close shop next winter. The Senate yesterday approved a tight cap on payday and title loans, a measure that supporters and detractors agree would put the industry out of business.
Gov. John Lynch will sign the bill, which has already cleared the House, a spokesman said.
The bill's supporters say that payday lenders target vulnerable people and make it difficult for them to climb out of debt because the interest rates are so high that borrowers have to take out a second loan to pay off the first one. The measure would cap interest rates on the small loans - which now top 500 percent in annual terms - at 36 percent a year. At those rates, Advance America, which has 21 locations in New Hampshire, would lose $100,000 per storefront, spokesman Jamie Fulmer said.
"It would mean we would have to close our centers," Fulmer said, adding that 200 people work in the industry statewide. "We're just extremely disappointed about today's vote and certainly are very concerned about the 200 New Hampshire residents whose jobs are at risk now."
Payday loans are weeks-long loans of $300 to $500, secured with a pay stub and paid back with a flat fee that translates to an annual interest rate in the hundreds. Title loans require the borrower's car as collateral. Sen. David Gottesman, a Nashua Democrat who supported the bill, said that a typical borrower pays back $793 on a $325 loan, "after getting mired in five or more loan transactions."
"The evidence shows that those most likely to get caught in the debt trap are those living on fixed incomes and vulnerable families feeling the national economic squeeze," Gottesman said. "The money that feeds the payday loan industry and their investors is money that could be going to pay for medicines and food and mortgage payments here in New Hampshire." ...
New Hampshire's payday lenders will likely close shop next winter. The Senate yesterday approved a tight cap on payday and title loans, a measure that supporters and detractors agree would put the industry out of business.
Gov. John Lynch will sign the bill, which has already cleared the House, a spokesman said.
The bill's supporters say that payday lenders target vulnerable people and make it difficult for them to climb out of debt because the interest rates are so high that borrowers have to take out a second loan to pay off the first one. The measure would cap interest rates on the small loans - which now top 500 percent in annual terms - at 36 percent a year. At those rates, Advance America, which has 21 locations in New Hampshire, would lose $100,000 per storefront, spokesman Jamie Fulmer said.
"It would mean we would have to close our centers," Fulmer said, adding that 200 people work in the industry statewide. "We're just extremely disappointed about today's vote and certainly are very concerned about the 200 New Hampshire residents whose jobs are at risk now."
Payday loans are weeks-long loans of $300 to $500, secured with a pay stub and paid back with a flat fee that translates to an annual interest rate in the hundreds. Title loans require the borrower's car as collateral. Sen. David Gottesman, a Nashua Democrat who supported the bill, said that a typical borrower pays back $793 on a $325 loan, "after getting mired in five or more loan transactions."
"The evidence shows that those most likely to get caught in the debt trap are those living on fixed incomes and vulnerable families feeling the national economic squeeze," Gottesman said. "The money that feeds the payday loan industry and their investors is money that could be going to pay for medicines and food and mortgage payments here in New Hampshire." ...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Paulson admits deregulation has failed us all: Mortgage proposals spell end to decades of looking other way
Paulson admits deregulation has failed us all | Commentary: Mortgage proposals spell end to decades of looking other way | By MarketWatch | Last update: 1:00 p.m. EDT March 13, 2008
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- You know things are very very bad on Wall Street when a guy like Henry Paulson -- Treasury secretary, solid Republican, and former Goldman Sachs CEO -- joins the crowd calling for more regulation over the financial markets.
Wall Street and Washington both failed big time, he said. Wall Street invented new ways to make money by selling securities so complicated that no one could really follow which shell the pea was under. Fortunes were made on the paper Wall Street sold.
At the same time, Washington's watchdogs were dozing, tranquilized by the false assurance that Wall Street would police its own.
It's been obvious for years now that Wall Street could not be trusted, and finally official Washington agrees. The markets need a tougher cop to make sure that money-center banks, investment banks, credit-rating agencies, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and the rest don't let their own greed and arrogance ruin it for the rest of us.
"Regulation needs to catch up with innovation," Paulson said, and he was backed up by the rest of President Bush's working group on financial markets, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commissioner Chris Cox. Not a commie among them.
Paulson's proposals won't necessarily prevent a recurrence, but they are a humble recognition that the centerpiece of two decades of Republican economic policy have failed. -- Rex Nutting, Washington bureau chief
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- You know things are very very bad on Wall Street when a guy like Henry Paulson -- Treasury secretary, solid Republican, and former Goldman Sachs CEO -- joins the crowd calling for more regulation over the financial markets.
Paulson spared no one in his criticism Thursday of the excesses of deregulation that has now created the worst global financial crisis in a generation, threatening the health of the U.S. economy, the savings of millions of Americans, and the survival of some of the biggest financial institutions in the world. See full story.
Wall Street and Washington both failed big time, he said. Wall Street invented new ways to make money by selling securities so complicated that no one could really follow which shell the pea was under. Fortunes were made on the paper Wall Street sold.
At the same time, Washington's watchdogs were dozing, tranquilized by the false assurance that Wall Street would police its own.
It's been obvious for years now that Wall Street could not be trusted, and finally official Washington agrees. The markets need a tougher cop to make sure that money-center banks, investment banks, credit-rating agencies, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and the rest don't let their own greed and arrogance ruin it for the rest of us.
"Regulation needs to catch up with innovation," Paulson said, and he was backed up by the rest of President Bush's working group on financial markets, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commissioner Chris Cox. Not a commie among them.
The housing bubble wasn't a flaw; it was a predictable outcome of a system that rewarded smart people small fortunes for conjuring up ways to persuade people to borrow more than they could ever hope to pay back. All the profits were taken off the table quickly, but the staggering costs are only now being paid by homeowners, shareholders, builders and the rest of society.
Paulson's proposals won't necessarily prevent a recurrence, but they are a humble recognition that the centerpiece of two decades of Republican economic policy have failed.
White House won't remove loophole allowing foreign contractors to ignore fraud
White House won't remove loophole allowing foreign contractors to ignore fraud | John Byrne | Published: Thursday March 13, 2008
The White House has indicated it will not remove a loophole quietly inserted into a budget rule which allows contractors abroad to keep silent if they observe fraud or abuse on US government contracts.
...
"This sends the message that if you're going to do waste, fraud and abuse, don't do it at home, do it abroad," Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) told the Washington Post in Thursday's papers. "This was slipped in at the last minute. . . . It's obviously something you can't justify in any way, and there's no answer to why you'd allow this to occur abroad any more than you'd allow it to occur domestically. There is a question as to how and why the change was made, and we don't know the answer."
The White House has indicated it will not remove a loophole quietly inserted into a budget rule which allows contractors abroad to keep silent if they observe fraud or abuse on US government contracts.
...
"This sends the message that if you're going to do waste, fraud and abuse, don't do it at home, do it abroad," Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) told the Washington Post in Thursday's papers. "This was slipped in at the last minute. . . . It's obviously something you can't justify in any way, and there's no answer to why you'd allow this to occur abroad any more than you'd allow it to occur domestically. There is a question as to how and why the change was made, and we don't know the answer."
Even the Bush Justice Department opposes the exemption, which was slipped into the proposed rule last November. No one has come forward to admit the insertion. ...
Thursday, March 06, 2008
New investment in clean, non-fossil-fuel energy sources ...began to shrivel
The Senate Shills for Big Oil | Published: March 3, 2008
One of the major shortcomings in last year’s admirable energy bill was its failure to extend vital tax credits to producers of wind, solar and other renewable fuels. This was entirely the doing of the Senate, which caved in to the oil companies and their White House friends.
The House had approved the credits but insisted — under the Democrats’ pay-as-you-go rules — that they be paid for by eliminating the same amount in tax credits for oil and gas producers. Industry (which is rolling in cash these days) howled, President Bush lofted veto threats, and the Senate caved.
The damage was immediately apparent. New investment in clean, non-fossil-fuel energy sources — which need the help until they become competitive with older, dirtier energy sources — began to shrivel.
The Senate now has a chance to redeem itself. Last week, the House approved a new $17 billion package of credits, spread over 10 years, to encourage the development of renewable energy sources and to promote energy-efficient buildings and appliances. ...
One of the major shortcomings in last year’s admirable energy bill was its failure to extend vital tax credits to producers of wind, solar and other renewable fuels. This was entirely the doing of the Senate, which caved in to the oil companies and their White House friends.
The House had approved the credits but insisted — under the Democrats’ pay-as-you-go rules — that they be paid for by eliminating the same amount in tax credits for oil and gas producers. Industry (which is rolling in cash these days) howled, President Bush lofted veto threats, and the Senate caved.
The damage was immediately apparent. New investment in clean, non-fossil-fuel energy sources — which need the help until they become competitive with older, dirtier energy sources — began to shrivel.
The Senate now has a chance to redeem itself. Last week, the House approved a new $17 billion package of credits, spread over 10 years, to encourage the development of renewable energy sources and to promote energy-efficient buildings and appliances. ...
Ms. Porter’s study found that questionable fees had been added to almost half of the loans she examined
Bundled Mortgages and Dubious Fees Complicate Foreclosure Cases
...
The Wellmans may lose their home even though their accountant testified to the court in 2006 that the lender had levied improper charges on the borrower of about $40,000, or almost 13 percent of what the bank said the Wellmans owed at the time.
Every home foreclosure is different, of course. But the Wellmans’ case shows the uphill battle facing many troubled borrowers who believe that they are losing their homes for questionable reasons, like onerous fees.
One problem is ascertaining who actually owns the note underlying each home loan. This seemingly simple task has turned difficult as more home mortgages have been packaged by the thousands into securitization trusts.
Katherine M. Porter, an associate professor of law at the University of Iowa, conducted a recent study of 1,733 foreclosures that began in 2006. The study found that 40 percent of creditors foreclosing on borrowers did not show proof of ownership, what is often called “proper assignment” of the note or security interest in the property.
Dubious fees charged by lenders have also emerged as a rising problem. Ms. Porter’s study found that questionable fees had been added to almost half of the loans she examined. Last year, the United States Trustee, charged with overseeing the integrity of the nation’s bankruptcy courts, said it would move against lenders that file false or inaccurate claims or assess unreasonable fees.
...
Homeowners naturally look to judges to stop banks and mortgage lenders from seizing troubled borrowers’ homes without supplying proof that they actually owned the note when they began foreclosure proceedings. And with foreclosures soaring, some judges are sympathetic.
Courts in Ohio have recently dismissed cases where ownership of the note underlying the mortgage has not been proved by lenders seeking foreclosure. Last October, Christopher A. Boyko, a federal judge in Cleveland, dismissed 14 such cases.
...
But P. Randall Knece, the judge overseeing the Wellmans’ case in Pickaway County, has refused to stop the auction, even though ownership of the note at the time of foreclosure was not assigned to National City Mortgage, which is forcing the sale.
The lender, a unit of the National City Corporation of Cleveland, was cited for failure to comply with rules on loan origination and quality control and agreed to change some practices.
...
In 2003, the Wellmans signed a forbearance agreement with National City. In it they agreed with the bank on the amount it said they owed. But in 2004, Mr. Wellman said he suspected the bank had overcharged him and he asked for an accounting of what he had paid on his loan.
Plugging the bank’s figures into a Quicken program confirmed his fears, he said. A local accountant, Steve Helwagen, scrutinized the bank’s numbers and testified to the court that National City’s accounting was off by $38,612 in its favor. Mr. Wellman stopped paying on the mortgage and hired a lawyer to try to recover those fees from the bank.
Included in the questionable charges, Mr. Helwagen said, were bank attorney fees, foreclosure fees and those covering hazard insurance. “The bank’s records were horrendous, they just jumped all over the place,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” ...
...
The Wellmans may lose their home even though their accountant testified to the court in 2006 that the lender had levied improper charges on the borrower of about $40,000, or almost 13 percent of what the bank said the Wellmans owed at the time.
Every home foreclosure is different, of course. But the Wellmans’ case shows the uphill battle facing many troubled borrowers who believe that they are losing their homes for questionable reasons, like onerous fees.
One problem is ascertaining who actually owns the note underlying each home loan. This seemingly simple task has turned difficult as more home mortgages have been packaged by the thousands into securitization trusts.
Katherine M. Porter, an associate professor of law at the University of Iowa, conducted a recent study of 1,733 foreclosures that began in 2006. The study found that 40 percent of creditors foreclosing on borrowers did not show proof of ownership, what is often called “proper assignment” of the note or security interest in the property.
Dubious fees charged by lenders have also emerged as a rising problem. Ms. Porter’s study found that questionable fees had been added to almost half of the loans she examined. Last year, the United States Trustee, charged with overseeing the integrity of the nation’s bankruptcy courts, said it would move against lenders that file false or inaccurate claims or assess unreasonable fees.
...
Homeowners naturally look to judges to stop banks and mortgage lenders from seizing troubled borrowers’ homes without supplying proof that they actually owned the note when they began foreclosure proceedings. And with foreclosures soaring, some judges are sympathetic.
Courts in Ohio have recently dismissed cases where ownership of the note underlying the mortgage has not been proved by lenders seeking foreclosure. Last October, Christopher A. Boyko, a federal judge in Cleveland, dismissed 14 such cases.
...
But P. Randall Knece, the judge overseeing the Wellmans’ case in Pickaway County, has refused to stop the auction, even though ownership of the note at the time of foreclosure was not assigned to National City Mortgage, which is forcing the sale.
The lender, a unit of the National City Corporation of Cleveland, was cited for failure to comply with rules on loan origination and quality control and agreed to change some practices.
...
In 2003, the Wellmans signed a forbearance agreement with National City. In it they agreed with the bank on the amount it said they owed. But in 2004, Mr. Wellman said he suspected the bank had overcharged him and he asked for an accounting of what he had paid on his loan.
Plugging the bank’s figures into a Quicken program confirmed his fears, he said. A local accountant, Steve Helwagen, scrutinized the bank’s numbers and testified to the court that National City’s accounting was off by $38,612 in its favor. Mr. Wellman stopped paying on the mortgage and hired a lawyer to try to recover those fees from the bank.
Included in the questionable charges, Mr. Helwagen said, were bank attorney fees, foreclosure fees and those covering hazard insurance. “The bank’s records were horrendous, they just jumped all over the place,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” ...
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Why is her story being covered up? sale of nuclear secrets, shielding of terrorist suspects, trafficking, laundering, espionage
Monday, February 18, 2008 by The Dallas Morning News | What FBI Whistle-Blower Sibel Edmonds Found in Translation | Why is her story being covered up? | by Philip Giraldi
Most Americans have never heard of Sibel Edmonds, and if the U.S. government has its way, they never will.
The former FBI translator turned whistle-blower tells a chilling story of corruption at Washington’s highest levels - sale of nuclear secrets, shielding of terrorist suspects, illegal arms transfers, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, espionage. She may be a first-rate fabulist, but Ms. Edmonds’ account is full of dates, places and names.
And if she is to be believed, a treasonous plot to embed moles in American military and nuclear installations and pass sensitive intelligence to Israeli, Pakistani and Turkish sources was facilitated by figures in the upper echelons of the State and Defense Departments. Her charges could be easily confirmed or dismissed if classified government documents were made available to investigators.
But Congress has refused to act, and the Justice Department has shrouded Ms. Edmonds’ case in the state-secrets privilege, a rarely used measure so sweeping that it precludes even a closed hearing attended only by officials with top-secret security clearances. According to the Department of Justice, such an investigation “could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to the foreign policy and national security of the United States.”
After five years of thwarted legal challenges and fruitless attempts to launch a congressional investigation, Sibel Edmonds is telling her story, though her defiance could land her in jail. After reading its November piece about Louai al-Sakka, an al-Qaeda terrorist who trained 9/11 hijackers in Turkey, Ms. Edmonds approached the Sunday Times of London. On Jan. 6, the Times, a Rupert Murdoch-owned paper that does not normally encourage exposés damaging to the Bush administration, featured a long article. The news quickly spread around the world - but not in the United States.
...
Ms. Edmonds alleges to have heard evidence linking him to bribery from an ATC contact, to his intervening with the FBI to halt the interrogation of four Turkish and Pakistani intelligence operatives, and helping seed U.S. nuclear facilities with Turkish and Israeli Ph.D. students who in turn sold nuclear secrets abroad, primarily to Pakistan. The accused, who emphatically denies Ms. Edmonds’ charges, is now a senior executive at a Washington lobbying firm.
...
After exhausting all appeals through her own chain of command, Ms. Edmonds approached the two Department of Justice agencies with oversight of the FBI and sent faxes to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy on the Judiciary Committee. The next day, she was called in for a polygraph. According to a DOJ inspector general’s report, the test found that “she was not deceptive in her answers.”
But two weeks later, Ms. Edmonds was fired. Her home computer was seized. Her family in Turkey was visited by police and threatened with arrest if they did not submit to questioning about an unspecified “intelligence matter.”
When Ms. Edmonds’ attorney sued to obtain the documents related to her firing, Attorney General John Ashcroft imposed the state-secrets gag order. Since then, she has been subjected to another federal order, which not only silenced her but retroactively classified the statements she eventually made before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the 9/11 commission. ...
...
Still, Sibel Edmonds makes a number of accusations about specific criminal behavior that appear to be extraordinary but are credible enough to warrant official investigation. Her allegations are documentable; an existing FBI file should determine whether they are accurate. ..
Most Americans have never heard of Sibel Edmonds, and if the U.S. government has its way, they never will.
The former FBI translator turned whistle-blower tells a chilling story of corruption at Washington’s highest levels - sale of nuclear secrets, shielding of terrorist suspects, illegal arms transfers, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, espionage. She may be a first-rate fabulist, but Ms. Edmonds’ account is full of dates, places and names.
And if she is to be believed, a treasonous plot to embed moles in American military and nuclear installations and pass sensitive intelligence to Israeli, Pakistani and Turkish sources was facilitated by figures in the upper echelons of the State and Defense Departments. Her charges could be easily confirmed or dismissed if classified government documents were made available to investigators.
But Congress has refused to act, and the Justice Department has shrouded Ms. Edmonds’ case in the state-secrets privilege, a rarely used measure so sweeping that it precludes even a closed hearing attended only by officials with top-secret security clearances. According to the Department of Justice, such an investigation “could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to the foreign policy and national security of the United States.”
After five years of thwarted legal challenges and fruitless attempts to launch a congressional investigation, Sibel Edmonds is telling her story, though her defiance could land her in jail. After reading its November piece about Louai al-Sakka, an al-Qaeda terrorist who trained 9/11 hijackers in Turkey, Ms. Edmonds approached the Sunday Times of London. On Jan. 6, the Times, a Rupert Murdoch-owned paper that does not normally encourage exposés damaging to the Bush administration, featured a long article. The news quickly spread around the world - but not in the United States.
...
Ms. Edmonds alleges to have heard evidence linking him to bribery from an ATC contact, to his intervening with the FBI to halt the interrogation of four Turkish and Pakistani intelligence operatives, and helping seed U.S. nuclear facilities with Turkish and Israeli Ph.D. students who in turn sold nuclear secrets abroad, primarily to Pakistan. The accused, who emphatically denies Ms. Edmonds’ charges, is now a senior executive at a Washington lobbying firm.
...
After exhausting all appeals through her own chain of command, Ms. Edmonds approached the two Department of Justice agencies with oversight of the FBI and sent faxes to Sens. Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy on the Judiciary Committee. The next day, she was called in for a polygraph. According to a DOJ inspector general’s report, the test found that “she was not deceptive in her answers.”
But two weeks later, Ms. Edmonds was fired. Her home computer was seized. Her family in Turkey was visited by police and threatened with arrest if they did not submit to questioning about an unspecified “intelligence matter.”
When Ms. Edmonds’ attorney sued to obtain the documents related to her firing, Attorney General John Ashcroft imposed the state-secrets gag order. Since then, she has been subjected to another federal order, which not only silenced her but retroactively classified the statements she eventually made before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the 9/11 commission. ...
...
Still, Sibel Edmonds makes a number of accusations about specific criminal behavior that appear to be extraordinary but are credible enough to warrant official investigation. Her allegations are documentable; an existing FBI file should determine whether they are accurate. ..
Friday, February 22, 2008
Ex-Republican Operative Says Bush Adviser Karl Rove Pushed for Dirt on Alabama's Governor
Report: Rove wanted dirt on Alabama gov. | BEN EVANS | AP News | Feb 21, 2008 21:15 EST
Ex-Republican Operative Says Bush Adviser Karl Rove Pushed for Dirt on Alabama's Governor
A former Republican campaign worker claims that President Bush's former top political adviser, Karl Rove, asked her to find evidence that the Democratic governor of Alabama at the time was cheating on his wife, according to an upcoming broadcast of "60 Minutes."
Jill Simpson, who has long alleged that Rove may have influenced the corruption prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman, makes the claim against Rove in a broadcast scheduled to be aired Sunday, according to a statement from CBS.
Simpson testified to congressional investigators last year that she overheard conversations among Republicans in 2002 indicating that Rove was involved in the Justice Department's prosecution of Siegelman. She has never before said that Rove pressed her for evidence of marital infidelity in spite of testifying to congressional lawyers last year, submitting a sworn affidavit and speaking extensively with reporters. ...
Ex-Republican Operative Says Bush Adviser Karl Rove Pushed for Dirt on Alabama's Governor
A former Republican campaign worker claims that President Bush's former top political adviser, Karl Rove, asked her to find evidence that the Democratic governor of Alabama at the time was cheating on his wife, according to an upcoming broadcast of "60 Minutes."
Jill Simpson, who has long alleged that Rove may have influenced the corruption prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman, makes the claim against Rove in a broadcast scheduled to be aired Sunday, according to a statement from CBS.
Simpson testified to congressional investigators last year that she overheard conversations among Republicans in 2002 indicating that Rove was involved in the Justice Department's prosecution of Siegelman. She has never before said that Rove pressed her for evidence of marital infidelity in spite of testifying to congressional lawyers last year, submitting a sworn affidavit and speaking extensively with reporters. ...
Republican Rep. Rick Renzi has been indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering
Rick Renzi Indicted: McCain Co-Chair Hit For Fraud, Extortion | Huffington Post | February 22, 2008 10:58 AM
GOP Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi -- the co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's campaign in Arizona -- has been indicted this morning:
Republican Rep. Rick Renzi (REN-zee) has been indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges related to a land deal in Arizona.A 26-page federal indictment unsealed in Arizona accuses Renzi and two former business partners of conspiring to promote the sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal government. The sale netted one of Renzi's former partners $4.5 million.
Renzi is a three-term member of the House. He announced in August that he would not seek re-election.
Today's indictment comes after a lengthy federal investigation into the land developing and insurance businesses owned by Renzi's family.
In April 2007, federal agents raided a Sonoita (so-no-EE-ta) Arizona business owned by Renzi's wife, Roberta. ...Thursday, February 21, 2008
McCain: [conflict] Straight talk [while] 25-year legislative career shows he has been an avid seeker of special-interest money
Straight Talk and Cold Cash | By Edward T. Pound | Posted 5/20/07
"Our Democracy is not for sale." — Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican
...
McCain has positioned himself as a die-hard opponent of special-interest influence. But a U.S. News analysis of his 25-year legislative career shows he has been an avid seeker of special-interest money to support his campaigns and initiatives. The pattern goes all the way back to his first House race in 1982. Moreover, as the boss or No. 2 member of the Senate Commerce Committee, he has drawn heavy support from pacs and individuals associated with industries overseen by that committee—especially telecommunications, media, and technology firms.
...
Connections. McCain is also relying on well-connected corporate executives and lobbyists to raise funds—people like Thomas Loeffler, a former congressman and lobbyist whose law firm was paid more than $5 million last year to represent Saudi Arabia. Loeffler, who is directing the McCain fundraising effort, is one of 15 national finance cochairs who each have pledged to raise $1 million for McCain.
McCain has repeatedly said that he wants to break up "the iron triangle of big money, special-interest lobbyists, and the legislation they buy," but his aides say he has no choice but to rely on influential money men if he wants to be president. McCain declined to be interviewed by U.S. News but provided written responses to questions. "Campaign contributions," the senator wrote, "have never affected my support or opposition to any legislation." He said that he took "positions, rightly or wrongly because I believe they are in the public interest." McCain added that his lobbyist supporters "have never asked for nor have I ever offered to take a position on legislation in exchange for their support." ...
"Our Democracy is not for sale." — Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican
...
McCain has positioned himself as a die-hard opponent of special-interest influence. But a U.S. News analysis of his 25-year legislative career shows he has been an avid seeker of special-interest money to support his campaigns and initiatives. The pattern goes all the way back to his first House race in 1982. Moreover, as the boss or No. 2 member of the Senate Commerce Committee, he has drawn heavy support from pacs and individuals associated with industries overseen by that committee—especially telecommunications, media, and technology firms.
...
Connections. McCain is also relying on well-connected corporate executives and lobbyists to raise funds—people like Thomas Loeffler, a former congressman and lobbyist whose law firm was paid more than $5 million last year to represent Saudi Arabia. Loeffler, who is directing the McCain fundraising effort, is one of 15 national finance cochairs who each have pledged to raise $1 million for McCain.
McCain has repeatedly said that he wants to break up "the iron triangle of big money, special-interest lobbyists, and the legislation they buy," but his aides say he has no choice but to rely on influential money men if he wants to be president. McCain declined to be interviewed by U.S. News but provided written responses to questions. "Campaign contributions," the senator wrote, "have never affected my support or opposition to any legislation." He said that he took "positions, rightly or wrongly because I believe they are in the public interest." McCain added that his lobbyist supporters "have never asked for nor have I ever offered to take a position on legislation in exchange for their support." ...
Iraq contractor .... Prosecutors also have identified three senior KBR executives who allegedly approved inflated bids. None of 13 people charged
Inside the world of war profiteers | By David Jackson and Jason Grotto | Tribune reporters | February 21, 2008
From prostitutes to Super bowl tickets, a federal probe reveals how contractors in Iraq cheated the U.S.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill.—Inside the stout federal courthouse of this Mississippi River town, the dirty secrets of Iraq war profiteering keep pouring out.
Hundreds of pages of recently unsealed court records detail how kickbacks shaped the war's largest troop support contract months before the first wave of U.S. soldiers plunged their boots into Iraqi sand.
...
... Those defendants, along with two other KBR employees who have pleaded guilty in Virginia, account for a third of the 36 people indicted to date on Iraq war-contract crimes, Justice Department records show.
...
In one case, a freight-shipping subcontractor confessed to giving $25,000 in illegal gratuities to five unnamed KBR employees "to build relationships to get additional business," according to the man's December 2007 statement to a federal judge in the Rock Island court. Separately, Peleti named five military colleagues who allegedly accepted bribes. Prosecutors also have identified three senior KBR executives who allegedly approved inflated bids. None of those 13 people has been charged.
A common thread runs through these cases and other KBR scandals in Iraq, from allegations the firm failed to protect employees sexually assaulted by co-workers to findings that it charged $45 per can of soda: The Pentagon has outsourced crucial troop support jobs while slashing the number of government contract watchdogs.
The dollar value of Army contracts quadrupled from $23.3 billion in 1992 to $100.6 billion in 2006, according to a recent report by a Pentagon panel. But the number of Army contract supervisors was cut from 10,000 in 1990 to 5,500 currently.
Last week, the Army pledged to add 1,400 positions to its contracting command. But even those embroiled in the frauds acknowledge the impact of so much war privatization.
"I think we downsized past the point of general competency," said subcontractor Christopher Cahill, ...
...
Party Houses, prostitutes
In October 2002, five months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Khan threw a birthday party for Seamans at a Tamimi "party house" near the Kuwait base known as Camp Arifjan. Khan "provided Seamans with a prostitute as a present," Rock Island prosecutors wrote in court papers. Driving Seamans back to his quarters, Khan offered kickbacks that would total $130,000.
Five days later, with Seamans and Khan hammering out the fine print, KBR awarded Tamimi the war's first $14.4 million mess hall subcontract, court records show.
In April 2003, as American troops poured into Iraq, Seamans gave Khan inside information that enabled Tamimi to secure a $2 million KBR subcontract to establish a mess hall at a Baghdad palace. Seamans submitted change orders that inflated that subcontract to $7.4 million. ...
...
Complicating the investigation of war-contract crimes, the government of Kuwait has denied a U.S. request to extradite two Middle Eastern businessmen accused of LOGCAP fraud. The country's ambassador last year sent letters to the Justice Department asking the U.S. to drop its case against one of them, arguing that international agreements forbid U.S. prosecution of Kuwaiti residents for crimes allegedly committed on Kuwaiti soil. Prosecutors disagree, but a judge is considering Kuwait's assertion. ...
From prostitutes to Super bowl tickets, a federal probe reveals how contractors in Iraq cheated the U.S.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill.—Inside the stout federal courthouse of this Mississippi River town, the dirty secrets of Iraq war profiteering keep pouring out.
Hundreds of pages of recently unsealed court records detail how kickbacks shaped the war's largest troop support contract months before the first wave of U.S. soldiers plunged their boots into Iraqi sand.
...
... Those defendants, along with two other KBR employees who have pleaded guilty in Virginia, account for a third of the 36 people indicted to date on Iraq war-contract crimes, Justice Department records show.
...
In one case, a freight-shipping subcontractor confessed to giving $25,000 in illegal gratuities to five unnamed KBR employees "to build relationships to get additional business," according to the man's December 2007 statement to a federal judge in the Rock Island court. Separately, Peleti named five military colleagues who allegedly accepted bribes. Prosecutors also have identified three senior KBR executives who allegedly approved inflated bids. None of those 13 people has been charged.
A common thread runs through these cases and other KBR scandals in Iraq, from allegations the firm failed to protect employees sexually assaulted by co-workers to findings that it charged $45 per can of soda: The Pentagon has outsourced crucial troop support jobs while slashing the number of government contract watchdogs.
The dollar value of Army contracts quadrupled from $23.3 billion in 1992 to $100.6 billion in 2006, according to a recent report by a Pentagon panel. But the number of Army contract supervisors was cut from 10,000 in 1990 to 5,500 currently.
Last week, the Army pledged to add 1,400 positions to its contracting command. But even those embroiled in the frauds acknowledge the impact of so much war privatization.
"I think we downsized past the point of general competency," said subcontractor Christopher Cahill, ...
...
Party Houses, prostitutes
In October 2002, five months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Khan threw a birthday party for Seamans at a Tamimi "party house" near the Kuwait base known as Camp Arifjan. Khan "provided Seamans with a prostitute as a present," Rock Island prosecutors wrote in court papers. Driving Seamans back to his quarters, Khan offered kickbacks that would total $130,000.
Five days later, with Seamans and Khan hammering out the fine print, KBR awarded Tamimi the war's first $14.4 million mess hall subcontract, court records show.
In April 2003, as American troops poured into Iraq, Seamans gave Khan inside information that enabled Tamimi to secure a $2 million KBR subcontract to establish a mess hall at a Baghdad palace. Seamans submitted change orders that inflated that subcontract to $7.4 million. ...
...
Complicating the investigation of war-contract crimes, the government of Kuwait has denied a U.S. request to extradite two Middle Eastern businessmen accused of LOGCAP fraud. The country's ambassador last year sent letters to the Justice Department asking the U.S. to drop its case against one of them, arguing that international agreements forbid U.S. prosecution of Kuwaiti residents for crimes allegedly committed on Kuwaiti soil. Prosecutors disagree, but a judge is considering Kuwait's assertion. ...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
EPA threatened states wanting tougher limits on mercury
EPA threatened states wanting tougher limits on mercury | Associated Press - February 17, 2008 12:44 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - Government documents show the Bush administration pressured dozens of states -- including Montana -- to accept a scheme that would let some power plants evade cleaning up their pollution.
A week ago, a federal appeals court struck down that industry-friendly approach for mercury reduction. It allowed plants with excessive smokestack emissions to buy pollution rights from other plants that foul the air less.
Internal Environmental Protection Agency documents and e-mails show attempts over the past two years to blunt state efforts to make their plants drastically reduce mercury pollution instead of trading for credits that would let them continue it.
While many states resisted EPA's pressure, others ended up bowing to it. ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Government documents show the Bush administration pressured dozens of states -- including Montana -- to accept a scheme that would let some power plants evade cleaning up their pollution.
A week ago, a federal appeals court struck down that industry-friendly approach for mercury reduction. It allowed plants with excessive smokestack emissions to buy pollution rights from other plants that foul the air less.
Internal Environmental Protection Agency documents and e-mails show attempts over the past two years to blunt state efforts to make their plants drastically reduce mercury pollution instead of trading for credits that would let them continue it.
While many states resisted EPA's pressure, others ended up bowing to it. ...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Mine fines routinely ignored ... ine Safety and Health Administration did not assess civil penalties
January 27, 2008 | Mine fines routinely ignored | MSHA leaders promise reforms | By Ken Ward Jr. | Staff writer
Federal regulators have allowed mine operators to avoid fines for thousands of health and safety citations, despite a federal law that requires monetary penalties for such violations, government officials have confirmed.
Over the last six years, the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration did not assess civil penalties for about 4,000 violations, according to preliminary MSHA data.
Most of the violations involve situations where MSHA did not assess monetary penalties within 18 months of issuing a citation. Agency officials believe that is the legal time limit for doing so.
MSHA officials emphasized that less than 1 percent of all violations cited by agency inspectors were involved, and said steps are being taken to fix the problem.
But at least one of the citations involves a violation that MSHA inspectors concluded was partly responsible for the December 2005 death of an underground miner in Kentucky.
The revelation is another major setback for MSHA, which is still trying to catch up on missed mandatory inspections and implement far-reaching safety laws passed after a series of disasters in 2006 and 2007.
"There is no doubt that there is a problem," said Richard Stickler, acting assistant labor secretary in charge of MSHA. ...
Federal regulators have allowed mine operators to avoid fines for thousands of health and safety citations, despite a federal law that requires monetary penalties for such violations, government officials have confirmed.
Over the last six years, the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration did not assess civil penalties for about 4,000 violations, according to preliminary MSHA data.
Most of the violations involve situations where MSHA did not assess monetary penalties within 18 months of issuing a citation. Agency officials believe that is the legal time limit for doing so.
MSHA officials emphasized that less than 1 percent of all violations cited by agency inspectors were involved, and said steps are being taken to fix the problem.
But at least one of the citations involves a violation that MSHA inspectors concluded was partly responsible for the December 2005 death of an underground miner in Kentucky.
The revelation is another major setback for MSHA, which is still trying to catch up on missed mandatory inspections and implement far-reaching safety laws passed after a series of disasters in 2006 and 2007.
"There is no doubt that there is a problem," said Richard Stickler, acting assistant labor secretary in charge of MSHA. ...
Monday, January 21, 2008
Watchdogs Decry $6 Million for Contractor ... earmarked by Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican congressman
Wicker's Earmark Elicits Criticism | Watchdogs Decry $6 Million for Contractor | By Matthew Mosk | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 16, 2008; Page A03
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican congressman appointed to replace Trent Lott in December, last year obtained a $6 million earmark for a defense contractor whose executives were among his top campaign contributors and were represented in the matter by Wicker's former congressional chief of staff, according to federal records.
...
Over the past three years, as Aurora sought defense contracts, the Republican member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee received escalating contributions from the company's executives. Aurora was Wicker's top source of campaign funds in 2006, campaign finance records show. In 2005, the company flew the congressman on a private jet to the ribbon cutting of a manufacturing facility it opened in Wicker's Mississippi district. ...
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican congressman appointed to replace Trent Lott in December, last year obtained a $6 million earmark for a defense contractor whose executives were among his top campaign contributors and were represented in the matter by Wicker's former congressional chief of staff, according to federal records.
...
Over the past three years, as Aurora sought defense contracts, the Republican member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee received escalating contributions from the company's executives. Aurora was Wicker's top source of campaign funds in 2006, campaign finance records show. In 2005, the company flew the congressman on a private jet to the ribbon cutting of a manufacturing facility it opened in Wicker's Mississippi district. ...
sued the Interior Department on Thursday seeking documents about decisions on endangered species the group alleges were tainted by political pressure
Conservationists sue gov't for records | Conservationists Sue Interior Dept. for Information About Endangered Species Rulings | MATTHEW DALY | AP News | Dec 27, 2007 16:08 EST
A conservation group sued the Interior Department on Thursday seeking documents about decisions on endangered species the group alleges were tainted by political pressure from a former high-ranking Interior official.
...
"This is a lawsuit we've been forced to file to receive documents that we're entitled to that demonstrate the severity of Julie MacDonald's involvement in overturning endangered species and habitat decisions," said William Snape, the group's senior counsel. Snape filed the suit under the Freedom of Information Act. ...
A conservation group sued the Interior Department on Thursday seeking documents about decisions on endangered species the group alleges were tainted by political pressure from a former high-ranking Interior official.
...
"This is a lawsuit we've been forced to file to receive documents that we're entitled to that demonstrate the severity of Julie MacDonald's involvement in overturning endangered species and habitat decisions," said William Snape, the group's senior counsel. Snape filed the suit under the Freedom of Information Act. ...
Monday, January 07, 2008
Did Huckabee help his son avoid prosecution for animal cruelty?
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 | Did Huckabee help his son avoid prosecution for animal cruelty?
That's the questioned examined by an article in the latest issue of Newsweek, which reports on allegations that the former Arkansas governor's son David was involved in the hanging death of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998. The younger Huckabee, who was 17 at the time, was fired from his job as a camp counselor over the incident but never faced a criminal investigation.
John Bailey, then the director of the Arkansas state police, tells the magazine that the governor's chief of staff and personal lawyer pressured him to write a letter denying a local prosecutor's request for help in determining whether any animal cruelty laws were broken: ...
...
But as Salon reports, Huckabee is hardly the only GOP frontrunner with "puppy skeletons" in his closet: Rudy Giuliani's wife, Judith, previously worked for U.S. Surgical Corp. selling medical staplers to doctors by demonstrating the devices on live, anesthetized dogs. And in the early 1980s, Mitt Romney took his family on a 12-hour drive to vacation in Canada -- with their Irish setter in a crate strapped to the car's roof. That's a likely violation of Massachusetts animal cruelty laws. ...
That's the questioned examined by an article in the latest issue of Newsweek, which reports on allegations that the former Arkansas governor's son David was involved in the hanging death of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998. The younger Huckabee, who was 17 at the time, was fired from his job as a camp counselor over the incident but never faced a criminal investigation.
John Bailey, then the director of the Arkansas state police, tells the magazine that the governor's chief of staff and personal lawyer pressured him to write a letter denying a local prosecutor's request for help in determining whether any animal cruelty laws were broken: ...
...
But as Salon reports, Huckabee is hardly the only GOP frontrunner with "puppy skeletons" in his closet: Rudy Giuliani's wife, Judith, previously worked for U.S. Surgical Corp. selling medical staplers to doctors by demonstrating the devices on live, anesthetized dogs. And in the early 1980s, Mitt Romney took his family on a 12-hour drive to vacation in Canada -- with their Irish setter in a crate strapped to the car's roof. That's a likely violation of Massachusetts animal cruelty laws. ...
jet travel to school: Cost to the stockholders: about $600,000
The Rich Are Different | by Devilstower | Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 01:54:10 PM PST
...
So what has she found? Marketplace has some of Michelle's [Michelle Leder at footnoted.org ] best finds for 2007.
How about the CEO at Qwest, whose daughter gets to use the corporate jet to travel to school? Puts that kid whose mother pulls up to jr. high in a Hummer in her place. Cost to the stockholders: about $600,000.
Personal travel was a theme in CEO perks this year. Just ask the CEO of I2. The company covered his commuting expenses so he could live in Maine while the company offices were in Dallas. Cost to the stockholders: $949,000 -- and by the way, the company was busy scrambling to avoid collapse. I'm sure the other employees got equally nice treatment.
Failing companies often seem to be the most generous. Take Countrywide, which gave it's new COO a promotion bonus just as the sub-prime mortgage business was heading for the dumper. Cost to the stockholders: $2.62 million. Oh, and when it comes to that housing crisis? Thank goodness executives don't have to worry. See, when housing prices were going up, companies bought executive homes at the market rate and gave any profit to the executive. When housing prices started to fall, shareholders covered any losses so the executives still made a profit. What's that you say? Housing slump? You must be joking.
For executives who wanted to avoid the whole mortgage mess, there were other options. The new CEO of Morgans Hotel Group signed up for a relatively stingy $750,000 a year. Of course the stockholders are coming his housing allowance, which is a mere $30,000 a month. ...
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So what has she found? Marketplace has some of Michelle's [Michelle Leder at footnoted.org ] best finds for 2007.
How about the CEO at Qwest, whose daughter gets to use the corporate jet to travel to school? Puts that kid whose mother pulls up to jr. high in a Hummer in her place. Cost to the stockholders: about $600,000.
Personal travel was a theme in CEO perks this year. Just ask the CEO of I2. The company covered his commuting expenses so he could live in Maine while the company offices were in Dallas. Cost to the stockholders: $949,000 -- and by the way, the company was busy scrambling to avoid collapse. I'm sure the other employees got equally nice treatment.
Failing companies often seem to be the most generous. Take Countrywide, which gave it's new COO a promotion bonus just as the sub-prime mortgage business was heading for the dumper. Cost to the stockholders: $2.62 million. Oh, and when it comes to that housing crisis? Thank goodness executives don't have to worry. See, when housing prices were going up, companies bought executive homes at the market rate and gave any profit to the executive. When housing prices started to fall, shareholders covered any losses so the executives still made a profit. What's that you say? Housing slump? You must be joking.
For executives who wanted to avoid the whole mortgage mess, there were other options. The new CEO of Morgans Hotel Group signed up for a relatively stingy $750,000 a year. Of course the stockholders are coming his housing allowance, which is a mere $30,000 a month. ...
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