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. ...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
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. ...
...
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. ...
Saturday, December 22, 2007
nation’s homeownership rate has fallen ... and will plummet further next year.: Mozillo made $270 million in profits selling stocks ...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 by The American Prospect | The Conservative Origins of the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis | Everything you ever wanted to know about the mortgage meltdown but were afraid to ask. | by John Atlas and Peter Dreier
...
Make no mistake — it is a crisis. Since 1998, more than 7 million borrowers bought homes with sub-prime loans. One million of those homeowners have already defaulted on their loans. The crisis is likely to get worse. Financial analysts predict that at least a quarter of these people — over 2 million families — will default and face the financial pain and psychological grief of losing their homes over the next few years.
Bush, who once touted his administration’s goal as creating an “ownership society,” may now go down in history as the president on whose watch ownership declined. The nation’s homeownership rate has fallen during the last two years and will plummet further next year. Moreover, Bush’s unwillingness to take bold steps to regulate lenders, brokers, and investors will guarantee that the next president will inherit a much bigger mortgage mess.
...
Mortgage brokers, the street hustlers of the lending world, often used mail solicitations and ads that shouted, “Bad Credit? No Problem!” “Zero Percent Down Payment!” to find people who were closed out of homeownership, or homeowners who could be talked into refinancing. They seduced millions of people into signing on the dotted line. Although sub-prime lending has been concentrated in minority and low-income urban areas, it has spread to the middle-class suburbs.
The sub-prime lenders didn’t hold on to these loans. Instead, they sold them — and the risk — to investment banks and investors who considered these high interest rate, sub-prime loans a goldmine. By 2007, the sub-prime business had become a $1.5 trillion global market for investors seeking high returns.
The whole scheme worked as long as borrowers made their monthly mortgage payments. When borrowers couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up the payments on these high-interest loans, what looked like a bonanza for everyone turned into a national foreclosure crisis and an international credit crisis. For millions of families, the American Dream of homeownership has become a nightmare.
...
The executives and officers of some mortgage finance companies cashed out before the market crashed. The poster boy is Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide Financial, the largest sub-prime lender. He made more than $270 million in profits selling stocks and options from 2004 to the beginning of 2007. And the three founders of New Century Financial, the second largest sub-prime lender, together realized $40 million in stock-sale profits between 2004 and 2006. Paul Krugman reported in The New York Times that last year the chief executives of Merrill-Lynch and Citigroup were paid $48 million and $25.6 million, respectively.
...
Predatory loans sometimes involve a conspiracy between loan agents and unscrupulous home-improvement contractors, as well as appraisers who inflate the value of a house so that families will borrow more than the houses are really worth. Predatory mortgages often include last-minute, hidden second mortgages. Using bait-and-switch tactics, predatory lenders tout low interest rates in ads targeting the elderly and residents of low-income, working-class, and minority neighborhoods, without explaining the actual interest rates or that adjustable-rate mortgages mean that the rates will increase.
...
And It All Started with Deregulation
There was a time, not too long ago, when Washington did regulate banks. The Depression triggered the creation of government bank regulations and agencies ...
...
In 2000, Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve Board member, repeatedly warned about sub-prime mortgages and predatory lending, which he said “jeopardize the twin American dreams of owning a home and building wealth.” He tried to get chairman Alan Greenspan to crack down on irrational sub-prime lending by increasing oversight, but his warnings fell on deaf ears, including those in Congress.
...
Those who profited handsomely from the sub-prime market and predatory lending, the mortgage bankers and brokers, are working overtime to protect their profits by lobbying in state capitals and in Washington, DC to keep government off their backs. The banking industry, of course, has repeatedly warned that any restrictions on their behavior will close needy people out of the home-buying market. Its lobbyists insisted that the Bush plan be completely voluntary.
...
And wouldn’t it be nice to hear the next president tell the American people that, “the era of unregulated so-called free-market banking greed and sleaze is over”?
...
Make no mistake — it is a crisis. Since 1998, more than 7 million borrowers bought homes with sub-prime loans. One million of those homeowners have already defaulted on their loans. The crisis is likely to get worse. Financial analysts predict that at least a quarter of these people — over 2 million families — will default and face the financial pain and psychological grief of losing their homes over the next few years.
Bush, who once touted his administration’s goal as creating an “ownership society,” may now go down in history as the president on whose watch ownership declined. The nation’s homeownership rate has fallen during the last two years and will plummet further next year. Moreover, Bush’s unwillingness to take bold steps to regulate lenders, brokers, and investors will guarantee that the next president will inherit a much bigger mortgage mess.
...
Mortgage brokers, the street hustlers of the lending world, often used mail solicitations and ads that shouted, “Bad Credit? No Problem!” “Zero Percent Down Payment!” to find people who were closed out of homeownership, or homeowners who could be talked into refinancing. They seduced millions of people into signing on the dotted line. Although sub-prime lending has been concentrated in minority and low-income urban areas, it has spread to the middle-class suburbs.
The sub-prime lenders didn’t hold on to these loans. Instead, they sold them — and the risk — to investment banks and investors who considered these high interest rate, sub-prime loans a goldmine. By 2007, the sub-prime business had become a $1.5 trillion global market for investors seeking high returns.
The whole scheme worked as long as borrowers made their monthly mortgage payments. When borrowers couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up the payments on these high-interest loans, what looked like a bonanza for everyone turned into a national foreclosure crisis and an international credit crisis. For millions of families, the American Dream of homeownership has become a nightmare.
...
The executives and officers of some mortgage finance companies cashed out before the market crashed. The poster boy is Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide Financial, the largest sub-prime lender. He made more than $270 million in profits selling stocks and options from 2004 to the beginning of 2007. And the three founders of New Century Financial, the second largest sub-prime lender, together realized $40 million in stock-sale profits between 2004 and 2006. Paul Krugman reported in The New York Times that last year the chief executives of Merrill-Lynch and Citigroup were paid $48 million and $25.6 million, respectively.
...
Predatory loans sometimes involve a conspiracy between loan agents and unscrupulous home-improvement contractors, as well as appraisers who inflate the value of a house so that families will borrow more than the houses are really worth. Predatory mortgages often include last-minute, hidden second mortgages. Using bait-and-switch tactics, predatory lenders tout low interest rates in ads targeting the elderly and residents of low-income, working-class, and minority neighborhoods, without explaining the actual interest rates or that adjustable-rate mortgages mean that the rates will increase.
...
And It All Started with Deregulation
There was a time, not too long ago, when Washington did regulate banks. The Depression triggered the creation of government bank regulations and agencies ...
...
In 2000, Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve Board member, repeatedly warned about sub-prime mortgages and predatory lending, which he said “jeopardize the twin American dreams of owning a home and building wealth.” He tried to get chairman Alan Greenspan to crack down on irrational sub-prime lending by increasing oversight, but his warnings fell on deaf ears, including those in Congress.
...
Those who profited handsomely from the sub-prime market and predatory lending, the mortgage bankers and brokers, are working overtime to protect their profits by lobbying in state capitals and in Washington, DC to keep government off their backs. The banking industry, of course, has repeatedly warned that any restrictions on their behavior will close needy people out of the home-buying market. Its lobbyists insisted that the Bush plan be completely voluntary.
...
And wouldn’t it be nice to hear the next president tell the American people that, “the era of unregulated so-called free-market banking greed and sleaze is over”?
Monday, December 10, 2007
Former Chief Will Forfeit $418 Million ... first time regulators ... force executives to disgorge ill-gotten gains
Former Chief Will Forfeit $418 Million | By ERIC DASH | Published: December 7, 2007
In one of the largest corporate pay give-backs ever, William W. McGuire, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, has agreed to forfeit at least $418 million to settle claims related to back-dated stock options.
The payback is on top of roughly $198 million that Mr. McGuire, an entrepreneur who built UnitedHealth, had previously agreed to return to his former employer.
The total — $618 million — includes money that Mr. McGuire will return as part of separate settlements reached yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission and UnitedHealth shareholders. The forfeitures are the first time regulators have successfully employed corporate governance rules put in place after the collapse of Enron that force executives to disgorge ill-gotten gains. ...
In one of the largest corporate pay give-backs ever, William W. McGuire, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, has agreed to forfeit at least $418 million to settle claims related to back-dated stock options.
The payback is on top of roughly $198 million that Mr. McGuire, an entrepreneur who built UnitedHealth, had previously agreed to return to his former employer.
The total — $618 million — includes money that Mr. McGuire will return as part of separate settlements reached yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission and UnitedHealth shareholders. The forfeitures are the first time regulators have successfully employed corporate governance rules put in place after the collapse of Enron that force executives to disgorge ill-gotten gains. ...
State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard ...decided to resign ... scrutiny for brother's Blackwater role ...
Official in Blackwater probe quits http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0732452720071207| Fri Dec 7, 2007 2:27pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother's link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday.
Krongard, the State Department's top investigator, has been accused by current and former subordinates of thwarting probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater.
"We thank him for his dedication to public service and wish him well in the future," State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said. ...
Krongard last month recused himself from Blackwater oversight after saying in a congressional hearing that his brother A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, a former executive director of the CIA, had attended a meeting of Blackwater's advisory board. ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother's link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday.
Krongard, the State Department's top investigator, has been accused by current and former subordinates of thwarting probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater.
"We thank him for his dedication to public service and wish him well in the future," State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said. ...
Krongard last month recused himself from Blackwater oversight after saying in a congressional hearing that his brother A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, a former executive director of the CIA, had attended a meeting of Blackwater's advisory board. ...
Monday, December 03, 2007
FDA so underfunded, consumers are put at risk
Report: FDA so underfunded, consumers are put at risk | Updated 21h 11m ago | By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
The Food and Drug Administration is so underfunded and understaffed that it's putting U.S. consumers at risk in terms of food and drug safety, an advisory panel to the FDA says in a report to be discussed Monday.
The report — developed in the past year by experts from academia, industry and other government agencies — delivers a scathing review of the state of the FDA, which regulates 80% of the nation's food, its drugs, vaccines and medical devices.
The report details a "plethora of inadequacies" in the agency, including:
•Inadequate inspections of manufacturers, noting that foodmakers, for example, are inspected about once every 10 years.
•A "badly broken" food-import system and food supply "that grows riskier each year." In the past 35 years, FDA inspections of the food supply have dropped 78% due to soaring numbers of products and inadequate FDA funding.
..
William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner who supports the Coalition for a Stronger FDA, says the report stands out because of the "intensity of the feelings" expressed by the subcommittee.
"These people were horrified by what they found," he says. While the subcommittee was supposed to look ahead to where the FDA needs to be, Hubbard says it came away concluding that "it cannot even do its job now."
The Food and Drug Administration is so underfunded and understaffed that it's putting U.S. consumers at risk in terms of food and drug safety, an advisory panel to the FDA says in a report to be discussed Monday.
The report — developed in the past year by experts from academia, industry and other government agencies — delivers a scathing review of the state of the FDA, which regulates 80% of the nation's food, its drugs, vaccines and medical devices.
The report details a "plethora of inadequacies" in the agency, including:
•Inadequate inspections of manufacturers, noting that foodmakers, for example, are inspected about once every 10 years.
•A "badly broken" food-import system and food supply "that grows riskier each year." In the past 35 years, FDA inspections of the food supply have dropped 78% due to soaring numbers of products and inadequate FDA funding.
..
William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner who supports the Coalition for a Stronger FDA, says the report stands out because of the "intensity of the feelings" expressed by the subcommittee.
"These people were horrified by what they found," he says. While the subcommittee was supposed to look ahead to where the FDA needs to be, Hubbard says it came away concluding that "it cannot even do its job now."
Republican Senator Hagel: "This is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I've ever seen personally or ever read about,"
Hagel: Bush administration is 'incompetent' and he would consider joining a Dem ticket | By: Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence
"This is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I've ever seen personally or ever read about," the always blunt and frequently quotable Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said yesterday during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"This administration in my opinion has been as unprepared as any administration I'm aware of," Hagel added, "not only the ones that I have been somehow connected to and that's been every administration -- either I've been in Washington or worked within an administration or Congress or some way dealing with them since the first Nixon administration. I would rate this one the lowest in capacity, in capability, in policy, in consensus -- almost every area, I would give it the lowest grade. ...
"This is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I've ever seen personally or ever read about," the always blunt and frequently quotable Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said yesterday during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"This administration in my opinion has been as unprepared as any administration I'm aware of," Hagel added, "not only the ones that I have been somehow connected to and that's been every administration -- either I've been in Washington or worked within an administration or Congress or some way dealing with them since the first Nixon administration. I would rate this one the lowest in capacity, in capability, in policy, in consensus -- almost every area, I would give it the lowest grade. ...
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Bush administration appointee "may have improperly influenced" several rulings: "Julie MacDonald's dubious leadership and waste of taxpayer dollars ..
7 Decisions on Species Revised | Fish and Wildlife Service Cites Possibility of Improper Influence | By Juliet Eilperin | Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 28, 2007; Page A03
After concluding that a Bush administration appointee "may have improperly influenced" several rulings on whether to protect imperiled species under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service has revised seven decisions on protecting species across the country.
... MacDonald resigned from the department in May after she was criticized in a report by the inspector general and as she was facing congressional scrutiny.
In a letter dated Nov. 23 to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), acting Director Kenneth Stansell of the Fish and Wildlife Service said that the agency spent four months reviewing eight Endangered Species Act decisions made under MacDonald and is revising seven of them. Those rulings affected 17 species, including 12 species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies.
...
"Julie MacDonald's dubious leadership and waste of taxpayer dollars will now force the agency to divert precious time, attention, and resources to go back and see that the work is done in a reliable and untainted manner," Rahall said. "The agency turned a blind eye to her actions -- the repercussions of which will not only hurt American taxpayers, but could also imperil the future of the very creatures that the endangered species program intends to protect." ...
After concluding that a Bush administration appointee "may have improperly influenced" several rulings on whether to protect imperiled species under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service has revised seven decisions on protecting species across the country.
... MacDonald resigned from the department in May after she was criticized in a report by the inspector general and as she was facing congressional scrutiny.
In a letter dated Nov. 23 to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), acting Director Kenneth Stansell of the Fish and Wildlife Service said that the agency spent four months reviewing eight Endangered Species Act decisions made under MacDonald and is revising seven of them. Those rulings affected 17 species, including 12 species of Hawaiian picture-wing flies.
...
"Julie MacDonald's dubious leadership and waste of taxpayer dollars will now force the agency to divert precious time, attention, and resources to go back and see that the work is done in a reliable and untainted manner," Rahall said. "The agency turned a blind eye to her actions -- the repercussions of which will not only hurt American taxpayers, but could also imperil the future of the very creatures that the endangered species program intends to protect." ...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
'Taxes funded Rudy Giuliani love trysts'
The Times | November 29, 2007 | 'Taxes funded Rudy Giuliani love trysts' | Zahid Hussain
Rudy Giuliani faced fresh questions about his judgment last night amid claims that trysts with his mistress while he was New York’s Mayor cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.
The Republican presidential frontrunner’s record as New York mayor is already facing closer scrutiny after the indictment this month of his close friend Bernard Kerik, whom Mr Giuliani appointed as the city’s police chief. ...
..
Politico reports 11 Long Island trips indicated by credit card receipts. It is not possible to say how many of those visits included official business, but eight of them were not noted on Mr Giuliani’s mayoral schedule. The first trip to Southampton, Long Island, where Ms Nathan had a flat, appear in travel documents running from August 31 to September 1, 1999. Four police officers spent the night in a nearby motel, billing the city $1,016.20. (£485) Mr Giuliani’s schedule listed no events in Long Island that day. ...
Rudy Giuliani faced fresh questions about his judgment last night amid claims that trysts with his mistress while he was New York’s Mayor cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.
The Republican presidential frontrunner’s record as New York mayor is already facing closer scrutiny after the indictment this month of his close friend Bernard Kerik, whom Mr Giuliani appointed as the city’s police chief. ...
..
Politico reports 11 Long Island trips indicated by credit card receipts. It is not possible to say how many of those visits included official business, but eight of them were not noted on Mr Giuliani’s mayoral schedule. The first trip to Southampton, Long Island, where Ms Nathan had a flat, appear in travel documents running from August 31 to September 1, 1999. Four police officers spent the night in a nearby motel, billing the city $1,016.20. (£485) Mr Giuliani’s schedule listed no events in Long Island that day. ...
Giuliani billed obscure agencies for trips
Giuliani billed obscure agencies for trips | By: Ben Smith | Nov 28, 2007 02:47 PM EST
As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records. ...
As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records. ...
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Corporations that exploit market conditions [price gouging, preditory pricing] to abuse consumers should face huge fines
Policing Corporate Pricing Policies | By Stephen Crockett - Nov 27th, 2007 at 9:06 am EST
Among the top priorities of the current and next Congressional sessions should be new laws to regulate corporate pricing policies. In particular, our nation needs strict new federal laws against price-gouging and predatory pricing.
We all know about price-gouging. We see it everyday when buying gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, prescription drugs and many other products or services. Price-gouging is the result of an “all the market will bare” corporate mentality, as opposed to the more traditional “reasonable rate of return on investment” corporate mentality which prevailed in most corporate boardrooms before the 1980’s Reagan Revolution changed government policies and societal attitudes. This is the truly darkside of the Reagan Era. We are still suffering from the negative impacts as consumers and citizens.
Much of what is wrong with America developed out of the Reagan Era “greed is good doctrine.” It thoroughly corrupted the Republican Party and made serious inroads among elements of the Democratic opposition. It corrupted government policy and negatively influenced many average American citizens.
I believe we should return to the traditional Christian outlook that excessive greed is a serious sin. This is not just a Christian doctrine. Almost every religion and moral code developed around the world agrees that greed is usually an evil thing.
Excessive greed is what price-gouging is all about if you apply even a minimum of common sense to examining the issue. Greed is always present. It is why we have armed robberies, burglaries, piracy and scores of other criminal activities. Economic activities judged by society to be detrimental to most consumers, workers or other businesses are usually outlawed or at least heavily regulated by government. It is clear that price-gouging falls into this category of detrimental economic activity. It should be banned.
Corporations that exploit market conditions to abuse consumers should face huge fines. The fines should be multiples of all profits derived from the price-gouging. Zero profits should be retained by those corporations from the price-gouging activities. There is a legal pattern in much of American government regulation of corporate misbehavior that actually permits the corporations involved to retain large portions of illegally obtained profits. This must be stopped. ...
Among the top priorities of the current and next Congressional sessions should be new laws to regulate corporate pricing policies. In particular, our nation needs strict new federal laws against price-gouging and predatory pricing.
We all know about price-gouging. We see it everyday when buying gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, prescription drugs and many other products or services. Price-gouging is the result of an “all the market will bare” corporate mentality, as opposed to the more traditional “reasonable rate of return on investment” corporate mentality which prevailed in most corporate boardrooms before the 1980’s Reagan Revolution changed government policies and societal attitudes. This is the truly darkside of the Reagan Era. We are still suffering from the negative impacts as consumers and citizens.
Much of what is wrong with America developed out of the Reagan Era “greed is good doctrine.” It thoroughly corrupted the Republican Party and made serious inroads among elements of the Democratic opposition. It corrupted government policy and negatively influenced many average American citizens.
I believe we should return to the traditional Christian outlook that excessive greed is a serious sin. This is not just a Christian doctrine. Almost every religion and moral code developed around the world agrees that greed is usually an evil thing.
Excessive greed is what price-gouging is all about if you apply even a minimum of common sense to examining the issue. Greed is always present. It is why we have armed robberies, burglaries, piracy and scores of other criminal activities. Economic activities judged by society to be detrimental to most consumers, workers or other businesses are usually outlawed or at least heavily regulated by government. It is clear that price-gouging falls into this category of detrimental economic activity. It should be banned.
Corporations that exploit market conditions to abuse consumers should face huge fines. The fines should be multiples of all profits derived from the price-gouging. Zero profits should be retained by those corporations from the price-gouging activities. There is a legal pattern in much of American government regulation of corporate misbehavior that actually permits the corporations involved to retain large portions of illegally obtained profits. This must be stopped. ...
Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott announced retirement ... before new two-year ban on lobbying
Barbour’s Proposed Special Election To Replace Lott May Violate Election Law
Earlier today, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) announced that he “will be retiring from the Senate by the end of the year.” Soon after the announcement, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) put out a statement declaring that “pursuant to Mississippi law,” he would “call a Special Election for United States Senator to be held on November 4, 2008″: ...
...
If Lott does indeed retire by the end of 2007, as he says he wishes to do, Barbour’s proposed timing for the election might run afoul of state election law. According to the Mississippi secretary of state’s office, Barbour would have to hold the election before Nov. 2008:
While Lott sneaks in under the wire for the extended ban on lobbying Congress by retiring this year, the secretary of state’s office said Monday that state law appears to require a special election within 90 days if he does so.
Conversely, if Lott were to wait and retire in 2008, the law allows for the special election to be held the same day as the general. Of course, he would then be subject to the new two-year ban on lobbying his former colleagues, instead of the current one-year ban. ...
Earlier today, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) announced that he “will be retiring from the Senate by the end of the year.” Soon after the announcement, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) put out a statement declaring that “pursuant to Mississippi law,” he would “call a Special Election for United States Senator to be held on November 4, 2008″: ...
...
If Lott does indeed retire by the end of 2007, as he says he wishes to do, Barbour’s proposed timing for the election might run afoul of state election law. According to the Mississippi secretary of state’s office, Barbour would have to hold the election before Nov. 2008:
While Lott sneaks in under the wire for the extended ban on lobbying Congress by retiring this year, the secretary of state’s office said Monday that state law appears to require a special election within 90 days if he does so.
Conversely, if Lott were to wait and retire in 2008, the law allows for the special election to be held the same day as the general. Of course, he would then be subject to the new two-year ban on lobbying his former colleagues, instead of the current one-year ban. ...
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert resigns ... [before next year's 2 year waiting period for lobbying?]
November 26, 2007 | Hastert formally resigns from Congress, setting special election in motion | Posted by Rick Pearson at 5:05 p.m.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is formally resigning from Congress today.
Hastert said he did so on the advice of attorneys with the aim that a special primary election to replace him could be held on Feb. 5---the same day as the state's regular primary election, which will decide nominees for Hastert's long-term replacement as well.
...
Hastert, the longest serving GOP House speaker, said he had not explored job opportunities because of the potential for conflicts of interest while still a member of Congress.
...................................
Comments
More double talk from Hastert. He says he has no plans to lobby, but didn't he earlier say he would become a "consultant"? Are we really to believe this isn't a prelude to lobbying?
And isn't it also true that the current waiting period for lobbying after serving in Congress is one year, but that only after Jan. 1st does it go to 2 years?
Are we really expected to believe this change in the law has nothing to do with Hastert rushing out before the end of the year? ...
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is formally resigning from Congress today.
Hastert said he did so on the advice of attorneys with the aim that a special primary election to replace him could be held on Feb. 5---the same day as the state's regular primary election, which will decide nominees for Hastert's long-term replacement as well.
...
Hastert, the longest serving GOP House speaker, said he had not explored job opportunities because of the potential for conflicts of interest while still a member of Congress.
...................................
Comments
More double talk from Hastert. He says he has no plans to lobby, but didn't he earlier say he would become a "consultant"? Are we really to believe this isn't a prelude to lobbying?
And isn't it also true that the current waiting period for lobbying after serving in Congress is one year, but that only after Jan. 1st does it go to 2 years?
Are we really expected to believe this change in the law has nothing to do with Hastert rushing out before the end of the year? ...
Monday, November 26, 2007
Bush's talent for cronyism: foxes guarding the henhouse
Bush's talent for cronyism: foxes guarding the henhouse | Incompetent at best, dangerous at worst
James Baker: Iraq Debt Envoy ... BUSH appoints James Baker as Iraq debt envoy. Baker is senior counselor to the Carlyle Group, a global investment company that has done business with the Saudi royal family. He is also a partner in Baker Botts, a Houston law firm whose client list includes Halliburton and the Saudi Royal family. Mr. Baker's law firm will most likely represent the Saudi Royals in the suit against them filed by the 9-11 victims families ....
John Snow: Secretary of Treasury ... Under Snow's watch, despite raking in close to a billion dollars in pretax profits since 1998, CSX paid no federal income taxes in three of the past four years – magically making all of its profits "pretax." What's more, thanks to a combination of accounting gimmicks and tax shelters, the company was even able to score a hefty $164 million in tax rebates during that time. Tax rebates on taxes that CSX NEVER PAID....
Mike Leavitt: former EPA administrator current Secretary of Health and Human Services ... As Utah governor he allowed US Magnesium to emit over 42 million tons of Chlorine per year-nine times the Chlorine emissions from all other states. ... Kennecott, Utah has one of the world's largest ground water contamination problems as a result of its mining operations and Leavitt's refuals to do anything about it ... Leavitt struck a back room deal with the bush administration to open six million acres of wild lands in Utah to mining, clearcutting, oil and gas drilling, and bulldozing. ...
Linda Fisher: Deputy administrator at EPA ... Former Mocnsanto V.P. Second in ranking only to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. Her appointment was opposed by critics of genetically modified (GM) foods who raised concerns about industry's ability to influence Fisher. ...
Gale A. Norton: Secretary of the Interior (retired) ... Appointed Gale A. Norton, former mining industry lobbyist and current secretary of the interior: She is a proponent of "self-audit" laws, which allow industries to decide on their own whether or not they comply with environmental regulations. ...
...
ETC. ETC
...
Rear Admiral Cristina Beato: Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services ...(but the curriculum was developed while Beato was still a medical student). ... (but the clinic existed before she was hired, and there was even another medical director before her)
...
Stan Suboleski: Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ... Suboleski is an executive with the A.C. Massey Coal Company which, according to the United Mineworkers, has one of the worst safety records in the industry. ...
James Baker: Iraq Debt Envoy ... BUSH appoints James Baker as Iraq debt envoy. Baker is senior counselor to the Carlyle Group, a global investment company that has done business with the Saudi royal family. He is also a partner in Baker Botts, a Houston law firm whose client list includes Halliburton and the Saudi Royal family. Mr. Baker's law firm will most likely represent the Saudi Royals in the suit against them filed by the 9-11 victims families ....
John Snow: Secretary of Treasury ... Under Snow's watch, despite raking in close to a billion dollars in pretax profits since 1998, CSX paid no federal income taxes in three of the past four years – magically making all of its profits "pretax." What's more, thanks to a combination of accounting gimmicks and tax shelters, the company was even able to score a hefty $164 million in tax rebates during that time. Tax rebates on taxes that CSX NEVER PAID....
Mike Leavitt: former EPA administrator current Secretary of Health and Human Services ... As Utah governor he allowed US Magnesium to emit over 42 million tons of Chlorine per year-nine times the Chlorine emissions from all other states. ... Kennecott, Utah has one of the world's largest ground water contamination problems as a result of its mining operations and Leavitt's refuals to do anything about it ... Leavitt struck a back room deal with the bush administration to open six million acres of wild lands in Utah to mining, clearcutting, oil and gas drilling, and bulldozing. ...
Linda Fisher: Deputy administrator at EPA ... Former Mocnsanto V.P. Second in ranking only to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. Her appointment was opposed by critics of genetically modified (GM) foods who raised concerns about industry's ability to influence Fisher. ...
Gale A. Norton: Secretary of the Interior (retired) ... Appointed Gale A. Norton, former mining industry lobbyist and current secretary of the interior: She is a proponent of "self-audit" laws, which allow industries to decide on their own whether or not they comply with environmental regulations. ...
...
ETC. ETC
...
Rear Admiral Cristina Beato: Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services ...(but the curriculum was developed while Beato was still a medical student). ... (but the clinic existed before she was hired, and there was even another medical director before her)
...
Stan Suboleski: Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ... Suboleski is an executive with the A.C. Massey Coal Company which, according to the United Mineworkers, has one of the worst safety records in the industry. ...
Executives are lavishly rewarded if the companies they run seem successful: $48M, $25M for CEOs ... then collapse ...
Banks Gone Wild | By PAUL KRUGMAN | Published: November 23, 2007
“What were they smoking?” asks the cover of the current issue of Fortune magazine. Underneath the headline are photos of recently deposed Wall Street titans, captioned with the staggering sums they managed to lose.
The answer, of course, is that they were high on the usual drug — greed. And they were encouraged to make socially destructive decisions by a system of executive compensation that should have been reformed after the Enron and WorldCom scandals, but wasn’t.
...
But even as the danger signs multiplied, Wall Street piled into bonds backed by dubious home mortgages. Most of the bad investments now shaking the financial world seem to have been made in the final frenzy of the housing bubble, or even after the bubble began to deflate.
In fact, according to Fortune, Merrill Lynch made its biggest purchases of bad debt in the first half of this year — after the subprime crisis had already become public knowledge.
...
Around 25 years ago, American business — and the American political system — bought into the idea that greed is good. Executives are lavishly rewarded if the companies they run seem successful: last year the chief executives of Merrill and Citigroup were paid $48 million and $25.6 million, respectively.
But if the success turns out to have been an illusion — well, they still get to keep the money. Heads they win, tails we lose.
Not only is this grossly unfair, it encourages bad risk-taking, and sometimes fraud. If an executive can create the appearance of success, even for a couple of years, he will walk away immensely wealthy. Meanwhile, the subsequent revelation that appearances were deceiving is someone else’s problem.
If all this sounds familiar, it should. The huge rewards executives receive if they can fake success are what led to the great corporate scandals of a few years back. ...
“What were they smoking?” asks the cover of the current issue of Fortune magazine. Underneath the headline are photos of recently deposed Wall Street titans, captioned with the staggering sums they managed to lose.
The answer, of course, is that they were high on the usual drug — greed. And they were encouraged to make socially destructive decisions by a system of executive compensation that should have been reformed after the Enron and WorldCom scandals, but wasn’t.
...
But even as the danger signs multiplied, Wall Street piled into bonds backed by dubious home mortgages. Most of the bad investments now shaking the financial world seem to have been made in the final frenzy of the housing bubble, or even after the bubble began to deflate.
In fact, according to Fortune, Merrill Lynch made its biggest purchases of bad debt in the first half of this year — after the subprime crisis had already become public knowledge.
...
Around 25 years ago, American business — and the American political system — bought into the idea that greed is good. Executives are lavishly rewarded if the companies they run seem successful: last year the chief executives of Merrill and Citigroup were paid $48 million and $25.6 million, respectively.
But if the success turns out to have been an illusion — well, they still get to keep the money. Heads they win, tails we lose.
Not only is this grossly unfair, it encourages bad risk-taking, and sometimes fraud. If an executive can create the appearance of success, even for a couple of years, he will walk away immensely wealthy. Meanwhile, the subsequent revelation that appearances were deceiving is someone else’s problem.
If all this sounds familiar, it should. The huge rewards executives receive if they can fake success are what led to the great corporate scandals of a few years back. ...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The predator’s mission is to home in on the vulnerable. ... one unaffordable loan following another.
A Swarm of Swindlers | By BOB HERBERT | Published: November 20, 2007
Like vultures, the mortgage lenders began circling the single-family house with the tiny front lawn on Merrill Avenue.
They knew that the woman who owned the house was old and sick and that her two aging daughters were struggling with illness and poverty as well. That was all to the good as far as the lenders were concerned. The predator’s mission is to home in on the vulnerable.
“The people that wanted to put through the loan called me about a hundred times,” said Rosa Dailey, who is 65 and going blind and needs an oxygen tank at times to help her breathe. “I kept telling them no, because I didn’t think we could afford it. But they kept saying how it was to our advantage. So I finally said: ‘All right, let’s see what we can do.’ ”
That was the beginning of a tragic spiral, with one unaffordable loan following another. As Ms. Dailey put it: “I feel like they led me down a dark alley.” ...
Like vultures, the mortgage lenders began circling the single-family house with the tiny front lawn on Merrill Avenue.
They knew that the woman who owned the house was old and sick and that her two aging daughters were struggling with illness and poverty as well. That was all to the good as far as the lenders were concerned. The predator’s mission is to home in on the vulnerable.
“The people that wanted to put through the loan called me about a hundred times,” said Rosa Dailey, who is 65 and going blind and needs an oxygen tank at times to help her breathe. “I kept telling them no, because I didn’t think we could afford it. But they kept saying how it was to our advantage. So I finally said: ‘All right, let’s see what we can do.’ ”
That was the beginning of a tragic spiral, with one unaffordable loan following another. As Ms. Dailey put it: “I feel like they led me down a dark alley.” ...
as Edwards says, the fact that "powerful interests, particularly corporate interests, have literally taken over this government."
November 20, 2007 9:35 AM | "Corporate Interests Have Literally Taken Over This Government"
Some folks have asked me why I have written so much about John Edwards in the past few months. The answer can be seen in this short clip. ... or writing a book that's actually called Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government - And How We Take It Back.
...
John Edwards, as shown by this clip, is speaking out on what I believe is the fundamental issue of our time - an issue that my book shows is at the core of every other issue, whether it is Iraq, wages, health care, retirement security, trade, immigration, global warming, you name it. That issue is what my book is all about - the hostile takeover of our government, or, as Edwards says, the fact that "powerful interests, particularly corporate interests, have literally taken over this government." And Edwards hasn't just been talking about it - he has made a crusade against this, the issue of our day, the centerpiece of his campaign. He has, in short, made it the very reason he is running (which also fits with his impressive career as a plaintiffs attorney going after corporate abusers). ...
Some folks have asked me why I have written so much about John Edwards in the past few months. The answer can be seen in this short clip. ... or writing a book that's actually called Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government - And How We Take It Back.
...
John Edwards, as shown by this clip, is speaking out on what I believe is the fundamental issue of our time - an issue that my book shows is at the core of every other issue, whether it is Iraq, wages, health care, retirement security, trade, immigration, global warming, you name it. That issue is what my book is all about - the hostile takeover of our government, or, as Edwards says, the fact that "powerful interests, particularly corporate interests, have literally taken over this government." And Edwards hasn't just been talking about it - he has made a crusade against this, the issue of our day, the centerpiece of his campaign. He has, in short, made it the very reason he is running (which also fits with his impressive career as a plaintiffs attorney going after corporate abusers). ...
Senators who protected Big Pharma received millions of dollars from drug companies
Senators who protected Big Pharma received millions of dollars from drug companies | Monday, November 19, 2007 by: David Gutierrez | (NewsTarget)
Senators who received substantial donations from pharmaceutical companies were instrumental in making a new drug bill more industry-friendly, according to studies by nonprofit groups and remarks by some of the senators themselves
...
While the institute's recommendation to allow the FDA to monitor the safety of products after approval was included in the final bill, it was significantly weakened at the instigation of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.. Gregg has received $168,500 from the pharmaceutical industry since 2001.
Other recommendations fared even less well. A proposal to allow the importation of less expensive drugs from other countries was defeated 49-40. According to research by the Center for Responsive Politics and PoliticalMoneyLine, these 49 senators (less than 50 percent of the Senate) have received nearly 75 percent of the donations made by the drug industry since 2001, a total of $5 million.
In addition, a proposal to ban advertising of high-risk drugs for two years and another to curb conflicts of interest in the drug approval process were defeated by Senators who have received substantial industry contributions. ...
Senators who received substantial donations from pharmaceutical companies were instrumental in making a new drug bill more industry-friendly, according to studies by nonprofit groups and remarks by some of the senators themselves
...
While the institute's recommendation to allow the FDA to monitor the safety of products after approval was included in the final bill, it was significantly weakened at the instigation of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.. Gregg has received $168,500 from the pharmaceutical industry since 2001.
Other recommendations fared even less well. A proposal to allow the importation of less expensive drugs from other countries was defeated 49-40. According to research by the Center for Responsive Politics and PoliticalMoneyLine, these 49 senators (less than 50 percent of the Senate) have received nearly 75 percent of the donations made by the drug industry since 2001, a total of $5 million.
In addition, a proposal to ban advertising of high-risk drugs for two years and another to curb conflicts of interest in the drug approval process were defeated by Senators who have received substantial industry contributions. ...
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
They were told depleted uranium was not hazardous ... now workers and residents have cancer ... use of such weapons may be a war crime
November 18, 2007 by The Observer (UK) | ‘Safe’ Uranium That Left a Town Contaminated | by David Rose in Colonie, New York
[NOTE: THOUSANDS OF TONS were used in tank shells in IRAQ ... ed.]
They were told depleted uranium was not hazardous. Now, 23 years after a US arms plant closed, workers and residents have cancer - and experts say their suffering shows the use of such weapons may be a war crime.
...
The US federal government and the firm that ran the factory, National Lead (NL) Industries, have been assuring former workers and residents around the 18-acre site for decades that, although it is true that the plant used to produce unacceptable levels of radioactive pollution, it was not a serious health hazard.
Now, in a development with potentially devastating implications not only for Colonie but also for the future use of some of the West’s most powerful weapon systems, that claim is being challenged. In a paper to be published in the next issue of the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment, a team led by Professor Randall Parrish of Leicester University reports the results of a three-year study of Colonie, funded by Britain’s Ministry of Defense.
Parrish’s team has found that DU contamination, which remains radioactive for millions of years, is in effect impossible to eradicate, not only from the environment but also from the bodies of humans. Twenty-three years after production ceased they tested the urine of five former workers. All are still contaminated with DU. So were 20 per cent of people tested who had spent at least 10 years living near the factory when it was still working, including Ciarfello.
The small sample size precludes the drawing of statistical conclusions, the journal paper says. But to find DU at all after so long a period is ’significant, since no previous study has documented evidence of DU exposure more than 20 years prior… [this] indicates that the body burden of uranium must still be significant, whether retained in lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys or bone’. The team is now testing more individuals. ...
...
TV footage shot in Baghdad in 2003 shows children playing in the remains of tanks coated with thick, black DU oxide, while there have long been claims that the DU shells that destroyed Saddam Hussein’s tanks in the 1991 Gulf war were responsible for high rates of cancer in places such as Basra. ...
[NOTE: THOUSANDS OF TONS were used in tank shells in IRAQ ... ed.]
They were told depleted uranium was not hazardous. Now, 23 years after a US arms plant closed, workers and residents have cancer - and experts say their suffering shows the use of such weapons may be a war crime.
...
The US federal government and the firm that ran the factory, National Lead (NL) Industries, have been assuring former workers and residents around the 18-acre site for decades that, although it is true that the plant used to produce unacceptable levels of radioactive pollution, it was not a serious health hazard.
Now, in a development with potentially devastating implications not only for Colonie but also for the future use of some of the West’s most powerful weapon systems, that claim is being challenged. In a paper to be published in the next issue of the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment, a team led by Professor Randall Parrish of Leicester University reports the results of a three-year study of Colonie, funded by Britain’s Ministry of Defense.
Parrish’s team has found that DU contamination, which remains radioactive for millions of years, is in effect impossible to eradicate, not only from the environment but also from the bodies of humans. Twenty-three years after production ceased they tested the urine of five former workers. All are still contaminated with DU. So were 20 per cent of people tested who had spent at least 10 years living near the factory when it was still working, including Ciarfello.
The small sample size precludes the drawing of statistical conclusions, the journal paper says. But to find DU at all after so long a period is ’significant, since no previous study has documented evidence of DU exposure more than 20 years prior… [this] indicates that the body burden of uranium must still be significant, whether retained in lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys or bone’. The team is now testing more individuals. ...
...
TV footage shot in Baghdad in 2003 shows children playing in the remains of tanks coated with thick, black DU oxide, while there have long been claims that the DU shells that destroyed Saddam Hussein’s tanks in the 1991 Gulf war were responsible for high rates of cancer in places such as Basra. ...
Monday, November 19, 2007
allegations by current and former officials in Krongard's office that the inspector general thwarted probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq
State Dept official asks to cancel Blackwater hearing | Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:35pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lawyer for State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard asked on Saturday that he not be called to testify before Congress on discrepancies between his statements and those of his brother over the brother's ties to the Blackwater security firm.
...
The two brothers had differing recollections about whether Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard told Howard Krongard he was taking an advisory board position with Blackwater, which protects U.S. diplomats and other State Department officials in Iraq. Howard recalled Alvin stating he was not taking the position, and Alvin recalled saying he was taking it, the lawyer wrote.
"Alvin does not claim to have ever made any effort to inform Howard of the Blackwater position despite its obvious relevance to Howard's oversight responsibilities," Van Gelder wrote. The letter asked Waxman not to hold the hearing.
Waxman's committee is examining allegations by current and former officials in Krongard's office that the inspector general thwarted probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater.
Waxman decided to call Howard and Alvin Krongard to the same hearing after they separately gave the committee conflicting accounts about Buzzy's ties with Blackwater. ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lawyer for State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard asked on Saturday that he not be called to testify before Congress on discrepancies between his statements and those of his brother over the brother's ties to the Blackwater security firm.
...
The two brothers had differing recollections about whether Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard told Howard Krongard he was taking an advisory board position with Blackwater, which protects U.S. diplomats and other State Department officials in Iraq. Howard recalled Alvin stating he was not taking the position, and Alvin recalled saying he was taking it, the lawyer wrote.
"Alvin does not claim to have ever made any effort to inform Howard of the Blackwater position despite its obvious relevance to Howard's oversight responsibilities," Van Gelder wrote. The letter asked Waxman not to hold the hearing.
Waxman's committee is examining allegations by current and former officials in Krongard's office that the inspector general thwarted probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater.
Waxman decided to call Howard and Alvin Krongard to the same hearing after they separately gave the committee conflicting accounts about Buzzy's ties with Blackwater. ...
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