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New York Pension Ethics Scandal

 Posted by  Corruption  310 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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Sharona Coutts in Propublica in December 2009 reported the following:

  • Elliott Broidy, the Republican National Committee’s former finance chairman, “pleaded guilty Thursday to paying nearly $1 million in bribes to officials at New York State’s pension system”
  • The New York pension system, with $110 billion in retirement savings, is controlled by a sole trustee with no board oversight. This system is still in place.

To read the entire article, click on Prominent Political Fundraiser Pleads Guilty in N.Y. Pension Scandal.

Top Ethics Scandals for 2008

 Posted by  Corruption  Comments Off on Top Ethics Scandals for 2008
Oct 072010
 
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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington creates an annual Top 10 Ethics Scandals. The top 10 for 2008 follows:

  • Despite ongoing congressional scandals and the House leadership’s pledge to end the “culture of corruption,” no new ethics enforcement mechanisms have been put into place.
  • More than 10 million e-mails mysteriously vanished from White House servers from 2003-2005. The administration still has not implemented an electronic record keeping system that properly preserves electronic records and protects them from being tampered with or deleted.
  • As prosecutions of members of Congress continue, so to will their reliance on the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution.
  • Members of Congress continue to abuse their positions by trading donations for political favors.
  • Members of Congress continue to use their positions to financially benefit their families.
  • It is a safe bet that last minute presidential pardons will not be without controversy.
  • CREW and VoteVets.org exposed an internal Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) e-mail advising VA mental health staff in Texas to consider diagnosing returning veterans with adjustment disorder rather than post traumatic stress disorder as a cost-cutting measure.
  • As the federal government’s total investment in bailout programs enacted over the past year approaches $7 trillion, American taxpayers have yet to be assured of proper oversight over expenditures of our money.
  • Suspecting special favors for Bush allies, CREW sought documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection in March 2008 related to the construction of the border fence between the United States and Mexico and the apparent special treatment of Ray L. Hunt.
  • The level of politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Bush administration is unprecedented.

To read the entire report, click on CREW Releases List of Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2008.

Most Corrupt Members of Congress 2008

 Posted by  Corruption  730 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington creates an annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress. The 2008 list included:

  • Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is a first-term member of congress representing Florida’s 13th district. His ethics issues stem from pressuring his employees to make contributions to his campaign committee and improper use of corporate resources for campaign purposes.
  • Ken Calvert (R-CA) is a seventh-term member of Congress, representing the 44th district of California. His ethics issues stem from his use of earmarks for personal gain and his connections to a lobbying firm under investigation. Rep. Calvert was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
  • Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA) is an ninth-term member of Congress representing California’s fourth congressional district. Rep. Doolittle’s ethics issues stem from his wife’s relationship to his campaign and political action committees, as well as campaign contributions and personal financial benefits he accepted from those who sought his legislative assistance. Rep. Doolittle is currently the subject of a Department of Justice investigation and was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption. In January 2008, Rep. Doolittle announced his intention to retire from congress at the end of his current term.
  • Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) is a third-term member of Congress, representing Florida’s 24th congressional district. Rep. Feeney’s ethics violations stem from his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and three trips he took in apparent violation of House travel and gift rules. Rep. Feeney was included in CREW’s 2005, 2006, and 2007 congressional corruption reports.
  • Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) is a sixth-term member of Congress, representing New York’s 13th congressional district. Rep. Fossella’s ethics issues stem from a drunken driving incident and improper official travel. As a result of the incident, Rep. Fossella announced he would not seek re-election in 2008.
  • Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA) is a ninth-term member of Congress, representing Louisiana’s second congressional district. Rep. Jefferson’s ethics issues, for which he has now been indicted, stem from his business dealings and his misuse of federal resources. Rep. Jefferson was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
  • Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is a second-term senator from Louisiana. Her ethics issues stem from inserting an earmark into an appropriations bill to benefit a large campaign donor.
  • Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is a 15th-term member of Congress, representing the 41st district of California. Currently the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, his ethics issues stem primarily from the misuse of his position as chairman of the committee to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks to family and friends in direct exchange for contributions to his campaign committee and political action committee. Rep. Lewis was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
  • Rep. Dan Lipinski is a second-term member of Congress representing Illinois’ 3rd congressional district. Rep. Lipinski’s ethics issues stem from the outside employment of a top Washington D.C. congressional aide.
  • Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is a fourth-term member of the senate. He is the Minority Leader in the 110th Congress and sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. McConnell’s ethics issues stem from earmarks he has inserted into legislation for clients of his former chief of staff, lobbyist Gordon Hunter Bates, in exchange for campaign contributions as well as the misuse of his nonprofit The McConnell Center for Political Leadership at the University of Louisville. Sen. McConnell was profiled in CREW’s 2007 congressional corruption report.
  • Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) is a fifth-term member of Congress, representing the 42nd district of California. His ethics issues stem from his relationship with Lewis Operating Company and the sale of property. Rep. Miller was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
  • Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) is a 13th-term member of Congress, representing the first district of West Virginia. His ethics issues stem from misusing his position to benefit himself, his family and his friends and misreporting a dramatic increase in his personal assets. Rep. Mollohan was included in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
  • Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA) is a fourth-term member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district. Rep. Murphy’s ethics violations involve his misuse of official resources for political campaign activity. Rep. Murphy currently is the target of a Department of Justice investigation.
  • Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) is an 18th-term member of Congress, representing Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. Rep. Murtha chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Murtha’s ethics violations stem from abuse of his position on the subcommittee to benefit the lobbying firm of a former long-term staffer and from threatening to block earmarks of other members for political purposes. Rep. Murtha was included as a member to watch in CREW’s 2006 and 2007 reports on congressional corruption.
  • Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM), is a third-term member of Congress representing the 2nd district of New Mexico. Rep. Pearce’s ethics issues stem from his failure to properly report a transaction on his financial disclosure report and from trading legislative assistance for campaign contributions. Rep. Pearce was included in CREW’s 2007 congressional corruption report.
  • Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) is 15th-term member of the House of Representatives representing New York’s 15th district. Rep. Rangel’s ethics issues stem from leasing rent controlled apartments, improperly using congressional stationary and failing to disclose rental income on his personal financial disclosure forms.
  • Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) is a third-term member of Congress, representing Arizona’s 1st congressional district. Rep. Renzi’s ethics issues stem from misusing his position on the House Resources Committee to force a company to purchase land from his business partner for his personal financial benefit and misappropriating insurance premiums and diverting the money into his campaign account. Rep. Renzi was included in CREW’s 2005, 2006 and 2007 congressional corruption reports. As a result of the investigation, in August 2007 he announced that he would be retiring at the end of his current term. He was indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona on February 21, 2008 on 35 counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and insurance fraud.
  • Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) is a 14th-term member of Congress representing Kentucky’s fifth congressional district. Rep. Rogers is the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security and its former chair, where he was responsible for the $41.1 billion Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget. Rep. Rogers’ ethics issues stem from misuse of his position to steer millions of dollars in earmarks to campaign contributors, including a company that employs his son. Rep. Rogers was profiled in CREW’s 2007 report on congressional corruption.
  • Ted Stevens (R-AK) is a seventh-term senator, representing Alaska. Sen. Stevens is the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and sits on several other Appropriations subcommittees. Sen. Stevens’ ethics issues stem from his ties to the VECO Corporation; earmarks he has inserted for companies that paid his son, Ben Stevens; his relationship with his brother-in-law, lobbyist William Bittner; his relationship with Alaskan real estate developers Jonathan Rubini and Leonard Hyde; and the activities of his non-profit, The Ted Stevens Foundation. Sen. Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 29, 2008 on seven counts of making false statements. Sen. Stevens was included in CREW’s 2007 congressional corruption report.
  • Rep. Don Young is an 18th-term member of the House of Representatives, representing Alaska at-large. Rep. Young served as Chairman of the House Resources Committee from 1994 to 2000 and as the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2000-2006. Currently, Rep. Young serves as the ranking member of the House Resources Committee.
  • Rep. Young’s ethics violations stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family and friends and from steering millions of dollars in earmarks to corporations in exchange for contributions to his campaign committee and political action committee, Midnight Sun PAC (MSPAC). Rep. Young is currently under four separate federal investigations including an investigation into his role in securing a $10 million earmark for a road in Florida, assistance he offered to recently convicted VECO executive Bill Allen, his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and his financial relationship with recently indicted businessman Dennis Troha. Rep. Young was included in CREW’s 2007 congressional corruption report.

To read the entire report, click on Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and four to watch). To read previous years reports, click on CREW’s Most Corrupt Members of Congress.

Freedom of the Press Rankings

 Posted by  Miscellaneous Issues  399 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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The Reporters Without Borders website has a freedom of the press ranking. The “index measures the state of press freedom in the world. It reflects the degree of freedom that journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.” Some of the rankings are as follows (the higher the ranking, the more press freedom):

  • #1 Iceland
  • #13 Canada
  • #29 Japan
  • #35 France
  • #36 U.S.A.
  • #73 Haiti
  • #173 (last) Eritrea

To read the entire report, click on Only peace protects freedoms in post-9/11 world, and to read the entire ranking index, click on World Press Freedom Index 2008 – The rankings.

Banned Networks

 Posted by  Miscellaneous Issues  412 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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NewsHour in March 2003 reported that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Exchange banned Al Jazeera, an Arab network, from broadcasting from the trading room floor. The two Al Jazeera reporters had covered the NYSE for years and were asked to stop because the NYSE wants to allow access to media outlets that provide “responsible business coverage.” To read the entire article, click on Al Jazeera Banned from Two Wall Street Exchanges.

Banned or Challenged Books

 Posted by  Miscellaneous Issues  388 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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The website Banned Books has a list of books and authors banned in the U.S. Click on Books & Authors for the list.

The American Library Association has a list of the 100 most frequently challenged books between 1990-2000. When a book is challenged, some entity/individual is attempting to ban the book. Some of the books on the list include:

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  • Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
  • Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
  • Sex by Madonna
  • Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
  • Cujo by Stephen King
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding

To read the entire list, click on The 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000.

Fusion Centers

 Posted by  Miscellaneous Issues  300 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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Joshua Rhett Miller in FOX News in March 2009 reported the following:

  • Fusion centers were dreated by the Department of Homeland Security to combat terrorism.
  • Between 2004-2007, $254 million were spent on fusion centers.
  • One of the fusion centers is the Missouri Information Analysis Center, or MIAC
  • According to a report issued by the MIAC, if “you’re an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature,” you may be a terrorist.
  • A Texas fusion center in February 2009 “called on law enforcement officers to report activities of local lobbying groups, Muslim civil rights organizations and anti-war protest groups.”

To read the entire article, click on ‘Fusion Centers’ Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members.

Do U.S. Corporate Tax Rates Send Jobs Offshore?

 Posted by  Taxes  302 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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David J. Lynch of USA Today in March of 2008 mentioned the following:

  • “multinational corporations can defer paying U.S. taxes on their overseas profits until they return them to the USA – transfers that often don’t happen for years. General Electric, for example, has $62 billion in “undistributed earnings” parked offshore, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Drug giant Pfizer boasts $60 billion. ExxonMobil has $56 billion.”
  • “Obama also has co-sponsored legislation that would give “Patriot Employers” a tax credit equal to 1% of their taxable income if they maintain or increase the ratio of their U.S. workforce to the number of workers abroad, keep their headquarters in the USA and meet other wage, health care and pension requirements.”
  • “From 2000 through 2005, U.S. multinationals eliminated 2.1 million jobs at home while adding 784,000 to their payrolls abroad, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. At the end of 2005, the most recent statistics available, U.S. corporations employed almost 9 million people outside the United States.”
  • “In 2004, Slaughter [Matthew Slaughter, a Dartmouth College economics professor who worked in the Bush administration] released a study, based on employment data for the decade ending in 2001, which concluded that U.S. multinationals created two jobs in the USA for every job they added abroad.”

To read the entire article, click on Does tax code send U.S. jobs offshore?.

Corporate Tax Rates & Reform

 Posted by  Taxes  438 Responses »
Oct 072010
 
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Chye-Ching Huang in the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in October 2008 reported the following:

  • In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), corporations in 19 of the member states paid 16.1% of their profits in taxes between the years 2000 and 2005
  • The average rate in the U.S. was 13.4%
  • A “2005 Congressional Budget Office study found that the effective marginal corporate rate – the rate paid on the last dollar of income earned and arguably the tax rate most relevant for investment decisions – on debt-financed investment in machinery was negative, estimated at -46 percent”
  • “For small corporations, another reason that the top statutory corporate tax rate is an inaccurate measure of the U.S. corporate tax burden is that many of these companies do not face the top rate.”
  • “In contrast to many other developed countries, which apply the same tax rate to all taxable corporate income, the United States has a graduated corporate tax structure, in which corporations with smaller incomes are taxed at rates below 35 percent. While a very large share of taxable corporate income is earned by corporations large enough to face the top rate, in terms of numbers, most U.S. corporations face a statutory rate lower than the 35 percent top rate”
  • The report concluded that “corporate tax reform that eliminates a portion of the existing tax breaks and uses the savings to offset the cost of reducing statutory corporate tax rates would likely improve economic efficiency without increasing deficits and debt”

To read the entire article, click on Putting U.S. Corporate Taxes in Perspective.

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