Where’s the Outrage?

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska (Republican) has been indicted for receiving goods and services illegally. There have been several reporters on this story for over two years. I posted a couple of items on him last year:here and here.

From the Washington Post:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) was charged with seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms in an indictment unsealed in federal court in the District this afternoon.

The indictment accuses Stevens, former chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, of concealing payments of more than $250,000 in goods and services he allegedly received from an oil company. The items include home improvements, autos and household items.

The Alaska oil firm, Veco, and its one-time leader Bill Allen, asked for help in return. Allen and another former Veco official pleaded guilty in May 2007 in connection with their role in the bribery of Alaskan public officials. Prosecutors said that in some but not all instances Stevens or his aides allegedly provided the help requested by Allen and Veco. (more… )

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Senate by ecthompson
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• The President did finally make it to the Midwest to see the problems for himself. Unfortunately, there is more flooding as more levees give way.
• There seems to be a final compromise on immunity for the Telecoms and FISA. Leaders in the House and Senate have some type of agreement. According to Glenn Greenwald who has been on this topic for some time the compromise is worse than we thought. Russ Feingold, who has been right 99.9% of the time, has spoken out against this bill. WE need to stand up, again and kill this bill. The Telecoms should not be able to simply throw money at Congress and get their way.
• Bear Stearns executives have been marched out of their offices in hand cuffs. It seems that the Department of Justice believes that someone has been lying.
• Barack Obama has decided to forgo public financing of his campaign. That maybe because his campaign has already been publicly financed with over 1.6 million donors.
• Brittany Spears’ sister Jamie Lynn Spears (of Nickelodeon fame) has had her first baby at age 17. So, sad.

Update: I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the death of State Trooper David Blanton here in Asheville.  The trooper was making a traffic stop when someone in the car opened fire.  A suspect has been arrested and may face the death penalty.   Too sad for words.

Tags: Bush Administration, Corporate Wrongs, Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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I guess that all affairs must end some time. It is sad and painful when you get found out. Well, it appears that Senator John McCain and his ‘maverick’ image were found with a couple of lobbyists. This is the same McCain who “boldly” fought for campaign finance reform. If you listen to the news, one might believe that McCain hated lobbyists when in fact the opposite was true. McCain got in trouble with lobbyists over 20 years ago as part of the Ketting Five. The New York Times reported that McCain may have had an affair with a lobbyist but that wasn’t the important part of that article. The take-home message was that McCain remains very close to a number of lobbyists.

Well, Newsweek, among other new outlets, reported that McCain’s close ties to several lobbyists need to be cut. It looks bad for the ‘maverick’ image. McCain’s campaign is packed with lobbyists.

(more later)

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From Newsweek:

Stung by the news that two aides once lobbied for the Burmese junta, John McCain last week rolled out a sweeping new conflict-of-interest policy for his campaign, requiring all staffers to fill out questionnaires identifying past or current clients that “could be embarrassing for the senator.” Aides say that McCain was furious over the Burma connection (which he learned from a NEWSWEEK story) and was “adamant” about banning campaign workers from serving as foreign agents or getting paid for lobbying work.

But the fallout may not be over. One top campaign official affected by the new policy is national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler, a former Texas congressman whose lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts. Loeffler last month told a reporter “at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain.” But lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006, Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to “discuss US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations.” (more…)

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Election 2008 by ecthompson
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Here are some things that I have been reading about and I think need more discussion:

• Remember the U.S. Attorney scandal? Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias testified before Congress  that he got a call from Senator Pete Domenici. During the call Domenici asked about whether or not Iglesias was going to file an indictment against some New Mexico Democrats right before the 2006 mid-term election. Domenici got a slap on the wrist from the Senate Ethics Committee for the “appearance of impropriety.” In my opinion, I think this is terribly mild.
• Abstinence-only education doesn’t work. There have been numerous studies to show this. Florida has passed legislation that Florida schools teach sex education. Some teens believe that drinking Mountain Dew or smoking marijuana can prevent pregnancy. I took care of a teenager who injected herself with turpentine in order to prevent herself from becoming pregnant. Representative John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, said that it seems “rather elitist” that people with academic degrees in health think they know better than parents what type of sex education is appropriate. “I don’t think it’s something we should abandon,” he said of abstinence-only funding. Education– we truly need our children to be educated. (and we need to vote John Duncan out of office!)
• Did you see that the Veteran’s Administration is being sued in a class-action? In spite of the official rhetoric out of the Bush administration, a recent RAND report found that “300,000 U.S. troops — about 20 percent of those deployed — are suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.” They fight for us and we can’t at least give them decent health care when they get back. We have to do better.
• Finally, did you see where a government contractor supplied these flash-band grenades that never worked. After the $15 million contract, the Department of Defense found a flaw in the law enforcement weapon and ordered it to be fixed. Pyrotechnic Specialties, Inc. figured out it was cheaper to just print new labels. Three FBI agents have been injured. Company officials were indicted but there was this nugget: Company officials bribed a federal official and paid for a visit to a strip club.

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Military, US Attorneys by ecthompson
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It was clear to me if there is one then there had to be others. How an American company could do something like this to an American or another human being is sickening. Another Iraq rape victim has come forward. (Information of the first rape victim is here.) The details of her rape are graphic. Her name has be concealed to protect his identity. I hope that she and any others have suffered at the hands of Kellog Brown and Root get an opportunity to sue the upper management of for enough money to move into their luxury homes and have the CEO serve as their butler for the rest of his life but then that’s not how America works is it.

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From The Nation:

In fact, a growing number of women employees working for US defense contractors in the Middle East are coming forward with complaints of violence directed at them. As the Iraq War drags on, and as stories of US security contractors who seem to operate with impunity continue to emerge (like Blackwater and its deadly attack against Iraqi civilians on September 16, 2007), a rash of new sexual assault and sexual harassment complaints are being lodged against overseas contractors–by their own employees. Todd Kelly, a lawyer in Houston, says his firm alone has fifteen clients with sexual assault, sexual harassment and retaliation complaints (for reporting assault and/or harassment) against Halliburton and its former subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root LLC (KBR), as well as Cayman Island-based Service Employees International Inc., a KBR shell company. (While Smith is technically an SEII employee, she is supervised by KBR staff as a KBR employee.) (more…)

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Iraq, Legal by ecthompson
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• Bill O’Reilly only won the bronze tonight. He stated he didn’t know who Roland Martin was. Unfortunately for Bill, Roland Martin has been on his show more than eight times.
• The silver goes to James Dobson from Focus on the Family. He saw the new CDC statistics that one in four teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease and somehow he came up with the thought that more abstinence education was needed (abstinence education has been proven time and time again not to work).
• The gold goes to Walmart. A Walmart employee got hurt on the job. Walmart paid her medical expenses but she remains wheelchair-bound with a severe brain injury. She won a $700 thousand settlement (actually $400 thousand, after legal fees) from the trucking company. Then, Walmart found out and sued her for $400 thousand to cover money paid out for her medical expenses. When people ask me what is wrong with corporate America, this is what I tell them: You stop being a person a become a number. Walmart — today’s worst ‘person’ in the world.

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Countdown by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Wow, would I love to be a CEO for one of these companies!! I would make a couple of speeches saying how sorry I was that I was being paid so much. I would give a couple of million to a homeless shelter (see video below - needless pain and suffering in New Orleans makes me want to puke) and I would frequently fly to an Hawaiian island and tell everyone to bite my butt! Unfortunately, I’m not in the club.

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From Forbes:

The chief executive of Tyco International Inc., which recently spun off its heath care and electronics units, received compensation valued by the company at about $34.1 million in fiscal 2007, according to a preliminary proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Edward D. Breen, 51, received a base salary of $1.6 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 28. He did not receive a bonus, but he did get about $3.3 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation. (more…)

 

 Homeless in NOLA [2:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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I’m going to tell you 2 recent tales that happened in my life which underscores the problems in corporate America.  For extra emphasis, I’m adding a recent segment of the Bill Moyers Journal.  If you haven’t seen the Bill Moyers Journal you are missing some of the best reporting and journalism anywhere.  Bill Moyers speaks with John Bogle.  Mr. Bogle isn’t some commie pinko who wants everyone to live in communes.  Instead, he is the creator and chairman of the highly successful Vanguard Group investment company.

When I was growing up Sears was the place to get appliances and tools.  They sold their products at a good price and they gave great service.  Every town had a Sears of some sort.  Smaller towns would have catalog stores.  Anyway, something happened to Sears over the last 30 - 40 years.  They lost their way.  They had a big push into the the clothing market with beautiful fashion models designing clothes for them but in the long run that really didn’t work out.  Sears has lost a lot of their appliance market to stores like Best Buy and Lowe’s.  Anyway, we bought a refrigerator last Saturday the 17th.  We wanted the refrigerator as soon as possible.  One week.  One week deliver?  That’s crazy.  I can order something from E-Bay or Amazon and get it the next day but I can’t get a refrigerator for a week?

Next, these corporate morons give you a 4 hour window for deliver.  So, since most families have 2 people working, someone has to take off for 4 hours and wait.  It is a waste of our time and money.  So, the refrigerator arrives on Saturday.   There is much rejoicing until a huge dent is found on the top right corner.  Although the refrig was packaged in thin Styrofoam it wasn’t protected.  We sent the refrigerator back.  We called Sears.  We wanted delivery later on that day of a dent-free refrigerator.  Not.  After an hour on the phone with multiple transfers and hang ups, we are told that someone would call us today, Sunday.  The bottom-line is that we haven’t gotten our refrigerator.  Sears has our money and we have nothing but a promise of a dent-free refrigerator this coming Wednesday.  We saw a better deal on the exact same refrigerator at Best Buy with next day delivery in the paper today.  We are tempted to go buy that one but getting our money back would be a bear.

Another corporation that proves we need more oversight is an assisted living place in North Dallas.  One of my best friends had his father there.  The place was a wonderful facility 10 years ago.  Great atmosphere.  Attentive staff the works.  It was expensive but worth it.  Well, over the last year or two, the only thing that is the same is the exterior.  Who knows who bought it?  The bottom-line is that good personnel have left.  The trash have stayed.  Residents are now getting mediocre care.  This weekend my friend moved his father to another facility 5 - 10 miles north of the old one.  Hopefully, this will be better.  If there are any citizens who deserve our best (besides our veterans) it is our elderly.   They have been productive members of society.  Their only crime has been that they have out lived their failing bodies.

 

 Bill Moyers Journal - John Bogle [23:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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Here’s my problem with all of these trapped miner stories.  We are expending hundreds of thousands of dollars on these miners per day.  Where was the foresight?  Where was the safe room where the miners could retreat to in case of a problem?  A safe room that has emergency oxygen for several days to a week.  A safe room that has food and water.  A safe room that could be easily drilled to because you know the coordinates.  I’m just askin’ where’s the forethought?  Where’s the thought that we care about human life so much that we are willing to spend the money upfront instead of this Superman mentality when you swoop in at the last minute and try to save the day.  Superman is a great cartoon but it is a lousy plan to keep people from dying.

 

 Trapped Miners [2:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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There is a way to measure.

 

 Green Companies: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Environment by ecthompson
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What CEO is worth $120 million? Under the category of the rich git richer -

From CNN.com:

Countrywide Financial Corp. said Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo received $121.85 million in compensation and gains from the exercise of options and vesting of stock awards in 2006, while shares in the largest U.S. mortgage lender rose 24 percent.

The Calabasas, California-based company disclosed the awards in its proxy filing Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It also urged shareholders to reject a proposal at its upcoming June 13 annual meeting to give stockholders a say over executive pay levels.

Tags: Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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My personal take on this is that senior officials at Halliburton has no desire to testify before Congress.  If they get indicted, they will chill in Dubai.  That’s the way the game is played.  Like that old Steve Miller tune - Take the Money and Run.

Also, Keith covers the fact that the surge in Iraq will be 4400 troops more than the President told us 6 weeks ago.  Who’s surprised?

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From WaPo:

Oil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to the Mideast financial powerhouse of Dubai, chief executive Dave Lesar announced Sunday.

“Halliburton is opening its corporate headquarters in Dubai while maintaining a corporate office in Houston,” spokeswoman Cathy Mann said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “The chairman, president and CEO will office from and be based in Dubai to run the company from the UAE.” (more…)

 

 Countdown - Halliburton [4:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Countdown, Foreign Affairs by ecthompson
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We have all been held in the plane on the tarmac for 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 2 hours but 11 hours?? The CEO of Jet Blue should be tarred and feathered. There is no excuse. It was all about profits. Remember that American Airlines did something similar back in December. BTW, is this kidnapping?

 

 Jet Blue holds passengers for hours [2:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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Someone hit my sneaky cartoon laugh. Bush administration found some minor criminals to take the fall. When they indict Halliburton or one of the other biggies then I’ll take notice.

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From CNN.com:

A grand jury indicted three Army Reserve officers and two civilians Wednesday on charges they steered more than $8.6 million in Iraqi reconstruction funds to a contractor in exchange for kickbacks that included vehicles, jewelry and real estate.

The 25-count indictment, which includes conspiracy, bribery and money-laundering charges, is the latest development in a wave of criminal charges stemming from the alleged fraudulent use of U.S. funds in Iraq.

“This indictment alleges that the defendants flagrantly enriched themselves at the expense of the Iraqi people — the very people they were there to help,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said in a news release. (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, Corporate Wrongs, Iraq by ecthompson
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Over $39 Billion last year. Over $107 million per day in profit.

What could you do with $107 million?

Oh, btw, here’s is where our tax cuts went!!!!

 

 nn_obscene profits [2:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Big Oil, Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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This happens way too much. There is no plan B. Plan A is to divert from bad weather and wait. Wait? For how long? I have chilled on the tarmac many a time.

From MSNBC:

It was supposed to be a routine 3 1/2-hour flight from San Francisco to Dallas.

But this story really begins in Austin. That’s where several American Airlines flights were diverted the Friday of New Year’s weekend.

Kati Hanni was one of 138 passengers on board Flight 1348.

[Read more →]

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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From WaPo:

Apple Computer disclosed yesterday that it had falsified approval of 7.5 million stock options for its chief executive and innovative co-founder, Steve Jobs, raising new questions about the role he may have played in a scandal that has swirled around the dynamic technology company for months.

Apple said in a pair of overdue earnings filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had recorded a fictitious meeting at which Jobs’s options were ratified and that he may have recommended the dates for some of the stock options issued to company employees. The company repeated yesterday that Jobs did not benefit from the options.

Apple’s board, which includes former vice president Al Gore, gave Jobs its full support. “The board of directors is confident that the Company has corrected the problems that led to the restatement, and it has complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team,” said the statement by Gore and Jerome York, who heads Apple’s audit and finance committee. (more…)

Tags: Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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I’m sorry but I had to post this video.  How much was your bonus?  Now, I’m not against money.  As a matter of fact, I like money.  I like nice things but the reason that the middle class is having a terrible time is because the wealth is not being shared.  A few folks are hording all of the money. 

 

 CEO Bonuses [1:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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From CNN:

A public relations firm has revealed that it is behind two blogs that previously appeared to be created by independent supporters of Wal-Mart.

The blogs Working Families for Wal-mart and subsidiary site Paid Critics are written by three employees of PR firm Edelman, for whom Wal-Mart is a paid client, according to information posted on the sites Thursday.

Before Thursday, the authors of the blogs were not disclosed. But Web critics had been skeptical of claims that the blogs were grass-roots efforts, and pushed for greater transparency.

“In response to comments and emails, we’ve added author bylines to blog posts here at forwalmart.com,” said a recent post to the site.

Recent entries on Working Families for Wal-Mart are now attributed to “Miranda,” and a click reveals that this is Miranda Gill, an Edelman employee.

Recent entries on Paid Critics, a site dedicated to drawing links between Wal-mart critics and groups, such as unions, with vested interests are written by Brian and Kate. These are Edelman employees Brian McNeill and Kate Marshall. more

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Is anyone surprised?  Wal-Mart will do anything to keep the edge and beat back criticism. 

Tags: Blogging issues, Corporate Wrongs, Ethics by ecthompson
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What the H#$$?

From NYT:

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the fraud and conspiracy conviction of Kenneth L. Lay, the former Enron executive, who died of heart failure in July while on vacation in Colorado.

Judge Simeon T. Lake III ruled that the conviction must be voided because Mr. Lay cannot pursue an appeal his guilty verdict.

The decision, which had been expected, prevents the government from trying to seize more than $43.5 million from Mr. Lay’s estate that prosecutors claimed he stole from Enron before it collapsed in 2001.

Mr. Lay, who was 64, died about six weeks after he and another former chief executive, Jeffrey K. Skilling, were convicted of spearheading the fraud that led to Enron’s collapse in December 2001.

“We’re very pleased that the criminal case against Mr. Lay is now over,” said Sam Buffone, the lawyer who successfully filed the motions to have both Mr. Lay’s indictment and conviction dismissed. A jury found Mr. Lay guilty in May of six counts of conspiracy and fraud, and Judge Lake, in a separate trial, found him guilty of four counts of bank fraud.

Mr. Skilling, who was convicted of 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy and insider trading, is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.  more

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I do not believe in conspiracy theories, for the most part.  But now this may be one of the best cases for conspiracy theory.  Why would the judge have overturned Ken Lay’s conviction?  So, because the man is dead his conviction is overturned?  So his wife gets to spend millions of dollars that were gotten illegally?  The whole thing sounds so very fishy to me.  Kenneth Lay, the face of corporate corruption, dies only two weeks after his conviction.  The whole thing sounds just too convenient.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he sitting on an island somewhere like Kathleen Turner’s character in the movie Body Heat sipping some frozen drink with a little umbrella in it.

Tags: Corporate Wrongs by ecthompson
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