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The Corporate "Get-out-of-jail-free" Card

  2. uroborus8
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The New York Times reports that more corporations than ever are avoiding trial for their legal abuses. 35 companies including Monsanto, American Express, and others made deals with the Justice Department to avoid public trials for crimes such as bribery and money laundering. These deals allowed companies to accept "deferred prosecution agreement[s], which allows the government to collect fines and appoint an outside monitor to impose internal reforms without going through a trial. In many cases, the name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are kept secret."

For example, Monsanto bribed Indonesian officials to loosen their environmental standards, thereby allowing Monsanto's genetically modified and highly toxic cotton to be farmed. "In 2005, federal authorities concluded that a Monsanto consultant had visited the home of an Indonesian official and, with the approval of a senior company executive, handed over an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. The money was meant as a bribe to win looser environmental regulations for Monsanto’s cotton crops, according to a court document. Monsanto was also caught concealing the bribe with fake invoices."

Rather than face the criminal charges former administrations would have brought against these criminal activities, Monsanto paid a $1 Million dollar fine and agreed to government over site of their operations.
uroborus8

25 responses // The Corporate "Get-out-of-jail-free" Card

  • so what your saying is that Uncle Sam can be bought?
    donny_dark_o
  • Bro, I more than thank you for this expose into the way business it conducted the "Corporate American way". This just goes to show that we as individuals shouldn't believe anything any government tells us without stringent self verification.
    And people wonder why and how the current global financial situation prevails.When officials in these corporate multinational enclaves misconstrue and manipulate the truth.
    jhydo
  • It has long been known that Wall Street enjoys their feet on Main Streets neck and will call it Capitalism, and we now know that they believe in Socialism when they are going for broke.
    jlaboy
  • Since a corporation is a legal entity (technically, a juristic person), that rich person can by all the justice it needs.
    Pwdrskir
  • Why does this not surprise me?
    patsarts
  • Capitalism; Money buys anything. Yes, money can buy you out of any problem and thanks for the info.
    dontipo
  • http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Government-i...
    This is part of that ever so large, "revolving door" that exist between our government and the large controlling corporations.

    Whenever I see the name Monsanto, my eyes glaze over....

    But I digress, here is something that helps explain how these guys do this stuff:

    " * Michael Taylor - Taylor, a former attorney for Monsanto, went to work for the United States Food and Drug Administration, where he helped draft FDA's policy declaring that genetically modified foods are "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS). While at the FDA, Taylor also wrote the policy that exempted biotech foods from labeling. His former law firm, which still represented Monsanto, then began suing dairies that labeled their milk rBGH-free (Monsanto’s bovine growth hormone to increase milk production). After these policies were written, Taylor left the FDA and eventually went back to work for Monsanto." ( from the link posted here.)

    There are lots and lots of other examples listed "revolving doors" in article.

    thanks for the article posted here!
    queenofit
  • Yes.....thankyou for the excellent detective work. I love the internet. I'm expecting the bad guys to try and stop us from using this media to keep ourselves educated about what business are doing to ruin our market place.

    Multi-national companies are actually creating this screwed-up balance of power we have in our market place. They have all the power and the only way we can get ANY power back is to organize any way we can. Multi-nationals are using scare tactics and intimidation to keep people from organizing and gaining political power. The supreme court has ruled that a billion dollar corporation, which has limited liability in the market place, has the right to claim freedom of speech in order to keep workers from organizing. Freedom of speech should be for people who are accountable for their own deeds or misdeeds, not for an entity that claims a corporate limited liability.
    cadsuch
  • Well if you go to the right schools and you know the right people this is the type of thing that becomes common place for an individual raised in this lifestyle and they don't see anything wrong with stepping on the little guy. They feel that laws are made for the shmuck on the street not the privliged, our system has become so bloated with these striped tie guys and gals that it would take an entire generation to clean up the mess that stands as SOP between big business and goverment. Power corrupts.
    ohplease
  • Ups !! Surprised?!
    Can you imagine a war sponsor by some oil corporations ?!
    Well is just a matter of time before different companies enter into the game, what about water resources in Latin America.....Want to make your guess.....
    Most likely we are just gonna drink some evian while we see the news on TV.
    Are we really so naive that we still think this is all about Georgy's madness ?!!
    elnawal
  • Well we couldn't allow these, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps", "I made it on my own" titans of industry and finance to be sullied in a public jail, could we?
    Mark701
  • this is what we get for living in a society that so strongly encourages corporate careers and values economy and efficiency over environment and humanity.

    order for the poor, progress for the rich.
    mayalynn
  • Yeah! I don't know if your old enough to remember (Marilynn)there was a time when we bought a house to live our lives in not to make a profit off the next Joe. We were happy to go to work and raise our kids in a decent place. When did all that I need more crap start. Was it all those hippies that sold out and took as much as they could. When did kids start needing phones with internet access no less.What happened , what have done to this great lady.
    ohplease
  • HEH HEH mark 701! Yu whas bein nazdy! III LIKE IT!
    ohplease
  • elnawal: Most wars are camoflaged.They can't all be against evil, somebody wants to get rich and what better way than to get the masses pissed.
    ohplease
  • anyone see that 60 minute special...which said that investors get a tax break....they only pay i think 15% of their profits because their equity is within the bonds/funds...while the regular person pays 20-30% of their salary....what do we get back from paying that much?
    flipriza
  • flipriza: last time I bent way over and they showed me what we get .OW please be gentle
    ohplease
  • As long as Americans keep buying the products these horrible corporations sell us, said corporations have no reason to stop being evil.

    Educating yourself through research is the only way. Don't just believe what your doctor tells you, they've been bought too.
    cheyroze
  • Cheyroze: Tell it like it is baby. Some of us are listening and doing . Thank you!
    ohplease
  • "At a Congressional hearing last month, Mr. Ashcroft defended the agreements, saying that they avoided “destroying entire corporations” through criminal indictments. “Prosecutors understand that a corporate indictment can be a corporate death sentence,” he said. “A deferred prosecution can avoid the catastrophic collateral consequences and costs that are associated with corporate conviction.” "

    Um.... wait a second... they are quick to give a human a death sentence for commiting a crime, but will go out of their way to protect a corporation from the same? I think our priorities may be a little backwards.
    brylou01
  • brylou01, A dude got killed in a campus last week (friends dorm) and the clean up was quick. Like nothing happed.

    We live in a system to protect the way of life.
    dontipo
  • Hey brylouD1 why don't we email asscroft and tell hi don't prosecute the corporation prosecute the aholes running them. I'm sure those positions can be filled.America has a lot of bright young people out there.
    ohplease
  • dontipo: rockets hit whole schools in Isreal , Yeah I think our system is alittle better for the time being.
    ohplease
  • flipriza; what do we get back = abuse!
    cadsuch
  • elnawal; get the masses pissed = fighting amongst themselves = machiavelli
    cadsuch

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