tagged w/ kickbacks
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Mitt Romney, who makes his hands-on business experience a talking point in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, was a member of the board of directors and audit committee of a global company when it paid millions of dollars to settle charges of extracting kickbacks that cheated clients.
As a board member, Romney held oversight responsibilities at a time when Marriott was repeatedly accused of obtaining secret rebates that enriched Marriott, at the expense of hotel owners who had contracted with Marriott to run the hotels on their behalf. A series of owners also accused Marriott of falsifying financial statements to owners to conceal the arrangements—charges that Marriott had denied.
To be sure, Romney’s was only one voice of ten on the board. What he may have said privately at board meetings or to Marriott executives about the secret rebates and the risk to shareholders and the company is not known. What is known is that during his tenure the company continued a practice that had come under severe reprimand by the courts, and there is no record that Romney ever denounced or criticized the practice.
In addition, the company failed to disclose the mounting disputes to the Securities and Exchange Commission despite the risk they represented to the company’s stock price, and did so only after they culminated in public lawsuits.
read Lucy Komisar's full story at http://100r.org/2012/01/romney-on-board/
"Here's a glimpse into the quiet backroom dealings where Romney thinks YOUR tax code should be negotiated."Mitt Romney, who makes his hands-on business experience a talking point in his... more
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Koch Industries is lobbying to prevent tougher counter-terrorism standards for its facilities that use hazardous toxic chemicals. A terrorist attack or accident at Koch’s oil, chemical, paper and fertilizer plants, an iWatch News investigation revealed, could put tens of thousands of people and their homes, schools, hospitals, day care centers, factories and offices at risk.
Koch maintains that existing federal and state regulations are adequate to protect nearby residents.
Here is a list of the 10 Koch facilities, and the toxic chemicals they use, that put the most Americans in potential danger in the event of an accident or attack:
More at the linkKoch Industries is lobbying to prevent tougher counter-terrorism standards for its... more
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Last month, the University of Minnesota caused a stir when it decided to postpone the release of a film that focuses on the effect agriculture is having on U.S. waterways from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Troubled Waters – a film directed by Larkin McPhee for the University's Bell Museum of Natural History, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences–was held up, according to University Relations (the university's PR office) to "allow time for a review of the film's scientific content." Yet ace reporting by Molly Preismeyer at the Twin Cities Daily Planet revealed that the film's team had already thoroughly fact-checked the film, and followed the review process utilized by the PBS science program NOVA. Attempts to get the university to outline a standard procedure for research-based films were not fruitful. Then the story shifted once again when Dean Allen Levine told Minnesota Public Radio that the film “vilifies agriculture."
Even though the University caved under pressure and allowed the scheduled premiere of the film to take place on October 3 and on October 5 on a local television station, the story of Troubled Waters has developed into a debate on academic freedom and the role a university’s donors should play in its research priorities.
Farmers at the center of the solution
Upon watching the film, I was surprised by what I saw. This is because a large portion focuses on farmers introducing new techniques to their fields that are reducing run-off and increasing soil fertility on their land. Instead of "vilifying agriculture," it seems the filmmakers worked hard to focus on farmer-based solutions–like those of brothers Dick and Jack Gerhardt, who created a tool that assesses how much nitrogen is needed in a given field by reading chlorophyll levels. The "GreenSeeker" allows them to apply one-third the amount of nitrogen as in previous years. Because farmers often apply excess nitrogen to insure yields, much of which ends up as run-off in local waterways, inventions like these have the potential to empower farmers to save money while reducing the environmental consequences of agriculture.
The film also gives a platform to farmers like Jack Hedin, who discusses using cover crops in winter on his vegetable farm to reduce soil erosion and run-off; Tony Thompson, who employs perennial grasses and wetlands that soak up run-off on his 4000-acre soybean and corn farm; and Dan Coughlin, who raises grass-fed cows instead of keeping them in confinement – which produces excess nitrogen-rich manure that often ends up in waterways.
Looking closely at the federal agriculture policies, the film specifically cites those promoting ethanol production as a large contributing factor to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. In particular, the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard, which mandated that 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol be produced by 2022 – therefore spurring farmers to grow more corn and use more nitrogen fertilizer. (Just yesterday, the EPA raised the amount of ethanol allowed in gasoline from 10 percent to 15, showing there is still strong support for these policies.) The film notes that ethanol remains controversial partly because it is seen as a means to lower dependence on foreign oil, but requires oil to produce the fertilizer that goes into growing the corn needed to make this alternative fuel. One researcher notes that it takes eight gallons of fossil fuel to produce 10 gallons of ethanol. Indeed, the film raises tough questions – many of which are not new to the discussion. So what motivated the university to call out the dogs?
Funding versus research
Not long after the news broke that Troubled Waters was being held up, it came to light that Vice President of University Relations Karen Himle was behind the film's purgatory. This information was notable because her husband John Himle is president of Himle Horner, a public relations firm that represents the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, a group that promotes both ethanol production and industrial agriculture practices. More troubling, as El Dragón at Fair Food Fight points out, is the fact that Cargill – which is a key player in ethanol production – has its VP on the University of Minnesota's board. And that the U of M also has a building on its St. Paul campus named for Cargill. In addition, the university has had funding put at risk by its research before, and so could be trigger-happy. Minnesota Public Radio reports:
"In 2008, two Minnesota Soybean groups threatened to pull $1.5 million in funding after the U of M released a study that said using soybeans and other crops for bio-fuels could worsen global warming."
Where research funding originates has become a major issue for deciding what will be researched. Currently, as I've written before, matching funds from outside the government are required to get USDA research grants –which allows corporate interests to affect the research taken on. And when USDA has performed ground-breaking research that has the potential to change policy, it has often been played down by those in high places. This influence bought by agribusiness has particularly been a problem at land-grant universities, where a lot of the agricultural research is taking place.
Controversies around agriculture at universities are not new, but it has become more frequent in recent years, as the public becomes more aware of food production methods and industrial agriculture groups feel threatened by the pressure to change. Just last fall Michael Pollan was scheduled to give a solo lecture at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo when Harris Ranch Beef Company Chairman David E. Wood threatened to cut off $500,000 in funding to the university if he was allowed to do so. In response, the university changed its program to a panel discussion, which included industrial agriculture-friendly professor Gary Smith of Colorado State University and large-scale organic farmer Myra Goodman of Earthbound Farm. Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma was also the source of ire for industrial agriculture proponents when it was selected as "common reading" last summer for incoming freshmen at Washington State University.
All of this added controversy is doing one thing that cannot be denied: bringing more attention to the issues at hand by driving interest in reading the books and seeing the films at the eye of the storm. As for Troubled Waters, I highly recommend you take the opportunity to see it for yourself. It is unique in that it puts a face on the farmers at the heart of the discussion, gives a broader picture of the issues at hand, and outlines options – including one community's thriving alternative to ethanol–for building a more sustainable food system.Last month, the University of Minnesota caused a stir when it decided to postpone the... more
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20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms
FireAndreaMitchell.com
March 23, 2010
With ObamaCARE now passed, containing the Cornhusker Kickback, Gator-Aid, the Lousiana Purchase, and other shady deals, Investors Business Daily gives up 20 ways that ObamaCARE will take away our freedoms. IBD’s sections described below are taken from HR 3590 as agreed to by the Senate and from the reconciliation bill which takes out the Cornhusker Kickback and Gator-Aid as displayed by the Rules Committee.
20 Ways Obama’s HealthCare Law’s Will Take Away Our Freedoms…VIDEO…http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/20-ways-obamas-healthcare-laws-will-take-away-our-freedoms-video/
1. You are young and don’t want health insurance? You are starting up a small business and need to minimize expenses, and one way to do that is to forego health insurance? Tough. You have to pay $750 annually for the “privilege.” (Section 1501)20 Ways ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms
FireAndreaMitchell.com
March 23,... more
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Pfizer and Lilly lead a parade of U.S. companies that have paid $7 billion in penalties after promoting drugs for uses not approved by the FDA. This unlawful behavior may not end until prosecutors force a drugmaker into bankruptcy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a4yV1nYxCGoA&pos=10Pfizer and Lilly lead a parade of U.S. companies that have paid $7 billion in... more
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Over 50,000 die every year for lack of health care and more for denial of care despite having health insurance. That's well over 100 deaths per day. 50 million (and growing) in the U.S. have no health care at all. This is why nine Lieberman constituents and members of Mobilization for Health Care Now were arrested today as they sat-in Lieberman's DC office and demanded to see him.
Five of the Lieberman Nine have been released. The other four intend to stay in jail until Lieberman meets with them to discuss rejecting the money he accepts from insurance companies!
Meanwhile ABC News reports: "Later we will see much a larger protest from the other side of the political spectrum as potentially thousands of protesters gather with Republican lawmakers on the West side of the Capitol. Those protesters will lobby against Democrats' health care bills in large part because they include a public option.."
Congress is getting it from all sides. Their compromises with the insurance industry infuriate progressives and as weak as what's left of a public option is, the right are protesting it's inclusion. You can't please everyone so you may as well have a single payer system, medicare for all, problem solved, which is what is buzzing about as we hear that Pelosi is allowing a vote on the Weiner amendment for a single payer system!
Huff post reports the following:
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Nine protesters were arrested Thursday in a demonstration at the office of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to demand that he pledge to stop accepting from the health insurance industry.
Lieberman, who last week said he would join a GOP filibuster of any health care bill with a government-run public option, has accepted about $1.5 million from health professionals and insurance agencies since 2003, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Twenty protesters, including four students from the University of Connecticut, marched into the senator's office in the morning and demanded to speak with him. Aides denied their request, offering constituents a closed-door meeting with two legislative aides, which was rejected. Nine protesters then staged a sit-in, saying they would not leave the office until they could have a discussion with the senator in person.
"We're waiting to see if the senator for Aetna is ready to be the senator for the people," explained one protester, Kai, who wouldn't give his last name. Aetna has spent over two million dollars on lobbying in 2009, and has donated $65,000 to Lieberman's campaign committee.
Within 10 minutes of the protesters' arrival, Capitol police were on the scene. They dragged away nine protesters, including two of Lieberman's Connecticut constituents, as Senate staffers watched from the lobby and office hallways.
After the arrests, five of the remaining protesters continued on to Lieberman's committee hearing, which was already underway. They stood in the back of the chamber and quietly held up signs reading "Patients Not Profits" and "Insurance $$$ Makes Me Sick."
"It's ironic Lieberman is chairing this meeting on corporate crimes," said Medea Benjamin, who characterized the practice of accepting campaign donations from health insurance companies as criminal.
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http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org/2009/11/05/abc-national-news-video-about-9-arrests-today-at-senator-liebermans-office-calling-for-lieberman-to-stop-accepting-insurance-company-money-money-that-should-be-used-to-pay-for-patients-care/
Mobilization for Health care has a petition to sign urging Lieberman to "publicly pledge that he will no longer accept any money from any insurance companies." (http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1312/t/10007/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=2159)
Over 2000 signed this petition within just a few hours of this story breaking.Over 50,000 die every year for lack of health care and more for denial of care despite... more
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MoveOn has a new ad campaign that exposes Republican payoffs from the health care insurance industry.MoveOn has a new ad campaign that exposes Republican payoffs from the health care... more
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Hillary Transue says she did not have an attorney, nor was she informed of her right to one in 2007, when she was sentenced by Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is accused of taking kickbacks to send kids to detention centers.
ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania - An indictment accuses two former Pennsylvania judges of racketeering, bribery and extortion in connection with a $2.8 million scheme to funnel youth offenders to private detention centers.
A federal grand jury returned the 48-count indictment late Wednesday afternoon. It was made available to the public Thursday morning.
Former Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan are accused of taking kickbacks related to the construction of two youth detention facilities.
MORE at the linkHillary Transue says she did not have an attorney, nor was she informed of her right... more
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First off, the title has a nice ring to it doesn't it? Second, why has no one blown this guy's brains out? At least in China they do it right, you pull shenanigans like this you die. Here? They'll probably serve a year and end up giving lectures for big bucks within 3 years. Now I could get into a big rant about how privatization of the penal system is responsible for our overwhelmed prisons and the highest recidivism (look it up) rate in the developed world but anyone who doesn't already know that....probably thinks jesus was white and bush was talking to him for the past 8 years. This really is one you gotta read though
justice.
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(CNN) -- At a friend's sleepover more than a year ago, 14-year-old Phillip Swartley pocketed change from unlocked vehicles in the neighborhood to buy chips and soft drinks. The cops caught him.
There was no need for an attorney, said Phillip's mother, Amy Swartley, who thought at most, the judge would slap her son with a fine or community service.
But she was shocked to find her eighth-grader handcuffed and shackled in the courtroom and sentenced to a youth detention center. Then, he was shipped to a boarding school for troubled teens for nine months.
"Yes, my son made a mistake, but I didn't think he was going to be taken away from me," said Swartley, a 41-year-old single mother raising two boys in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
CNN does not usually identify minors accused of crimes. But Swartley and others agreed to be named to bring public attention to the issue.
As scandals from Wall Street to Washington roil the public trust, the justice system in Luzerne County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's struggling coal country, has also fallen prey to corruption. The county has been rocked by a kickback scandal involving two elected judges who essentially jailed kids for cash. Many of the children had appeared before judges without a lawyer.
The nonprofit Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia said Phillip is one of at least 5,000 children over the past five years who appeared before former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella.
Ciavarella pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal criminal charges of fraud and other tax charges, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Former Luzerne County Senior Judge Michael Conahan also pleaded guilty to the same charges. The two secretly received more than $2.6 million, prosecutors said.
The judges have been disbarred and have resigned from their elected positions. They agreed to serve 87 months in prison under their plea deals. Ciavarella and Conahan did not return calls, and their attorneys told CNN that they have no comment.
Ciavarella, 58, along with Conahan, 56, corruptly and fraudulently "created the potential for an increased number of juvenile offenders to be sent to juvenile detention facilities," federal court documents alleged. Children would be placed in private detention centers, under contract with the court, to increase the head count. In exchange, the two judges would receive kickbacks.
The Juvenile Law Center said it plans to file a class-action lawsuit this week representing what they say are victims of corruption. Juvenile Law Center attorneys cite a few examples of harsh penalties Judge Ciavarella meted out for relatively petty offenses:
# Ciavarvella sent 15-year-old Hillary Transue to a wilderness camp for mocking an assistant principal on a MySpace page.
# He whisked 13-year-old Shane Bly, who was accused of trespassing in a vacant building, from his parents and confined him in a boot camp for two weekends.
# He sentenced Kurt Kruger, 17, to detention and five months of boot camp for helping a friend steal DVDs from Wal-Mart.First off, the title has a nice ring to it doesn't it? Second, why has no one... more
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A 101-count federal indictment unsealed today charges Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, Montgomery investment banker William Blount, Blount Parrish and Co. and longtime Langford friend Al LaPierre with a series of crimes in connection with Jefferson County bond transactions and swap agreements.
A special grand jury for several months has been investigating county bond deals and Langford's financial dealings. Langford was Jefferson County Commission president 2002-06.
Langford, the former president of the Jefferson County Commission, was brought in to face charges he accepted $235,000 in cash and checks to influence and reward him in connection with bond deals and swaps.
Larry Langford, a Democrat, was accused of soliciting $235,000 from William Blount, chairman of Montgomery, Alabama- based bond underwriter Blount Parrish & Co. and lobbyist Albert LaPierre. William Blount helped Langford get a $50,000 loan, and paid for jewelry, a Rolex watch, an Ermenegildo Zegna suit and clothes from Salvatore Ferragamo, according to the indictment. Blount Parrish received about $7.1 million in fees in connection with the deals, which refinanced debt issued for the county's sewer system.
Langford, 60, "sold out his public office to his friends," said U.S. Attorney Alice Martin in a news release. "Through a web of financing agreements, Langford required many institutions to use Blount as a consultant so Blount would make fees and, in turn, pay off Langford. It was a classic pay-to- play scheme."
Langford, named in 60 counts, was also charged with filing false income tax returns. The government seeks forfeiture of $7.6 million from the three men.A 101-count federal indictment unsealed today charges Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford,... more
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