"Bush challenges hundreds of laws: President cites powers of his office." ... "President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution." -Boston/Globe "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts." -NYTimes

& Law Enforcement

LAW News:
US Attorneys News

20090329
Secret - Detainee's - Torture - Criminal - Military - Intelligence - Government - Terrorism - Waterboarding - War Crimes - Politics - Human - Rights - Law - US - Money - History - Osama bin Laden - Religion - Afghanistan - Globe
"Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots: Waterboarding, Rough Interrogation of Abu Zubaida Produced False Leads, Officials Say." ... "When CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the [Republican President Bush] White House to get those secrets out of him." ... "The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads." ... "In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said." ... "Moreover, within weeks of his capture, [United States] U.S. officials had gained evidence that made clear they had misjudged Abu Zubaida. President George W. Bush had publicly described him as "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," and other top officials called him a "trusted associate" of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a major figure in the planning of the [2001 September] Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of that was accurate, the new evidence showed." ... "Abu Zubaida was not even an official member of al-Qaeda, according to a portrait of the man that emerges from court documents and interviews with current and former intelligence, law enforcement and military sources. Rather, he was a "fixer" for radical Muslim ideologues, and he ended up working directly with al-Qaeda only after Sept. 11 -- and that was because the United States stood ready to invade Afghanistan." ... "The application of techniques such as waterboarding -- a form of simulated drowning that U.S. officials had previously deemed a crime -- prompted a sudden torrent of names and facts. Abu Zubaida began unspooling the details of various al-Qaeda plots, including plans to unleash weapons of mass destruction." ... "Abu Zubaida's revelations triggered a series of alerts and sent hundreds of CIA and FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] investigators scurrying in pursuit of phantoms. The interrogations led directly to the arrest of Jose Padilla, the man Abu Zubaida identified as heading an effort to explode a radiological "dirty bomb" in an American city. Padilla was held in a naval brig for 3 1/2 years on the allegation but was never charged in any such plot. Every other lead ultimately dissolved into smoke and shadow, according to high-ranking former U.S. officials with access to classified reports." ... ""We spent millions of dollars chasing false alarms," one former intelligence official said." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Peter Finn and Joby Warrick with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

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Corporate - Secrets - People's - Health - History - Computerized - Data-Mining - Web - Psychology - Drug - Federal - Consumer - Privacy - Law - Politics
"Insurers shun those taking certain meds: How health insurers secretly blacklist those with certain ailments." ... "Trying to buy health insurance on your own and have gallstones? You'll automatically be denied coverage. Rheumatoid arthritis? Automatic denial. Severe acne? Probably denied. Do you take metformin, a popular drug for diabetes? Denied. Use the anti-clotting drug Plavix or Seroquel, prescribed for anti-psychotic or sleep problems? Forget about it." ... "This confidential information on some insurers' practices is available on the Web -- if you know where to look." ... "What's more, you can discover that if you lie to an insurer about your medical history and drug use, you will be rejected because data-mining companies sell information to insurers about your health, including detailed usage of prescription drugs." ... "To make sure that applicants are not lying, insurers hire a data-gathering service -- Medical Information Bureau, Milliman's Intelliscript or Ingenix Medpoint." ... "Intelliscript and Medpoint do computerized searches of a person's drug use, gleaned from pharmacy benefits managers and other databases." ... "Last year, the Federal Trade Commission accused both companies of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not offering to provide consumers with information about them. The companies agreed to settlements in which they promised to let people see their personal information." (1, 2) -By John Dorschner -MiamiHerald

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Corporate - Media - Politics - Marketing - Religion - Government - Law - History - Television
"Rev. Moon Exemplifies Right Wing GOP Subsidy of Big Media to Frame Message." ... "[Reverend] Rev. Moon has adopted a relatively low-profile in recent years (if you don't count his bizarre "coronation" by elected officials in a Capitol Hill House of Representatives meeting room a couple years back), but that hasn't prevented the weird religious leader (and close ally of the Bush family) from pouring an estimated 1 - 2.5 billion dollars into subsidizing the Washington Times since 1982." ... "In 2002, Rev. Moon pronounced "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world." But the reality is that the Washington Times -- like the New York Post and Weekly Standard for Rupert Murdoch -- are investments in obtaining financial regulatory and other favors from Republican administrations in return for helping frame and market the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] talking points of tax cuts, cultural wars, and Wall Street gambling." ... "The Washington Times has only about 100,000 subscribers, but its newsboxes are next to the Washington Post throughout D.C. [America's capital], allowing it to appear as an equal -- and to have its banner headlines seen by tens of thousands of D.C. "influencers" every day.  Then, it also gives a byline and title for its writers to appear as D.C. pundits on television (just as Bill Kristol is identified as editor of the chronically money losing "Weekly Standard" during his ubiquitous "pundit" appearances on the tube) -- as well as all television reporters need to quote it to provide "balance."" ... "In short, Moon, in essence, shells out hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to use the Washington Times as a public relations vehicle for "framing" the GOP perspective." ... "Meanwhile, wealthy liberal Democrats don't buy up or create large media outlets; they just support efforts to criticize the corporate press and the likes of Rev. Moon." ... "You can win elections, but you can't make dramatic change unless you own part of the major media." ... "Rev. Moon understands that.  Why can't wealthy Democrats?" -By Mark Karlin -BuzzFlash.com

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20090328
Alberto R Gonzales - John C Yoo - Douglas J Feith - William J Haynes II - Jay S Bybee - David S Addington - Dick Cheney - Criminal - Torture - War Crimes - Secret - Prisoners - Politics - History - International - Law - US - Guantánamo Bay - Cuba - Chile - Spain
"Spanish Court Weighs Inquiry on Torture for 6 Bush-Era Officials." ... "A Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation into allegations that six former high-level [Republican President] Bush administration officials violated international law by providing the legal framework to justify the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said." ... "The case, against former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and others, was sent to the prosecutor’s office for review by Baltasar Garzón, the crusading investigative judge who ordered the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The official said that it was “highly probable” that the case would go forward and that it could lead to arrest warrants." ... "The complaint under review also names John C. Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote secret legal opinions saying the president had the authority to circumvent the Geneva Conventions, and Douglas J. Feith, the former under secretary of defense for policy." ... "Spain can claim jurisdiction in the case because five citizens or residents of Spain who were prisoners at Guantánamo Bay [Cuba] have said they were tortured there. The five had been indicted in Spain, but their cases were dismissed after the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained under torture was not admissible." ... "The 98-page complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, is based on the Geneva Conventions and the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which is binding on 145 countries, including Spain and the United States. Countries that are party to the torture convention have the authority to investigate torture cases, especially when a citizen has been abused." ... "Gonzalo Boye, the Madrid lawyer who filed the complaint, said that the six Americans cited had had well-documented roles in approving illegal interrogation techniques, redefining torture and abandoning the definition set by the 1984 Torture Convention." ... "Secret memorandums by Mr. Yoo and other top administration lawyers helped clear the way for aggressive policies like waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques, which the [Central Intelligence Agency] C.I.A. director, the attorney general and other American officials have said amount to torture." ... "The other Americans named in the complaint were William J. Haynes II, former general counsel for the Department of Defense; Jay S. Bybee, Mr. Yoo’s former boss at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, who was the chief of staff and legal adviser to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney." -By Marlise Simons with contributions by Scott Shane and Eric Schmitt -NYTimes

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20090327
John Roberts - Supreme Court - Nevada
"Reid: Chief Justice Roberts "didn't tell us the truth"." ... "[United States] U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts "didn't tell us the truth" before his 2005 confirmation, Senate Majority Leader [and Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid said Friday." -By David Lightman -McClatchyDC.com via -Yahoo

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20090326
Barack Obama - Homeless - People - Poverty - Families - Jobs - Law - Politics - Los Angeles - California - Tennessee - Wash - Fla
"U.S. cities deal with a surge in shanty towns." ... "Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno [California] is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shantytowns. At his news conference on Tuesday night, [Democratic] President Obama was asked directly about the tent cities and responded by saying that it was "not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours."" ... "While encampments and street living have always been a part of the landscape in big cities like Los Angeles [California] and New York, these new tent cities have taken root — or grown from smaller enclaves of the homeless as more people lose jobs and housing — in such disparate places as Nashville [Tennessee's capital], Olympia, Wash. [Washington's capital], and St. Petersburg, Fla. [Florida.]" ... "The problem in Fresno is different in that it is both chronic and largely outside the national limelight. Homelessness here has long been fed by the ups and downs in seasonal and subsistence jobs in agriculture, but now the recession has cast a wider net and drawn in hundreds of the newly homeless — from hitchhikers to truck drivers to electricians." ... ""These are able-bodied folks that did day labor, at minimum wage or better, who were previously able to house themselves based on their income," said Michael Stoops, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group based in Washington." (1, 2) -By Jesse Mckinley -IHT.com

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Barack Obama - Government - Business - Legislation - Politics - Home Mortgages - IN - MO
"Bayh: My Group Of Blue Dogs ‘Literally Has No Agenda’ Other Than Blocking Obama’s." ... "Yesterday, MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change, and several other progressive groups began running ads urging “moderate” Democratic members of Congress to “get on board with the president’s budget.” The ads are, in part, a response to [Indiana Democratic Senator] Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN [Democratic-Indiana]) and 14 of his Democratic colleagues who are creating what they call a “moderate coalition that will meet regularly to shape public policy.” Bayh responded to the new ads late yesterday, telling Politico that his group of “moderates” should not be targeted because they have “no agenda”:"

"Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind. [Indiana]) is also unhappy with the friendly fire. Bayh…found himself targeted by an ad accusing him of “standing in the way of President Obama’s reforms.” “We literally have no agenda,” Bayh shot back. “How can they be threatened by a group that has taken no policy positions?”"

"Bayh’s claim that his group has no agenda is hard to believe. Indeed, as the Wall Street Journal explained yesterday, the group’s “stated goal is to…protect business interests.” Even before the group was officially formed, their efforts dampened a number of progressive policy proposals and they clearly have aspirations to expand their portfolio:"

"– Shrinking Economic Recovery: The group’s first significant “success” was “paring down the more than $900 billion economic stimulus bill to $787 billion,” reducing the government’s ability to spur economic recovery quickly. [Roll Call, 3/12/2009]"

"– Preserving The [former Republican President] Bush Tax Cuts: Regarding [Democratic President] Obama’s plan to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, Bayh said, “I do think that before we raise revenue, we first should look to see if there are ways we can cut back on spending.” [Politico, 3/3/2009]"

"– Delaying Cap-and-Trade: Bayh coaltion member, [Missouri Democratic Senator] Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO [Democratic-Missouri]), explained that the group might “push for a more lenient phase-in period for a cap-and-trade system and revenue-raising offsets to pay for expensive mandates.” [CQ Politics, 3/9/2009]"

"– Weakening Bankruptcy Protection: Centrist Democrats “forced changes to a House bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify [home] mortgages, ensuring that the legislation better reflected the concerns of the financial-services industry.” [WSJ, 3/25/09]"

"If Bayh is to be believed and his new group of moderates “literally have no agenda,” then what exactly are they doing? As MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow explained last night, it appears that Bayh and his colleagues have found at least one niche to fill by helping Republicans obstruct the President’s agenda and deny voters the policies they endorsed last November:"

"Anyone voting against a Democratic agenda voted Republican. Those votes produced a very small Republican minority in Congress. A small minority that now has way more power than they otherwise would because of conservative Democrats deciding to give Republicans as much power as they can."
WATCH: "'Conservadems' strike back" On Maddow show.

" -By Ryan Powers -ThinkProgress.org

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Pennsylvania - Secret - Corporate - Government - Crime - Prison - Children's - Rights - Politics
"Court overturns hundreds of cases in court scandal." ... "The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court said it would overturn the convictions of hundreds of juveniles sentenced in the midst of the Luzerne County kickback scheme." ... "Calling it a "first step," the court wielded a little- used proceeding to throw out and expunge the case records of first-time offenders convicted of minor crimes who appeared before Luzerne County Juvenile Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. between 2003 and 2008." ... "In a report to the Court, a specially appointed judge, Arthur E. Grim, said his investigation uncovered "routine deprivation of children's constitutional rights to appear before an impartial tribunal and have an opportunity to be heard."" ... "Today's ruling, which authorizes Grim to overturn the cases, affects as many as 1,200 juveniles, he said. Their cases will be reviewed individually to determine if they meet the court's conditions." ... "Ciavarella and another former Luzerne County judge, Michael T. Conahan, have pleaded guilty earlier this year to taking $2.6 million in secret payments from the former owner of two juvenile detention centers." ... "The judges admitted that they helped the centers secure a county contract worth millions of dollars. Ciavarella routinely sentenced children to them." -By John Sullivan -Philly.com

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Barack Obama - Federal - Enforcement - Financial - Accounting - Politics - American International Group - Consumer - Crises - History - US - International
"Geithner to Propose Vast Expansion Of U.S. Oversight of Financial System." ... "Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to propose today a sweeping expansion of federal authority over the financial system, breaking from an era in which the government stood back from financial markets and allowed participants to decide how much risk to take in the pursuit of profit." ... "The [Democratic President] Obama administration's plan, described by several sources, would extend federal regulation for the first time to all trading in financial derivatives and to companies including large hedge funds and major insurers such as American International Group. The administration also will seek to impose uniform standards on all large financial firms, including banks, an unprecedented step that would place significant limits on the scope and risk of their activities." ... "Most of these initiatives would require legislation." ... "In coming months, the administration plans to detail its strategy in three other areas: protecting consumers, eliminating flaws in existing regulations and enhancing international coordination." ... "The nation's financial regulations are largely an accumulation of responses to financial crises. Federal bank regulation was a product of the Civil War. The Federal Reserve was created early in the 20th century to mitigate a long series of monetary crises. The Great Depression delivered deposit insurance and a federally sponsored mortgage market. In the midst of a modern economic upheaval, the Obama administration is pitching the most significant regulatory expansion since that time." ... "The administration's signature proposal is to vest a single federal agency with the power to police risk across the entire financial system." (1, 2, 3) -By Binyamin Appelbaum and David Cho with contributions by Zachary A. Goldfarb -WashingtonPost

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20090325
Italy - Swiss - Glaciers - Land - Atmosphere - Global - Climate - Politics - History - France - Austria
"Melting glaciers force Italy, Swiss to redraw border." ... "Melting glaciers in the Alps may prompt Italy and Switzerland to redraw their borders near the Matterhorn, according to parliamentary draft legislation being readied in Rome [Italy's capital]." ... "The Italian Military Geographic Institute says climate change is responsible for the Alpine glaciers melting." ... ""This draft law is born out the necessity to revise and verify the frontiers given the changes in climate and atmosphere," [Italy's Democratic Party member Franco] Narducci said. "The 1941 convention between Italy and Switzerland established as criteria [for border revisions] the ridge [crest] of the glaciers. Following the withdrawal of the glaciers in the Alps, a new criterion has been proposed so that the new border coincides with the rock."" ... "Narducci said the same negotiation will be proposed to France and Austria[.]" -CNN

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Barack Obama - Government - Financial - Law - Politics - American International Group - US - Global
"Geithner to Outline Major Overhaul of Finance Rules." ... "The [Democratic President] Obama administration will detail on Thursday a wide-ranging plan to overhaul financial regulation by subjecting hedge funds and traders of exotic financial instruments, now among the biggest and most freewheeling players on Wall Street, to potentially strict new government supervision, officials said." ... "The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, will outline the broad revamping of the regulatory system, which goes further than expected, in a hearing on Thursday. He is expected to say that the new rules are necessary to prevent a repeat of the excesses that nearly wrecked the global financial system and plunged the economy into a recession." ... "The plan, which would require Congressional approval, would give the government vast new powers over “systemically important” banks and other financial institutions that are so big that their collapse would jeopardize the economy as a whole." ... "The government would have the power to peer into the inner workings of companies that currently escape most federal supervision — insurance companies like the American International Group, multibillion-dollar hedge funds like the Citadel Group and private equity firms like the Carlyle Group or Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts." ... "But the most striking new proposals, and the ones that may provoke the most heated opposition from the industry, would regulate so-called private pools of capital — hedge funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds — and the gigantic market in financial derivatives, including instruments like credit-default swaps, the insurancelike instruments that allow investors to hedge against bond defaults. " -By Edmund L. Andrews and Louise Story -NYTimes

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Hillary Clinton - US - Mexico - Criminal - Drug - Law
"Clinton: U.S. drug habits fuel border violence: Secretary of state in Mexico to bolster anti-narcotics cooperation." ... "[United States] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday pledged to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Mexico in its violent struggle against drug cartels, and acknowledged the U.S. shares blame because of its demand for drugs and supply of weapons." ... "She said the United States shares responsibility with Mexico for dealing with violence now spilling across the border and promised cooperation to improve security on both sides." ... ""The criminals and kingpins spreading violence are trying to corrode the foundations of law, order, friendship and trust between us that support our continent. They will fail," she told Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa. "We will stand shoulder to shoulder with you."" -AP via -MSNBC

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Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - US - Mexico - Illegal - Drug - Enforcement - Military - Health - Brazil - Colombia
"Clinton: U.S. Drug Policies Failed, Fueled Mexico's Drug War." ... "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Mexico on Wednesday with a blunt mea culpa, saying that decades of U.S. anti-narcotics policies have been a failure and have contributed to the explosion of drug violence south of the border." ... ""Clearly what we've been doing has not worked," Clinton told reporters on her plane at the start of her two-day trip, saying that [United States] U.S. policies on curbing drug use, narcotics shipments and the flow of guns have been ineffective." ... ""Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," she added. "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police, of soldiers and civilians."" ... "More than 7,000 Mexicans have been killed in the bloodletting since January 2008, with the gangs battling authorities and one another for supremacy." ... "The [Democratic President] Obama administration announced Tuesday that it is sending hundreds more agents and extra high-tech gear to the border to intercept weapons and drug proceeds heading south." ... "Last month, former presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico called on the United States in a report to consider legalizing marijuana use and focusing more on treatment for drug users. Obama has emphasized his support for expanded treatment facilities, although not for allowing marijuana use. " (1, 2) -By Mary Beth Sheridan -WashingtonPost

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20090219
Parents - Genetics - Psychological - Health - Alzheimer's - Seniors - Employer - Workplace -Discrimination - Federal - Laws
"Alzheimer's study finds parental link: Patients' offspring have memory loss." ... "Children of parents with Alzheimer's disease can develop memory problems in their 50s or even younger - much earlier than previously thought - according to a large study released yesterday by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine." ... "The study subjects, who carried a gene strongly linked to Alzheimer's, performed worse in memory tests, on average, than other middle-aged people who had the same gene but did not have a parent diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The difference in memory between the two groups was equivalent to approximately 15 years of brain aging, researchers found." ... "The BU findings do not suggest that everyone with the gene, known as APOE-e4, will develop Alzheimer's, said Seshadri. The gene is believed to play a role in about 50 percent of Alzheimer's cases. The study also did not address whether the people showing early memory impairment were destined to develop Alzheimer's." ... "[T]he study has not yet gone through the traditional scientific vetting process, which includes other scientists reviewing the data before it is published in a journal." ... ""I wonder about genetic discrimination," said Dr. Rudy Tanzi, a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School who co-discovered three other genes that have been linked to early-onset Alzheimer's, a more rare form of the disease that typically strikes before 65." ... ""If it's out there that my parents have APOE-e4, there is a chance my employer might know and wonder, 'Should I promote this guy?' " Tanzi said." ... "The BU findings, he added, increase the urgency for stronger genetic nondiscrimination laws. Tanzi said that even though a federal law - The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, enacted last year - protects against employment discrimination, he worries about subtle discrimination in the workplace." -By Kay Lazar -BostonGlobe

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20090217
Health Care - Science - Politics - Economic - Legislation - History - Pill - Advertising
"The Far Right's All Out Offensive Against Medical Research." ... "Opponents of fixing our broken health care system are at it again, attempting to use their same old scare tactics and falsehoods to kill a common-sense health care provision [in] the economic recovery package. Fortunately Congressional leaders have recognized these tactics for what they are and have wisely kept this provision in the legislation." ... "At issue is something called "Comparative Effectiveness Research" which basically means giving your doctor access to the latest research on what treatments and therapies work and which don't. This also helps doctors know which treatments are more expensive than others, and helps both patients and doctors decide if there is a cheaper treatment that is just as effective. As a doctor and the husband of a doctor, I know how important it is to have solid scientific research to make critical decisions for my patients." ... "When I was practicing medicine, having greater access to scientific evidenced-based research would have been truly helpful in guiding me to make the best medical decisions for my patients." ... "If an inexpensive pill that has been around a long time works substantially better than a brand new, highly-advertised and thus far more expensive pill - doctors should have that information at hand when we prescribe medications to our patients. When I do something for a patient, I want the scientific research that tells me its the best course for my patient. But the far right, led by people like Rush Limabaugh, hopes to somehow convince Americans that more and better research is a bad thing." ... "This claptrap is really about the far right laying the ground work for a far greater and more sustained attack on the Democrats' attempt to fix our health care system. As we move forward with the American people to finally fulfill the promise of Harry Truman, who over sixty years ago suggested that every American ought to have a reasonable health care plan, we will rely on the voters to remind the right wing that change is what we promised, and change is what we will deliver." -By Howard Dean -HuffingtonPost.com

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20090216
Barack Obama - Corporate - Government - Labor - Makers - US - Global - Legislation - Secret - Terrorism - Detainee
"Liberals not pleased with go-slow approach by Obama." ... "Union leaders were taken aback this month when [Democratic President Barack] Obama, during television appearances discussing the stimulus legislation, spoke skeptically of "Buy American" provisions in the bill giving [United States] U.S. makers of steel and other materials an advantage in bidding for contracts." ... "Obama told Fox News that the U.S. "can't send a protectionist message," and he cautioned on ABC News that the requirements could be a "potential source of trade wars that we can't afford at a time when trade is sinking all across the globe."" ... "Now, some labor advocates worry about how aggressively the new president will push to fulfill other key campaign promises, such as passage of the so-called card check legislation that would make it easier to form labor unions." ... "At the ACLU, Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said his group's disappointment was "deep and unparalleled" after the Justice Department decided to keep in place one of the most controversial legal tactics of the [Republican President] Bush anti-terrorism arsenal: using the "state secrets" doctrine to block lawsuits by detainees." ... "The Justice Department invoked the privilege last week in arguing that a case should not proceed because it might lead to the disclosure of state secrets." ... "As a candidate, Obama had attacked Bush for using the tactic and had pledged to reverse such policies." -By Peter Wallsten -LAtimes

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20090215
Secret - Criminal - Torture - War Crimes -Prison - Psychological - Terrorism - Military - Government -  - Medical - Human - Rights - Law- US - Guantánamo - Cuba
"Former Gitmo Guard Tells All." ... "Army Private Brandon Neely served as a prison guard at Guantánamo [US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba] in the first years the facility was in operation. With the [Republican President] Bush Administration, and thus the threat of retaliation against him, now gone, Neely decided to step forward and tell his story. “The stuff I did and the stuff I saw was just wrong,” he told the Associated Press. Neely describes the arrival of detainees in full sensory-deprivation garb, he details their sexual abuse by medical personnel, torture by other medical personnel, brutal beatings out of frustration, fear, and retribution, the first hunger strike and its causes, torturous shackling, positional torture, interference with religious practices and beliefs, verbal abuse, restriction of recreation, the behavior of mentally ill detainees, an isolation regime that was put in place for child-detainees, and his conversations with prisoners David Hicks and Rhuhel Ahmed. It makes for fascinating reading." ... "Neely’s comprehensive account runs to roughly 15,000 words. It was compiled by law students at the University of California at Davis and can be accessed here." ... "... Neely and other guards had been trained to the U.S. military’s traditional application of the Geneva Convention rules. They were put under great pressure to get rough with the prisoners and to violate the standards they learned. This placed the prison guards under unjustifiable mental stress and anxiety, and, as any person familiar with the vast psychological literature in the area (think of the Stanford Prison Experiment, for instance) would have anticipated produced abuses. Neely discusses at some length the notion of IRF (initial reaction force), a technique devised to brutalize or physically beat a detainee under the pretense that he required being physically subdued. The IRF approach was devised to use a perceived legal loophole in the prohibition on torture. Neely’s testimony makes clear that IRF was understood by everyone, including the prison guards who applied it, as a subterfuge for beating and mistreating prisoners—and that it had nothing to do with the need to preserve discipline and order in the prison." ... "[Neely] describes body searches undertaken for no legitimate security purpose, simply to sexually invade and humiliate the prisoners. This was a standardized [Republican President] Bush Administration tactic–the importance of which became apparent to me when I participated in some Capitol Hill negotiations with White House representatives relating to legislation creating criminal law accountability for contractors. The Bush White House vehemently objected to provisions of the law dealing with rape by instrumentality. When House negotiators pressed to know why, they were met first with silence and then an embarrassed acknowledgement that a key part of the Bush program included invasion of the bodies of prisoners in a way that might be deemed rape by instrumentality under existing federal and state criminal statutes. While these techniques have long been known, the role of health care professionals in implementing them is shocking." ... "Neely’s account demonstrates once more how much the Bush team kept secret and how little we still know about their comprehensive program of official cruelty and torture." -By Scott Horton -Harpers.org

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"Testimony of Spc. Brandon Neely." via "The Guantánamo Testimonials Project." ... "Testimonies of Military Guards." via humanrights.ucdavis.edu

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John McCain - US_Debt - Economic - Legislation -Obama - Arizona
"Dems Fed Up With McCain: "Angry Old Defeated Candidate"." ... ""He is bitter and really angry," Bob Shrum said of [Arizona Republican Senator John] McCain in an interview on Friday. "He is angry at the press, which he thinks is unfair. He is angry at [Democratic President] Obama and angry at the voters. He has gone from being an angry old candidate to being an angry old defeated candidate."" ... ""On Sunday, McCain wouldn't let the fight die, even with the [economic stimulus] legislation through Congress. Appearing on CNN, he described the $787 billion measure as "generational theft" and said that the bill's authors should "start over now and sit down together."" ... ""[A]s other observers pointed out, McCain isn't being entirely consistent." ... """During the Senate debate, 36 of the Senate Republicans voted for an alternative that would have cut taxes over the next decade by $2.5 trillion, [and] reduced the top marginal race to 25 percent," said the Atlantic's Ron Brownstein on "Meet the Press." "For John McCain -- who voted for that alternative of a $2.5 trillion tax cut over the next decade -- to talk about generational theft, I mean, pot meet kettle." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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20090214
Military - Torture - Prison - Psychological - Terrorism - War Crimes - Medical - Human Rights - Law - US - Guantánamo Bay - Cuba
"Former Gitmo guard recalls abuse, climate of fear." ... "Army Pvt. [Private] Brandon Neely was scared when he took Guantanamo's first shackled detainees off a bus. Told to expect vicious terrorists, he grabbed a trembling, elderly detainee and ground his face into the cement — the first of a range of humiliations he says he participated in and witnessed as the prison was opening for business." ... "Neely has now come forward in this final year of the detention center's existence, saying he wants to publicly air his feelings of guilt and shame about how some soldiers behaved as the military scrambled to handle the first alleged al-Qaida and Taliban members arriving at the isolated [United States] U.S. Navy base." ... "His account, one of the first by a former guard describing abuses at Guantanamo, describes a chaotic time when soldiers lacked clear rules for dealing with detainees who were denied many basic comforts. He says the circumstances changed quickly once monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived." ... "Neely, [now] 28, describes a litany of cruel treatment by his fellow soldiers, including beatings and humiliations he said were intended only to deliver physical or psychological pain." ... "Only months had passed since the [2001 September] Sept. 11 attacks, and Neely said many of the guards wanted revenge. Especially before the first Red Cross visit, he said guards were seizing on any apparent infractions to "get some" by hurting the detainees. The soldiers' behavior seemed justified at the time, he said, because they were told "these are the worst terrorists in the world."" ... "He said one medic punched a handcuffed prisoner in the face for refusing to swallow a liquid nutritional supplement, and another bragged about cruelly stretching a prisoner's torn muscles during what was supposed to be physical therapy treatments." ... "He said detainees were forced to submit to take showers and defecate into buckets in full view of female soldiers, against Islamic customs. When a detainee yelled an expletive at a female guard, he said a crew of soldiers beat the man up and held him down so that the woman could repeatedly strike him in the face. " -By Mike Melia -AP via -Yahoo

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"The Guantánamo Testimonials Project." via humanrights.ucdavis.edu


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Jay Bybee - John Yoo - Steven Bradbury - Torture - War Crimes - Investigators -  - Politics
"A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush Lawyers." ... "An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former [Republican President] Bush administration officials. H. Marshall Jarrett, chief of the department's ethics watchdog unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), confirmed last year he was investigating whether the legal advice in crucial interrogation memos "was consistent with the professional standards that apply to Department of Justice attorneys." According to two knowledgeable sources who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters, a draft of the report was submitted in the final weeks of the Bush administration. It sharply criticized the legal work of two former top officials—Jay Bybee and John Yoo—as well as that of Steven Bradbury, who was chief of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the time the report was submitted, the sources said." ... "[T[he OPR probe began after Jack Goldsmith, a Bush appointee who took over OLC in 2003, protested the legal arguments made in the memos. Goldsmith resigned the following year after withdrawing the memos, and later wrote that he was "astonished" by the "deeply flawed" and "sloppily reasoned" legal analysis in the memos by Yoo and Bybee, including their assertion (challenged by many scholars) that the president could unilaterally disregard a law passed by Congress banning torture." ... "OPR investigators focused on whether the memo's authors deliberately slanted their legal advice to provide the [Republican President Bush] White House with the conclusions it wanted, according to three former Bush lawyers who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing probe." -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek

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Corporate - Government - Coal-Mining- Dirt - Law - Politics - Television - Advertising - Election - West Virginia
"Case May Alter Judge Elections Across Country." ... "Don L. Blankenship, the chief executive of the nation’s fourth-biggest coal mining company, is not shy about putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to West Virginia politics." ... "In 2004, he spent $3 million on tough [television] advertisements attacking a justice of the State Supreme Court who was seeking re-election. Some of the advertisements said the justice had agreed to free a sex offender." ... "Brent D. Benjamin won that election and went on to join the 3-to-2 majority that threw out a $50 million jury verdict against Mr. Blankenship’s company, Massey Energy." ... "The question of whether Justice Benjamin should have disqualified himself is now before the United States Supreme Court." ... "The case, one of the most important of the term, has the potential to change the way judicial elections are conducted and the way cases are heard in the 39 states that elect at least some of their judges." ... "Mr. Blankenship’s advertisements, which said Justice McGraw had released a pedophile, were rough and arguably misleading. They concerned a youth who had been sexually abused from the age of 7 by two adult family members and a teacher before going on, at the age of 14, to abuse a younger half-brother. The youth was released on probation soon after he turned 18." ... "“I’m just a West Virginia country lawyer running for office,” Justice McGraw said. Of the advertisements, he said: “They say our court set a child molester loose in our schools. It’s absolutely untrue. I’m embarrassed to go out in public. They’ve absolutely destroyed me.”" ... "Mr. Blankenship cheerfully conceded that his real objection was to Justice McGraw’s rulings against corporate defendants. “Being the street fighter that I am,” he said, he had instructed his aides to find a decision that would enrage the public." ... "When they returned with an unsigned opinion in the sex abuse case, which Justice McGraw had joined, Mr. Blankenship said he knew he had hit pay dirt. “That killed him,” Mr. Blankenship said of Justice McGraw, smiling." (1, 2) -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes

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Corporate - Government - Lawmakers - Sacramento - California - Multinational
"Business the big winner in California budget plan: Firms would get nearly $1 billion in breaks, while the average person would pay higher taxes five ways. Republicans say the plan would create jobs, but others dispute the claim." ... "Reporting from Sacramento [California's capital] -- The average Californian's taxes would shoot up five different ways in the state budget blueprint that lawmakers hope to vote on this weekend. But the bipartisan plan for wiping out the state's giant deficit isn't so bad for large corporations, many of which would receive a permanent windfall." ... "About $1 billion in corporate tax breaks -- directed mostly at multi-state and multinational companies -- is tucked into the proposal. Opponents say the breaks will do nothing to create jobs, and the Legislature has rejected such moves repeatedly in the past. But now, to secure enough Republican votes to pass a budget that would raise taxes on everyone else, the Legislature is poised to write them into law with no public hearings at a time when the state treasury is almost out of cash." ... "The tax breaks were inserted into the spending plan during private meetings between legislative leaders and [California Republican Governor] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Less than 24 hours before today's scheduled vote, the proposals had not yet been printed in bills and made available to the public, but legislative leaders acknowledged them. " -By Evan Halper with contributions by Patrick McGreevy -LAtimes

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20090212
Unemployment - Politics - Federal - Law
"Out of Work and Challenged on Benefits, Too: In Record Numbers, Employers Move to Block Unemployment Payouts." ... "It's hard enough to lose a job. But for a growing proportion of [United States] U.S. workers, the troubles really set in when they apply for unemployment benefits." ... "More than a quarter of people applying for such claims have their rights to the benefit challenged as employers increasingly act to block payouts to former workers." ... "The proportion of claims disputed by former employers and state agencies has reached record levels in recent years, according to the Labor Department numbers tallied by the Urban Institute." ... "Under state and federal laws, employees who are fired for misbehavior or quit voluntarily are ineligible for unemployment compensation. When jobless claims are blocked, employers save money because their unemployment insurance rates are based on the amount of the benefits their workers collect." ... "As unemployment rolls swell in the recession, many workers seem surprised to find their benefits challenged, their former bosses providing testimony against them." (1, 2) -By Peter Whoriskey -WashingtonPost

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Children's - Vaccines - Psychological - Medical - Science - Minnesota
"Vaccines don't cause autism, special court says." ... "The special masters who decided the case expressed sympathy for the families, some of whom have made emotional pleas describing their children's conditions, but the rulings were blunt: There's little if any evidence to support claims of a vaccine-autism link." ... "The evidence "is weak, contradictory and unpersuasive," concluded Special Master Denise Vowell. "Sadly, the petitioners in this litigation have been the victims of bad science conducted to support litigation rather than to advance medical and scientific understanding" of autism." ... "Science years ago reached the conclusion that there's no connection, but Thursday's rulings in a trio of cases still have far-reaching implications — offering reassurance to parents scared about vaccinating their babies because of a small but vocal anti-vaccine movement. Some vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, are on the rise, and last fall a Minnesota baby who hadn't been vaccinated against meningitis died of that disease." -By Kevin Freking and Lauran Neergaard -AP via -Yahoo

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Criminal - Drug - War - Government - Law - Politics - Health - US - Brazil - Mexico - Colombia - World
"Latin American Panel Calls U.S. Drug War a Failure." ... "As drug violence spirals out of control in Mexico, a commission led by three former Latin American heads of state blasted the [United States] U.S.-led drug war as a failure that is pushing Latin American societies to the breaking point." ... ""The available evidence indicates that the war on drugs is a failed war," said former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in a conference call with reporters from Rio de Janeiro [Brazil]. "We have to move from this approach to another one."" ... "The commission, headed by Mr. Cardoso and former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and César Gaviria of Colombia, says Latin American governments as well as the U.S. must break what they say is a policy "taboo" and re-examine U.S.-inspired antidrugs efforts. The panel recommends that governments consider measures including decriminalizing the use of marijuana." ... "The report, by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, is the latest to question the U.S.'s emphasis on punitive measures to deal with illegal drug use and the criminal violence that accompanies it. A recent Brookings Institution study concluded that despite interdiction and eradication efforts, the world's governments haven't been able to significantly decrease the supply of drugs, while punitive methods haven't succeeded in lowering drug use." ... "The three former presidents who head the commission are political conservatives who have confronted in their home countries the violence and corruption that accompany drug trafficking." ... "The report warned that the U.S.-style antidrug strategy was putting the region's fragile democratic institutions at risk and corrupting "judicial systems, governments, the political system and especially the police forces."" ... "Latin America, he [former President of Colombia César Gaviria] said, should adapt a more European approach, based on treating drug addiction as a health problem." -By José de Córdoba with contributions by David Luhnow, Louise Radnofsky and Evan Perez -WSJ.com

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Barack Obama - Working - Families - Economic - Government - Accounting - History - Lawmakers - Politics
"BIGGEST. TAX CUT. EVER." ... "A few weeks ago, when the House approved the economic stimulus bill without any Republican votes, David Weigel notedthat he literally couldn't remember "a time when the entire Republican conference in either house voted against tax cuts."" ... "That's true, but let's go a little further. The compromise plan announced last night includes $282 billion in tax cuts over two years. With that in mind, Steven Waldman argues, persuasively, that when the vast majority of congressional Republicans oppose the package, they'll be voting against the biggest tax cut "in history.""

"According to the Wall Street Journal, [Republican President] Bush's first two years of tax cuts amounted to $174 billion. A second batch in 2004 and 2005 cost $231. And those were thought to be bigger than the tax cuts offered by Reagan, Kennedy or others."

"Now, perhaps some new analysis will show that the tax cuts end up not quite being the largest in history by this measure or that. But it's clear they're massive."

"I'm ducking the debate on whether this is economically a good or bad -- but surely it ought to be a big story."

"True. Waldman also notes that this is also an example of a liberal Democrat delivering early on a tax cut he promised during the campaign, a pledge "few Republican thought he'd keep."" ... "[Democratic President] Obama's tax cuts, meanwhile, are short-term refunds paid directly to working and middle class families (some of which Republicans have denounced as "welfare")." ... "As such, GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] lawmakers are going to reject one of the largest, if not the largest, tax cut ever proposed by a president -- which just so happens to be targeted at the working and middle class families Obama vowed to look out for." -By Steve Benen -WashingtonMonthly.com

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20090211
Poll - Criminal - Terrorism - Politics - Torture - War Crimes - Wiretapping - US Attorney
"Poll: Most want inquiry into anti-terror tactics." ... "Even as Americans struggle with two wars and an economy in tatters, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds majorities in favor of investigating some of the thorniest unfinished business from the [Republican President] Bush administration: Whether its tactics in the "war on terror" broke the law." ... "Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping [United States] U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done." ... "Even reversed, Bush policies divide" ... "Even more people want action on alleged attempts by the Bush team to use the Justice Department for political purposes. Four in 10 favored a criminal probe, three in 10 an independent panel, and 25% neither." -By Jill Lawrence -USATODAY

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Financial - Crisis - Politics - Sports - Entertainment - Marketing - Trip - History - Consumers - Government - Lawmakers - Obama -Nevada - New York
"Unapologetic CEOs: What Did the Banks Do With Your Cash? Bank CEOs [Chief Executive Officer], With $125 Billion in Taxpayer Money in Hand, Testify and Defend Before Congress." ... "The heads of eight major banks that received $125 billion in taxpayer bailout funds were largely unapologetic for their role in helping to create the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression as they testified before Congress this morning." ... "The CEOs said they are trying to lend out more money and pledged to return to profit, be more transparent and repay taxpayers as soon as possible." ... "But for the most part, the CEOs in their prepared testimony shrugged off recent criticism about the high level of pay within their firms, the use of luxury jets and posh trips to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo [Monaco]." ... "Bank of America took heat recently for sponsoring a five-day carnival-like affair outside the Super Bowl. The event -- known as the "NFL experience" -- included 850,000 square feet of sports games and interactive entertainment attractions for football fans and was blanketed in Bank of America logos and marketing calls to sign up for football-themed banking products." ... "The eight financial firms received a combined total of $125 billion since October through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly referred to as TARP." ... "Lawmakers have expressed outrage that the funds are not fulfilling their purpose of increasing the flow of credit to consumers. They point to a report released last month by the New York state comptroller that said Wall Street firms had handed out $18 billion in bonuses last year." ... "That news led [Democratic] President Obama to impose new restrictions on executive compensation for banks that receive money through the TARP in the future." ... "In the face of pressure from Washington, Citigroup recently scrapped plans to purchase a $50 million luxury jet." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Matthew Jaffe and Scott Mayerowitz -ABCNEWS.com

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Money - Law - Politics - Federal - Workers - Maine
"Source: Collins Strips Stim Bill Of Whistleblower Protections." ... "The House stimulus bill contained a provision designed to protect federal whistleblowers. Currently, those protections are shockingly weak. According to the Project On Government Oversight, whistleblowers who are fired or demoted can file a complaint with a government board -- but over the last eight years, that board has ruled in favor of whistleblowers only twice in 55 cases." ... "More to the point, the protections were designed to encourage federal workers to point out cases where taxpayer money is subject to waste, fraud, or abuse -- a legitimate concern when Congress spends $800 billion, and one that centrists and Republicans have been particularly exercised about." ... "Yesterday, 20 members of the House, from both parties, sent a letter to House negotiators urging them to ensure that the protections remained." ... "But, according to a person following the bill closely, Collins used today's conference committee to drastically water down the measure, citing national security concerns as the reason for her opposition. In the end, the protections were so weakened that House negotiators balked, and the result was that the entire amendment was removed." ... "According to the person following the bill, [Maine Republican Senator Susan] Collins was the "central roadblock" to passing the protections." ... "So when, in the coming months, conservatives start jumping up and down over the fact that money from the stimulus bill is being wasted, as they surely will, it's worth remember that a key measure designed to help expose that waste was removed from the bill -- and by a senator said to be a champion of fiscal discipline." -By Zachary Roth -TPMMuckracker .TalkingPointsMemo

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Food - Safety - Manufacturers - Federal -Inpectors - Corporate - Law - Ga
"Salmonella found at Ga. plant as early as 2006: Owner Stewart Parnell refused to testify at hearing; 9 have now died." ... "See the jar, the congressman challenged Stewart Parnell, holding up a container of the peanut seller's products and asking if he'd dare eat them. Parnell pleaded the Fifth." ... "The owner of the peanut company at the heart of the massive salmonella recall refused to answer the lawmaker's questions — or any others — Wednesday about the bacteria-tainted products he defiantly told employees to ship to some 50 manufacturers of cookies, crackers and ice cream." ... ""Turn them loose," Parnell had told his plant manager in an internal e-mail disclosed at the House hearing." ... "Shortly after Parnell's appearance, a lab tester told the panel that the company discovered salmonella at its Blakely, Ga. [Georgia], plant as far back as 2006. Food and Drug Administration officials told lawmakers more federal inspections could have helped prevent the outbreak." -AP -MSNBC

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Phoenix - Arizona - Law - Terrorism - Politics - Drugs - California - Texas - US -Mexico
"Kidnapping Capital of the U.S.A.: Washington Too Concerned With al Qaeda Terrorists to Care, Officials Say." ... "In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, [Arizona's capital] Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City [Mexico's capital] and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC [America's capital is too obsessed with al Qaeda terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now." ... ""We're in the eye of the storm," Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson told ABC News of the violent crimes and ruthless tactics spurred by Mexico's drug cartels that have expanded business across the border. "If it doesn't stop here, if we're not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it will go across the nation," he said." ... "California Attorney General Jerry Brown warned that as the U.S. [United States] government focuses so intently on Islamic extremist groups, other types of terrorists those involved with the same kidnappings, extortion and drug cartels that are sweeping Phoenix are overlooked." ... ""Those [criminals], for the average Californian or the average America, may be a more immediate threat to their well being," Brown said." ... "In fact, kidnappings and other crimes connected to the Mexican drug cartels are quickly spreading across the border, from Texas to California." (1, 2) -By Brian Ross, Richard Esposito and Asa Eslocker -ABCNEWS.com

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Barack Obama - Eric Cantor - Obscenity - Video - Law - Enforcement - Politics - Workers - Investment - Advertising - VA
"Anti-Obscenity Crusader Eric Cantor Sends Out Profanity-Laced Attack On Union." ... "Today, public-workers union AFSCME [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees] launched a massive advertising campaign targeting [Republican] neo-Hooverite conservatives who are trying to block [Democratic] President Obama’s recovery and reinvestment plan. One target is [Virginia Republican Representative] Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA [Republican-Virginia]), whom the union faults for declaring he was proud that his party was “just saying no” to Obama. A Cantor spokesman responded by sending around a profanity-laced video portraying AFSCME as mob goons. The video uses the F-word six times in one minute and ends with the tagline: “AFSCME: We’re the f*cking union that works for you.”" ... [Video. Not Safe For Work.] "Cantor claimed the video was a “joke,” though AFSCME didn’t think it was very funny." ... "Yet it’s not just unions who could be offended by the video; Cantor himself has railed against obscenity, voting for the Broadcast Deceny Enforcement Act that allowed fines of up to $500,000 on broadcasters for airing any “obscene, indecent, or profane” material. Speaking on the House floor in support of the bill, Cantor condemned “offensive television” that will “damage our society” and “cannot be tolerated“ [PDF]:"

"CANTOR: The use of obscenity…should not and cannot be tolerated. As a parent, I share the concerns of many regarding the level of offensive television and radio programs that are transmitted into our homes. The recent violations that have occurred disgusted not only me, but damage our society."

"He added that “we will not be satisfied until those responsible” for disseminating obscenity “have been reprimanded.” The heads of Americans United for Change, the AFL-CIO, and AFSCME have already reprimanded Cantor." -ThinkProgress.org

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Barack Obama - Money - Politics - Government - Law - History - Peoples - Jobs
"The Big Winners In Stimulus Compromise: The Upper-Middle Class." ... "When [Democratic] President Obama outlined on January 8 [2009] the rationale for the economic stimulus bill, "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," he clearly identified the men and women most in trouble:"

"Nearly two million jobs have now been lost, and on Friday we are likely to learn that we lost more jobs last year than at any time since World War II. Just in the past year, another 2.8 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs."

"The House-Senate compromise, however, cuts funds for extended health care coverage for the unemployed; cuts $30 billion in aid to state governments to prevent reductions in social services to the poor and out-of-work; and also cuts a special "Making Work Pay" tax holiday from $500 to $400 for an individual, and from $1,000 to $800 for a couple, for low-to-middle-income workers still hanging on to their jobs[.]" ... "Amid all the cutting, however, one group emerged unscathed: the upper-middle class, the not-quite-super-rich, but certainly not on the ropes. Most of these folks, in terms of income and employment, are what could be called the un-needy, a group clearly distinct from those Obama identified as the core target of the legislation. The "compromise" legislation includes$70 billion, or just under 10 percent of the whole package, to be used expressly to take care of these affluent people." ... "In fact, these lucky men and women make so much money that they fall into the ever-expanding grasp of the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The AMT was originally designed in 1969 to prevent the nation's millionaires and billionaires from using tax loopholes to pay zero income tax. That year, 155 very wealthy taxpayers paid no federal tax whatsoever. This year, if the law remains as it is currently crafted, the AMT would, through bracket creep, apply to as many as 25 million taxpayers, including those making in the $85,000 to $250,000 range, depending on how many deductions they claim (the more deductions, the more likely the AMT comes into play)." -By Thomas B. Edsall -HuffingtonPost.com

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Corporate - Government - Politics - PA - Kids- Prisons - Enforcement
"Pa. judges accused of jailing kids for cash: Judges allegedly took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juveniles in lockups ." ... "For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre [Pennsylvania] operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses." ... "The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench." ... "Prosecutors say Luzerne County [Pennsylvania] Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC [Limited Liability Company] and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC." ... "In Luzerne County, prosecutors say, Conahan shut down the county-run juvenile prison in 2002 and helped the two companies secure rich contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, at least some of that dependent on how many juveniles were locked up." ... "One of the contracts — a 20-year agreement with PA Child Care worth an estimated $58 million — was later canceled by the county as exorbitant." ... "Robert J. Powell co-owned PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care until June." (1, 2) -AP via -MSNBC

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20090210
Corporate - Government - Politics - Lawyers - Jobs - 2008 Election - US - International
"Bush Faithful Rewarded With Jobs: On the Way Out, He Placed Aides and Big-Money GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] Donors." ... "Fred F. Fielding, Emmet T. Flood, William A. Burck and Daniel M. Price worked together at the White House under [Republican President] George W. Bush. Less than two weeks before leaving office, Bush made sure the senior aides shared a new assignment, naming them to an obscure World Bank agency called the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes." ... "The appointments are for six years and are potentially lucrative, paying up to $3,000 a day plus travel and other expenses if an appointee is chosen to hear a case. Bush also named two other prominent Republican lawyers to the agency, which attempts to broker international finance disagreements." ... "Bush made more than 100 such end-of-term appointments to a constellation of presidential boards and panels, such as the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commission." ... "Nearly half of Bush's appointments after [2008] Election Day were filled by donors who gave a total of nearly $1.9 million to Republicans since 2003, according to an analysis of the postings. At least 20 of the positions were filled by former Bush aides, plus others filled by old hands from the administrations of [Republican Presidents] Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush." ... "Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said that while many of the appointments owe to vanity or good causes, some are also useful for maintaining political influence. "The real question is not only whether they are paid, but what benefits can they pay out from these boards," she said." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

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20090209
Michael Steele - Political - Money - Federal - Law - Maryland - 2006 Election
"RNC [Republican] chief Michael Steele says he'll cooperate with FBI: enying allegations of impropriety in his 2006 campaign spending, Steele says he will voluntarily hand over papers to the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], which had contacted his sister over payments her company received." ... "Reporting from Washington -- Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele said Sunday that he would provide records from his 2006 [election, Maryland, United States] U.S. Senate campaign to the FBI in an effort to speed an apparent investigation into allegations of improper campaign spending." ... "Steele confirmed that his sister was recently contacted by FBI agents looking into allegations that his campaign paid a company she owned more than $37,000 in 2007 for campaign work that was never performed. The allegations were made by Steele's former campaign finance chairman in an attempt to gain a more lenient prison sentence after he was convicted of fraud in an unrelated case." ... "Alan B. Fabian, who had been finance chairman of Steele's Senate campaign in Maryland, made the allegations in March in an effort to get a reduced sentence for his part in a $40-million fraud scheme." -By Paul West -LAtimes

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Drug - Investigation - Federal - Law - History - Texas - Calif - New York
"Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003." ... "In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated." ... "Rodriguez's name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's '03 survey testing, SI's sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004." ... "Though MLB's drug policy has expressly prohibited the use of steroids without a valid prescription since 1991, there were no penalties for a positive test in 2003. The results of that year's survey testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner's office and the players association. Rodriguez's testing information was found, however, after federal agents, armed with search warrants, seized the '03 test results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., of Long Beach, Calif. [California], one of two labs used by MLB in connection with that year's survey testing. The seizure took place in April 2004 as part of the government's investigation into 10 major league players linked to the BALCO scandal -- though Rodriguez himself has never been connected to BALCO." ... "Anticipating that the 33-year-old Rodriguez, who has 553 career home runs, could become the game's alltime home run king, the [New York] Yankees signed him in November 2007 to a 10-year, incentive-laden deal that could be worth as much as $305 million. Rodriguez is reportedly guaranteed $275 million and could receive a $6 million bonus each time he ties one of the four players at the top of the list: Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762), and an additional $6 million for passing Bonds." -By Selena Roberts and David Epstein -SI.com

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Pete Sessions - Michael Steele - Terrorism - Radio - Government - Economic - Legislation - Job - Tex - Ga - Maryland - 2006 Election
"Republicans See Long-Term Victory in Defeat on Stimulus Plan." ... "GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] Sees Positives In Negative Stand: Leaders Seize On Spending Issue." ... "After giving the package zero [Republican] votes in the House, and 0 with their [Republican] counterparts in the Senate likely to provide in a crucial procedural vote today only the handful of votes needed to avoid a filibuster, Republicans are relishing the opportunity to make a big statement. [Texas Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex. [Representative-Texas]) suggested last week that the party is learning from the disruptive tactics of the Taliban, and the GOP these days does have the bravado of an insurgent band that has pulled together after a big defeat to carry off a quick, if not particularly damaging, raid on the powers that be." ... "And it means rallying to Rush Limbaugh, who has put himself forward as a de facto party leader, penning an op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal and accepting the on-air apologies of [Georgia Republican Representative] Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga. [Republican-Georgia]), who criticized the radio host and paid for it in a deluge of angry calls." ... "[Republican National Committee chairman Michael S. Steele congratulated congressional Republicans in some of his first remarks as Republican chairman,] "The goose egg that you laid on the president's desk was just beautiful," he told them. "You and I know that in the history of mankind and womankind, government -- federal, state or local -- has never created one job. It's destroyed a lot of them."" ... "Steele is also facing a distraction -- a federal inquiry into allegations that his 2006 [election Maryland] Senate campaign paid a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed. The campaign's finance chairman made the allegations to federal prosecutors last year as he sought leniency during plea negotiations on unrelated fraud charges." -By Alec MacGillis and Perry Bacon Jr. -WashingtonPost

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20090207
Michael Steele - Money - Politics- Federal - Investigation - 2006 Election - Maryland
"Steele's Campaign Spending Questioned: Agents Contact Sister After Ex-Aide's Claims." ... "Michael S. Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, arranged for his 2006 Senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed, his finance chairman from that campaign has told federal prosecutors." ... "Federal agents in recent days contacted Steele's sister, a spokesman for Steele said yesterday." ... "The claim about the payment, one of several allegations by Alan B. Fabian, is outlined in a confidential court document. Fabian offered the information last March as he was seeking leniency for himself during plea negotiations on unrelated fraud charges." ... "Fabian's claims emerge as Steele begins his new role at the RNC [Republican National Committee], where he oversees the raising and spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in party money. The former Maryland lieutenant governor has faced questions about his handling of campaign money in prior elections and was twice fined for missing filing deadlines." ... "The recent allegations outlined four specific transactions. In addition to the payment to Steele's sister, Fabian said that the candidate used money from his state campaign improperly; that Steele paid $75,000 from the state campaign to a law firm for work that was never performed; and that he or an aide transferred more than $500,000 in campaign cash from one bank to another without authorization." ... "In one of his allegations, Fabian points to a February 2007 payment by Steele's Senate campaign of more than $37,000 to Brown Sugar Unlimited, the company run by Steele's sister, Monica Turner. Campaign finance records list the expense as having been for "catering/web services." Turner filed papers to dissolve the company 11 months before the payment was received." (1, 2, 3) -By Henri E. Cauvin with contributions by Aaron C. Davis, Matthew Mosk, Katherine Shaver, John Wagner and Meg Smith -WashingtonPost

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Dick Cheney - Criminal - KBR/Halliburton -Corporation - Government - Politics -  - Military - People - Texas - US - Iraq - Nigeria - Oil - Construction
"KBR wins contract despite criminal probe of deaths." ... "Defense contractor KBR Inc. [Incorporated] has been awarded a $35 million Pentagon contract involving major electrical work, even as it is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two [United States] U.S. soldiers in Iraq." ... "The announcement of the new KBR contract came just months after the Pentagon, in strongly worded correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, rejected the company's explanation of serious mistakes in Iraq and its proposed improvements. A senior Pentagon official, David J. Graff, cited the company's "continuing quality deficiencies" and said KBR executives were "not sufficiently in touch with the urgency or realities of what was actually occurring on the ground."" ... ""Many within DOD (the Department of Defense) have lost or are losing all remaining confidence in KBR's ability to successfully and repeatedly perform the required electrical support services mission in Iraq," wrote Graff, commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency, in a [September] Sept. 30 letter." ... "Graff rejected the company's claims that it wasn't required to follow U.S. electrical codes for its work on U.S. military facilities in Iraq." ... "The deaths of [Staff Sergeant Christopher Lee] Everett and [Staff Sergeant Ryan] Maseth are among the 18 under review by the Pentagon's inspector general." ... "KBR was previously owned by Halliburton Co. [Company], the oil services conglomerate that former [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney once led." ... "Separately, court papers filed in Houston [Texas] on Friday show KBR is preparing to plead guilty to federal bribery charges for promising and paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Nigeria in exchange for engineering and construction contracts between 1995 and 2004." -By Kimberly Hefling -AP via -Yahoo

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Nuclear - Science -Secrets - Investigation - Military - Intelligence - History - Legal - Politics - Pakistan - Iran - Libya -North Korea - US - British - Italian - Switzerland -  - International
"Nuclear Scientist A.Q. Khan Is Freed From House Arrest." ... "Early yesterday, the Pakistani scientist at the center of one of history's worst nuclear scandals walked out of his Islamabad [Pakistan's capital] villa to declare his vindication after five years of house arrest. "The judgment, by the grace of God, is good," a smiling Abdul Qadeer Khan told a throng of reporters and TV crews." ... "Moments earlier, a Pakistani court had ordered the release of the metallurgist who had famously admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Through years of legal limbo, Khan, 72, had never been charged, and now he never will be. "The so-called A.Q. Khan affair is a closed chapter," a Pakistani government spokesman said." ... "Nearly five years after Khan's smuggling operation came to light, the international effort to prosecute its leaders is largely in shambles, yielding convictions of only a few minor participants and no significant prison time for any of them." ... "Khan's international network collapsed in 2003 after U.S. [United States], British and Italian officials halted a Libya-bound ship in the Mediterranean loaded with machine parts used to make enriched uranium." ... "That discovery was the culmination of more than a decade of secret investigation by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] and other agencies of the business dealings of Khan, one of Pakistan's best-known scientists and the father of the country's nuclear weapons program." ... "U.S. and U.N. [United Nations] investigators ultimately accused Khan of heading a sophisticated network of businesses and front companies that manufactured and sold components needed to make nuclear bombs. But while the factories and shipping offices were dismantled, Khan proved to be beyond Washington's reach. Pakistan's then-President Pervez Musharraf, confronted with evidence of Khan's deeds, persuaded the scientist to make a public confession but then officially pardoned him. Khan would remain under house arrest, but Pakistani officials refused to allow him to be questioned by U.S. officials or investigators of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog." ... "Efforts to prosecute alleged members of the network in Switzerland touched off a series of squabbles between Swiss and U.S. officials. Swiss prosecutors accused the [Republican President] Bush administration of withholding critical evidence needed to put three Swiss businessmen -- a father and two brothers who worked with Khan in the 1980s and 1990s -- behind bars." ... "Last month, one of the brothers confirmed in a Swiss television interview that he had been working undercover for the CIA, prompting the Swiss parliament to ask why Switzerland had not been informed about covert action inside its territory. " -By Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost

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Criminal - Food - Safety - Science - Consumers - Health - Ga - Agricultural - Corporation - Plant
"FDA: Plant knew peanuts laced with salmonella." ... "As far back as 2007, salmonella-laced products were shipped by a Georgia peanut company [owned by Stewart Parnell] that knew the peanuts probably were tainted and sometimes after tests confirmed that contamination, inspection records show." ... "Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers' health." ... "Food and Drug Administration officials earlier had said Peanut Corp. [Corporation] of America waited for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that initially were positive for salmonella. But the agency amended its report Friday, saying that the Blakely, Ga. [Georgia], plant actually shipped some products before receiving the second test and sold others after confirming salmonella." ... "The salmonella outbreak has been blamed for at least eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. More than 1,550 products have been recalled." -By Brett J. Blackledge and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar with contributions by Mary Clare Jalonick -AP via -Yahoo

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20090206
John A Boehner - Peter Hoekstra - Secret - Trip - Lawmaker - Electronic - Communications - Military -Ohio - Mich - US - Iraq
"Congressman Twitters an Iraq Security Breach." ... "A congressional trip to Iraq this weekend was supposed to be a secret." ... "But the cat’s out of the bag now, thanks to a member of the House Intelligence Committee who broke an embargo via Twitter." ... "A delegation led by [Ohio Republican Representative and] House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R[Republican]-Ohio, arrived in Iraq earlier today, and because of [Michigan Republican Representative] Rep. Peter Hoekstra , R-Mich. [Republican-Michigan], the entire world — or at least Twitter.com readers—now know they’re there." ... "“Just landed in Baghdad [Iraq's capital],” messaged Hoekstra, a former chairman of the Intelligence panel and now the ranking member, who is routinely entrusted to keep some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets." ... "Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons." ... "Not only did Hoekstra reveal the existence of the lawmakers’ trip, but included details about their itinerary in updates posted every few hours on his Twitter page, until he suddenly stopped, for some reason, on Friday morning. " -By John M. Donnelly -CQPolitics.com

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Sarah Palin - Politics - Investigation - Alaska
"Alaska Senate finds Todd Palin in contempt in 'troopergate'." ... "The Alaska Senate voted today to find [Alaska Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, and nine Palin aides in contempt for failing to show up when ordered by subpoena to testify in the Legislature's "troopergate" investigation of the governor." ... "But the Senate resolution also said there should be no punishment because Todd Palin and the others did eventually submit written statements to the investigator, Steve Branchflower." -By Sean Cockerham -ADN.com via -McClatchyDC.com

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