Occupying Wall Street / eagles eye view
I'm brand new to this forum,and still learning how to navigate my lap-top. This is the first box i've found to write in.I'm interested in writing social commentary, day to day events. The wall street event thats happening now is like De'javu, seeing the discontent of the people that have found themselve's in unity for the same common cause, economic/financial survival. I witnessed,
and experienced the discontent of the 60's and 70's "The We The People Era"
that brought about the Black Panther movement/ The Watt's Riots / The Patty Hearst/SLA Cinque ,incident,etc. If you look at todays economical environment
the most fitting Symbolic Icon, would be the "Parker Bros Monopoly Game", key word Corporate Monopoly. The core problem for every protesting individual is money, or to be more accurate, the "Lack of Money"
there are two options too choose from, either our situation was caused by extreme incompetence, or it was planned by design,neither option is exceptable.
The other unexceptable problem is the behavior of the "Traditionalist". They
won't say it out loud, but their dishonorable, and disrespectful actions have
made it very clear,it irks them that there is a "Black man in the White House".
So now the american people are on the corporate steps, demanding to know where is the money? and they have a new tool,technology,instant contacts. My question is if you know "Poverty Breeds Violence"factoid from the 1970s study,
why would you create those same conditions? A.C.GThe biggest thought that comes to my mind after reading your post is:
"You're a Racist."
That thought occurs to me because you seem to correlate civil protesting of poverty, during a time when a purple polka-dotted person has been elected to represent a society in which the majority membership is of NON-purple polka-dotted people to mean that the civil protesting isn't about poverty at all... it is about the purple polka-dotted person being the elected leader.
Need I point out the "white" majority elected the "black" President to the White House, it could not have happened otherwise.
I believe the protests are about the poverty, lack of rights and inablity to stop the corporate tyranny. That the situation culminated to the boiling point during the presidency of the nations first "black" President doesn't have anything to do with it.Oh yes it does!
I saw a perfect shirt the other day to describe it....
A picture of Bush and it said this;
"We got screwed
But thanks for blaming the black guy."
I mean---do you see that they are trying to put these SAME people back in power again?? After what they did!!!
Sure..they'll back a black guy: one who has the rich white corporatocracy behind him!
How else do you explain "Moochelle"??? Did anyone ever call Nancy Reagan a mooch? We all know she was a huge prima donna. But she was white, and all right, huh?
Did anyone ever say "The Clintons...just another white family on public housing"??
Race is a factor...becoming less of one, but it dam sure is there.Mikel, everything is about race if it can be used to further the agenda of the Left.
When Obama is voted out of office, there will be screams, and possibly worse, that it was for no other reason than he's black. His Socialistic ideology and total disregard to the U.S. Constitution will have nothing to do with it in some peoples eyes.Socialist ideology? lol. He picked up most of the corporate money in the presidential race. I don't think they back socialists.
The guy is a sad, slightly above average, bureaucrat who happens to be lost in the storm of events. I admire his patience. And I feel sorry for him.
In fact,I feel sorry for the whole of the US. Sadly blown off course in the last thirty years it will be a hard road back to creating genuine wealth through industry and enterprise.
Not this Wall Street sleight of hand where money appears to be made from money.As usual, you are out of touch with reality. The Republicans have been "playing the race card" ever since Nixon. Sometimes subtly sometime not so subtly. Why do you think GOP presidential candidates kick off their campaigns at Bob Jones "University?" Remember Lee Atwater's masterminding of Bush I's race card attack against Dukakis? Why do you think all the former racist Southern Democrats switched to the GOP?
Atwater: You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger" — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."[6][7]Are you trying to tell me the Dems don't play the race card? And you say I'm the one out of touch with reality.
Respectfully, such selective memory is beneath you, Mr. Deeds.In your twisted view of the world Dems did and do play the race card in the civil rights revolution led by MLK and others asking for equal rights in education, employment, voting, etc. I guess that could be called playing the race card by appealing to the finest humanitarian instincts. The GOP's race card appealed to the worst racist instincts.
Anyway, what does the race card have to do with the topic of this thread? You are the one who has the "race card on your brain."I'll say it again, Mr. Deeds. I don't like his redistribute-the-wealth Socialist ideology. His skin color means nothing to me.
You sound like you're trying to lump me into some kind of group or idea of what you think a racist is so let me give you a short history.
I grew up living next door to the most bigoted person I ever knew, my grandmother, but if I'd uttered the 'N' word that I heard her say all the time, my parents would have tanned my hide. We were taught to look deeper than skin color at the person. Believe me, this was not an easy thing to do in 1960's South.
Desegregation began here when I was going into the fourth grade and the only thing I had a problem with was the hour and twenty minute bus ride when it was hot outside.
I don't judge people by the color of their skin, Mr. Deeds, but by the content of their character as I was taught by my parents so please don't lump me into what your stereotypical idea may be of Conservatives or Southerns. Believe me, I won't fit.
Ha! Yeah...now they say "he's an Urban President"....uhhuh. Moochelle...like we don't all get the drift.
P*sses me off too, since her father worked so hard to GET her an education, and they act like she's a moocher. uck, when will they GO away?Barry refers to his own lack of interest in suburbia and his comfort in urban settings. Is he a racist toward himself? After all his grandmother - a typical white woman - was a product of that urban hub - Kansas.
Do you mean the Willie Horton issue? History is so fun. It is written by all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons - most of those purely personal. History is not fact. Sometimes it barely brushes up against fact. Willie Horton was a monster released under a foolish program supported by Dukakis. Was Dukakis complicit in Horton's monstrous deeds? No more than every other Massachusetts politician supporting such tragic policies but how many of them were running for President.
Dukakis' defeat had more to do with Reagan's success, Dukakis' own diminutive stature and that stupid tank driving picture. But how about that Willie Horton?
http://cache.boston.com/news/politics/c … ton+.shtmlReagan's succes had to do with October Surprise, which you righty's conveniently forget.
I don't forget. THAT was usage of American pain to the cynical MAX. Oh, and my cousin was on Delta Force that rescued those guys...(at least according to my dad)....aks (s/o TO Russshhhh) HIM what he thinks of Reagan.
"well, hehe...we're cutting their allowance hehe"I need to start smoking dope to find your point - there is a point in there somewhere isn't there?
Yes. Those creeps on the Right will use any means to take power. ANY.
They need to be purged from America. IMO IMO
Sooner the better.Re-read that posting looking for a cogent point - still none to be found.
America will be better off when the likes of Cantor/Ryan/Boehner/Kasich/Shneider leave office and crawl back to the swamp. Clear enough?
How do you explain "Moochelle", and "Just another black family on public housing"?
How do you explain the voodoo witch doctor with a bone through his nose signs?
How do you explain "he has a deep-seated hatred of white people"? "He did not live the black experience"?
Not racism? The Baggers can't let it go!
And it shows in the generational divide between the TP and OWS....one is young, the other is old...
Most younger generations have not a problem with race, gender, identity, none of it, that I've seen. MOST.
But the older SS crowd do. And me, I'm on the cusp...seen it with all different generations.
I like this one. I think they will not swallow ANY hype! They grew UP in debt!
my daughter was getting credit card offers at 5 yrs old...legal or not!"How do you explain "Moochelle", and "Just another black family on public housing"? How do you explain the voodoo witch doctor with a bone through his nose signs?
How do you explain "he has a deep-seated hatred of white people"? "He did not live the black experience"?
I'm not going to explain something I didn't say, LMC.
"I'm on the cusp"
I'm glad you think so highly of yourself. Someone has to.No, but your tea-partiers did, and last I looked, they weren't liberals: Whom you say always play the race card.
Looks like your Tpee'ers beat them to it.
And another back-handed insult? See-I knew your apology was empty air. Peanut-butter fluff. All poof, no substance.
"On the cusp of" means in between.
Look in the dictionary under obvious.First, as I've stated here, I'm not a member of the Tea Party and have never been to one of their meetings so their not one of my Tea Partiers. I've also stated the race card has been used on both sides, unlike some on here that like just point fingers at one side or the other.
Backhanded insult? What are you talking about? If you're speaking of "I'm glad you think so highly of yourself. Someone has to," my philosophy is no one is responsible for one's happiness but themselves. If if makes you happy being in the middle of all that, more power to you. That's all that meant. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Obviously you want to automatically think the worst of me.
And I know what cusp means but thanks anyway.Really? I thought you were one of those who always said the TP was not racist?
And how does cusp have anything to do with me thinking highly of myself?
back-handed insult: "I'm glad you think so highly of yourself. Someone has to."
as in, no one else does.LMC, I've seen some of the TP signs and don't approve of them anymore than I do Liberal signs I've seen.
If a person thinks they're on the cusp of something, they're generally knowledgeable on the subject. That makes them feel good or highly about themselves (ie, self esteem). Other people look to them for advice which makes some people feel good. You seemed to be happy that you on the "cusp" of the whole Occupy thing so more power to you.
"Someone has to." I've had times when if I didn't think highly of myself, no one would have. Remember that ex-wife I've mentioned. I didn't mean anything by it, LMC, and it was not a backhanded insult.
Black liberals, like those in the Southern Christina Leadership Conference, have questioned Obama's Black authenticity. Al Sharpton, arbiter of all things Black(just ask him) questioned Obama's Blackness as much as, white liberals, question Herman Cain's Blackness.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/1 … 50846.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co … 02219.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/19/opinion/k … index.html
http://www.cjr.org/politics/is_obama_black_enough.php
http://www.salon.com/2007/01/22/obama_161/
But Herman Cain - descendent of slave - is not Black.
http://www.verumserum.com/?p=30390
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/al-shar … lly-black/
http://urbangrounds.com/2011/10/cain-vs-odonnell/That is a barren subject, it has no value. Obama is Male The connective unit to Female which are the two Elements that are the classified Genus
of the species Human. He is of my & yours Species "Human" do you agree? ( I make comment to the Huffington Post article )No kidding. When a Democratic candidate running for office of president questions Cainiac's "blackness".....it'll become an issue.
Cainiac said Obama had not lived the black experiece. He wants to be president. He can dam well answer for it.
What others think is not important, as opinions are like Russsshhhhhh.To me, personally, race has no meaning or significance. Human is human, this having been said, race is one more tool of the demagog.
Well, of course. You have White Priviledge! You have no idea what it's like to be "different". Try it sometime, then comment on it
I find that personally offensive. I had a black woman tell me all about white privilege when we were both doing exactly the same work for the same pay and she lived in a nicer house sent her children to the same Catholic school and drove a better car. White privilege - as an possessor of such a hate filled and racist label - isn't all it is cracked up to be. Bitter sniveling liberalism has destroyed the idea of person and humanity and replaced it with class and race.
"I find that personally offensive."
"Bitter sniveling liberalism"
You are offended, an answer it with an offense!
let's see: righty logic?bitter sniveling liberalism - offensive or descriptive. considering the constant use of the fabrication of race to divide people one against the other by the likes of Larry O'Donnell and Al Sharpton sounds like bitter sniveling liberalism.
Depends on whose doing the interpreting. Cause, when I say Brood of Vipers...that also can be descriptive or offensive.
I'm surprised I have to explain this to you...bein a lowly gurl and all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLI7FJgaydE
And kudos and thumbs up to several other cities outside of the USA who have joined in support with Occupy USA and negotiating their own issues with independant Governments.
Global and Unity is the answer.
FOR THE PEOPLE!Wall street and corporate entities are suckers for the quick buck. The Japanese and Chinese recognized this years ago by setting the whole trade set up with them. American business will only move on a trend if they see a quick and immediate return on their investments. This is reflected in the migration of manufacturing jobs to these places because of the lower cost of labor resulting in quicker and higher profits for their share holders and ultimately their bonuses. The lower wages paid to these workers supports their lower standard of living. Now we are pressed to keep cost down and compete against them in a higher standard of living society as the US enjoys.
Something has to give and corporate America does not want it to change. Corporate America newly christened with personal acceptance as a person by our stacked Supreme Court and bought slimy bag of puss congress enjoys quite an advantage to stack the odds that corporate will prevail at whatever they wish. They also realize that if they can keep the electorate so polarized with angst and distortion they can continue their raping of the country.
The Wall Street protest is having a hard time defining themselves because the problem is so vast and evasive due to the missinformation and divisive tactics employed by tabloid journalism.Well, for what its wort A.C.G. Welcome aboard! lol
Like I said De'javu! watching the KRON News, the " Occupying Oakland " event
is being televised there are so many people walking orderly up 7th street.
I've experienced protest in a different era. Thankfully the confrontation,
was not as violent as the Watts Riots. That was the first experience at
having a shotgun barrel at my head, being called derogatory names, having
to show something with my name and address on it to get pass the national
guard blockades on my street with guns at the ready. And that time they
were shooting live ammunition into the crowds. Thank goodness for cameras
they provide a leval of restraint in the contact. They just announced that
Contra Costa County is sending in support, it looks like about 20 cars.
conflict is inevitable, only the trouble makers are out ,breaking windows
setting trash can fires, and spray painting walls, totally stupid, un ness- essary, detructive behavior. Im glad to see Bank of America backed off the
$5. ATM fee. So more Power to the People. As a functioning PTSS, this has
been Therapeutic, I appreciate the forum.Not an ATM fee but a debit card fee to make up for the Federal government insinuating itself into an ordinary business relationship by forcing a cut in debit card fees charged between BofA and vendors who take their debit card. Now that the fee has been cut and the griping of politicians and the ignorant have compelled BofA to back off a clearly disclosed fee a far more surreptitious means of recapturing that cost will be used.
All government micro management produces foolish distortions in business relationships."Now that the fee has been cut and the griping of politicians and the ignorant have compelled BofA to back off a clearly disclosed fee a far more surreptitious means of recapturing that cost will be used."
No doubt. But why? BOA earned $6.2 billion in it's latest quarter. And, if memory serves, the Bank recently coughed up $150 million, without admitting or denying guilt, to settle SEC fraud charges. Of course no criminal charges were filed, as usual. This was only one of many such settlements at BOA and other NY banks.
Here's a list of recent settlements by Bank of America and other banks and corporations:
http://www.endgame.org/corpfines1.html
ABB
ABB Vetco Gray
ABB Vetko UK
2004
$5,900,000
$10,500,00
"Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd. and two of its subsidiaries agreed Tuesday to pay a total of $16.4 million to settle U.S. criminal and civil charges alleging they bribed government officials in Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan. The company paid more than $1.1 million through U.S.-based and foreign subsidiaries for the purpose of "obtaining and retaining business," federal officials claimed. U.S. authorities said ABB settled a civil suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by agreeing to pay $5.9 million in "disgorgement and prejudgment interest" to the Securities and Exchange Commission and change its business practices. SEC officials said ABB notified the government of the violations and cooperated in the investigation. Simultaneously, subsidiaries ABB Vetco Gray, based in Houston, and ABB Vetco UK, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, appeared in U.S. District Court in Houston and agreed to pay a total fine of $10.5 million, the Department of Justice said. The fines came after each company was convicted of two counts of violating the bribery section of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." (Feds fine ABB $16M in bribery case, By Leticia Williams, CBS.MarketWatch.com, July 6, 2004).
Abbott Laboratories
1999
$100,000,000
"[R]ecord fine of $100 million to the Food and Drug Administration to settle a long-running investigation into the company's manufacturing plant in Lake County, Ill. Abbott also agreed to remove 125 products from the market and stop making them. (Abbott to Pay $622 Million to Settle Inquiry Into Marketing, By Gardiner Harris, New York Times, June 27, 2003).
Abbott Laboratories
2003
$622,000,000
"Abbott Laboratories said yesterday that it planned to pay $622 million to settle an investigation into sales practices for liquids needed to feed the seriously ill. The company said in a statement that it would take a charge of 34 cents a share in the second quarter to cover a settlement of a "previously disclosed civil and criminal investigation" of its Ross Products division. Abbott earned $592.3 million, or 38 cents a share, in the second quarter of last year. Melissa Brotz, an Abbott spokeswoman, declined yesterday to discuss details of the investigation, which was disclosed in August 2001. At the time, news reports described it as focusing on marketing tactics in which the company gave tubes and pumps used to deliver liquid food directly into patients' digestive tracts in exchange for large orders of the liquids. Some of the hospitals and nursing homes that received the free equipment were suspected of billing Medicaid and Medicare, the government health insurance programs for the poor and the elderly, for the tubes and pumps, according to the reports." (Abbott to Pay $622 Million to Settle Inquiry Into Marketing, By Gardiner Harris, New York Times, June 27, 2003).
On Oct. 3, 2001, TAP Pharmaceutical Products, a joint venture of Abbott and Tadeka Chemical Industries, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and paid $875 million - still the record for a health fraud fine - to settle accusations related to its marketing of the cancer drug Lupron. TAP was accused of giving Lupron to doctors who the company knew would bill Medicaid and Medicare for the cost of the drug. SEE TAP PHARMACEUTICAL.
Abbott Laboratories
2005
$18,000,000
"Abbott Laboratories and Geneva Pharmaceuticals Inc. have agreed to a $30.7 million nationwide settlement to refund customers and third-party payers in 18 states who claimed that the two companies had conspired to engage in anticompetitive conduct selling a drug that treats hypertension and enlarged prostate. The settlement agreement, reached earlier this month, is still subject to final court approval. The commercial version of the drug, Hytrin, is manufactured by Abbott, which will pay $18 million in the case. The generic version, called terazosin, is made by Geneva... The settlement will benefit consumers who purchased terazosin products between Oct. 15, 1995 and March 7, 2005. Between 1999 and 2001, a number of consumers filed lawsuits against Abbott and Geneva. These cases were consolidated into a single lawsuit in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. According to the federal lawsuit, Abbott wrongfully paid Geneva to delay introduction of its generic version of Hytrin and took other steps to delay competition from lower-priced generic versions of its product, harming consumers." (CBS MarketWatch, March 31, 2005)
Abbott Laboratories Johnson & Johnson
Menarini Diagnosticos
Pharmaceutica Quimica
Bayer
2005
16 million Euros total
"Portugal's antitrust regulator said it had fined five major US and European drug companies a total of 16 mln eur for working together to artificially fix prices.
The five firms -- Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson of the United States, Germany's Bayer AG, Italy's Menarini Diagnosticos and Switzerland's Pharmaceutica Quimica -- formed a cartel during 36 bidding processes to supply 22 hospitals in Portugal, it said. The goal of the companies was to 'prevent, restrict or falsify in a significant way competition by fixing prices', the competition authority said in a statement.
Abbott Laboratories was hit with the largest fine, 6.8 mln eur, for 34 infractions while Johnson & Johnson, which cooperated with antitrust regulator in its investigation, received the smallest fine, it added. The firm will have to pay 360,000 eur for 36 infractions. The antitrust regulator opened its investigation after a public hospital in Coimbra, Portugal's third-largest city, complained that the five firms had all proposed the same price for the same drug." (AFX News Limited, Oct 14, 2005).
Abercrombie & Fitch
2004
$40,000,000
"Abercrombie & Fitch has agreed to pay $40 million to black, Hispanic and Asian employees and job applicants to settle a class-action federal discrimination lawsuit that accused the clothing retailer of promoting whites at the expense of minorities..." (AP/USAToday.com, Nov 16, 2004).
ABN AMRO Bank
2005
$80,000,000
U.S. bank regulators and supervisors announced Monday that ABN AMRO Bank N.V. will have to pay an $80 million penalty in connection with findings the bank failed to comply with U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
The Federal Reserve, New York and Illinois state bank supervisory agencies, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said they had found defects in the bank's internal controls against money laundering in branches in New York and Chicago.
ABN AMRO, the largest Dutch bank, participated in transactions that violated U.S. sanctions laws and failed to report suspicious transactions, the agencies said in a statement.
The U.S. bank regulators and supervisors said De Nederlandsche Bank N.V., the regulator of Dutch banks, had also participated in issuing the consent order.
Regulators are also requiring ABN AMRO to improve compliance and risk management systems to ensure full oversight and compliance with U.S. laws. (Reuters / CNN Money, Dec 19, 2005)
Adelphia
2005
$715,000,000
Adelphia Communications said today that after months of negotiations, it had agreed to pay $715 million to settle fraud charges with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As the settlement is structured, the Rigas family, which once controlled Adelphia, will provide the government with roughly $1.5 billion in assets: largely cable systems that the family owned privately. John Rigas and his son Timothy were convicted last summer of looting Adelphia of $2.3 billion in assets and misrepresenting Adelphia's financial health to investors.
Now Adelphia will turn over $715 million to a victim's fund that will pay the money to Adelphia investors...
delphia declared bankruptcy three years ago. It then put itself up for sale and last week Comcast and Time Warner, the nation's largest and second-largest cable companies, agreed to buy Adelphia for $17.6 billion in cash and stock. Adelphia, with 5.3 million cable subscribers, is the nation's fifth-largest cable operator.
As the settlement is structured, investors get part of the funds, but the company, which was also misled by the Rigases, gets the balance of the $1.5 billion in assets that are being turned over by the family.. (New York Times, April 25, 2005).
Adest
subsidiary of MONY
2005
Fourteen brokerage firms are paying fines totaling more than $34 million in deals with industry regulators over payments they received to push certain mutual funds...
The firms include six subsidiaries of the embattled insurance company American International Group...
The companies have agreed to pay the civil fines in settlements with NASD, the brokerage industry's self-policing organization. NASD accused the firms of receiving payments from mutual fund companies in exchange for preferential treatment for the funds, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The companies neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in agreeing to pay the fines, which ranged from $286,415 for Advest Inc. to $6.6 million for Royal Alliance Associates Inc., one of the A.I.G. subsidiaries.
Advest is a unit of the MONY Group.
At issue are "shelf space" arrangements between fund companies and brokerage firms, under which the funds pay brokers for slots on lists of recommended buys for customers. (AP / New York Times, June 9, 2005).
Ahold
2005
$1,100,000,000
"Royal Ahold which owns the Stop & Shop and Giant supermarket chains in the United States along with other retail operations worldwide, said Monday it has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by U.S. shareholders after its 2003 accounting scandal.
Peter Paul de Vries of the Dutch Shareholders' Association, which helped broker the deal, said the proposed settlement "was not of such a size that it will hurt Ahold" but it would help the company "leave a black chapter behind it."
Ahold's top lawyer Peter Wakkie said it is a coincidence that the amount of the settlement paralleled that of the scandal, in which Ahold overstated earnings by more than 1 billion euros in 1999-2002, mostly by inflating sales at its U.S. Foodservice subsidiary.
Ahold's former top management resigned in February 2003 after the company made the fraud known, and its shares lost two-thirds of their value overnight. The company eventually restated earnings for 2002 to a loss of 4.33 billion euros ($5.01 billion). It avoided bankruptcy by selling assets and by getting an emergency credit line from its banks.
The agreement requires approval from a court in the Baltimore district, where the case was filed, and from holders of at least 180 million shares out of around 800 million shares that qualify...
Ahold said the settlement represented the last "significant" civil cases it faces in the scandal. But Entwistle said he would push ahead with plans to sue Ahold's former accountants Deloitte & Touche for $2 billion to $3 billion for its actions...
Two former top managers at Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the United States, while the former chief financial officer and chief marketing officer have pleaded innocent.
Former Ahold CEO Cees Van der Hoeven, former CFO Michiel Meurs and two other top executives are expected to face criminal charges in the Netherlands in May 2006. All have said they are innocent of wrongdoing." (AP / USA Today, Nov 28, 2005)
AIG
(American International Group)
2003
$10,000,000
A.I.G. Settles Fraud Charges With S.E.C. By REUTERS, New York Times, Sept 11, 2003. "U.S. market regulators on Thursday said insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG.N) agreed to pay $10 million to settle fraud charges stemming from its role in accounting violations at cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc.The Securities and Exchange Commission said the fraud charges against AIG stemmed from its role in fashioning and selling what the agency referred to as an ``insurance'' product that helped Brightpoint overstate its earnings by 61 percent. In a statement, AIG said it consented to the SEC order to settle the matter but did not admit or deny the agency's findings. It said it acknowledges that mistakes were made in underwriting the policy in question and that it has taken steps to correct those mistakes. In a separate statement, Brightpoint said the complaint alleged that the company ``committed fraud through the purchase and use of a purported insurance policy to misrepresent Brightpoint's losses as insured losses.'' Brightpoint, based in Plainfield, Indiana, agreed to pay a $450,000 civil penalty.
Insurer Agrees to Pay Penalty in Fraud Case, By Joseph B. Treaster, New York Times, Sep 12, 2003.
AIG
2004
$126,000,000
"Insurance giant American International Group Inc., which is paying $126 million to settle federal authorities' allegations of aiding accounting fraud by other companies, has accepted an independent monitor but will avoid criminal prosecution. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department announced Tuesday that they had reached formal settlements with AIG, which disclosed last week it had agreed to make the payments. The insurer agreed to pay $46 million in an accord with the SEC to settle allegations of civil securities fraud over three 2001 transactions it made with PNC Financial Services Group Inc. that allegedly helped the regional bank artificially inflate its earnings. The money will go to shareholders injured by the alleged fraud. AIG also agreed to pay $80 million in an accord with the Justice Department that allows it to avoid prosecution and resolve an investigation into the PNC matter and one involving cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc. New York-based AIG neither admitted nor denied the allegations in agreeing to pay the $126 million, which is comprised of fines, restitution and interest... AIG is said to have improperly sold insurance contracts to the companies to help them smooth earnings volatility from quarter to quarter. The relatively new practice, which is legal in principle and common in the insurance industry, has recently come under scrutiny by regulators for how it is executed..." (AP / ABCNews.com, Nov 30, 2004).
AIG
including subsidiary Royal Alliance Associates
2005
Fourteen brokerage firms are paying fines totaling more than $34 million in deals with industry regulators over payments they received to push certain mutual funds...
The firms include six subsidiaries of the embattled insurance company American International Group...
The companies have agreed to pay the civil fines in settlements with NASD, the brokerage industry's self-policing organization. NASD accused the firms of receiving payments from mutual fund companies in exchange for preferential treatment for the funds, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The companies neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in agreeing to pay the fines, which ranged from $286,415 for Advest Inc. to $6.6 million for Royal Alliance Associates Inc., one of the A.I.G. subsidiaries.
Advest is a unit of the MONY Group.
At issue are "shelf space" arrangements between fund companies and brokerage firms, under which the funds pay brokers for slots on lists of recommended buys for customers. (AP / New York Times, June 9, 2005).
AIG
2006
$1,600,000,000
"[T]o settle allegations it engaged in securities fraud and bid-rigging and failed to make contributions to state workers' compensation funds...[i]ncludes $800 million the SEC will use to compensate investors deceived by alleged accounting violations that the company disavowed in a major restatement last year. Thirty-five states will share in $42 million in tax reimbursements on workers' compensation premiums... The settlement focuses primarily on a fall 2000 reinsurance deal that then-AIG Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg allegedly initiated with Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary General Re to beef up AIG's long-term loss reserves and help prevent a fall in its stock price. Last week, federal prosecutors indicted three former top General Re executives and AIG's former head of reinsurance..." (Washington Post, Feb 10, 2006).
Ajinomoto
199?
$10,000,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
Alabama Power Co
2006
$200,000,000
"The Alabama Power Company has agreed to pollution controls and other measures expected to cost more than $200 million to settle a case brought the federal government under the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday announced the partial settlement of a case alleging violations of the against the Alabama Power Company James H. Miller, Jr. Plant, a coal-fired power plant near West Jefferson, Alabama.
Under the consent decree filed in federal court, Alabama Power is required to reduce emissions from the Miller plant of two harmful pollutants - sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) - by 28,000 tons per year." (Environmental News Service, April 26, 2006.
Alliance Capital Management Holding LP
$250,000,000
Fines and restitution to settle charges over improper trading,
Allied Clinical Laboratories
199?
$5,000,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
Altria Group
see also Philip Morris
Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA)
199?
$3,750,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
AOL - America Online
2005
$1,250,000
"America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider, will pay $1.25 million in penalties and change some customer-service practices to settle an investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. About 300 consumers had filed complaints with Spitzer's office accusing AOL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner (TWX), of ignoring their requests to cancel service and stop billing. The company, with 21 million subscribers nationally, rewarded employees who were able to retain subscribers who called to cancel their Internet service. For years, AOL had minimum retention or "save" percentages that customer-service personnel were expected to meet, investigators said. An employee could earn tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses if he or she could dissuade half of callers from ending service..." (USA Today, Aug 24, 2005).
AOL - America Online
2006
$2,600,000,000
A judge has approved a $2.65 billion class-action settlement of claims that advertising revenue was counted in a fraudulent manner prior to the merger of America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc. U.S. District Judge Shirley Wohl Kram signed a ruling approving the deal Thursday. She had given the settlement tentative approval in September 2005. The settlement resulted from lawsuits brought by shareholders who complained that AOL improperly accounted for dozens of advertising transactions, inflating revenue for 15 quarters between 1998 and 2002. AOL and Time Warner announced they were merging in early 2000. AOL's steadily declining dial-up subscriber base became a drain on Time Warner, though the Internet provider has risen in stature with the recent boom in online advertising. According to the deal approved by Kram, Time Warner will pay the bulk of the settlement while its auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, will pay $100 million... [Kram] said the settlement had received overwhelming support by nearly all of the estimated 600,000 claimants. The lead plaintiff was the Minnesota State Board of Investment, which manages the investment of retirement fund assets of the Minnesota State Retirement System, Teachers Retirement Association and the Public Employees Retirement Association. The Minnesota board, with total assets exceeding $50 billion, lost an estimated $249 million and had the largest financial stake in the litigation. (AP / Mercury News, April 8, 2006).
American Airlines
2004
$3,300,000
"American Airlines Inc. and Boeing Corp. agreed to pay more than $3.3 million in fines for violating federal aviation regulations, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday. American paid $2.5 million to settle FAA allegations that the airline and two of its carriers - American Eagle and Reno Air - violated rules governing flight operations and maintenance. The company didn't admit that it had done anything wrong..." (Government Settles With American, Boeing. Guardian (UK), June 1, 2004).
American Airlines
2004
$3,000,000
"American Airlines has agreed to pay a $3 million penalty to settle charges that it violated a 1994 consent decree with U.S. antitrust authorities, the Justice Department said Friday. The settlement bars American from using travel dates when either initiating or matching fare increases. (Reuters, Aug 6, 2004).
American Electric Power
2007
$4,600,000,000
"Largest Environmental Settlement In U.S. History Will Reduce Smog And Acid Rain Across Northeast. The agreement with American Electric Power Co., based in Columbus, Ohio, struck just as the company was to defend itself in court, ends an eight-year battle over reducing smokestack pollution that drifted across Northeast and mid-Atlantic states... By agreeing to the settlement, American Electric Power will cut hundreds of thousands of tons of pollution from 16 coal burning plants in five states... Eight states downwind of those plants joined the suit, saying they bore the brunt of AEP's emissions, including almost 850,000 tons of sulfur dioxide a year, a major contributor to acid rain... AEP must also pay a $15 million civil fine and $60 million in cleanup and mitigation costs to help heal polluted land in the Shenandoah National Park and waterways including the Chesapeake Bay... Once AEP has fully installed the pollution control equipment required by the settlement, the U.S. estimates that the annual benefits to public health will include approximately $32 billion per year saved in avoided health-related costs associated with respiratory and cardiopulmonary illnesses, including asthma and heart attacks, according to a statement released by the Department of Justice. One study blames power plant pollution for than half a million asthma attacks, 38,000 heart attacks, and 60,000 premature deaths every year.... In all, the costs and civil fines will far exceed any company payout in an environmental case, the attorneys said. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, by contrast, yielded $1 billion in restoration and restitution costs, although Exxon Mobil Corp. estimates it has so far spent $3.5 billion and faces an additional $2.5 billion in criminal penalties... The case against AEP began in 1999 when eight states and 13 environmental groups joined the Environmental Protection Agency's crackdown on energy companies accused of rebuilding coal-fired power plants without installing pollution controls as required. In states like New York, officials complained that acid raid linked to sulfates and nitrates from coal-fired plants were eating away at landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty... AEP has more than 5 million customers in 11 states... As part of the settlement, AEP will clean up 46 coal-fired operations in 16 of the plants in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Morris also noted the risk of AEP paying a far greater fine if the company had fought the case in court and lost. AEP said it has paid nearly $2.6 billion since 2004 on equipment to cut emission in coal-fired plants in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia and will be spending an additional $1.6 billion for environmental controls in two more plants. Both costs are part of the company's $5.1 billion plan reduce the emissions of its eastern region by 2010. The states involved in the lawsuit were: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont... In all, the government brought eight lawsuits against polluters accused of violating the Clean Air Act. Four are still ongoing, and AEP was considered the largest polluter of the bunch, government attorneys said. Tuesday's settlement will reduce pollution by 1.6 billion pounds each year through 2018." (CBS/AP, Oct 9, 2007)
American Express Financial Advisors
2004
$3,700,000
"Fifteen brokerage firms accused of overcharging large-scale investors in mutual funds have reached settlements with regulators that will require them to pay civil penalties totaling some $21.5 million, the regulators announced Thursday. The settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers also will require the brokerages to make refunds to customers. The fines levied on the firms are equivalent to the estimated amount they overcharged customers over a two-year period, the regulators said. The firms include American Express Financial Advisors, which agreed to pay a $3.7 million fine; Raymond James Financial Services, which is paying $2.6 million; and Wachovia Securities, $4.8 million. The SEC and the NASD, the brokerage industry's self-policing group, have found that brokerage firms - apparently inadvertently - often fail to give large-scale investors in mutual funds the discounts they are owed." (15 brokerages settle fund discounts case: Firms accused of overcharging agree to pay $21.5 million. Associated Press, MSNBC News, Feb 12, 2004).
American Express Financial Advisors
2005
some portion of $21,250,000
"... NASD, the brokerage industry's self-policing organization, disclosed that Citigroup, American Express Financial Advisers and J. P. Morgan Chase & Company had agreed to pay a total of $21.25 million for reported violations in sales of mutual funds." (AP / New York Times, March 24, 2005).
American Express Financial Advisors
2005
$7,400,000
"New Hampshire regulators and American Express Financial Advisors Inc. have reached a record $7.4 million settlement over allegations that the company illegally rewarded its financial advisers who steered clients toward underperforming, in-house mutual funds. The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation had sought $17.5 million in penalties from the Minneapolis-based subsidiary of American Express Co. The bureau had alleged that in one sales contest, American Express Financial Advisors offered advisers who sold the most company funds a free one-year lease on a Mercedes Benz. State Securities Director Mark Connolly said in a statement Tuesday the settlement was the largest securities enforcement action in state history, surpassing the $5 million settlement reached with Tyco International in 2002... American Express has announced plans to spin off its financial advisory, probably later this year... In addition to $5 million in fines and penalties, the settlement requires American Express Financial Advisors to pay New Hampshire investors $2 million and to reimburse the bureau $375,000 for costs of the investigation." (ABC News, July 12, 2005).
AOL
see America Online
Aqua Leisure
1996
$6,000,000
Aqua Leisure & Simon Fireman [6mo house arrest] - US Dept of Justice civil and/or criminal actions relating to illegal corporate domestic money-in-politics activity (use of corporate funds and money laundering). http://www.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_vce.exe
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
199?
$100,000,000
ADM paid a $100 million fine and three of its executives --- Mark Whitacre, Mick Andreas and Terrance Wilson --- were sent to prison for fixing the price of lysine, a feed additive for livestock and poultry. http://www.ea1.com/CARP/
Archer Daniels Midland
Cerestar Bioproducts
Hoffmann-La Roche
Jungbunzlauer
Haarmann & Reimer
2001
$120,500,000 total
"The European Commission fined Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM), Jungbunzlauer AG, Haarmann & Reimer Corp and Cerestar Bioproducts B.V. a total of $120.5 million for participating in a price-fixing and market-sharing cartel in citric acid." (Corporate Crime Reporter, Dec 5, 2001).
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
2004
$400,000,000
to settle price-fixing suit (June 21, 2004).
Argenbright
(subsidiary of Securicor)
2000
$1,550,000
"Argenbright, a leader in the privatized airport security business in the United States. Argenbright controls roughly 40 percent of the market. Its employees screen passengers and carry-on bags for the airlines, which have been delegated these responsibilities by the federal government. ... [Argenbright] pled guilty to two counts of making false statements to federal regulators and paid $1.55 million in fines in connection with charges that it failed on a massive scale to do background checks on security screeners employed at Philadelphia International Airport, failed to provide them with required training, and then lied to federal authorities about it." (Multinational Monitor Dec 2001).
Arizona Chemical Co.
199?
$2,500,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
Arthur Anderson
2001
$7,000,000
Penalty for helping Waste Management overstate its income in order to boost WM's value. WMX overstates pretax income by more than $1 billion for 1992 through 1996. Arthur Anderson did not admit or deny guilt in the settlement with the SEC and was never charged with violating auditor independence rules. (StopWMX website)
Arthur Andersen
2005
$65,000,000
"Arthur Andersen continued to deny wrongdoing Monday as it settled with WorldCom investors who had accused the company's former outside auditor of failing to protect them from WorldCom's historic $11 billion accounting fraud.
Details of the settlement were not immediately released. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote scheduled a preliminary approval hearing on the settlement for Tuesday and banned each side from discussing its details publicly. The deal interrupted a trial in its fifth week on the accusations contained in a class action lawsuit brought after WorldCom's 2002 collapse, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Before the trial, major investment banks agreed to pay more than $6 billion in settlements and a dozen former board members settled the case for $24.75 million, leaving Arthur Andersen as the sole defendant...
The plaintiffs maintained that WorldCom's annual financial statements for 1999, 2000 and 2001 contained false statements and that Arthur Andersen issued its audit opinions with an "intent to deceive, manipulate or defraud."
Arthur Andersen insisted through its lawyers that each of its audit opinions from 1999 through 2001 was generated in good faith and with no intent to deceive, manipulate or defraud.
To find against Arthur Andersen, the jury would have had to conclude that Arthur Andersen's conduct was "highly unreasonable" and that WorldCom's fraud was known to the auditor or was so obvious that Arthur Andersen must have been aware of it.
Last month, former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and false regulatory filings in the accounting scandal. He could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Five other former WorldCom executives have pleaded guilty in the fraud and are awaiting sentencing.
WorldCom, which collapsed when the accounting fraud to inflate earnings and hide expenses was revealed, has re-emerged as MCI Inc..." (Chicago Tribune, April 25, 2005).
"A federal judge gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a deal under which auditor Arthur Andersen LLP will pay $65 million to settle allegations it failed to protect investors from WorldCom's historic accounting fraud." (AP / USAToday.com, April 26, 2005).
AstraZeneca
2003
$355,000,000
AstraZeneca pleaded guilty [in June 2003] to a federal felony charge of health care fraud and agreed to pay $355 million to settle charges that it had encouraged doctors to defraud the federal government by billing it for drugs that AstraZeneca gave to doctors free. (Abbott to Pay $622 Million to Settle Inquiry Into Marketing, By Gardiner Harris, New York Times, June 27, 2003).
Banc One
2001
$1,800,000
"Banc One Capital Markets Inc., a bond dealer, agreed today to pay a $1.8 million fine to settle charges of poorly managing its accounting system. According to the consent agreement, in which Banc One neither admits nor denies the charges, the accounting irregularities caused a shortfall in the amount of capital the firm is required to have on hand to do business. The shortfall ranged at times from $520 million to $1.27 billion. The accounting problem also led Banc One to incorrectly compute the amount it was required to hold in a special reserve bank account that is designed to protect customers funds, by segregating them from those of the firm. The deficiencies in that account ranged from $380 million to $1.05 billion, according to a letter detailing the agreement. Although extremely technical in nature, the net capital requirement rule has been found by courts to be "one of the most important weapons in the [Securities and Exchange Commission's] arsenal to protect investors," the consent letter said." (Washington Post, April 6, 2001; p. E02).
Bank of America
2004
$675,000,000
"Bank of America Corp. and FleetBoston Financial Corp. reached a record $675 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over illegal mutual fund trading. Bank of America will make $250 million in restitution and $125 million in penalties, while Fleet will make $70 million in restitution and $70 million in penalties, Spitzer's office said in a statement. Bank of America and Fleet also agree to cut fees by $160 million over five years. The penalty is the largest since Spitzer announced an investigation of the $7.5 trillion fund industry in September. Bank of America is buying FleetBoston for about $48 billion. ``Getting this out of the way will help them focus on merging the two companies together,'' said Robert Maneri, who helps manage about $50 billion, including Bank of America and FleetBoston shares, at Victory Capital Management in Cleveland. Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, 56, fired at least five executives and set aside $100 million for fines since Spitzer accused the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company of trading abuses in September. Spitzer and the SEC have filed civil complaints against eight firms in the biggest fund-trading probe ever. Eight members of Bank of America's Nations Funds board of directors ``will resign or otherwise leave the board in the course of the next year'' for approving a measure that allowed a hedge fund to conduct ``company sanctioned'' market timing in its funds, according to the agreement." (Bank of America, Fleet in Record $675 Mln Fund Pact., Bloomberg, March 15, 2004).
Bank of America
2004
$10,000,000
"Bank of America Corp., the No. 3 U.S. bank, was fined a record $10 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission because it lied to the regulator during a probe into trading by the bank and a former employee. ``We cannot tolerate regulated entities not complying with their obligations under the law'' to cooperate with investigations, said Antonia Chion, the SEC enforcement official overseeing the case. The fine imposed on the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank is the largest ever levied by the SEC for failing to produce documents during an investigation, SEC spokesman John Nester said in an interview. Calls to CEO Kenneth Lewis and Chief Financial Officer James Hance weren't returned. The SEC's claims may undermine steps by Lewis to restore the bank's integrity after it was ensnarled in the collapse of Parmalat Finanziaria SpA and accused of improper mutual fund trading. ``The allegations you've seen don't represent the way Bank of America does business,'' Lewis said in September of the mutual fund investigation. ``This headline risk is a distraction and it takes management's time,'' said Hilary Hayes, who helps manage $4 billion, including 600,000 Bank of America shares, at Victory SBSF Capital Management in New York. `Hide and Seek' The fine stems from the SEC's probe into allegations that a senior Banc of America Securities LLC executive traded on unreleased research reports by the firm's own analysts. The bank failed to provide documents it requested and lied about their availability, the SEC said. Banc of America Securities wasn't part of the $1.4 billion global stock research settlement last year between Wall Street firms and regulators. ``Playing hide and seek with the government I don't think is ever a good strategy,'' said James Cox, a corporate and securities law professor at Duke University. ``Bank of America's approach in defending itself in this case was probably not a wise one and that is certainly being borne out.'' Bank of America, which expects to complete its $48 billion purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. next month, neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, and neither the bank nor the SEC named the employee whose records were at issue. Bank spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in a prepared statement that the company ``believes the problems addressed by the SEC are isolated'' and that it has taken measures to prevent their recurrence. In December, the National Association of Securities Dealers fined former Banc of America analyst Andrew Hamerling $125,000 for publishing biased research on telecommunications companies such as SBC Communications Inc. and giving advance notice of his recommendations to favored clients. Hamerling settled the case without admitting or denying the allegations. Both the NASD and the SEC say their investigations are continuing. (Bank of America Fined Record $10 Mln in Trading Case. Bloomberg, Mar 10, 2004).
Bank of America
2005
$375,000,000
"Three Bank of America Corp. brokerage units agreed to pay $375 million to settle market timing charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday. The SEC charged that Banc of America Capital Management LLC, BACAP Distributors LLC, and Banc of America Securities LLC entered into "improper and undisclosed agreements" that let favored large investors engage in rapid short-term, market timing and late trading in Nations Funds mutual funds. Separately, Bank of America's Fleet mutual fund unit agreed to pay $140 million to settle market timing charges, while five former executives were individually charged with market timing violations, the SEC said." (Reuters/New York Times, Feb 9, 2005).
Bank of America
2005
$460,500,000
"Bank of America has agreed to pay $460.5 million to settle with investors who bought Worldcom's stock and bonds before the telecommunications giant filed for bankruptcy in 2002. The settlement was struck between Bank of America and Alan G. Hevesi, the comptroller of New York state and trustee of the states' Common Retirement Fund. Mr. Hevesi is the lead plaintiff in the case and represents investors who lost billions when Worldcom collapsed. The bank said in a statement that it was in the best interests of its shareholders to put the litigation behind it. In settling, the bank denied that it had violated any law. Lawyers for the New York fund have argued that the banks that sold Worldcom securities to investors did not conduct appropriately thorough investigation into the company's financial condition before the securities sales. For example, Worldcom sold $12 billion in bonds in May 2001; just over a year later the company made the largest bankruptcy filing in history. The banks have said that they relied on financial statements vetted by Worldcom's auditor and were duped by an accounting fraud at the company that many experts missed. Bank of America is the second Worldcom bank to settle with the New York fund. Citigroup, Worldcom's lead banker, paid $2.65 billion to settle with the fund last May. Bank of America's settlement uses the same formula computed by Citigroup in its deal, even though Bank of America's securities unit was just one of many banks that helped to sell Worldcom's bonds to the public. The bank's desire to settle under the same terms agreed to by Worldcom's biggest supporter on Wall Street seems to indicate an eagerness by Bank of America to avoid a jury trial in the case..." (New York Times, March 3, 3005).
Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)
1991
$200,000,000
For violating American banking laws, "part of a global investigation of fraud and money laundering." (Lockboxes, Iraqi Loot and a Trail to the Fed, By Timothy L. O'Brien, New York Times, June 6, 2004).
Banc One
2004
$50,000,000
$40,000,000
"Bank One agreed Tuesday to pay $90 million to resolve allegations over trading abuses in its mutual-fund unit, becoming the last of four firms originally implicated in the fund industry scandal to settle with state and federal regulators. The Chicago-based financial services giant said it would pay $50 million in investor restitution and fines to reconcile a case the Securities and Exchange Commission had brought. In addition, Mark Beeson, former CEO of One Group mutual funds, will pay $100,000 in civil penalties and is barred from the mutual fund industry for two years. He is also prohibited from serving as an officer and director of a mutual fund or investment advisor for three years, the SEC said. In a separate settlement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office, Bank One agreed to reduce management fees over five years in a deal valued at $40 million. Bank One was one of the firms implicated last September in Spitzer's $40 million settlement with hedge fund Canary Capital Partners. According to the SEC, Bank One Investment Advisors Corp. allowed Ed Stern, head of Canary Capital, to engage in short-term trading of One Group funds..." (Bank One settles mutual fund probe, Agrees to $90 million in penalties over trading abuses, By Luisa Beltran, CBS.MarketWatch.com, June 29, 2004).
"In a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Attorney General's Office, Bank One Investment Advisors, BOIA, the unit of Bank One that oversees One Group funds, agreed to pay a $40 million penalty and $10 million disgorgement in an administrative proceeding related to trading of One Group funds. In a separate settlement with the New York AG, Bank One Investment Advisors agreed to reduce management fees by at least $8 million per year over the next five years. BOIA neither admitted nor denied the findings in the SEC's report. Mark Beeson, the president and CEO of BOIA until October 2003, agreed to a $100,000 penalty and a three-year ban from the securities industry. One Group was one of four fund groups implicated in the ongoing mutual fund trading scandal revealed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in September 2003. Prior to its merger with J.P. Morgan Chase on July 1, Bank One was the last of the four to settle." (Forbes Wall Street Fine Tracker).
Banker's Trust
199?
$60,000,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
BASF Aktiengesellschaft
199?
$225,000,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
Bayer
2003
$250,000,000
"Pharmaceutical companies Bayer AG and GlaxoSmithKline have each agreed to pay Medicaid abuse settlements to resolve allegations they overcharged the government insurance program for the poor. Bayer will pay the government about $250 million and Glaxo will pay about $90 million for failing to give the Medicaid program the lowest price charged to any consumer, according to the agreement negotiated with the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston and Medicaid fraud investigators around the country... he Globe reported that Bayer is pleading guilty to violating the Federal Prescription Drug Marketing Act and paying a criminal fine of about $5 million for alleged overcharges involving its antibiotic Cipro and its high blood pressure drug Adalat, citing unnamed federal investigators and others familiar with the case. Glaxo, which was not accused of criminal wrongdoing, is paying a civil fine for overcharges involving its anti-depressant Paxil and nasal allergy spray Flonase. The investigation focused on allegations that the companies hid their lowest prices from Medicaid by repackaging or relabeling their drugs under a middleman's name. The middleman then sold the drug at a deep discount not reported to the government. By law, the companies are required to report all their prices and then pay Medicaid a rebate if they charge anyone less than the government... All 50 states will share the settlement money. A whistleblower who alerted federal officials will also receive a share." (AP, Drug Makers Settle Medicaid Overcharges, April 18, 2003.
"Some 20 lawsuits filed against two dozen pharmaceutical companies by citizens and states across the country have been consolidated into one case before a federal judge in Boston. The suit alleges that the companies inflated the prices the government paid for prescriptions for the elderly and disabled through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The Boston investigation of Cipro unfolded at the same time that Bayer was selling 100 million Cipro tablets to the government to use in the wake of the anthrax bioterror scare in fall 2001. Prescriptions for the drug soared after the government said it was the best treatment for anthrax. Under a government threat to break Bayer's patent on the drug because of the national emergency, Bayer agreed to provide it at nearly half the usual government price." (Big Fines Seen in US Probe of 2 Drugmakers, By Alice Dembner, Boston Globe, April 16, 2003).
Bayer
2004
$66,000,000
"Germany's Bayer AG agreed to plead guilty and pay a $66 million fine as part of an ongoing U.S. investigation into price fixing of rubber chemicals, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. Bayer will plead guilty to one felony count under charges that it conspired to suppress competition for products sold between 1995 and 2001 and agreed to help the government in its ongoing probe, the department said. "The company charged today will provide valuable assistance in our continued investigation in the rubber chemicals industry," James Griffin, deputy assistant attorney general, said in a statement. The plea comes about four months after U.S. specialty chemicals maker Crompton Corp. agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing in the same market. The U.S. market for rubber chemicals is worth about $1 billion a year. The additives are used to improve the elasticity, strength and durability of rubber products, such as tires, outdoor furniture, hoses, belts, and footwear, the Justice Department said. Bayer took part in meetings and conversations in which companies agreed to raise and maintain prices of some rubber chemicals, and it exchanged information on the sale of rubber chemicals in the United States and elsewhere, the department said." (Bayer pays $66 million in price-fix case, Reuters, CNNMoney.com, July 14, 2004).
Price-Fixing Investigations Sweep Chemical Industry: "A two-year-old price-fixing probe that began in an obscure corner of the chemical industry has snowballed into a series of international investigations involving industry giants such as Dow Chemical Co, DuPont Co. and Bayer AG, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The widening web of cases arose from aggressive use by prosecutors of amnesty grants for whistle-blowers, which has rivals competing to be first to report wrongdoing and avoid criminal penalties. U.S. and European investigators currently are looking into alleged conspiracies to fix prices in a half-dozen chemicals used in plastics, rubber and synthetic materials in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. The commodities are used in industries from automobiles to furniture and flooring. At least four grand-jury investigations stemming from the investigations currently are under way in San Francisco. Among the latest markets under scrutiny are a widely used plastic, urethane, and a synthetic rubber known as neoprene, lawyers close to the case said. In pursuing the alleged conspiracies, U.S. and European prosecutors are showing that granting amnesty from criminal charges to the first company to blow the whistle on a conspiracy can be a potent weapon against cartels. Companies granted amnesty can escape huge fines and sometimes avoid jail time for executives.So far, the inquiry has resulted in one guilty plea and a $50 million fine for UniRoyal and its parent, Crompton Corp. of Middlebury, Conn., in the case that initially spurred the investigations. In a plea agreement announced in April, Crompton acknowledged conspiring with others to artificially boost prices of chemicals used to make rubber, a $1 billion annual market, between 1995 and 2001. It had been fingered for illegal conduct by a rival that had gone to the Justice Department." (Dow Jones Newswires, June 22, 2004).
Bayer
2004
$33,000,000
"Bayer AG's U.S. unit agreed to plead guilty and pay a $33 million fine for conspiring to fix prices of a chemical used to make plastic grocery bags, shoe soles and other consumer products.
The guilty plea by Bayer Corp. would be the first in a U.S. government investigation into price fixing for the chemical additive used in a variety of products, the Justice Department said in Washington. In July, Bayer AG, based in Germany, agreed to pay a $66 million fine to settle a U.S. charge it conspired to fix the price of chemicals used to make rubber products.
The latest scheme took place between 1998 and 2002 with another producer of aliphatic polyester polyols made from adipic acid, court papers said. The government didn't identify the other producer of the chemicals, which keep plastic bags from sticking and also are used to make automotive coatings, filters, belts, seals, gaskets, textiles, adhesives and sound-proofing material." (Bloomberg, Sept 30, 2004).
Bayer
Abbott Laboratories Johnson & Johnson
Menarini Diagnosticos
Pharmaceutica Quimica
2005
16 million Euros total
"Portugal's antitrust regulator said it had fined five major US and European drug companies a total of 16 mln eur for working together to artificially fix prices.
The five firms -- Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson of the United States, Germany's Bayer AG, Italy's Menarini Diagnosticos and Switzerland's Pharmaceutica Quimica -- formed a cartel during 36 bidding processes to supply 22 hospitals in Portugal, it said. The goal of the companies was to 'prevent, restrict or falsify in a significant way competition by fixing prices', the competition authority said in a statement.
Abbott Laboratories was hit with the largest fine, 6.8 mln eur, for 34 infractions while Johnson & Johnson, which cooperated with antitrust regulator in its investigation, received the smallest fine, it added. The firm will have to pay 360,000 eur for 36 infractions. The antitrust regulator opened its investigation after a public hospital in Coimbra, Portugal's third-largest city, complained that the five firms had all proposed the same price for the same drug." (AFX News Limited, Oct 14, 2005).
Bayer
2006
$55,300,000
$18,000,000
Bayer AG has agreed to pay $18 million (€14.3 million) to settle claims it conspired with other manufacturers to inflate the price of certain plastics, the second multi-million-dollar settlement the company has made this year regarding its polymer operation. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum in Kansas City, Kansas, approved the settlement, which covers the company's sales of polyester polyol-based products between Jan. 1, 1998 and Dec. 31, 2004.
The agreement also requires Bayer, headquartered in Germany, to cooperate with plaintiff attorneys as they continue their class-action lawsuit against former co-defendants Uniroyal Chemical Co. and Chemtura Corp., formerly known as Crompton Corp. Lungstrum also agreed to dismiss defendants Rhein Chemie Corp. and Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH, subsidiaries of Lanxess Corp., which was spun off from Bayer last year.
In August, Lungstrum approved a $55.3 million (€44 million) settlement by Bayer in a separate case involving the sale of polyether polyol. Bayer also agreed to help attorneys against former co-defendants BASF Corp., BASF AG, The Dow Chemical Co., Huntsman International Holdings LLC and Lyondell Chemical Co.
A Bayer spokesman provided a company statement Wednesday confirming the two settlements but declined to comment further. An attorney for the polyester plaintiffs didn't immediately return a phone call for comment.
Bayer disclosed in March that it had been subpoenaed by the Justice Department seeking information about its manufacture and sale of polyurethane products called MDI and TDI, along with other products.
Court documents say Bayer, Dow, BASF, Huntsman and Lyondell control the entire MDI and TDI markets and 75 percent of production of polyether polyol, a polyurethane material that is mixed with other substances to make foams used in furniture, automobile seats and other products.
Federal authorities two years ago consolidated 16 cases filed across the country against polymer manufacturers by customers who alleged the companies had gotten together to fix the price of urethane and urethane chemicals. (AP, Oct 18, 2006).
Bear Stearns
2002
$50,000,000
FOR MORE INFO SEE ENTRY: Citigroup - 2002 - $300,000,000
Bear Stearns
2003
$80,000,000
$1.4 Billion Wall Street Settlement Unveiled. "As part of the settlement, two former research analysts -- telecommunications expert Jack Grubman of Citigroup's Salomon Smith Barney and Internet expert Henry Blodget of Merrill Lynch & Co. -- agreed to pay $15 million and $4 million, respectively, and be permanently barred from the securities industry. The $1.4 billion settlement amount is among the highest ever imposed by securities regulators, and Citigroup's $400 million share of that settlement is the highest ever imposed on an individual firm. It follows a nearly two-year investigation started by Spitzer and later joined by the SEC and other state attorneys general.... Adding to Citigroup's $400 million, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston will each contribute $200 million toward the global settlement. The other firms -- Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Lehman Brothers Inc.; J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.; Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.; UBS Warburg LLC; and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. -- will pay between $125 million and $32.5 million. About $387 million will go toward a fund to benefit customers of the firms. Another $387 million will be paid to the states. In addition, the firms will pay some $433 million to fund independent research and $80 million to promote investor education. ($1.4 Billion Wall Street Settlement Unveiled, by Tamara Loomis, New York Law Journal, April 29, 2003). See also SEC Releases Brokerage Settlement Details. Associated Press, April 28, 2003.
"Six months after securities regulators and 10 of Wall Street's biggest banks signed a landmark $1.4 billion conflict-of-interest settlement, a federal judge approved the deal Friday, clearing the way for harmed investors to recoup $399 million... The SEC, industry self-regulatory groups and 25 other states eventually joined the investigation. Firms agreeing to settle included Merrill, Citigoup Inc., Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bear Sterns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers, Piper Jaffray and UBS Warburg. Spitzer has gone on to lead regulatory probes into alleged trading abuses by mutual fund firms. In both the research and mutual fund cases, Spitzer seized on behavior long recognized by Wall Street but largely ignored by regulators. As part of the "global settlement," the firms were ordered to pay $894 million in penalties and disgorgement as well as $432.5 million to fund the purchase and distribution of independent research and $80 million to fund investor education programs." ($1.4 Billion Wall Street Settlement Approved: Federal Judge Accepts Conflict-of-Interest Deal. By Ben White, Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2003, p. E1).
The $1.4 billion settlement is divided so:
Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney: $400,000,000
Credit Suisse First Boston: $200,000,000
Merrill Lynch: $200,000,000
Morgan Stanley: $125,000,000
Goldman Sachs Group: $110,000,000
Lehman Brothers Holdings: $80,000,000
J.P. Morgan Chase: $80,000,000
Bear Stearns: $80,000,000
UBS Warburg: $80,000,000
U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray: $32.500,000
Bear Wagner Specialists
2004
"Five New York Stock Exchange trading firms have agreed to pay $242 million to settle charges of violating federal securities laws and exchange rules, the NYSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday. The SEC, after a joint investigation with the Big Board, said the five firms -- Bear Wagner Specialists, Fleet Specialist Inc., LaBranche & Co., Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Specialists and Van der Moolen Specialists USA -- violated securities laws and exchange rules by executing orders for their accounts ahead of orders for the public between 1999 and 2003. The firms -- known as market "specialists" for their roles bringing together buyers and sellers at the exchange -- violated their basic obligation to match orders from the public with other similar orders, and not to fill the orders via trades from their own accounts, the SEC and NYSE said. The firms agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the allegations, the SEC said, adding that the investigation will continue, possibly targeting individuals... Under the agreement, $87.7 million of the settlement may be distributed to customers hurt by the firms' actions, according the SEC. The rest of the fines will go to the SEC and NYSE..." (NYSE firms pay $242M in trading case. The SEC says five trading firms agree to settle allegations of improper trading activities. CNN/Money, March 30, 2004).
Beaulieu of America Inc
1998
$1,000,000
Dept of Justice civil and/or criminal actions relating to illegal corporate domestic money-in-politics activity. (PoliticalMoneyLine website)
Beverly Enterprises
2000
$175,000,000
"Beverly Enterprises, the nation's largest nursing home chain, will pay $175 million to resolve civil and criminal charges that it defrauded Medicare. Beverly agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud and false statement charges filed in federal court in San Francisco. In addition to the $175 million in payments, the company agreed to divest itself of 10 nursing homes. The $175 million represents the largest settlement ever in a nursing home case... Federal officials alleged that the Ft. Smith, Arkansas based company in 1992 began to charge Medicare improperly for the salaries of nurses caring for non-Medicare patients at 10 homes owned by Beverly-Enterprises-California and other Beverly facilities. Instead of recording the true time spent on Medicare patients, Beverly-California fabricated nursing cost figures based on set formulas designed to maximize profits while avoiding detection by Medicare auditors. The phony cost figures were backed by false documents, such as phony nurse sign-in sheets, that appeared to support Beverly's claims for payment. "By its conduct, Beverly victimized not only the Medicare program, but American taxpayers whose dollars fund government health care programs," says U.S. Attorney Robert Mueller III... While the company acknowledges that "errors were made by individual employees" in the submission of 10 cost reports to Medicare, it says that the 10 cost reports represent .8 percent of the 1,370 Medicare cost reports filed by Beverly subsidiaries in 1996 and 1997 and .2 percent of the 4,680 cost reports filed by Beverly subsidiaries for the period investigated by the government." (Multinational Monitor, March 2000)
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois
199?
$4,000,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
Blue Shield of California
199?
$1,500,000
http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm1999/ … rime1.html
Boeing
1998
$10,000,000
In 1998, Boeing was fined $10 million because it shared sensitive technologies without an export license with its Russian, Ukrainian, Norwegian and German partners in the Sea Launch space rocket joint venture. (Seattle Times, April 8, 2006).
Boeing
2001
$4,300,000
In 2001, Boeing was fined $4.3 million for technology transfer without an export license to Australia, Malaysia, Turkey and Singapore on its Wedgetail 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft program. (Seattle Times, April 8, 2006).
Boeing
2001, 2000, 1999
$100,000,000 plus
More than $100 million government-related fines and settlements levied against Boeing in the past three years by the U.S. Departments of Justice, State, Defense and the Federal Trade and Securities Exchange commissions, for bribery, kickbacks, fraud, and military contract and export law violations. (SeattleWeekly)
Boeing
2003
$32,000,000
In 2003, Loral and Hughes Space and Communication were fined $32 million for illegal export of satellite technology to China. By then that Hughes division had been acquired by Boeing, though the violations happened before the acquisition. (Seattle Times, April 8, 2006).
Boeing
2004
up to $72,500,000
"Boeing has agreed to pay from $40.6 million to $72.5 million to settle a gender-discrimination lawsuit covering as many as 29,000 current and former female employees. U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman approved the settlement this morning, ending more than four years of litigation. The lawsuit, which excluded executives and engineers, covers women who worked for Boeing's Puget Sound facilities after Feb. 25, 1997... [P]laintiffs... will receive at least $500 and possibly more depending on their salaries and length of employment. The class-action suit, filed in 2000, claimed that women employees at nearly all levels were denied equal pay and other job opportunities. Boeing has denied wrongdoing, but also has agreed to change its salary and performance review practices. .. " (Boeing to pay female workers up to $72.5 million in settlement, By Shirleen Holt, Seattle Times, July 16, 2004).
Boeing
2006
$15,000,000
[L]argest fine ever levied on a company for violation of the Arms Export Control Act, settling a dispute with the State Department over the unlicensed foreign sales of commercial airplanes carrying a small gyrochip with military applications. In addition to a $15 million fine, a consent decree signed March 28 imposes oversight requirements on Boeing because three previous settlements of similar alleged violations didn't result in full compliance with export controls...
The maximum fine was $43 million...
According to the State Department charges, between 2000 and 2003 Boeing shipped overseas 94 commercial jets with the QRS-11 gyrochip embedded in the flight boxes, including 19 to China. Export of listed defense items to China is specifically proscribed. The State Department had determined in 1993 that the chip, used in the guidance system of the Maverick missile, "has significant military utility." That put the devices on a list of products that require a license for foreign sales.
Boeing continued the exports even after the State Department told the company to stop. Boeing ignored those orders after its lawyers advised that the State Department "did not have jurisdiction" to regulate the exports. The dispute between Boeing and the State Department reached a head in the fall of 2003, when two 737 jets were released to China only after President Bush signed a last-minute waiver after a request from then-Chief Executive Phil Condit.
That produced a political settlement the followingTorment!!! Edit, summarize!! But especially be relevant. The fees assessed to recapture processing cost for various services are operational expenses. The attack on banks all the way down to the operational level is an excellent example of the control freaks in Congress seeking out new arenas to exercise power and placate, cajole and pander to ignorant and petty constituents. Just another example of how the cupidity of massive government knows no limits.
I did edit. I posted only the A-K listings. Steal a loaf of bread and go to prison. Steal a few billion and get off with a fine paid by your stockholders. Bank of America and the other NY banksters have paid many billions in fines for their fraudulent actions, but nary a one, except for Bernie Madoff has gone to jail, so far as I recall. Several CEOS have gone to jail for stealing from the stockholders and cooking the books. The "control freaks" are doing too little, not too much. They are only trying to make sure that the banks that are too big to fail don't fail and that the market system delivers honestly and fairly on it's promise of efficiently serving the public interest.
Did you see the " Transfer Your Money " yesterday? The Credit Unions gained
power from that move. Maybe if it keeps up negotiating talks about droping the
greed tactics might start? or maybe the transfers will cause a hemorage to
close them. Its time to justify behavior. The way the financial industry
has been operating, they qualify for actions under the " Rico Act ".
There is a young soldier speaking on the promo for 60 minutes tonight. My
heart aches for him. The question that was asked was, " Why did you come back
here" evidently he went back to Iraq. He's haunted by what he did in the name
of self preservation. The look in his eyes, like he lost his soul, he's trying
to find it. Through no fault of his, he was placed in a situation of kill or
be killed. He keeps seeing the face, he keeps feeling the pain, he's lost
right now, he needs the protective arms of America to give him care & make
him whole again. We owe him that. What shall we do to make that happen my
Americans. We the people owe him.
ACG
Wow someone has been shot and killed at the Occupy Oakland site. The shining message of Unity and Solidarity is disseminating into uncoordinated chaos, with no specific lead representative to speak on the initial message. Its ironic that the Oakland/Berkeley area has always been in the forefront of most political issues. I remember the infiltration of FBI agents that use to infiltrate the public political gatherings at Defermary Park, in west Oakland, you could just tell they were agents, trying to fit in. I have a friend who is a documentary efficienodo and at the time he did not know he was documenting Oakland history, its an enlightening thing to watch. I bring that up to address the anarchist that have made strategic moves with in the crowds in order to make the movement fail. They don't even live in Oakland , thats why they have no problem starting fires, tagging buildings,and just doing unruly things in order to initiate chaos. The true occupiers need to form their own security. selective individuals to patrol the area,
any activity that is unlawful should be removed, and order be reinstated to make sure that the Solidarity and Unity of movement goes not in vain. Its not over yet, there is still time to achieve the goal. " We The People are still standing up for our God given right to survive in dignity, and not be unjustly harassed for complying with our Constitutional Rights as Americans.
ACGThere was a ( Stategic ) move made yesterday in the Occupy Oakland event. The definition of ( Lodging ) was used to clear the Plaza, and the appearence of compromise, too respect the rights of the people. And all done without violence.
You are free to protest, but you can't live here. That was a fair decision.
I guess Jean Quan feels like she is walking a tightrope trying to find balance.
Im still trying to get my Jobs Creation proposal through the maze of Governmental systems. Be it County, City Or State. I just have to find what dept. the criterion of my proposal fits in. On 11-11-11, the evening news reported on the proposed 13 cent gasoline tax. At this time when "Lack of Money
is the central issue of the Occupy movement. Why add a (Tax) when you could add
a (job)? Im workong on Lt. Gavin Newsom & Mayor Kevin Johnson. Gavins looking to be the next govenor, and Kevin is looking to make Sacramento a greater city.
I gave up on Jerry Brown. It's funny when they are campaigning, you can't keep'm out your face,or grabbing your hand to shake it. Soon as they get into office, they become un-accessible. Anyway this proposal would really benifit the individual that was truly concerned for his constituents. This proposal could avoid the need of a 13 cent tax, bring down the numbers on the unemployment rolls,increase the circulation of monies,and make repairs to our house which is the State of California. To whom ever reads this what do you think?
ACG
Are you seriously going to shove the race card out there again?
I don't care if it's a one-eyed one -horned flying purple people eater....if he's wrong he's wrong. He could be paisley for all I care.
My geuss would be is: they don't care. They are better, smarter, more deserving.
They need people to buy their stuff and fight their wars,and clean their potties, but really.....can we plebes just shut up and go away?
maybe the answer is this: EGO.
I know it crosses all party lines, but really, "The last time #Republicans gave a sh*t about you, you were a fetus."
Ideology. Greed. and YES--racism. It all boils down to this "I am better than you, and I don't care what happens to you."
IMOI doubt the last time they cared about any of us was as a fetus either. Unless we were made of money, of course. Money is their god, pure and simple. They Pretend to care about fetuses, the 'old ways' and other lying junk to gain votes which in turn gains them much monies when elected. Selling Every one of us off for monetary gains seems to be the name of the game anymore.
I've requested this post is moved to politics section as it clearly has nothing to do with the Hubpages Knowledge category.
The most noticeable thing about the American right is how well they exploit crises.
The Oil Crises in the seventies were their greatest opportunity in my lifetime. They pushed the nonsense of trickle down economics and empowered the super rich through tax cuts.
Now anther crisis. People get scared. They want someone to blame and the rightists are so adept at pointing the angry in the direction of a scapegoat. (Never at the very obvious culprits, in this case, Wall Street).
Obama is the perfect scapegoat because he triggers so much racial hatred- ironically, since I reckon he is a lot more Anglo than most of the people who hate him."exploit crises"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html
"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before."
Rahm Emanuel,
White House Chief of Staff for
President Barack Hussein Obama,
November 2008That quote is a positive one and it is a philosophy that I also subscribe to. It means that every failure is also an opportunity to take stock and maybe try something different.
An example of the above on a personal level might be losing one's job or a relationship breakdown. They can be terrible blows, but also opportunities to take your life down a new, hopefully better path.
What Will was saying was something different, I think. He was saying that the American right try to harness some people's fear and anger and use it for their own selfish gain.I think we both know that's not how Rahm Emanuel was thinking. I doubt he was aspiring to use a crisis to find "opportunities to take your life down a new, hopefully better path" but rather to use it to their political advantage, the people and the Constitution be damned.
"He was saying that the American right try to harness some people's fear and anger and use it for their own selfish gain."
Next you'll be trying to tell me this is never done by the Liberal Left. To which I'll laugh wholeheartedly at the ridiculousness of the remark.
You forgot to say Rahm Israel Emmanuel
Rahm Israel Emmanel
Rahm Israel Emmanuel.
where's the talk-hate-radio-righty's when you need them?Aaaah, I see. You don't like my use of the president's middle name. That would be the same name Obama had used bring his inauguration, LMC.
It's funny that that's the only thing you found to point out in that post.Yeah, well I always hated how those righy-haters did that.
They sneer rather than talk...just like Chin Chin Cheney.Let me ask you something. You dislike it when I use BO's middle name but you call Bush and Cheney all kinds of names. What's that all about? Just a bit of double standards or what?
So I guess that makes it right?
When I say Obama is the worst president this country has ever had, I'm not calling names, LMC. I'm stating my heart-felt opinion of Obama as a leader. I've also written here on HP that I thought he was a good husband and father.10/21/11: I WATCHED IN AWE, at the images of Gadhafi's demise. I watch the
talking heads of media impart their " wisdom " of discriptive talents. The
archives have been brought out, of the remarks made by the tradistionalist
Obama can't keep America safe. I remember the scene of Bush on the battle
ship with all the young soldiers cheering, and the sign reading "Mission
Accomplished, I remember the White House Dinner, where Bush looked behind
the draperies, and made the joking comment"No WMDs here" and then he laughed.
I remember president Obamas press statement, " We got " Ben Laden", And
yesterday, " Got Gadhafi " and now today " Our Soldiers will be home by xmas.
Its time for us to get things together, our young warriors our coming home,
and what are they coming home to, uenmployment,foreclosures,financal corrup-
tion. The Republicans denied the jobs bill Why !!!I guess you'll have to ask the Republicans, Alphie. I'm not a member of Congress.
My best guess would be the legislation was crap.
And I still think Obama is the worst president this country has ever and hopefully will ever have.Hi Hubbers: how's your day going?
Thanks for the aka: Alphie, I like it!
I saw some news clips of Rommney & Perry on the immigrant issue. Did you know that Alabama just passed a state policy against immigrants working in that state. And with that incompetent move, the farmer will lose his crop, because of no harvester. The farmer will suffer a deficit if he complies with the policy, or he will be jailed & fined if he doesn't. I come from the old school where there are only two choices, and you can only pick one, Its either "Right"
or "Wrong, Good or Bad, "Thruth or Lie". To me that policy was just Wrong!!!
If it stands, a law for dicrimination will have passed, and so begins the evolution for societal decay. The right thing for that law maker to do is put on some work clothes, and go harvest the farmers crop. That was a three point
loser bill. Waste of food, Loss of money,and terroizing people who will work hard for less money, just to work and feed their families. The one good thing is the feeling of comradery of fellow PTS survivors. ( Post Tramatic Stress ).
As long as we can handle the diversions thrown at us, were classified "Functioning" This has been Theraputic Thanks.
ACGI meant nothing other than shortening your name, Alphie.
Yes, I'm aware of Alabama's new law and actually wish Tennessee would adopt the same law and run every illegal here out of the state. If the feds won't protect us and enforce immigration laws, the states must do for themselves. I'm all for immigrants coming here LEGALLY. If they're here ILLEGALLY they should be deported. It's not a law of discrimination, Alphie.
What part of ILLEGAL do you not understand?To the PTSS/F crew, how you doing? Is your mind still functioning correctly?
There have been strange incidents of crime happening. 5 townships here in the
valley, have members of the police force selling confiscated guns. There are
amature would be criminals doing stupid things like entering a business thru
the skylight, getting every thing they want, but can't reach the skylight to
get out ( STUPID ), he smoked a cigarette, and sat down on a waste can, and
waited by the front door till the police came to take his no-pro butt to jail
Stress causes strange reactions, if your not aware of whats happening,the
pressure gets so heavy, the mind snaps and no one knows what the jack in
the box will be when it appears. Your best friend that you've known for years
will become someone that you have never seen, because if you had, you would
not have become friends. But since you know the other side of the person
you try to help them. So if you see your friends going thru stressfull times
take their hand and let them know, you got their back. Support is crucial.
The winds of change & the revealed realities are to overwhelming for some,
there belief systems have been attacted, they are disorientated. If you
can, give guidance, have patience, give assurance, let them know they can
overcome the situation when they define & analyze.
I just noticed my remarks about , some financial industries need to be brought
up on " Rico Act" charges, were removed. My bad , excuse me, no harm ment.
Bush and Cheney, just like Blair are a pair of murdering criminals. I note that you are right leaning, no criticism there, I am left leaning. But I'm still able to point out that Blair is a murdering criminal, even though he is of the left. Why can you not criticize those that belong to parties that you have had faith in, when they are wrong?
Hollie, obviously you haven't seen when I've written Bush was wrong to have gone into Iraq, he did nothing to stop illegal immigration, and he spent like a drunken sailor on shore leave.
I have actually Longhunter, and I don't think you are an unreasonable man. You have your opinions regarding immigration etc. But, in terms of Iraq, wrong is an underestimation. He willingly murdered innocent citizens, this isn't just about mis judgement, but massive corruption and murder. He should never be defended, just like Blair.
It's probably a good thing you didn't live back during WWII. Collateral damage was the norm more often than not. At least now they can be somewhat more surgical.
Tell that to grieving American mothers. I doubt your surgical arguments will cut any slack with them.
Blair isn't of the left! Don't you remember his expressed admiration of Thatcher and his destruction of the Labour party?
Blair purported to be of the left.( I know he was a tool of the neo cons) the left does not condone mass murder and he was about as leftist as polpot or Edi amen ( there'll be some on here that will no doubt describe both as socialist or communist). However, the republicans purport to be of the right, there are those who are right leaning and then there are neo-cons. The right leaning, when they wake up, will realize it was never about working hard and looking after your family, protecting your nation from threats and opposing socialism. But about laughing at those who vote for them and those who truly believed they really cared about their citizens, they will also one day discover that they laughed at their blind loyalty.
True. They both should be in jail, and both have to be careful where they travel outside the US.
And it's not just you...it's the 24/7 deriding of the president of the United States, which USED to be called being a traitor.
That's the duoble standard...when you all do it, it's patriotic. Back then, it was close to treason!, to hear the righty's tell it.When it comes down to, you don't like Bush and I don't like Obama. Because we have the First Amendment, we're both allowed to say things about our leaders without fear of reprisal.
"it's the 24/7 deriding of the president of the United States"
Now you know what it was like for Conservatives back when Bush was in office. It wasn't treason then or now. Not even when someone made a movie about Bush's assassination. Was it dangerous? Yes. Was it childish? Yes, again. I wouldn't like it if someone did it about Obama either because there's just some things that shouldn't be done.
We interrupt this side conversation about Iraq and collateral damage to second thebigbagblog's welcome to Alpheta.
We can always use (meaning benefit from, not exploit -- although that does happen here, too) new viewpoints on the PSI forum!
Glad to add your voice to the conversation.
MMThank you for the welcome.
Reading all the response comments has been very enlightening, how everyone
can read the same article, and come up with a different conclusion. I made
my comments from observations, not prejudice, Im concern for the protesters
Im concerned about the environment, I look at the Earth as a living organism.
My symbolic icon for Earth is a fish bowl. When the water in the fish bowl
gets dirty, you go to the sink and change it. But who will change earths water
when it gets dirty?
Corporate entities, have
been allowed to pollute our waters and only pay a .10 cent fine.
So the corporate entities reach into every aspect of our everyday lives, there
is not much choice when it comes to things we have to acquire,to live, food
clothing,shelter, etc. I think the presidents job plan is an excellent and
feasible idea. When it comes to the infrastructure of America, there's a lot
of work to be done. Every city has broken sidewalks, pot holes, raggedy school
houses,libraies,hospitals, etc. So if the Corp. entities would give back the
monies they stole in the guise of the (Bail Out), that would put people back
to work. The factorys could reopen to supply the materials needed to repair
America. It would be great to see, Made in the USA again. We would be a self
sufficient nation again. So now that Occupy Wall Street has gone global, they
have to listen. I just hope the people protesting are not subjected to police
brutality, that seems like the only thing they know how to do, when people
become, discontented. Bless & keep Americas People safe.
A.C.GOh lawdy.
A treehugger, eh?
Don't say you weren't warned, Alpheta.
We have some residents who will ridicule you for your dirty fishbowl analogy.
Climate change? Not happening. It's been scientifically disproven.
Fossil fuels? All good, as long as we drill them out of our own oceans so we're energy independent.
Pollution? That's a no-brainer. We need to stop regulating our corporations to death and allow them to do the right thing voluntarily. Because corporations are people and capitalism makes good neighbors!
Yes indeedy. A hearty, hearty welcome to the jungle.
Oh, and just for curiosity, I checked:
"Between 1999 and 2007, the number of Senate filibusters varied between 20 and 37 per session, a bipartisan effort."
There were 112 in Obama's first 2 years alone."The Republicans denied the jobs bill Why !!!"
Because Obama proposed it, and their goal is to make him a 1 term president.
Even if it means Americans suffer, go hungry or die.
It is a cynical power-hungry group of snakes. sssssssssss
written of in their own Book! The Brood of Vipers!So why hasn't Barry's jobs bill been introduced in the House by any Democrat. Barry's jobs bill hasn't been rejected by Republicans in Congress because it hasn't been introduced.
They're putting it in in pieces, to placate the waa waa's.
But doesn't matter. It's the death of a thousand cuts.
The waa waa boys have blown their cover.
It was never about jobs or the American people. Unless your name is Koch, Rockefeller and Chase.
I still laugh like crazy when I think of Boehner: "Oh No You Can't!"...
ahhhh, clap clap...epic performance...wonder if he got a prize for that?Barry has been flogging his jobs bill all over the country since his brilliant "pass it now" speech with out it being introduced for any kind of vote in either house of Congress. Why are Democrats so afraid of it that they have refused to introduce Barry's bill.
It's not democrats, it's Whitehorse Nelson, Joeblow Lieberman and one other dude from a red state.
How many times have people said: "These people are not conservatives?"
Weeeeell, "These people are not democrats!"This still does not explain why the bill has not been introduced. Might I offer an explanation why stalwarts like Barabra Boxer or Gerald Nadler haven't introduced the bill in their respective houses? Everyone, including Obama, knows it will fail and that it is a shame. it threatens the political existence of Democrats in red states and would benefit no one if passed. It is a Judas goat and no Democrat in danger of losing his seat will stick his neck out to vote for it. Besides, Leiberman is not a Democrat, he is an independent.
Hey there, UV. How are you doing?
I’m a bit confused by your statement. The president’s proposal has been blocked twice in the Senate in the last two weeks. According to the Associated press, Oct 11, 2011, “WASHINGTON -- United against Barack Obama, Senate Republicans voted yesterday to kill the jobs package the president had spent weeks campaigning for across the country,” (1)
And again, Oct. 21, 2011, regarding a re-submitted pared down version, “Senate Republicans, who filibustered Obama's latest jobs measure to death just as they killed his broader $447 billion jobs plan last week.” (2) This item mentions both Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Virginia) and Sen. Jon Tester (D- Montana) who sided with the GOP.
The entire country, except you it seems, has been watching as the GOP majority obstructs the President’s efforts to give America’s struggling jobless a chance to get a job.
I hope all is well by you, UV.
(1) http://www.newsday.com/long-island/poli … -1.3238715
(2) http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/5275 … y.html.cspThank you for the information however, spending bills are to originate in the House. If I am not mistaken, a pared down bill that was significantly different than the Pass it Now bill failed because Democrats voted against it in a number sufficient enough to guarantee its defeat. It still hasn't been introduced in the House, despite the Constitutional requirement that it be so introduced.
You are not mistaken, UV. “Every Republican senator - and three Democrats - voted against a $35 billion bill to help state and local governments avoid laying off 400,000 teachers, firefighters, and police officers.” (1)
The opposition party knows the future job’s picture is the only issue that could prevent President Obama’s re-election. Next week, they will have another opportunity to vote against struggling jobless Americans when the Senate will vote on a $60 billion bill to rebuild aging infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the congress demonstrates once again its inability to act at a time of national stress. Google CEO Eric Schmidt pointed out the paralytic effect of policy uncertainty on business. "The real problem is Democrats and the Republicans fight for one point or another in the political sphere, while the rest of us wait for the government to do something concrete and predictable," Schmidt said. "Business needs predictable, long-term plans.” (2)
(1) http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-2 … ill-again/
(2) http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/27 … iel-fosterI think the real story in all of this is the President pressuring Congress to spend money that does not exist and that the whole thing proceeds without a hint of the absurdity of it all.
Those 400,000 teachers, firemen and police men, none of whom works for the Federal government, would require far more than the $35 billion to continue in their chosen professions until retirement but that sum is sufficient to fund those jobs until after the election. If there was money to spend - there is not. Don't we have a super secret, extra constitutional, "super" committee meeting now because there is no more money?
There is still no budget, after 900 days since the last budget passed by Congress. The twin icebergs of Medicare and Social Security are even closer since the cutting of with-holding taxes. There is growing talk of another Bond down grade. We are still indebted to an increasingly aggressive China and the hypocritical occupy Wall Street groups have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. Wish I could get 1% of that and leave 99$ for everyone else.
I like the idea that Google's founder is bellyaching about the very political and economic philosophy he supports. It would be delicious if it was so silly and dangerous. Just goes to show:
"I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy."
Richard P. Feynman (could have included businessmen, politicians, etc...outside of our specific area of knowledge we are not guaranteed to be any more correct in our opinions than anyone else similarly disposed)"...there is no more money?"
There is plenty of ill gotten money in the pockets of bureaucratic corporate CEOs who never had an original idea in their life but who expect to be paid as if they are Bill Gates, Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, in the pockets of the hedge fund operators whose tax rate is 15% and who are playing a you win, I win, you lose, I win game with their investors money, and in the pockets of the banksters of Wall Street. Not to mention the offshore, un-repatriated profits and money hidden in secret Swiss and Cayman Island bank accounts.
With the current field of Repuglican candidates with the exception of Ron Paul (Who they don't want to support)not one of them is fit to run this country,unless it's into the ground.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/10/21 … -press-tv/
You can be assured that any votes they receive will be because there is an " R "next to their name.Well, we have to see what attack the Vipers are going to take....and hope that Unions have enough money to match their adds....
They can't attack for "soft on terror", but they can make all their obstructing Obama's fault.
Geezus, I wonder if they'll have the gall to use "jobs" again? Nah, after 100% voting no on the jobs bill, they wouldn't dare!....would they?
In case any of you have forgotten, the R's in Congress PROMISED jobs if elected. They are BLOCKING jobs, and their policy of cut gvt causes JOB LOSS.
well, Ole Ed Shultz said they will use ending the Iraq war..and Afghanistan in 3 years, btw....he says they will say that Obama is making America unsafe.
Am I having deja-vu?? have I heard that before??
I just hope with all hope that people stop buying that snake oil! From the Brood of Vipers.sssssssssssssssss
Like whitened sepulchers....all clean on the outside, but inside full of....argggh, can't remember.
****
BTW..once long ago, I read a quote by a Dem member of Congress. This was during Bushco.
He called the R's "reptilian b*st*rds"...!!!I would like to comment on your post, but I just can't find a coherent sentence to make any comments.....except maybe the MOOOchelle question.....people call her that cuz she's always stuffing her face while preaching healthy diets to everyone else....Has nothing to do with color!
Why is it that people can not seem to have a discussion about ANYTHING without screaming racist?
PEOPLE please.
We are just that. People. WE THE PEOPLE. I in my house, you in yours. Yes, there are different political views, that's wonderful. Believe it or not, that is even healthy. The danger is this, egos, are worse than the disease jealousy.
Why can't we see the writing on the wall.
The problems we are facing is neither rep/dem or any other party, it is not about race nor is it about abilities or inabilities to "run" a country.
Back when I was a kid, I remember, there was a person running for re election. He lost. But I remember folks saying "he wouldn't be their yes man". What is a yes man and who are they?
Name calling is simply childish behavior.I seem to have the same problem when I read posts from that one, I just gave up.
When the OWS crowd actually can put a coherent argument together then I will listen. Just screaming that some people make more money than you is ridiculous and claiming that you should be paid as much for doing far less is even more ridiculous. I have heard this said by our local Occupy space crowd and just can't seem to understand why they can't understand, low risk offers low reward, its very simple.
Maybe they arn't really concerned with your attention. They have more important issues to deal with.
Apparently not, they are screaming at everybody who drives by their fortified encampment. They want someones attention, I'm sure you give them yours.
Dream on.. They've already got your attention, or you wouldn't be posting to this thread. But, I'm sure you've thought about that. My attention is given to those who try to make the world a better place. Right now, the emerging war with Iran, is top of my agenda, and gains my attention.
I suggest you get out there and stop that war.
Laugh at those who think they can stop wars.
Wow today is 11/11/11, I didn't know the significance of this date, aside from being veterans day,I choose to believe its a good luck day. This is the day we honor the warriors of our country, the old ,the young, the wounded, and most of all the dead. It's hard for me to accept the sight of the homeless vet's that jockey for position on the curb of the 98th ave freeway exit, in Oakland, holding up cardboard signs that reads Help Me Please. That is just wrong, they fought to keep our country safe, and now they have to panhandle and beg to stay alive, something is wrong with that picture. I'm trying to contribute my We The People plan for "Job Creation" I've submitted it to Governor Jerry Brown, Lieut. Governor Gavin Newsom, and Mayor Kevin Johnson, of Sacramento. I got a response from Mayor Johnsons office, in which his secretary stated the plan was good but due to budget constraints they could not help. So the brick wall is "Budget Constraints" for all municipalities
City, County & State. So I submitted the plan to President Obama, hopefully he will take time to look at it, its feasible, and could work, and it addresses the infrastructure issue, which would address the employment issue, which would affect the economic issue, which would address the Stress element of the environment. So in honor of the veterans coming home," Oohrah " this is for you.
ACGBy quoting yourself when you make new posts you muddy up your message.
Commentary and Protest without viable, achievable, solutions for whats being chided or opposed is far from the" eagles eye view" that im looking for.
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