Tampa Bay Times: Earmarked funds amount to abuse of public trust

"Repairing a golf course in Orlando wasn't exactly what the U.S. Department of Education had in mind in 2010-11 when it sent $867,000 in federal stimulus money to Florida for a program run by Florida A&M University for "targeted student assistance." But that's what federal and Florida taxpayers got in a scheme devised by two term-limited state senators to benefit nonprofits they have ties with."


graphic: http://www.prlog.org

See Earmarked funds amount to abuse of public trust - Tampa Bay Times

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WIN: Wal-Mart Chairman And CEO should resign Over Mexican Bribes Scandal

By Doug Cunningham

The Change To Win labor federation says the public needs to send Wal-Mart a message about its alleged bribery of Mexican officials to expand in that country.

Change To Win says Wal-Mart reportedly bribed public officials in Mexico to evade laws designed to protect workers, the environment and communities and then tried to cover it up.

Change To Win is urging people to sign an online petition calling for the resignations of Wal-Mart Board Chair Rob Walton and CEO Mike Duke, and a thorough an independent investigation of Wal-Mart's actions. The petition is at Change.org.

Of interest, the US chamber of commerce has two former Wal-Mart executives on it. Their approach to Wal-Mart's corruption in Mexico is lobby so that the Corrupt Practices Act is revised to make it easier for US corporations abroad that are bribing local officials.

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The country club Republicans secret plan

It's clear a cultural war has been going on between the establishment (country club) Republicans and the Tea Party/ditto head element.

The country clubbers released the dogs in 2008 to take congress, but once the far right crazies got a taste of power, they stopped listening to the country club insiders.

The GOP House was a disaster with a 17 per cent approval rating overall, the lowest in the history of the Gallup organization.

The GOP needs to come back to the Center and also expel the club for Growth form the party which has been torpedoing moderate GOP candidates. The Republican Party has, in fact, descended into fascism.

source: www.fishlink.us

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Will FL Rep Vern Buchanan lose his NRCC job?

CREW describes Buchanan as one of most corrupt politicians in DC

In the latest test of House Republican’s zero tolerance policy on ethics, Friday’s New York Times revealed that federal investigations into NRCC Finance Chairman Vern Buchanan’s (FL-13) role in a potentially illegal campaign finance scheme are “widening” and “a federal grand jury in Tampa is hearing evidence in the case.” 

Will Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and NRCC Chairman Sessions continue to allow Congressman Buchanan to lead the NRCC’s lackluster fundraising effort?

Buchanan is already under federal investigation for an “extensive and ongoing” campaign finance scheme to reimburse employees who contributed to his campaign and the Office of Congressional Ethics found that there “is substantial reason to believe” 

Buchanan violated the law by failing to report his positions at over a dozen companies.

The New York Times has now revealed that there is also “a deep link between his newly disclosed corporate interests and his own fund-raising operations, with donors affiliated with these groups donating more than $136,000 to his campaigns.”

“The chief House Republican fundraiser, Congressman Vern Buchanan, is under an expanding investigation for a campaign finance scheme and for failure to disclose his assets,” said Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Ferguson added: 

Republicans have a campaign Finance Chairman who uses potentially illegal campaign finance tactics in charge of funding their re-election. Having Congressman Vern Buchanan as fundraising Chairman for the Republican Majority is just the latest test of Republicans’ ‘zero tolerance’ policy on ethics.

Buchanan is Under Investigation by The FBI, IRS, Federal Grand Jury and the House Ethics Committee. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and a federal grand jury in Tampa are all investigating Vern Buchanan’s roll in scheme to reimburse his employees for contributions made to his congressional campaign. 

Additionally, The House Ethics Committee is examining Buchanan’s failing to disclose financial interests, income and management positions he held at 17 different businesses and organizations. [New York Times, 2/24/12] . . .

Florida Independent: FEC: Buchanan’s former dealership violated the law in an ‘extensive and ongoing scheme.’ “A federal court is imposing a $67,900 fine on a car dealership once owned by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, for what the Federal Election Commission calls an ‘extensive and ongoing scheme’ to funnel ‘secret, illegal contributions’ to Buchanan’s 2006 and 2008 campaigns.” [Florida Independent, 6/1/11]

Buchanan Heads the NRCC’s Fundraising Efforts. NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions appointed Buchanan as the NRCC’s Finance Vice Chair on January 14, 2011. [

sources: 

NRCC Press Release, 1/14/2011]

http://dccc.org/blog/entry/will_vern_buchanan_stay_as_nrcc_fundraising_head/

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Business Insider: " The 14 Most Corrupt Members Of Congress"

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) compiled a list of the most corrupt politicians in Washington. Rep. Vern Buchanan who lives in Sarasota made the list. 

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)

Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) has served two-terms in Congress. He represents Florida’s 13th district which contains Sarasota, FL.  

He pressuring his auto dealership employees to make contributions to his campaign committee and also improperly used corporate resources for campaign purposes.

Rep. Buchanan was also included in CREW’s 2008 report on congressional corruption.

graphic source: http://www.allvoices.com

source: Huffington Post

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We could learn something from the Chinese

The Chinese don't coddle corrupt CEOs or politicians. You steal from the government or a corporation, you don't get a second chance to do it again.

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Democrats needs to get their heads out of thier . . .

If you want to lose the next Congressional election, go corrupt like the Republicans did for the last eight years. Most of the names on the ethics investigation list are Democrats. Shame of these greedy Democrats for being so stupid. 

The panel announced that it was probing two California Democrats — Reps. Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson — even as its embarrassed leaders took pains to explain that several other lawmakers also identified in the leaked confidential committee memo may have committed no wrongdoing.

The committee said it was investigating whether Waters used her influence to help a bank in which her husband owned stock, and whether the couple benefited as a result. Separately, the panel is looking into whether Richardson failed to disclose required information on her financial disclosure forms and received special treatment from a lender.

Ethics chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., recently went to the House floor to announce that a confidential weekly report of the committee from July had leaked out in a case of "cyber-hacking."

The weekly reports include a summary of the committee's work at an earlier stage, when its members and staff scrutinize lawmakers to see whether an investigation is warranted.

The Washington Post reported in its online edition Thursday that the document was disclosed on a publicly accessible computer network.
The Post reported that almost half the members of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee were under scrutiny.

A prior ethics inquiry involves lawmakers who steered appropriations to clients of a now-defunct lobbying firm and received campaign contributions from the firm and its clients.

The names included three lawmakers previously identified in the inquiry: the chairman of the defense subcommittee, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; and Reps. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., and James Moran, D-Va.

The Post said others whose names were in the report included Reps. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., and Todd Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan.

This is a huge embarrassment to the Democratic Party. Rightardia has no sympathy for corrupt politicians regardless of party affiliation. We like the way the Chinese deal with corruption. China executes corrupt officials.

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g77OhUU3Qn8z1CXaKKobq-dq2q2gD9BLCF080

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Chinese Communists flirt with democracy

Saibal Dasgupta, TNN 19 September 2009, 06:35pm IST

Rightardia comment: Some decentralization is an important concept if the Chinese really want to democratize society. Ensuring that the role of the senior leaders is not essential to the democratic preocess either. If we did that in the US, an 'over the hill' Senator, John McCain, would have been elected president.


Corruption is a serious problem in China and many senior government officials and corporate executives have been executed for this crime against the state. Yet, corruption persists in China. Greed does appear to be part of the human condition.



BEIJING: China is celebrating 60 years of the Communist revolution with an ironical twist. Communist leaders feel it is time to flirt with democracy. But it will remain a limited form of coquetry with little chance of blossoming into a full-fledged romance any time soon.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee has decided to "expand intra-Party democracy to develop people's democracy" and resolutely fight corruption. Party leaders called for improving "the democratic decision-making mechanism within the Party in order to maintain the CPC's centralization and unity," the party organ, People's Daily said.

Stated simply, Communist leaders are trying to create safety valves within the system to allow the youthful sections in the party to voice their opinion while ensuring they do not become rebels. There is also an attempt to choose a new set of "professional" leaders, which might result in some older leaders being shown the door.

The CPC said in a communiqué that it has given itself a set of "long-term, complicated and draconian tests" to judge its ruling capability in this era of wide spread reforms and adoption of a market economy system.

In fact, the CPC made no bones of the fact that it is worried about quite a few problems in the party "that ran counter to new circumstances and the Party's nature". These problems are "severely weakening the Party's creativity, unity and effectiveness," it said in a communiqué based on decisions taken at a meeting on Friday.

The party must "stick to a democratic, open, competitive, credible, merit-based and vigorous mechanism of selecting party officials in order to foster more excellent cadres" it said. The CPC wants the party officials to be "revolutionary, young, knowledge-based and professional", it said.

At the same time, every effort will be made to ensure that the role of the senior leaders and the party congress is not undermined. It has been made clear that the ultimate goal is to make sure that CPC's control over the vast network of Communist functionaries do not falter with changing times, sources pointed out.

Internal democracy was "the lifeblood of the party," it said while advising members to stick to "democratic centralism," with democracy as a base and centralism as a guide. Improvements will be carried out in the process of internal elections to "extensively absorb the will and views of all Party members and bring their initiative and creativity to a full play," the document said.

Party leaders said the challenge of managing the party has never been more onerous and pressing as it is today. Defects within the party were "severely" harming the ties of flesh and blood between the Party and people, it said.

The CPC told party members to be prepared for dangers in times of peace and make sure that the party's "backbone" position in people's minds is not affected in the face of different challenges in the domestic and international situations.

Grassroots organizations were the foundation of the entire Party work and acted as "fighting bastions" in implementing the CPC policies, the document said suggesting that more attention will be paid to provincial and county leaders than in the part.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/china/Chinese-Communists-flirt-with-democracy-to-infuse-fresh-blood/articleshow/5030918.cms

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U.S. House passes bill to expand Pell Grants, eliminate private lenders

Rightardia comment: Wirehead, our technical editor, worked for a telemarketing boiler room operation that provided and refinanced student loans. The owner was a right wing Republican who contributed lots of money to the GOP. He had pictures of himself with Rep. Ric Keller, 8th Congressional Distict, and Rep. John Boehner on a large LCD TV Powerpoint presentation in the sales center.


Keller, who was defeated in the last election, was on the House Education Committee. The owner also attended luncheons with Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Florida's 9th Congressional District.


When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2008, they changed the law on student loans when federal investigators uncovered corruption involving college financial aid offices and private lenders. At one time the senior managers were making more than $5,000 a month until the Democratic Congress changed the law to counter the student loan corruption.

During sales meetings prior to the election, the owner would proselytize for the GOP. It didn't help in the case of the presidential election. Obama swept most of the counties in Central Florida. The owner considered himself a politico and even tried to sue the Federal government when it changed the law on students loans. Now the Congress wants to finish the job with the Pell Grant program. Rightardia hopes Nancy Pelosi is successful.

In Print: Friday, September 18, 2009

---

Low-income students won a victory Thursday as the U.S. House of Representatives approved an expansion of the popular Pell Grant program.

They might also see the transformation of the federal student aid landscape if a version of that bill makes it through the Senate.

Under the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act approved in the House on a mostly party-line vote, lenders like Sallie Mae and Bank of America would be cast to the sidelines in the federal loan process. Students would apply directly for aid under the federal government's alternative Direct Loan Program rather than working with banks as middlemen.

Supporters of the change say it would save $87 billion over the next decade by eliminating federal subsidies to private lenders. Nearly half the savings would be used to expand Pell Grants.

The bill would also expand aid to community colleges, expand the Perkins Loan program and simplify the FAFSA aid forms.

"This will save us money," said Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, a co-sponsor of the bill. "We're going to plow a lot of money back into making college more affordable. And we're also going to plow $10 billion back into the U.S. Treasury to help pay down the federal deficit."

The changes would also mark a final chapter in the student loan scandal that began in 2007 after state and federal investigators uncovered a string of kickback schemes involving college financial aid offices and private lenders.

Castor said private lenders "made a mockery" of their claim that competition would bring lower interest rates, with students often paying higher-than-market-value rates and lenders wasting federal money on efforts to win business at colleges.

She said the expanded Pell benefits would bring more than $106 million in additional aid money to students who live in her Tampa Bay district, adding new recipients and potentially pushing the maximum grant from $5,350 to nearly $7,000 a year by 2019.

See the rest of the story at http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/college/us-house-passes-bill-to-expand-pell-grants-eliminate-private-lenders/1037143

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3400.


[Last modified: Sep 17, 2009 11:05 PM]

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Comedy Central: MBA Ethics Oath

John Oliver enlists the help of a former convict to convince business students to sign an ethics oath.

It's a sad statement that students are unable to commit to such a generic oath. Schools should insist student's sign this oath before they are admitted to an MBA program.

click graphic to enlarge

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
MBA Ethics Oath
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

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How the Chinese view corruption.

How the Chinese view corruption.  It sounds a little Adam and Eve-ish to me.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) in China revealed yesterday that more than 9,000 officials were found guilty of corruption in the first six months of the year and said it had investigated 6,277 industrial bribery cases.

Qiu Xueqiang, SPP deputy procurator general, told a conference of procuratorate chiefs that the industrial bribery cases involved 6,842 people.

In the future, prosecutors also plan to target officials who bend the law for the benefit of relatives or friends and will attempt to uncover negligence, the abuse of judicial power and the shielding of mafia-like gangs, as well as the covering up of serious crimes and infringements upon human rights.

source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-07/17/content_8438856.htm

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