Posts with the tag corruption

ILLINOIS, The Land of Larceny

Democrat in Princeton, IL — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:06:45 EST

I suspect that much of the country is watching the roiling, boiling, criminal malfeasance of our latest Governor, Rod Blagojevich (D) with disbelief. The only disbelief Illinois residents experienced was that Hot Rod had actually ACCELERATED his greedy piggery after being placed under investigation and under the spotlight over three years ago by no less than Federal Prosecutor exemplar, Peter Fitzgerald.

We have a long bipartisan history of corruption in our statehouse and governor's mansion (not that Blagojevich actually spent much time there). Blago will be our second consecutive governor sent to prison, following grumpy George Ryan ® to the big house. Blagojevich will make four of the last eight Illinois governors to be convicted of corruption. A fifth Governor William Strattan ® escaped conviction after indictment and trial.

Illinois politics reads like a list of comic book crooks like Secretary of State Paul Powell whose Springfield apartment was found to contain shoe boxes, stuffed with money, discovered after he suddenly died in office, or Ryan's cast of henchmen like Rodger (The Hog) Stanley, or the pasty puffball and Caribbean bon viant, Scott Fawell who was persuaded to drop a dime on his former boss to save his fiancée from prison time.

The last Republican gubernatorial candidate to run against Blagojevich, Judy Barr Topinka, was up to her eyeballs in a political cesspool filled to overflowing by Republican patronage chief Big Bill Cellini. The biggest stinker in that particular cesspool was the taxpayer funded sweetheart deal to refurbish the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in downtown Springfield. A state funded loan was herded through the legislature that only requires that the investors pay back the loan in years the hotel manages to turn a profit, not terms generally available on the open market. In spite of these generous terms Topinka had at one point pushed legislation to absolve 75% of the loan’s principle of this boondoggle, leaving the taxpayers of Illinois holding the bag.

In a more personal example of how things work in Illinois, I had. in the early 1990's turned over internal United Parcel Service company documents in a class action lawsuit that was brought against the corporation because of tactics that forced many of its employees to work through their "unpaid," lunch hour, a direct violation of the "Fair Labor Standards Practice Act."

These documents established that UPS was not only aware of the practice but were actually tracking the percentage of drivers that were forced to work thru all or part of their lunch-time. UPS, upon learning of the uncovering of this document, responded by dispatching a lobbyist to Springfield and succeeded in having the law modified to exempt them -and only them- from legal culpability in this matter. Incredibly, in a separate vote, UPS came within one vote of getting a "retroactive exemption," for their violation of this law.

Attorney David Mark of Seattle, Washington, phoned me and sputtered in amazement that he was flabbergasted at how politics worked in Illinois. Attorney Mark told me it was like being witness to a scene out of the "Wild West," and that the UPS lobbyist was all but handing money out on the floor of the Illinois House and Senate.

Not much has changed in Illinois politics since then, only the names and faces.

mike kohr

Ted Stevens, Sarah Palin, and the Republican Culture of Corruption

Mark C. Eades — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:55:53 EDT

The last thing Republicans needed a week before Election Day was yet another high-profile GOP scandal coming to fruition and reminding voters of the "culture of corruption" they voted to end just two years ago. This is exactly what Republicans got yesterday, however, when Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted on federal corruption charges. Following more than a decade of Republican rule on Capitol Hill, the GOP scandals of 2005-2006 would be greatly to blame for the loss of the House and Senate to Democrats in Nov. 2006. As he now joins Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, and Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the Republican gallery of disgraced lawmakers, Ted Stevens may contribute greatly in turn to the Republican defeat of 2008.

The likely loss of Stevens' Senate seat to a Democrat and the shadow his conviction may cast over other congressional GOP campaigns are not the only worries this latest scandal presents for Republicans as Election Day approaches. Stevens is also a problem for the Republican presidential campaign, owing in particular to his ties to Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. However she might seek to distance herself from her fellow Alaskan now, Palin shares an extensive history with Stevens in Alaska politics, including a stint for Palin as director of an independent 527 group organized by Stevens. Palin's relationship with Stevens is detailed in a video from the Anchorage Daily News including a joint news conference with the two from July 2008 and Stevens' endorsement of Palin for governor in 2006.

Between 2003 and 2005, Palin served as one of three directors of "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Sevice, Inc.," a 527 group authorized to raise unlimited funds from corporate donors and designed according to the Washington Post "to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women in the state." While perfectly legal, Palin's service in Stevens' group does conflict somewhat with her presidential running mate John McCain's official position that 527s should be abolished and with the McCain/Palin claim to be maverick reformers (see also Rolling Stone, Think Progress).

Following Palin's service with his 527 group, Stevens endorsed Palin in her run for governor of Alaska in 2006, while both Stevens and Palin were supporting the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" project that Palin now disavows. Stevens' endorsement for Palin is preserved in a video which Palin removed from her gubernatorial campaign website shortly following her pick as McCain's vice-presidential running mate, but which may still be viewed at Youtube and in the Anchorage Daily News video on Stevens and Palin.

Previously, as mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, between 1996 and 2002, Palin hired a Washington lobbying firm headed by Steven W. Silver, a former chief of staff to Ted Stevens. Silver's firm helped secure $27 million in congressional earmarks for Wasilla during Palin's tenure as mayor - a hefty sum for a town of only 7000 residents, and a further contradiction to Palin's claim of being a maverick reformer (Washington Post).

Palin is also associated with the Alaska-based oil pipeline company VECO Corporation and its former CEO, Bill Allen, who has pled guilty to bribing Alaska legislators including Ted Stevens' son Ben. Remodeling work organized by VECO on Ted Stevens' home is among the more than $250,000 in gifts and services Stevens has now been convicted of accepting from wealthy friends in exchange for political favors. When Sarah Palin ran for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska in 2002, she received $5,000 from VECO officials and/or their wives, including $500 directly from Bill Allen, accounting for 10% of her campaign fund (Anchorage Daily News).

So it looks like Sarah Palin has some "palling around" problems of her own with convicted felons to explain. This is, of course, in addition to Troopergate, the untaxed per diems Governor Palin recieved while at home with her family, and vacation travel for her kids billed to the taxpayers of Alaska, which voters must think about between now and next Tuesday. Do we really want Sarah Palin's Alaska coming to Washington?

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

ACORN VOTER FRAUD: Is Your Vote Safe?

Democrat in Swanton, OH — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:11:07 EDT

ARE YOU PROTECTED FROM VOTER FRAUD?

YES. Did you know State & Federal Election Law works:

1. Registrations are due 30 days before an election.
2. Federal Law requires that all registrations are verified to have the correct name and I.D. # (SSN or State ID) on them.
3. If a voter registration doesn't verify, then no vote can be made.
4. Deceased and multiple voter registrations are cleaned from systems.

THE SYSTEM WORKS

Contrary to some things in the media as of late, a voter registration for a 13 year old would never make it past the system. They wouldn't be able to vote.

Why are all these new stories spinning?

Because of a fake "consumers advocate" organization, called the Consumers Rights League.

Consumers Rights League is the same "consumers advocate" organization that lobbied for deregulation of banks:

- to give loans to the poor for "community reinvestment"
- work against a Bill that would force credit card companies to have a set merchant interest rate (Visa was also against this)
- AND NOW they are lobbying against ACORN even though ACORN's voter registrations don't increase election fraud (false voting).

WHY? Because they are protecting the interests of predatory lending institutions and want Republicans in office. Democrats will cause more regulation. They in no way work for the best interests of the citizens. They work for banks. Just go to their website & look at their past reports that want greater deregulation in the name of "consumers" (listed down right side of their website). www.ConsumersRightsLeague.org

The Consumers Rights League has gotten the news out about ACORN, which Republican media grabbed onto because it's beneficial to them... to block poor, black votes (Democrat votes). They've made the public be afraid that election fraud is going on. They've made it sound like targeting groups for voter registrations is illegal, but it's not. Both parties do it. Both parties have 3rd party voter registration companies too, that submit many incorrect registrations.

CRL just got into the business of "voter protection" when they collaborated with Senate Republicans to testify at a September 24, 2008 Congressional hearing on the 2008 General Election. During that hearing two Republican Senators asked many questions about ACORN. All four Election officials that testified, said that ACORN and 3rd party voter drive groups were more of a blessing then a curse. They said they saw nothing out of the ordinary with ACORN's "fraudulent registrations". They were normal for voter drive groups. The other panel of organizations were there to protect voter rights... which included the DOJ and consumer advocates for the Military, foreclosed homeowners, new citizens, and minorities. Then there was Jim Terry from CRL. He was the odd one out. He was only there against ACORN. After that hearing (where officials said ACORN was an asset to the community) Congress ordered an FBI investigation on them. It's a terrible story of voter suppression. Just listen to the Hearing for yourself, then try to figure out from it why ACORN is being attacked (ACORN topics are discussed at hour 1:00:00 and 1:30:00). http://cha.house.gov/view_hea...

Terry committed perjury several times. So now what?

Mission accomplished!

Percy H Florez — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:02:18 EDT

Recession fears increase amid US bailout doubts

Percy H Florez — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:41:05 EDT

Interesting point of view about the bailout from The Australian Newspaper: Link

Percy H Florez

It's OK

Percy H Florez — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:48:55 EDT

Nancy Pelosi legacy:

NO STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ!
NO GEORGE BUSH AND DICK CHENEY IMPEACHMENT!
YES TO THE BAILOUT (700 hundred billions to the fraudulent banker's)

Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror!

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:59:19 EDT

They said:

If the bailout does not pass the people are going to loose the money in his bank accounts.

FALSE: THEY ARE INSURED BY THE FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

If the bailout does not pass is the end of the world, it’s a financial catastrophe.

FALSE: nothing like that is going to happen because this crisis is a failure of CORRUPTED financial institutions and they are small in number compare with those who are playing by the rules.

If the bailout does not pass the economy are going to sink in to a deep recession.

FALSE: This is another argument they use to hidden the real true and scare the people in “MAIN STREET”. This economy of this country is “IN CONTRACTION STATUS”, this means the power of acquired good for the people every day is less than before. This could be corrected with a good and strong policies reinforcing the INCOME of every American and reinforcing this sectors of the economy that are capable to generate more employment. A good example could be investing this 700 billion in infrastructure around the nation.

If this bailout does not pass you can not get loans to buy house, cars and you can loose your credit card.

FALSE: One of the main problems of this crisis is THE ABUSE and the BAD USE of the credit. They buy houses they couldn’t afford to pay. They buy cars they couldn’t afford to pay. They misused his / her credit card and they couldn’t afford to pay. All this happen for the ambition and mismanaged of the CEOs of this corrupted bankers or institutions.
So what kind of bailout (CORRECTION) would be this, if this money go again to the market with the same purpose as is the mantra of the government and the lawmakers who are supporting this legislation.
Moreover if you want a loan and have a good credit and you can afford and pay your debts do so, but if not, don’t do it!

If this bailout does not pass the entirely banking system are going to crash and people in Main St., are going to suffer for a lot!

FALSE: As I said before, this particular crisis can be solving by the market as is. In this country there are very serious banking institutions that are capable to absorb the failure of the others in a very intelligent manner without compromising his capital.
Bank of America, JP Morgan and other banks are a good example and they will be very happy receiving those people looking loans for homes, cars, boats and credit cards!, working people who are capable and can afford to pay on time his bills.

These bailouts has to pass, to secure more liquidity to the banking systems buying his negative assets and generate the reactivation of the economy, them people in Main St., can get more loans of any kind.

FALSE: The economy of this country is IN CONTRACTION STATUS, people can afford pay his bill because the power of the dollar is less than before. Essentially this MODEL can’t afford print more dollars with the deficit the country had. Actually the difference between this country and countries around the world less wealthy is his ability to PRINT MONEY. This NEGATIVE economic behavior is the main concern of economists around the world. I have no doubt Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke know very well about it, but they prefer to buy time instead to try and get the right solution for this crisis.

If this bailout does not pass the economy could be worsened

TRUE: The economy will be worsened but not because the bailout could be pass or not. The economy is in a bad shape and the solution has to come with a structural correction of the deficit and a best economic practice with the conscientious study of the factors that are generating this contraction in the economy and come up with good, reliable and stable economic practice solutions.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE"

Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror! | TERROR # 6

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:49:45 EDT

If this bailout does not pass the economy could be worsened

TRUE: The economy will be worsened but not because the bailout could be pass or not. The economy is in a bad shape and the solution has to come with a structural correction of the deficit and a best economic practice with the conscientious study of the factors that are generating this contraction in the economy and come up with good, reliable and stable economic practice solutions.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror! | TERROR # 5

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:30:26 EDT

FALSE: The economy of this country is IN CONTRACTION STATUS, people can afford pay his bill because the power of the dollar is less than before. Essentially this MODEL can’t afford print more dollars with the deficit the country had. Actually the difference between this country and countries around the world less wealthy is his ability to PRINT MONEY. This NEGATIVE economic behavior is the main concern of economists around the world. I have no doubt Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke know very well about it, but they prefer to buy time instead to try and get the right solution for this crisis.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror! | ARGUMENT OF TERROR # 4

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:50:47 EDT

If this bailout does not pass the entirely banking system are going to crash and people in Main St., are going to suffer for a lot!

FALSE: As I said before, this particular crisis can be solving by the market as is. In this country there are very serous banking institutions that are capable to absorb the failure of the others in a very intelligent manner without compromising his capital. Bank of America, JP Morgan, and other banks who are trembled with this financial crisis, they would be very happy good people come to his office requesting loans for homes, cars, boat and credit cards!, the only concern is that they want people who are capable and can afford to pay his loans.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror! | ARGUMENT OF TERROR # 3

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:14:31 EDT

If the bailout does not pass the economy are going to sink in to a deep recession.

FALSE: This is another argument they use to hidden the real true and scare the people in “MAIN STREET”. This economy of this country is “IN CONTRACTION STATUS”, this means the power of acquired good for the people every day is less than before. This could be corrected with a good and strong policies reinforcing the INCOME of every American and reinforcing this sectors of the economy that are capable to generate more employment. A good example could be investing this 700 billion in infrastructure around the nation.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE" Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror! | ARGUMENT OF TERROR # 2

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:57:48 EDT

They said:

If the bailout does not pass is the end of the world, it’s a financial catastrophe.

FALSE: nothing like that is going to happen because this crisis is a failure of CORRUPTED financial institutions and they are small in number compare with those who are playing by the rules.

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politician with the "POWER OF THE VOTE"

Percy H Florez

True & False - about the bailout & the campaign of terror! | ARGUMENT OF TERROR # 1

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:43:06 EDT

They said:
If the bailout does not pass the people are going to loose the money in his bank accounts.

FALSE: THEY ARE INSURED BY THE FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

People must remember this on November 4 and remove this politicians with the "POWER OF THE VOTE"

Percy H Florez

They are very happy!

Percy H Florez — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:29:30 EDT

and all his supporters......

Percy H Florez

It's time to pay the bill!

Percy H Florez — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:17:08 EDT

Now lawmakers are going to pay the bill they owe to this fraudulent bankers with the money of the taxpayer!

Percy H Florez

About this stinking bailout

Percy H Florez — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:05:59 EDT

The server of the house of representatives in the Congress is DOWN.....! Link
Of course is DOWN becouse they don't want to recieve millions of e-mails his / her constituents are sending now, opposing this bailout to the fraudulent bankers!

Percy H Florez

If you want to understand this crisis---->

Percy H Florez — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:55:13 EDT

You must read about the Financial Crisis in other countries. Don’t go to far, find out in this continent.

During his financial crisis they don’t have any proximity to have 700 billion dollars only few millions dollars to handle the pain.

They have probably less than 100 millions.

During his crisis they handle well without this bulk of money, they never compromise his own capital. As a today some of this countries live now with problems but better than ever. Actually his market does not suffer and have not concern about this international crisis. Some export capital and have a lot of investments in other counties of the region.

The point is, no one this politician said right here about the consequences of NO Bailout this fraudulent bank is so painful than they try to terrorize the population of this country.

This is only part of the brutal campaign of terrorism this President has against the taxpayer to obtain whatever he wants as he did with the illegal invasion of Iraq.

No one have the rights to institutionalize the corruption!

These countries of my history in this post now have strong banks and are growing fast.
Why? They learn the lesson!

Percy H Florez

Republican Richard Shelby

Percy H Florez — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:06:39 EDT

At the end of the meeting in the white house was the only one who talk literally upset about the Bush's political submit, the news media and said:

There are not agreement, I Have five page of different and well know economist around the nation and every one said the Bush’s & Paulson plan it is a bad plan, also he remarked he was not welcomed in this Bush’s submit.

Nancy Pelosi rushed to the congress, without confront the news.

He was the only one who has the courage to expose the dangerous of this plan.

Percy H Florez

A Red Flag Flies High Over Financial Bailout

Eric Wattree — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:52:52 EDT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

A Red Flag Flies High Over Financial Bailout

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out this financial bailout, but the banking community's schemes to rid us of our money have been so convoluted that it's hard to get a handle on whether or not they're telling us the truth about the immediate severity of the problem. But there's one thing that I do have a handle on, and it sends a flaming red quilt all the way up the flagpole.

The Bush administration��"the very same people who have mismanaged everything they've touch for the past seven and a half years, and who have gouged, corrupted, and claimed to have literally "lost" billions of dollars of taxpayer funds in Iraq--is now asking that we give them full control over the way they spend 700 billion dollars to resolve this financial crisis--and with the warning that even taking the time to think about it is dangerously imprudent.

It’s over!

Percy H Florez — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:14:00 EDT

The oven is set to cook the tart.

Percy H Florez