Culver Theis's blog

The Fix: Romney's tea party-friendly defense on health care

Mitt Romney made some of his most significant statements yet this weekend about the health care bill he signed as governor of Massachusetts, offering a preview of his defense for what many are expecting to be a potent line of attack for Romney's opponents.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/07/AR2011030701323.html?wprss=rss_politics

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Oct 3, 2011 8:53:06 AM

At Countrywide, protecting mortgage fraud involved firing whistleblowers

The thing about a corporation committing widespread fraud is that it tends to involve a lot of people, some of whom will not be enthusiastic about committing fraud and may even try to stop it. Michael Hudson at iWatch News reports on how Countrywide Financial Corp. protected its ability to commit fraud by firing whistleblowers, behavior that continued after Countrywide was bought by Bank of America. In fact, they fired the person in charge of fraud investigations; recently, "the U.S. Department of Labor ruled that Bank of America had illegally fired her as payback for exposing fraud and retaliation against whistleblowers. It ordered the bank to reinstate her and pay her some $930,000."

But Countrywide/Bank of America didn't just get in the way of investigations at the top. At least 17 other former employees allege that they were demoted or fired for raising the alarm about fraud they witnessed. For instance:

Mark Bonjean, a former operations unit manager in Arizona, complained to a divisional vice president, according to a lawsuit in state court in Maricopa County. Within two hours of sending the VP an email about what he believed were violations of the state?s organized crime and fraud statutes, the suit said, he was placed on administrative leave. The next day, according to the lawsuit, he was fired.

And:

Lupe Manegdeg, a loan specialist at a Countrywide office in Glendale, Calif., claimed that, in early 2007, she discovered that loan officers in her branch were defrauding borrowers in a variety of ways ? including forging their signatures on documents and lying to them about the type of loans they were getting.
She reported this, she said, to her supervisors, to Countrywide human-resources officials and to the company?s fraud hotline. The company responded, her lawsuit in state court in Los Angeles said, by firing her.

Corporate corruption of the pervasive kind that helped bring on the mortgage crisis and victimized so many homeowners comes from the top. But here it succeeded by involving employees throughout the company?and by penalizing those who resisted. Neither was Countrywide alone in abusing its employees in order to sign more and more dubious loans, as Hudson's book The Monster details. Strong protections?whether through government oversight or unions?for workers who push back on troubling or outright illegal actions by employers don't just protect the workers, they protect us all.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/uKAfZqUVzJs/-At-Countrywide,-protecting-mortgage-fraud-involved-firing-whistleblowers

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Oct 3, 2011 5:53:07 AM

Right Turn: Didn't Obama pledge to complete 3 free-trade deals?

The Wall Street Journal reports: "U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Monday appealed to congressional leaders to begin work "without delay" toward ratifying a free-trade deal with South Korea, even as Republican leaders continued to press to link such action with movement on trade pacts with C...

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/08/AR2011030804720.html?wprss=rss_politics

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Oct 3, 2011 2:53:10 AM

Open Thread

A cyber-penny for your thoughts (on any subject, not just the cartoon).

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/10/02/333792/open-thread/

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Oct 2, 2011 11:53:06 PM

News Analysis: For Obama, Success Battling Terrorists Seems to Mean Little

Though many Americans approve of how President Obama is dealing with terrorism and foreign policy, their preoccupation is with the struggling economy.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=b09f68736c5be82ac87da7a53d6bdb1d

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Oct 2, 2011 8:53:07 PM

New York Times? Andrew Ross Sorkin Sneers At Wall Street Protesters, Estimates Only 80 There

The Occupy Wall Street protests have grown every day since they began two weeks ago. In the past 24 hours, they have expanded to Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and other major cities as thousands have gathered to demand economic justice and an end to big bank dominated politics. But according to a top Wall Street [...]

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/media/2011/10/01/333749/andrew-ross-sorkin-sneers-occupy-wall-street/

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Oct 2, 2011 5:53:09 PM

Cain Calls Perry ?Insensitive? To Black People For Not Changing Racist Name Of Family?s Hunting Camp

In a new report, the Washington Post reveals that, for years, the West Texas hunting camp where Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) hosted friends and lawmakers bore the offensive name “Niggerhead.” Perry and his family first began leasing the property in the early 1980s but even after he became governor, reports suggest that Perry made no [...]

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/10/02/333808/herman-cain-rickperry-insensitive-to-black-people-for-not-changing-racist-name-of-familys-hunting-camp/

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Oct 2, 2011 2:53:07 PM

White House Wrong to Lean on Ford

Frank Beckmann, Detroit News
One would think the Obama White House has enough to worry about — with unemployment at more than 9 percent, a housing market that remains depressed, and a new stimulus spending plan that is failing to gain support from Democrats and Republicans — that it wouldn't worry about television ads. But the micromanagement practiced by President Obama's politically driven regime has reached a new level with its involvement in a Ford TV ad that had been acclaimed as popular in helping the company sell the nation's most popular automotive product, the F-150 truck....

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/10/02/white_house_wrong_to_lean_on_ford_264545.html

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Oct 2, 2011 11:53:08 AM