Apr
2012 30
2012 30
88% of the Money Gov. Walker Raised in Q1 ’12 Came from Out of State Before Recall Donation Limits Kicked In
The time is now for Scott Walker to gather as much out-of-state money as possible. As a matter of fact, that’s the only kind of time Scott Walker keeps. The recall election is upon us and the John Doe Investigation into alleged abuses of power and illegal fundraising during Walker’s time as County Executive is ...
Apr
2012 27
2012 27
Romney Doing a Poor Job of Distancing Himself from the NLRB Scandal as It Inches Toward Him
Peter Schaumber, Mitt Romney’s recently relieved labor policy advisor, left the team in December just as he was being implicated in a federal ethics scandal involving NLRB member Terence Flynn. Now, the Inspector General of the NLRB is asking federal investigators to look more closely at Schaumber’s possible violations of the Hatch...
Apr
2012 23
2012 23
VIDEO: Reich Explains Romney’s Fortunes
In a video called, “How Did Mitt Romney Get So Extremely Rich?,” Robert Reich explains how private equity partnerships like Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital work. It is a quick and easy primer on how loopholes in the tax system allow private equity partnership managers to use other people’s money to buy up companies with much ...
Apr
2012 20
2012 20
U.S. PIRG: Nearly $100 Billion In Tax Revenue Is Lost Annually to Offshore Tax Havens
U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, used Tax Day this week to release a new study showing the average American taxpayer will have to pay an extra $426, while small businesses will pay an extra $2,116, to make up for tax losses caused by corporations hiding money in offshore tax havens: ...
Apr
2012 10
2012 10
Judge Calls Wells Fargo’s Courtroom Behavior “Clandestine” and “Reprehensible”
The always excellent bank watchdog blog, Naked Capitalism, recently looked into the systemic accounting abuses of Wells Fargo as court proceedings continue to reveal just how severely victims of the mortgage crisis have been affected. But Wells Fargo’s legal team has done quite a job of hindering the legal process. Common cases in which...
Apr
2012 6
2012 6
NOT SHOCKED: Wisconsin GOP Running Fake Democrats in May 8 Primary to Prevent High Turnout from Dethroning Republicans
It may not be precedented, but it sure is predictable. The Wisconsin GOP has lined up six fake Democrats to run in the May 8th Recall Election primaries to ensure that there will be Democratic primaries in each district so that no Republicans will have to face general election on that day. It is a ...
Apr
2012 6
2012 6
UTU/SMWIA: Conservative Cuts to Transportation Would Threaten 500,000 Jobs
In the event you haven’t already identified the potential harm that could be done to workers by Right-Wing legislation, the United Transportation Union (UT) and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) -– now combined into the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) — have arrived with an...
Apr
2012 6
2012 6
HERE WE GO AGAIN: Indiana Finds $206 Million More Mysterious Dollars It Didn’t Know It Had
In December we blogged about the outrage of an apparent programming error resulting in the discovery of $300 million that Indiana did not know it had. And now, the converse has happened as a result of yet another programming error. From WTHR-13: Indiana budget officials say $206 million communities could have spent on public safety, ...
Apr
2012 5
2012 5
Maine Gov. Vetoes Bill that Would Have Forced Banks to Prove They Own Homes They Foreclose On
Homeowners facing foreclosure in Maine were on the brink of getting help from their legislature when Governor Paul LePage put his miserly foot down. A bill that would have required banks to show proof of ownership or an original mortgage note before foreclosure proceedings passed through the state house with bipartisan support, but the relief ...
Apr
2012 3
2012 3
IRS Targeting SC Gov. Nikki Haley’s Family for Delinquent Taxes, Money Laundering, Supporting Her Campaign Illegally
UPDATE (just minutes after the original!): IRS will not investigate Haley. Haley will address the matter on ABC tonight, April 3. The news is not good for Nikki Haley as political blog The Palmetto Public Record has obtained public records showing that the IRS is investigating a Sikh worship center run by the South Carolina ...
Apr
2012 2
2012 2
12 Red States Responsible for Over 70% of U.S. Public Sector Job Losses in 2011
This may not exactly be breaking news, but numbers suggest that the ultraconservative state legislators pushing backwards legislation such as voter suppression are the same folks cutting public sector jobs at an alarming rate. The states that succumbed to the Tea Party takeover of 2010 have seen drastic job losses in the public sector and ...
Mar
2012 30
2012 30
“Sweetheart” Foreclosure Deal Enables Banks to Knock Over Houses Instead of Keeping People In Them
The sweetheart foreclosure deal that is drawing the ire of onlookers is now being understood to give banks credit for things they already do, further deepening the worry that the deal will in no way prevent another foreclosure crisis or sufficiently reprimand those responsible for the last one. The $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement between ...
