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9-11
Meta Index September 11 2001
CLONING NEWS STEM CELL NEWS ENRON NEWS MICROSOFT NEWS WORLDCOM NEWS Quad
Cities
A-Z text Top |
ACCOUNTING News:
 Financial
- Crisis
-  Politics
-  Government
"Bailout Could Deepen Crisis, CBO Chief Says: Asset Sales May Lead to Write-Downs, Insolvencies, Orszag Tells Congress." ... "The director of the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday that the proposed Wall Street bailout could actually worsen the current financial crisis." ... "During testimony before the House Budget Committee, Peter R. Orszag -- Congress's top bookkeeper --said the bailout could expose the way companies are stowing toxic assets on their books, leading to greater problems." ... ""Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values," Orszag said in his testimony. "Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent."" ... "In an interview later yesterday, Orszag explained using the following example: Suppose a company has Asset X, whose value is recorded on the books as $100. Because of the current economic decline, Asset X's real value has dropped to $50. If the company takes part in the government bailout and sells Asset X for $50, the company has to report a $50 loss on its books. On a scale of millions of dollars, such write-downs could ruin a company." ... "Such companies "look solvent today only because it's kind of hidden," Orszag said. "They actually are insolvent" already, he said." (1, 2) -By Frank Ahrens -WashingtonPost
 US
-  Iraq
-  Investigators
-  Reconstruction
- Accounting
- Politics
"$13 Billion in Iraq Aid Wasted Or Stolen, Ex-Investigator Says." ... "A former Iraqi official estimated yesterday that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes." ... "Salam Adhoob, a former chief investigator for Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, an arm of the Democratic caucus, that an Iraqi auditing bureau "could not properly account for" the money." ... "While many of the projects audited "were not needed -- and many were never built," he said, "this very real fact remains: Billions of American dollars that paid for these projects are now gone."" ... "He said a report that went to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials was never published because "nobody cares" about investigating such cases. Many investigators, he said, feared for their safety because 32 of his co-workers have been murdered. " -By Dana Hedgpeth with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
 Henry
Paulson
- Corporate
- Government
-  Illegal
- Accounting
- Politics
-  History
- US
-  Global
"Can you trust a Wall Street veteran with a Wall Street bailout?" ... "Making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows, [Republican President Bush's] Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson repeatedly said today's financial problems were long in the making. He should know. He was part of the Gold Rush that has brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse." ... "Paulson presided over one of the most profitable runs on Wall Street as chairman and chief executive officer of investment banking titan Goldman Sachs & Co. from 1999 until [Republican] President Bush nominated him on May 30, 2006 to take over the Treasury Department." ... "But with Paulson now seeking virtually unfettered authority to administer the largest bailout of the financial industry in U.S. [United States] history, many are wondering whether Paulson also doesn't come with enormous potential conflicts of interest." ... "Paulson has surrounded himself with former Goldman executives as he tries to navigate the domino-like collapse of several parts of the global financial market. And others have gone off to lead companies that could be among those that receive a bailout." ... "The administration's draft law also would preclude court review of steps Paulson might take, something Joshua Rosner, managing director of economic researcher Graham Fisher & Co. in New York, said could be used to mask previous illegal activity." ... "The Treasury proposal sent to Congress also offers no process to hire asset managers in an open and competitive process. That's particularly questionable given that Wall Street players are now hiring Wall Street players, Rosner said." ... ""This seems to invite a risk of collusion between sellers and buyers to the detriment of the taxpayer," he wrote." ... "At a minimum, there's irony in Paulson being in charge of so large a bailout." ... "In the last annual report at Goldman that Paulson signed off on in November 2005, a year in which he received $38 million in compensation, investors were clearly told that the federal government wouldn't be there to save them from bad investments." ... "In 2002, Paulson received $12.1 million in compensation, including a $6.3 million bonus — an improvement over the previous three years when Wall Street accounting scandals unsettled investment banks, including a $1.5 billion settlement Goldman and other banks paid for issuing overly bullish research reports that promoted deals the banks themselves were involved in." ... "Published reports said Paulson received $30 million in compensation and salary in 2003." -By Kevin G. Hall -McClatchyDC.com
Money
- Politics
-  Jobs
- Federal
- History
"Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans." ... "The figures below are all from the annual Economic Report of the President, and the analysis is primitive. Nevertheless, what these numbers show almost beyond doubt is that Democrats are better at virtually every economic task that is important to Republicans." ... "This exercise implicitly assumes that lower taxes are always good and higher government spending is always bad. " ... "The only point is that if you find the Republican mantra of lower taxes and smaller government appealing, and if you care only about how fast the economy is growing, not how that growth is shared, you should vote Democratic." ... "On average, in years when the president is a Democrat, the economy grows faster; inflation is lower; fewer people can't find a job; the federal government spends a smaller share of GDP, whether or not you include defense spending; and the deficit is lower (or—sweet [Democratic President] Clinton-years memory—the surplus is higher)." -By Michael Kinsley -Slate
Corporate
-  Oil
- Government
- Political
- Accounting
- Legal
- Investigation
-  Drugs
"Sex, drug use and graft cited in U.S. agency scandal." ... "As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct." ... "In three reports delivered to Congress on Wednesday, the department's inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, found wrongdoing by a dozen current and former employees of the Minerals Management Service, which collects about $10 billion in royalties annually and is one of the government's largest sources of revenue other than taxes." ... ""A culture of ethical failure" pervades the agency, Devaney wrote in a cover memo." ... "The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the [Republican President] Bush administration's watch." ... "The highest-ranking official criticized in the reports is Lucy Denett, the former associate director of minerals revenue management, who retired earlier this year as the inquiry was progressing." ... "One former official named in the report, Jimmy Mayberry, pleaded guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge in August and faces a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine." ... "In late 2002, when he was about to retire from the government, Mayberry drafted a "statement of work" for a consulting contract to perform essentially identical functions to his own. He then retired, started a company, and in June 2003 won the contract with the help of Denett and Milton Dial, another friend at the agency who later went to work for Mayberry." ... "Denett did not return a message left at her home on Wednesday with her husband, Paul Denett, who was the top procurement official in the [President Bush] White House Office of Management and Budget until he resigned this month. He declined to comment." ... "The other high-ranking official the Justice Department has declined to prosecute is Gregory Smith, the former program director of the royalty-in-kind program." ... "Some 19 officials — a third of the program's staff — took gifts from oil and gas executives, some with "prodigious frequency."" ... "On one occasion, the report said, the royalty-in-kind program allowed a Chevron representative who won a bid to purchase some of the government's oil to pay taxpayers a lower amount than his winning offer because he said he had made a mistake in his calculations. A report from Devaney's office earlier this year found that the program had frequently allowed companies that purchase the oil and gas to revise their bids downward after they won contracts. It documented 118 such occasions that cost taxpayers about $4.4 million in all." (1, 2, 3) -By Charlie Savage -NYTimes via -IHT.com 
 Sarah
Palin -  John
McCain - Money
- Politics
- Accounting
-  Alaska
-  Wisconsin
- 2008
Election
"Plane Not Sold on eBay." ... "One of the compelling anecdotes about [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin is that she auctioned off the Alaska governor's jet on eBay after taking office -- a swift move made by a reformer hoping to clean up the excesses of her predecessor." ... "But in fact, the jet did not sell on eBay. It was sold to a businessman from Valdez named Larry Reynolds, who paid $2.1 million for the jet, shy of the original $2.7 million purchase price, according to contemporaneous news reports, including a story in the New York Times." ... "Dan Spencer, the director of administrative services for Alaska's Public Safety Department, said that the Republican speaker of the Alaska House, John L. Harris, brokered the deal. Reynolds made campaign contributions to both Palin and Harris in 2006 and 2007." ... "But that hasn't stopped Palin, or John McCain, from implying -- and, on Friday, claiming outright -- that Palin did sell the jet on the Internet." ... ""You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay -- and made a profit!" [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain declared in Wisconsin at a campaign stop on Friday." -By Anne E. Kornblut -WashingtonPost
John
McCain -  Carl
H Lindner Jr - BobPerry
- - Money
- Politics
- Accounting
- Marketing
- 2004
Election - 2008
Election -  Texas
-  Ohio
-  Arizona
-  Illinois
-  Obama
"McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes: Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama." ... "Allies of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama." ... "In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth." ... "The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those limits, and has long gathered up large donations from individuals and companies. Now it is telling donors it can use their contributions to benefit Sen. McCain in some key battleground states." ... "Altogether, individuals can give $108,000 to federal campaigns within each two-year election cycle." ... "Donors with deep pockets also can avoid limits completely by contributing to groups called 527 organizations, after a provision in the tax code." ... "The [Republican] governors group counts a number of large corporations among its donors, including WellPoint Inc. [Incorporated] at $200,000, and Pfizer Inc. [Incorporated], Bank of America Corp. [Corporation] and Travelers Cos. [Companies] at $150,000 or more." ... "Texas developer Bob Perry, the largest financial backer of the Swift Boat group [that attacked the military service of 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry], also is the largest individual donor to the governors group, at $250,000. Carl Lindner, a retired insurance executive in Ohio and another top Swift Boat financier, has contributed $100,000 to the governors' fund. The campaign-finance lawyer for the Swift Boat group in 2004 now serves the same role for the governors association." ... "In another Republican strategy, the McCain campaign itself last month began soliciting its biggest donations yet -- up to $70,100 per check." -By Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam -WSJ.com
John
McCain -  Tom
Loeffler - Susan
E Nelson -  Gordon
England -  EADS
-  European
-  Military
-  Aircraft
-  Manufacturing
- Politics
- Government
- Auditors
-US
- 2008
Election
"McCain’s Boeing Battle Boomerangs." ... "Government auditors ruled that the Air Force made "significant errors" when it rebid the [aerial refueling tanker] contract and awarded the $35 billion project to Boeing's chief rival, partners European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. [Company] (or EADS) and Northrop Grumman. It's likely the Air Force will have to redo the bid yet again, which analysts say will delay the replacement of the fleet's 1950s-era refueling tankers. The auditors' ruling has also cast light on an overlooked aspect of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's crusade: five of his campaign's top advisers and fund-raisers—including Tom Loeffler, who resigned last month as his finance co-chairman, and Susan Nelson, his finance director—were registered lobbyists for EADS." ... "Critics, including some at the Pentagon, cite in particular two tough letters McCain wrote to Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England in 2006 and another to Robert Gates, just prior to his confirmation as Defense secretary. In the first letter, dated [September] Sept. 8, 2006, McCain wrote of hearing from "third parties" that the Air Force was about to redo the tanker competition by factoring in European government subsidies to EADS—a condition that could have seriously hurt the EADS bid. McCain urged that the Pentagon drop the subsidy factor and posed a series of technical questions about the Air Force's process. "He was trying to jam us and bully us to make sure there was competition by giving EADS an advantage," said one senior Pentagon official, who asked for anonymity when discussing a politically sensitive matter. The assumption within the Pentagon, the official added, was that McCain's letters were drafted by EADS lobbyists. "There was no one else that would have had that level of detail," the official said." -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek 
Military
-  Tech
-  Safety
- Investigation
- Government
- Accounting
- Politics
- US
-  Taiwan
"US N-weapons parts missing, Pentagon says." ... "The US military cannot locate hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components, according to several government officials familiar with a Pentagon report on nuclear safeguards." ... "Robert Gates, US [Republican President Bush's] defence secretary, recently fired both the US Air Force chief of staff and air force secretary after an investigation blamed the air force for the inadvertent shipment of nuclear missile nose cones to Taiwan." ... "According to previously undisclosed details obtained by the FT, the investigation also concluded that the air force could not account for many sensitive components previously included in its nuclear inventory." ... "One official said the number of missing components was more than 1,000." ... "The disclosure is the latest embarrassing episode for the air force, which last year had to explain how a bomber mistakenly carried six nuclear missiles across the US." -By Demetri Sevastopulos -FT.com 
John
McCain - Barack
Obama - Economists
- Accounting
- 2008
Election
"Will the real tax-and-spender please 'fess up? Economists across political spectrum question [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's portrayal of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama." ... "In a study of the candidates’ plans made public Wednesday, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concluded that in contrast to Mr. McCain, “Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers.”" ... "The study said, “The largest tax cuts, as a share of income, would go to those at the bottom of the income distribution,” whereas “Senator McCain’s tax cuts would primarily benefit those with very high incomes.”" ... "Other groups that focus on tax and economic policy are preparing similar analyses, but say they regard the Tax Policy Center’s assessment as highly reliable, based on its work in the past." ... "According to the group’s computations, under Mr. Obama’s plan, the middle of the middle class, or those earning $37,595 to $66,354, would see taxes cut by $1,042 a year. Under Mr. McCain’s plan, taxes for people in that category would also fall, but by $319; the largest chunk of the benefits would go to those making $2.8 million a year or more." -By Larry Rohter -NYTimes via -MSNBC
Barack
Obama - John
McCain - Corporate
- Politics
- History
-  Missouri
- 2008
Election
"Obama vs. McCain: Taxing and Spending." ... "Campaigning in St. Louis [Missouri] on June 10, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama called the current [Republican President Bush] Administration "the most fiscally irresponsible in our history" and argued that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain would be even worse. "I've said John McCain is running to serve out a third term, but when it comes to taxes, that's not being fair to George Bush. Senator McCain wants to add $300 billion more in tax breaks and loopholes for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans," Obama said." ... "First Round to Obama" ... "According to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, two Washington think tanks, this round goes to Obama. The TPC took a look at the various tax proposals put forth by the two candidates and estimated that Obama's plan would lead to a boost in aftertax income for all but the highest earners, while taking a smaller bite out of government tax revenues than would McCain's plans." ... "Len Burman, a former Treasury tax official who is now a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, says if Obama's proposals—which include plans to rescind the Bush tax cuts on couples making more than $250,000, close corporate tax loopholes, and tax private equity earnings known as "carried interest" as ordinary income—were adopted in 2009, for example, married couples with earnings in the lowest quintile of the population would see their aftertax income rise 5.8%. Those in the next quintile would see an increase of 4%. Those breaks would be paid for by those with high incomes: the top 1% of taxpayers would see aftertax income fall 8.4%." ... "Under McCain's proposals, by contrast—including an extension of the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers, a corporate tax cut, and a larger reduction in estate taxes than Obama would support—far more of the benefits would go to the top. If his plans went into effect in 2009, married couples in the bottom fifth of the population would see aftertax income go up just 0.2%, while those in the next quintile would see a 0.7% hike. But those in the top quintile would see a bump up in aftertax income of 2.7%." ... ""It's just flat wrong" to say people would do worse under Obama, says Burman. "Most lower- and middle-class people would pay less taxes under Obama than they would under the proposals being put forth by McCain."" ... "[Obama's economic policy director Jason Furman:] "Some 23% of the tax cuts they [McCain and Republican's] are proposing would go to households making more than $2.8 million under the McCain plan," he says. "That's a phenomenally large benefit for the super rich, beyond anything George Bush has proposed." " (1, 2) -By Jane Sasseen -BusinessWeek
Barack
Obama - John
McCain - Money- Politics
- Workers
-  Retirees
-  Homeowners
-  Students
-  Farmers
-  Families
- US_Debt
- Law
- Illinois
- Arizona
- 2008
Election
"A Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans." [Full Report PDF] ... "Senator [from Illinois and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama would permanently extend certain provisions of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts primarily affecting taxpayers with incomes under $250,000; increase the maximum rate on capital gains and qualified dividends; and enact new and expanded targeted tax breaks for workers, retirees, homeowners, savers, students, and new farmers. Senator [from Arizona and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain proposes to extend permanently the AMT "patch" that has prevented most individuals and families with incomes below $200,000 from being affected by the tax, and in our interpretation of his proposal, Senator Obama would do the same." ... "Although both candidates have at times stressed fiscal responsibility, their specific non-health tax proposals would reduce tax revenues by $3.7 trillion (McCain) and $2.7 trillion (Obama) over the next 10 years, or approximately 10 and 7 percent of the revenues scheduled for collection under current law, respectively. Furthermore, as in the case of [Republican] President Bush's tax cuts, the true cost of McCain's policies may be masked by phase-ins and sunsets (scheduled expiration dates) that reduce the estimated revenue costs. If his policies were fully phased in and permanent, the ten-year cost would rise to $4.1 trillion, or about 11 percent of total revenues." -TaxPolicyCenter.org
John
McCain - Tom
Loeffler - Susan
E Nelson -  Rick
Davis - Illegal
- 2008
Election - Accounting
- Politics
- Federal
- Investigation
"Group files complaint against McCain campaign." ... "A group that supports public financing of campaigns filed a federal complaint against [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's presidential campaign Monday, calling for an investigation into two financial transactions involving two top McCain aides." ... "The Federal Election Commission complaint by Campaign Money Watch, a group that has received financing from Democratic leaning donors, questions payments from former finance chair Tom Loeffler to campaign finance director Susan Nelson. It also questions the reduction of a debt to a Web services firm co-owned by McCain campaign manager Rick Davis." ... ""A campaign manager renegotiating a debt with a company he partly owns raises serious conflict of interest questions," said David Donnelly, the director of Campaign Money Watch." ... "Donnelly also questioned whether Loeffler's payments to Nelson amounted to an illegal subsidy to a campaign staffer. Loeffler is a lobbyist and former congressman and Nelson is a former associate of Loeffler's lobbying firm." -By Jim Kuhnhenn -AP via-AJC
Money
- Accounting
- Politics
- Investigation
-  Maryland
- Home
- Construction
"Former NRCC [Republican] Treasurer Embezzled $500,000, Court Papers Say." ... "The former treasurer of a key Republican campaign committee embezzled more than $500,000 over a five-year period, using it to fund mortgage payments and a six-figure remodeling of his Bethesda [Maryland] home, according to court documents filed yesterday." ... "The papers were filed by federal prosecutors in an attempt to force the former treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, to forfeit his home to the government." ... "The government alleges that Ward, who had worked for National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) since the 1990s, made numerous unauthorized diversions of funds from its accounts and joint accounts set up with Senate Republicans. He often shifted money into his personal account just as payments for his mortgage or home remodeling were due, according to the court filing." ... "Ward, who was fired earlier this year, has not been charged with a crime, but the civil action filed yesterday seeks to seize his home in the 6300 block of Massachusetts Avenue. Such efforts prevent subjects of investigations from selling properties that were allegedly part of their crimes and hiding the proceeds." -By Paul Kane and Del Quentin Wilber -WashingtonPost 
 Hillary
Clinton - Accounting
- Politics
-  Florida
-  Michigan
-  Iowa
-  Puerto
Rico -  Nevada
-  Washington
-  Maine
- Barack
Obama - 2008
Election - "Hillary:
Peddling pop vote canards to the end." ... "The facts,
which must be repeated:" ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate]
Hillary [Clinton] does not lead in the popular vote by any measure other
than her own idiosyncratic belief that Florida should count even though
it didn't and hundreds of thousands of Floridians didn't vote because they
were told it wouldn't; that Puerto Rico should count even though Puerto
Ricans can't vote in the general election ("lead us to victory in November"???);
that Michigan should also count even though it didn't and thousands of
Michiganders didn't vote because they were told it wouldn't and she was
the only person on the ballot; that Obama should get zero votes -- Zero!!!
-- from Michigan ["Uncommited" received 238,168 votes, Clinton received
328,309 votes]; and that Obama also should get no votes from four states
that he won [Iowa, Nevada, Washington, and Maine], because they held caucuses
and didn't count the popular vote." -By John Riley
-Newsday.com
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John
McCain - US_Debt
- Money
- Politics
- Legislator
- Military
- Families
- Housing
- Construction
- Iraq
- 
Israel
- 
Egypt
- 
Jordan
- Arizona
- US
- 2008
Election - Noteworthy
- "McCain's
Fantasy War on Earmarks." ... "[2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate] John McCain boasts that he can save $100 billion
a year "immediately" by eliminating the so-called earmarks that legislators
attach to spending bills to finance pet projects, usually in their home
state. But he has refused to say exactly which projects he would cut, and
his estimates of the amount of money that is being spent on earmarks have
been challenged by independent experts." ... "The Facts:" ... "The
Arizona senator is promising to balance the budget by the end of his first
term, while simultaneously extending the [Republican] George W. Bush tax
cuts, introducing billions of dollars of new tax cuts of his own, and remaining
in Iraq as long as is necessary to stabilize that country. Asked how this
miracle will be accomplished, McCain told George Stephanopoulos of ABC
News This Week on April 20 that he could come up with $100 billion
"tomorrow" by vetoing pork-barrel spending bills." ... "There are a number
of problems with this magical budgetary balancing act. First of all, the
suspiciously round $100 billion figure is largely a figment of the McCain
campaign's imagination. I have not been able to find a single independent
budget expert to vouch for it. McCain's economics adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin,
will not say how the campaign arrived at the figure, other than that it
is an extrapolation from various studies, including a 2006 study by the
Congressional Research Service available
here [PDF]." ... "However, much of this money is tied to items such
as foreign aid to countries like Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, that 
