Business News

20081224
Barack Obama - Federal - Stem Cell - Health - Money - Legislation - Politics - Colo
"Scientists eager for stem cell policy change." ... "Although [Democratic] President-elect Obama’s pledge to change federal policy on stem cell research is not likely to lead to new cures by the end of his first year — or even first term — the scientific community is eager to get moving." ... "Embryonic stem cell research is one area in which the change that Obama has promised on the campaign trail will provoke an immediate effect." ... "Once he has acted to ease the restriction on federal funding, researchers across the United States will be free to request funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to collaborate with colleagues conducting experiments with private or state-government money and those working abroad." ... "“Just with the stroke of a pen, the new president could open up new avenues of research,” said [Colorado Democratic Representative] Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.), the lead Democratic sponsor of legislation that would broaden funding for embryonic stem cell research." ... "Researchers believe embryonic stem cells can be made to replicate practically any human cell or tissue, thus leading to treatments for countless ailments." -By Jeffrey Young -TheHill.com

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Christopher Cox - Corporate - Government - Accounting - Law - Investigation - Politics
"SEC Chair Asked If He Deserves Blame For Wall Street Crisis: ‘Absolutely Not,’ It ‘Wasn’t The SEC’s Job’." ... "In a new interview with the Washington Post, embattled [Republican President Bush's] Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox stridently “defend[ed] his restrained approach to the financial crisis.” He refused to accept any blame for the Wall Street crisis or the Madoff Ponzi scheme, saying that regulating Wall Street and protecting investors “wasn’t the SEC’s job“:"

"Cox argued that the agency has carefully defined responsibilities and that it was unfair to blame it for every problem on Wall Street." ... "“The public might not understand that that wasn’t the SEC’s job,” he said, adding that the agency was not responsible for preventing investment banks from collapsing but rather for sheltering their securities trading units from problems in the broader corporation. “The SEC is not a safety and soundness regulator,” he said. [..]"

"In fact, the SEC’s mission statement clearly suggests that “safety” is — or should be — a primary concern of the commission:"

"The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation."

"A review by the SEC inspector general “determined the agency’s monitoring of the five biggest Wall Street firms, which included Bear Stearns, was lacking.” (Just a few days before Bear Stearns collapsed, Cox said he had “a good deal of comfort” in the bank’s capital levels.) Another analysis showed that the SEC dramatically cut its oversight of financial trades. “In one of its core areas — regulation of Wall Street firms — its case load was down significantly,” said Ben A. Indek, a securities lawyer at the law firm that performed the analysis." ... "Cox also denied any culpability in the Madoff scandal: “When Cox was asked whether he should be blamed for a culture of lax enforcement that allowed multiple warnings about the fraud to go undetected, he said: ‘Absolutely not.’” However, a former SEC official slammed Cox for failing to prevent the Ponzi scheme: “I can’t comprehend how a well-run investigation would have missed a fraud of this magnitude,” said Lynn Turner, a former SEC chief accountant." -By Ali Frick -ThinkProgress.org

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20081223
Health - Military - Lawsuit - KBR - Corporate - Politics - Unsafe - Ice - IN - US - Iraq
"Soldiers Accuse KBR Of Knowingly Exposing Troops To Deadly Toxin In Iraq." ... "Controversial military contractor KBR has racked up quite a record of endangering the lives of U.S. [United States] soldiers serving in Iraq. Over the years, the former Halliburton subsidiary has been accused of everything from giving troops ice tainted with “traces of body fluids and putrefied remains” to ignoring warnings of unsafe wiring that led to troop deaths." ... "Earlier this month, attorneys for 16 members of the Indiana National Guard filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that they “knowingly exposed the soldiers to a cancer-causing toxic chemical.” In a special report last night, CBS News revealed that KBR knew of the toxic exposure to hexavalent chromium long before it informed the guardsmen:"

"Now CBS News has obtained information that indicates KBR knew about the danger months before the soldiers were ever informed." ... "Depositions from KBR employees detailed concerns about the toxin in one part of the plant as early as May of 2003. And KBR minutes, from a later meeting state “that 60 percent of the people … exhibit symptoms of exposure,” including bloody noses and rashes." ... "Gentry says it wasn’t until the last day of August in 2003 - after four long months at the facility - that he was told the plant was contaminated."

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WATCH: "KBR Accused In Toxic Scandal" via -CBSNews

"After receiving a briefing on the case on Monday, [Indiana Democratic Senator] Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN [Democratic-Indiana]) told CBS that “KBR has a lot to answer for“:"

"“Look, I think the burden of proof at this point is on the company,” Bayh said. “To come forward and very forthrightly explain what happened, why we should trust them, and why the health and well-being of our soldiers should continue to be in their hands.”"

"In a statement to CBS, the company denied all charges, saying, “We deny the assertion that KBR harmed troops and was responsible for an unsafe condition.” According to CNN, “an estimated 275 American soldiers may have been exposed to the chemical” at the KBR water plant, “over a period of months through mid- to late-2003.”" -By Matt Corley -ThinkProgress.org

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Market - History - Ivory Coast
"Cocoa hits 23-year high on supply fears." ... "Cocoa prices on Tuesday surged to a 23-year high as speculative investors poured into the market amid concerns about dwindling supplies from Ivory Coast, by far the world’s largest producer." ... "Prices for cocoa have risen 70 per cent in the past year, bucking the weakness in overall commodities prices. " -By Javier Blas -FT.com

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20081222
Military - KBR - Corporate - Politics - Indiana - US - Iraq
"Did Contractor Expose Troops To Toxin? CBS Evening News Exclusive: American Soldiers Are Dying Of Lung Cancer - And May Have Been Knowingly Exposed." ... "The military contractor Kellogg Brown and Root, known as KBR, has won more than $28 billion in U.S. military contracts since the beginning of the Iraq war. KBR may be facing a new scandal. First, accusations its then-parent company Halliburton was given the lucrative contract. And later, allegations of shoddy construction oversight that resulted in Americans getting electrocuted. Now, some other American soldiers say the company knowingly put their lives at risk, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian and investigative producer Laura Strickler exclusively report." ... "In April of 2003, James Gentry of the Indiana National Guard arrived in Southern Iraq to take command of more than 600 other guardsmen. Their job: protect KBR contractors working at a local water plant." ... ""We didn't question what we were doing, we just knew we had to provide a security service for the KBR," said Battalion Cmdr. [Commander] Gentry." ... "Today James Gentry is dying from rare form of lung cancer. The result, he believes, of months of inhaling hexavalent chromium - an orange dust that's part of a toxic chemical found all over the plant." ... "At least one other Indiana guardsman has already died from lung cancer, and others are said to be suffering from tumors and rashes consistent with exposure to the deadly toxin." ... "Now CBS News has obtained information that indicates KBR knew about the danger months before the soldiers were ever informed." -By Armen Keteyian -CBSNews

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WATCH: "KBR Accused In Toxic Scandal" -CBSNews

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Water - Technology - Company - Environment - Minnesota - Texas
"Nation's First 'Underwater Wind Turbine' Installed in Old Man River." ... "The nation's first commercial hydrokinetic turbine, which harnesses the power from moving water without the construction of a dam, has splashed into the waters of the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota." ... "The 35-kilowatt turbine is positioned downstream from an existing hydroelectric-plant dam and — together with another turbine to be installed soon — will increase the capacity of the plant by more than 5 percent. The numbers aren't big, but the rig's installation could be the start of an important trend in green energy." ... "And that could mean more of these "wind turbines for the water" will be generating clean energy soon." ... ""We don't require that massive dam construction, we're just using the natural flow of the stream," said Mark Stover, a vice president at Hydro Green Energy, the Houston[ Texas]-based company leading the project. "It's underwater windpower if you will, but we have 840 or 850 times the energy density of wind."" ... "Hydrokinetic turbines like those produced by Hydro Green and Verdant capture the mechanical energy of the water's flow and turn it into energy, without need for a dam." ... "Hydro Green's Stover hopes that his company's new unit will help shorten that regulatory process by generating environmental impact data that could ease concerns the turbines will disrupt river ecosystems and habitats." -By Alexis Madrigal -Wired

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20081221
Corporate - Government - Accounting - Politics - New York
"AP study finds $1.6B went to bailed-out bank execs." ... "Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals." ... "The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue. Some trimmed their executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages." ... "Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management, the AP review of federal securities documents found." ... "_The average paid to each of the banks' top executives was $2.6 million in salary, bonuses and benefits." ... "_Lloyd Blankfein, president and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, took home nearly $54 million in compensation last year. The company's top five executives received a total of $242 million." ... "The New York-based company on Dec. 16 reported its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1999. It received $10 billion in taxpayer money on Oct. 28." ... "_John A. Thain, chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, topped all corporate bank bosses with $83 million in earnings last year." ... "Like Goldman, Merrill got $10 billion from taxpayers on Oct. 28." -By Frank Bass and Rita Beamish -AP via -Yahoo

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Working - People - Economics - Education - Safety - Enforcement - Politics - Maryland
"Squeezed on All Sides, Parents Forgo Day Care: Education, Safety Sacrificed in Fiscal Crunch." ... "In the [Maryland's] Prince George's County community of Riverdale Park, town officials have noted a distressing sign of the national economic downturn: more children left home alone to fend for themselves by working parents too strapped to afford child care." ... "The problem was discovered by code enforcement officers who inspect apartments in the town of 7,000. They used to come across such cases once every couple of years. Then, six months ago, they found one child left alone, followed by another and another." ... "In one instance, a kindergarten-age girl was found hiding in a closet, apparently because she was scared, code enforcement officers said. In another, children aged 10 or 12 were missing school to watch their younger siblings." ... "Riverdale's experience comes amid an increasing economic strain in child care across the Washington [Washington DC, United States capital] region. In an area known for day-care waiting lists, many operators report a rise in vacancies as parents withdraw their children or cut back on hours because they can no longer afford the cost." ... "The phenomenon is not universal, but it has struck in many middle- and working-class areas as lost jobs, reduced work schedules and foreclosed homes affect families with few reserves." (1, 2, 3) -By Donna St. George -WashingtonPost

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20081220
Fashion - Politics - Journalist - Investigators - US - Iraq - Turkey
"‘Bush Shoe’ Gives Firm a Footing in the Market." ... "When a pair of black leather oxfords hurled at [Republican] President Bush in Baghdad [Iraq's capital] produced a gasp heard around the world, a Turkish cobbler had a different reaction: They were his shoes." ... "“We have been producing that specific style, which I personally designed, for 10 years, so I couldn’t have missed it, no way,” said Ramazan Baydan, a shoemaker in Istanbul [Turkey]. “As a shoemaker, you understand.”" ... "Although his assertion has been impossible to verify — cobblers from Lebanon, China and Iraq have also staked claims to what is quickly becoming some of the most famous footwear in the world — orders for Mr. Baydan’s shoes, formerly known as Ducati Model 271 and since renamed “The Bush Shoe,” have poured in from around the world." ... "For now, Mr. Baydan’s customers will have to take his word for it. The journalist who launched the shoes at a news conference a week ago, Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, was wrestled to the ground by guards and has not been seen in public since. Explosives tests by investigators destroyed the offending footwear." -By Sebnem Arsu -NYTimes

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20081219
Christopher Cox - Corporate - Government -Accounting - Law - Enforcement - Politics
"Who's Mess Is the S.E.C.? News Analysis: In his extraordinary mea culpa over the Madoff scandal, [Republican President Bush's Securities and Exchange Commission] S.E.C. chairman Christopher Cox accepted full blame...on behalf of his staff. But isn't he in charge?" ... "When Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox made an extraordinary apology for the agency having failed to follow up on clear evidence of wrongdoing by suspected financial fraudster Bernard Madoff, he excluded one key player from blame: himself." ... "In the public statement on Tuesday, Cox laid out a blistering attack on his staff, while appearing to exonerate himself from any responsibility." ... "He said the agency's most senior officials learned only a week ago that "credible and specific allegations regarding Mr. Madoff's financial wrongdoing, going back to at least 1999, were repeatedly brought to the attention of S.E.C. staff, but were never recommended to the Commission for action."" ... ""I am gravely concerned," Cox added, "by the apparent multiple failures over at least a decade to thoroughly investigate these allegations or at any point to seek formal authority [from the commission] to pursue them."" ... "Cox's decision to distance himself from the staffs' performance has rankled former senior S.E.C. officials who had nothing to do with the Madoff inquiries." ... "The S.E.C. is structured so that the chairman personally is in charge of the staff, these former agency officials said; he is in effect the agency's C.E.O. [Chief Executive Officer], with division heads reporting directly to him, and he makes decisions about staff appointments and allocation of resources." ... "As Condé Nast Portfolio magazine reported in its October issue, Cox took steps to weaken and hamstring the enforcement division." ... "He slowed down and delayed approval when staff members did ask for formal authority to investigate, and pressed the agency to focus more on penny-stock scams, boiler-room operations, and other relatively petty crimes. S.E.C. veterans said this detracted from efforts to pursue major Wall Street frauds." -By Scot Paltrow -Portfolio.com

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Chris Cox - Corporate - Government - Accounting - Law - Enforcement - Politics - California - New York
"Cox "Worked to Dismantle The SEC," Says Commission Vet." ... "In recent years, particularly under [Republican President Bush's Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Chris] Cox, a former California GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] congressman, the SEC has pursued a policy of de-emphasizing enforcement, part of the broader anti-regulatory philosophy of the Bush years -- helping to make Madoff, and perhaps others like him, possible." ... ""[Cox] in many ways worked to dismantle the SEC," Ed Nordlinger, a former longtime enforcement director in the commission's New York office, told TPMmuckraker. "He slowed everything down. I don't think he believed in heavy regulation."" ... "That view has been echoed by several others in a position to know. Ross Albert told TPMmuckraker for a post published yesterday: "Under Cox, SEC had de-emphasized the enforcement program. Cox worshipped at the same altar of de-regulation that the rest of the Bush administration worshipped at."" ... "And a former enforcement division supervisor told Portfolio for a lengthy October story about the SEC under Cox: "It was like someone poured molasses on the enforcement division."" ... "The commission also appears to have passed over for promotion staff members who were too aggressive in their approach to enforcement. Veteran S.E.C. lawyer James Coffman told Portfolio that he was told he didn't get a promotion because he was "too tough." He left the SEC soon after." -By Zachary Roth -TPMMuckracker .TalkingPointsMemo

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Chris Cox - Money - Accounting - Politics - New York
"Paul Krugman: The Madoff economy." ... "The pay system on Wall Street lavishly rewards the appearance of profit, even if that appearance later turns out to have been an illusion." ... "Consider the hypothetical example of a money manager who leverages up his clients' money with lots of debt, then invests the bulked-up total in high-yielding but risky assets, such as dubious mortgage-backed securities. For a while - say, as long as a housing bubble continues to inflate - he (it's almost always a he) will make big profits and receive big bonuses. Then, when the bubble bursts and his investments turn into toxic waste, his investors will lose big - but he'll keep those bonuses." ... "We're talking about a lot of money. In recent years the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of America's GDP [Gross Domestic Product], up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing - and it probably was - we're talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse. But the costs of America's Ponzi era surely went beyond the direct waste of dollars and cents." ... "At the crudest level, Wall Street's ill-gotten gains corrupted and continue to corrupt politics, in a nicely bipartisan way. From [Republican President] Bush administration officials like Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who looked the other way as evidence of financial fraud mounted, to Democrats who still haven't closed the outrageous tax loophole that benefits executives at hedge funds and private equity firms (hello, [New York Democratic] Senator Schumer), politicians have walked when money talked." -By Paul Krugman -IHT.com

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