February 2012
23 posts
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WatchSemper Fi: Always Faithful is an important documentary about the thousands of Marines and their families who were poisoned at Camp Lejeune. It is premiering at 10 p.m. Friday on MSNBC. Watch it and then join POGO in taking action to help the victims.
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“Most of the length, complexity and questions are in there because of industry...”
– Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets, a financial regulatory reform group. Kelleher is talking about the Volcker Rule, which has become so bloated and vague that it is on the verge of death, which will be a big win for the big banks. How the Volcker Rule got this was is a pretty interesting story.
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New Cybersecurity Act Would Undermine FOIA and... →
With all the uproar over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA)—both of which prompted widespread online protests—it was easy to forget that the Senate had another cybersecurity bill in the works. But on Tuesday, a group of Senate committee leaders started rushing passage of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (S.2105). Although this cybersecurity bill doesn’t include the...
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Are US taxpayers bailing out big banks again? →
One part of the recently-announced mortgage settlement has people worried about another taxpayer-funded bailout of the major banks. Get the details over at CBS news.
How do you feel about this?
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Justice Department Wins Rosemary Award for Worst... →
“Justice edged out a crowded field of contending agencies and career officials who seem in practical rebellion against President Obama’s open-government orders.”
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“Let’s review: The new official line for mass consumption seems to be that the...”
– Philip Ewing writing in DoD Buzz about the Air Force’s new “simple, no-frills, advanced new bomber.” Hopefully if the military starts focusing on new weapon systems that are affordable and dependable instead of complicated and problematic, the Pentagon will be able to save money...
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Breaking Down the President's Budget Request →
The experts at POGO are breaking down the nuclear and Department of Defense spending in the the president’s FY 2013 budget request, which was released this morning. We will be posting updates all day. Check back in on the post to stay informed about how billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent.
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Un-Do Influence: Air Force's Revolving Door Helped... →
We gave Booz Allen 4 facepalms for their revolving door incident and the suspension of their San Antonio office. See who else deserved a facepalm for undue influence in Washington last week.
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Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee... →
The investigation of Rep. Spencer Bachus is the first of its kind involving a member of Congress.
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“A U.S. senator from Alabama directed more than $100 million in federal earmarks...”
– From a Washington Post investigation of Congressional earmarks. For the full story go to - Congressional Earmarks Sometimes Used to Fund Projects Near Lawmakers’ Properties.
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Don't just be angry. Do Something. Help POGO guard... →
Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) is pulling a cruel joke on whistleblowers with his new Whistleblower Improvement Act (H.R. 2483). As often happens, the name of the bill is the complete opposite of what it would do. This bill would dismantle the new, and important, whistleblower protections set up under the Dodd-Frank act and would discourage and endanger potential whistleblowers who are key to...
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“I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and...”
– Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, an officer turned whistleblower who disputes the official narrative about Afghanistan. Read his full article at the Armed Forces Journal and the New York Times story about how he became a whistleblower.
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WatchColbert keeps the pressure up on Super PACs.
You have a favorite line?
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S.E.C. Is Avoiding Tough Sanctions for Large Banks →
“By granting those waivers, the S.E.C. allowed Wall Street firms to have powerful advantages, securities experts and former regulators say. The institutions remained protected under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which makes it easier to avoid class-action shareholder lawsuits.”
There are a lot of problems at major financial institutions, but when government...
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Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist →
From the article - “In fact, the flyer recommends that anyone “overly concerned about privacy” or attempting to “shield the screen from view of others” should be considered suspicious and potentially engaged in terrorist activities. Read more at Public Intelligence.
If you have an anonymous Tumblr handle are you also a terrorist?
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““A review of recent disciplinary sanctions by the Financial Industry...”
– - from Fines Fail to Stop Some Broker Bloopers.
These are the geniuses of finance.
January 2012
31 posts
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“Consider the numbers: The finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector...”
– From How The Bank Lobby Owns Washington on The Huffington Post.
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Hold that Revolving Door! Four-Star General Coming... →
The revolving door that carried former Department of Defense honcho William Lynn III to a well-paying job with an Italian defense contractor keeps on spinning – now Gen. James Cartwright, who retired as the nation’s second-highest ranking military officer in August, is following Lynn into the private sector.
Cartwright is joining the Board of Directors at Raytheon, a major U.S. defense...
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The Department of Justice under Obama and Attorney... →
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Report: Bailed out executives made millions... →
“Although generally he limited cash compensation and made some reductions in pay, the Special Master still approved total compensation packages in the millions,” the watchdog wrote.
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“I cannot recall such an obvious example of a member of Congress allocating money...”
– Barney Keller from the Club of Growth on the subject of a former Representative that gave an earmark to a small company who then hired him to lobby for them after he left Congress. Read more in the New York Times.
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Navy’s New Minehunter Can’t See or Stop Mines →
Things are not looking good the Littoral Combat Ship.
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“The government is treating the entire proceeding as classified, while at the...”
– - defense lawyers for alleged U.S.S. Cole bombing conspirator Abd Al-Rahim Al Nashiri. Read more at Politico about the DoD’s decision to make transcripts of public Guantanamo hearings top secret.
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U.S. Department of State: Human Trafficking... →
statedept:
After first learning about human trafficking, many people want to help in some way but do not know how. Here are just a few ideas for your consideration.
Learn human trafficking red flags and ask follow up questions so that you can detect a potential trafficking situation.
In the United…
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The Department of Homeland Security has paid... →
joshsternberg:
Well, the government wasn’t lying when they said CentCom wasn’t monitoring our social networking endeavors.
From The Guardian (3/17/11):
Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: “The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US.”
He said none of the...
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These Financial Policies Are Considered...
-Making auditors put their names on audit reports that go with financial statements
-Making it so companies can’t have the same auditors for more than a century
-Allowing inspection of Chinese, and other foreign, accounting firms that work for U.S. companies based abroad
Maybe the fact that these policies are deemed controversial speaks to the larger problems in our financial oversight...
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“If the Navy is successful, it could set a very dangerous precedent for other...”
– said Angela Canterbury, POGO’s director of public policy, concerning a letter POGO received today that says the Department of Navy may be putting pressure on another government agency to stymie its release of secret information related to the water contamination scandal at Camp Lejeune.
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Activists Talk to POGO about Human Trafficking and... →
Today is National Human Trafficking Day, so spend some time learning about this important issue, which may seem distant, but is actually closely related to your paycheck. Recently, POGO had the opportunity to talk with two documentary filmmakers working on a project about human labor trafficking on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. This wide-spread practice is supported by U.S. taxpayer...
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“As an inspector, my job was to monitor the construction of the first Keystone...”
– Mike Klink, engineer and TransCanada pipeline inspector, calling Keystone XL a potential disaster. (via thegreenurbanist)
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“NPR: I mean, there are potentially another $600 billion in cuts in the so-called...”
– Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently released a general defense strategy, but has no plans about how to make the cuts that may potentially be coming because of the Supercommittee’s failure. Read more at NPR.
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Should Foreigners Be Able to Donate to U.S.... →
POGO’s Ben Freeman weighs in on whether non-U.S. citizens living in the U.S. should be able to donate to political campaigns. Read what he thinks and the opinion of other experts over at The New York Times.
What do you think?
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