Posted on 07/10/2002 12:50:36 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:40:32 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON (AP) --
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
What, like the Federal whistleblower protection given to Linda Tripp?
Where the Federal government pays for attack dogs to appear on television every day for a year to ridicule the whistleblower's appearance, character, and motives? And then send the file to a friendly state official so the whistleblower can be tried on trumped up criminal charges?
As long as the left is protected by the press, the American people can't be whipped into a frenzy over, in the case of the Unions, the true corruption and influence over US policy....add the lawyers, the NGOs...
Any Republican who chose to vote against holding Unions accountable is clueless or corrupt...the left is too far gone to legitimize with a word.
$1,5000,000 per auditor/investigator. Typical.
pabianice: The Teamsters and the Senate Democrats are lighting cigars, putting their feet up, and having a good laugh.The only problem with your summation is that the Teamsters are supporting Bush more than the Democrats. The President invited James Hoffa Jr. to his personal box during the state of the union speech. And last month, he invited 150 of the Teamster officers and managers to the White House for a meeting on how the administration and the Teamsters could work together.
The "unaccountable" businesses attract corrupt Dems. like flies...the lawyers, press, politicians...Trial Lawyers (damages to our trust, our pocketbooks can't be measured so easily...think medical "malpractice" costs to our health system and the bankruptcy of Dow Corning on fraudulent charges re. silicone breast transplants...millions $$$ to the DNC), AFL/CIO, NEA GOTV and other politicking...dues for pure political purposes- effecting every American school student, parent, corporation and worker. Federal accountability...take a few hundred million taxpayers and send the trillions of $$$ to ??? Over 3 trillion $$$ missing in 1998 alone, vanished, unaccountable. Think the missing trillions couldn't have done good things in the taxpayers' hands?
The few corrupt corporate heads will pay. The stockholders are not guaranteed anything....thus the stockmarket. We all suffer as well when the Unions and NGOs and Feds. get away with stealing. It undermines the basic trust we need in a civilized society, and it costs us our future. We have miseducated, unethical "children" now running some of these companies, and writing news stories. If we're holding individuals accountable, and talking about the damage they do to our country....we need to put all the thieves and scoundrels under the same microscope....including Dashcle-Kennedy-Leahy-Clinton-Jackson-Rather-Sweeny...and the other no-accounts in conveniently unaccountable jobs rackets. (rant over)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A unified Senate approved harsh new penalties Wednesday for corporate fraud and document shredding, adding enforcement teeth to President Bush's plan to curb a growing wave of accounting scandals.
In a series of unanimous votes, senators added the penalties to an accounting oversight bill moving toward passage against a backdrop of eroded public confidence in corporate America.
Underscoring that sentiment, the Dow Jones industrials lost more than 280 points and closed below 9,000 for the first time since October on Wednesday, a day after Bush delivered a speech on corporate responsibility aimed at shoring up investor confidence.
A stream of revelations of accounting misdeeds at big corporations in recent months has scared investors and prompted concern about the fragile economic recovery. Tens of thousands of workers have been laid off — 17,000 at WorldCom alone — and millions of people have lost retirement savings, putting Bush and his Republican Party on the defensive with congressional elections approaching.
The Senate measures would create new 10-year prison terms for securities fraud and give federal protection to company whistle-blowers.
Chief executive officers and chief financial officers who certify false company financial reports would be slapped with prison terms of five to 10 years and fines of $500,000 to $1 million.
"These people deserve to go to jail. They've ruined the lives of thousands of people," Senate Judiciary Committee ( news - web sites) Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., declared on the Senate floor, pointing to executive excesses at Enron, WorldCom and other big corporations.
Democrats said they wanted tougher penalties than those Bush proposed in his speech Tuesday.
Among other changes, the Senate extended the period of time in which defrauded investors can bring lawsuits against companies — a move praised by Consumers Union.
"Fraud is fraud," the group said. "A realistic time period to bring cases will help deter corporate misconduct."
The Senate also rolled Bush's own legislative proposals — notably doubling sentences for mail and wire fraud, and blocking payments to company officials suspected of wrongdoing — into its package of sanctions.
"The Senate has moved one step closer to providing America more confidence knowing that when corporate executives commit crimes and mislead investors, they will be brought to justice," said Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.
Bush, who traveled to Wall Street to deliver his speech, also called for aggressive policing to stem fraud and corruption in corporate America, promising to do "everything in our power to end the days of cooking the books."
Most of Bush's proposals don't call for new laws; many just urge companies and executives to adopt them.
Bush has given only qualified support to the bipartisan accounting bill, which would create an independent private body with authority to discipline auditors and establish auditing and ethics rules.
"I don't think the president or the administration gets what this is really about," Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., said before Wednesday's vote. "The American investing public has lost its confidence in this corporate system."
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill voiced the administration's objections, warning in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ( news - web sites) that the oversight board called for by the Senate bill would compete with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( news - web sites) and create confusion, potentially allowing wrongdoers to escape punishment.
The legislation "gives the power to enforce securities law to an unaccountable private body," he said.
As the bill inched toward passage, Bush told legislative leaders he was sure "that Congress will be able to get this done," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer ( news - web sites) said.
Bush also stressed "the importance of working together to do it," Fleischer said. But he said it was still too soon for Bush to commit to signing the legislation.
If the Senate passes the bill, possibly this week, the measure still would have to be reconciled with a version that passed the Republican-led House in April. That measure has been criticized by consumer groups and some Democrats as too weak to bolster investor confidence.
The overall legislation also would limit the consulting work that accounting firms can do for their audit clients — a step fiercely opposed by the accounting industry, a major contributor to lawmakers' campaign funds.
Three senators, all Republicans, did not vote on the criminal penalty measure: Mike Crapo of Idaho, George Voinovich of Ohio and the ailing Jesse Helms of North Carolina.
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