Day: June 24, 2020

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman’s Ouster: The Untold Story

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman’s Ouster: The Untold Story

Goldman Sachs was, at the time of Clayton’s nomination to head the SEC, up to its eyeballs in one of the biggest financial frauds in history – a case involving a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB. Goldman raised over $6 billion in bond offerings for 1MDB but, according to the Justice Department, $4.5 billion of that was “misappropriated” and used “to fund the co-conspirators’ lavish lifestyles, including purchases of artwork and jewelry, the acquisition of luxury real estate and luxury yachts, the payment of gambling expenses, and the hiring of musicians and celebrities to attend parties.” Goldman made more than $600 million in fees from the bond offerings, according to the Justice Department.

The Progressive International, a Global Green New Deal and the Limits of ‘Left Unity’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Progressive International, a Global Green New Deal and the Limits of ‘Left Unity’ — Ebb Magazine

One must not allow oneself to be misled by the cry for ‘unity.’ Those who have this word most often on their lips are those who sow the most dissension… Those unity fanatics are either the people of limited intelligence who want to stir everything up together into one nondescript brew, which, the moment it is left to settle, throws up the differences again in much more acute opposition because they are now all together in one pot … or else they are people who consciously or unconsciously … want to adulterate the movement.

Frederick Engels, June 1873

“What exactly will this mean for us”: EPA Office Lost After IG Shake Up

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

“WHAT EXACTLY WILL THIS MEAN FOR US”: EPA OFFICE LOST AFTER IG SHAKE UP

Eighty-three pages of correspondence illustrate an agency watchdog caught off guard, with next to no warning from the White House, coming up with plans on the fly. Not only had Trump weakened oversight of both EPA and DOD, he effectively removed Fine as Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), creating a void of leadership overseeing the government’s coronavirus response. As a pandemic grips the nation, and the massive governmentwide relief effort including EPA and  DOD faces scrutiny over policy rollbacks and misuse of taxpayer funds, none of these IG offices has a leader that can devote their full energy to oversight of its programs.