President Barack Obama’s former nominee to become commerce secretary, Sen. Judd Gregg, steered taxpayer money to his home state’s redevelopment of a former Air Force base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals there, an Associated Press investigation found. Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, [...]
Archive for February, 2009
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Army charity holding onto millions of dollars
February 25th, 2009 
admin The biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet, an Associated Press investigation shows. Between 2003 and 2007, Army Emergency Relief grew into a $345 million behemoth. During those years, the charity packed away $117 million into its own [...]
Donations increasingly go to telemarketers in California
February 25th, 2009 admin If you give to a charity over the phone, there’s a growing likelihood that most of your donation will go to the telemarketer instead, according to an investigation by The Sacramento Bee. More than a third of California charity telemarketing campaigns sent less than 20 cents on the dollar to the charities during 2007, the [...]
Court documents never made public
February 23rd, 2009 admin A Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) investigation into filing practices in Monroe County state courts revealed that documents critical to the outcome of countless civil lawsuits have never been made public because they were never filed with the court as required by state rules. The investigation prompted the New York State Office of Court Administration to [...]
Teachers supported Prop 8 while their union opposed the measure
February 20th, 2009 Beth A report by NPR’s Robert Benincasa shows that California’s teachers’ union was giving money to oppose Proposition 8 while members of the union were making donations to support the ban on gay marriage.
Home Wreckers: How Banks are Worsening the Foreclosure Crisis
February 19th, 2009 Beth BusinessWeek‘s Brian Grow, Keith Epstein and Robert Berner detail efforts by the banking industry and its lobbyists in Washington to delay, dilute and obstruct attempts to rescue homeowners.
Texas homeowners paying more for less coverage
February 18th, 2009 Beth Jennifer LaFleur and Ed Timms at The Dallas Morning News have found that, despite legislation to reform homeowner insurance coverage, many Texans pay some of the country’s highest premiums but receive below-average coverage.
Office Depot investigated for pricing fraud
February 17th, 2009 Beth “A two month I-Team investigation into Office Depot and its lucrative contracts with local governments and schools, is prompting swift action by Missouri’s Attorney General,” reports Leisa Zigman of KDSK-St. Louis. The investigation revealed deceptive pricing and over-charging on products outlined in the contracts. Former Office Depot senior sales account manager David Sherwin stated, “The [...]
Millions lost in overpayment of child care subsidies
February 16th, 2009 Beth In a third installment of the series “Cashing in on Kids,” Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the state of Wisconsin has overpaid parents and child care providers more than $13 million in recent years – including millions of dollars for bogus child care.
Phoenix emerges as kidnapping capital of U.S.
February 12th, 2009 Beth “In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone,” according to a report by Brian ross, Richard Esposito and Asa Eslocker of abcnew.com.
