Wells Fargo reported 52 percent net income. I wonder why?

Wells Fargo & Co. reported a 52 percent jump in net income as it reaped quick rewards from its acquisition of Wachovia Corp., but the San Francisco bank also boosted credit reserves in anticipation of mounting loan losses in the months ahead. Are you wonder why too. right? Well, 'Boy, we're glad we had this economic crisis?.

The company said Wednesday that first-quarter net income reached a record $3.05 billion (56 cents per share), in line with the preliminary results announced two weeks ago that sent the stock soaring and fueled a broader Wall Street rally. Wells Fargo earned nearly $2 billion in the year-ago period (60 cents per share), before it picked up its wobbling Charlotte, N.C., competitor on the cheap, for about $13 billion in late December.

Illegals Immigrants draining social services? A lie or a Lie.!!

There is no such as Illegal Immigrant either someone as undocumented Immigrant caugh draining or commited any fraud against any social services. Why continue blaming them for God sake. This is the main problem in America. Some have eyes but cannot see," "Some have tongues but cannot speak the truth. They have ears but can't hear. That's where the problem is".

According to their 2008 SEC filings, the largest hospital chain in the U.S., the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) - founded by the family of former Senator and Majority Leader Bill Frist; After his Senate career, Frist became a partner with health-care investment firm, and chairman of a nonprofit (????) charitable (???) foundation focusing on Global health initiatives and Education issues- reports that in 2008 about 49% of their revenues and 59% of their hospital admissions were Medicare and Medicaid "related." In 2007, HCA reported revenues of $26.9 billion, approximately $16 billion of which was paid for by American taxpayers.

What most people may not know is that HCA plead guilty to 14 felonies and was hit with a $1.7 billion fine – far and away the largest such fine in history - for Medicare fraud. These fines, it seems, were a minor bump in the road for HCA, on their way to grabbing hundreds of billions of American taxpayer dollars in the years to come. Doctors and hospitals reap the financial benefit of surgeries, whether they are warranted or not. American taxpayers, both in terms of Medicare/Medicaid payouts and higher insurance premiums, pay the real price. Source



A former Oklahoma pharmacist faces up to five years in prison on a federal fraud charge for making a false claim to Medicaid.

Sentencing for Gary Wayne Nichols, 33, is expected in the next 60 days, said Bob Troester, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Oklahoma City.
Nichols was charged in September with one count of making a false claim, and pleaded guilty to the felony in November. As part of a plea deal, he’s agreed to pay $180,000 in restitution, said his attorney, Jean Paul Bradshaw.
Bradshaw said his client wants to take responsibility for his actions.
"He’s a very hard-working guy who got caught up in what he was doing and made some mistakes,” he said. "He’s sorry for what he did and is trying to make amends.”

Billed Medicaid $339,436 for prescriptions for nursing home patients that were not prescribed or filled.

Bought $100,000 in drugs for $25,000 in the parking lot of one of his pharmacies and tried to use the drugs to fraudulently get a refund from a drug company. They belonged to a tribal health clinic.

Man had six pharmaciesT

he case stems from a 2006 investigation by the state Board of Pharmacy and the state attorney general’s office that resulted in Nichols losing his pharmacist license.
He was licensed in 2001 and had been owner or part owner of six pharmacies in Moore, Oklahoma City, Altus, Guthrie, Allen and Lexington.
John Foust, executive director of the Board of Pharmacy, said Nichols’ case is one of the larger fraud cases investigated by his office.
Nichols lost his license and was fined $11,000 by the board.

Stimulus bill for Liars like Lou Dobbs and Bill O’Reilly.

From what I've been able to find on reputable sites, (New York Times, Factcheck.org) and from my own knowledge Undocumented Immigrants pay more than 7 billion dollars into the system each year in Social Security payroll deductions and 1.5 billion dollars in Medicare taxes.

Most of the people use fake social Security cards or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) to get jobs and most don't collect. Both Social Security and medicare would be in even worse shape if the undocumented workers were able to collect benefits but they are not entitled to any benefits.

Even if some are getting benefits, the overwhelming majority pay into the systems but never get anything from the system.

I'm not making excuses; I am just trying not to be blinded by the message of hatred from those who really are reacting without thinking their positions through.

Pushing false information has lasting consequences on the image of immigrants, and those perceived to be foreign.

On January 29, 2009, Associated Press staff writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis, released the article “Hill Republican: Stimulus aids illegal immigrants” where the false assertion was made that the Stimulus package would provide money for undocumented immigrants:

The $800 billion-plus economic stimulus measure making its way through Congress could steer government checks to illegal immigrants, a top Republican congressional official asserted Thursday.

Shortly after its publication, the story gained a lot of public attention by the conservative news site The Drudge Report, CNN’s Lou Dobbs, and FOX News. Hours after the false claim was retracted by the AP (3:02 p.m. ET), these “news organizations” repeated it nonetheless. The Drudge Report kept the link to the uncorrected AP story up for 4 hours. Dobbs made the claim at 5:27 pm ET. FOX News repeated the claim at 6:09 pm ET, and then again at 8:16 pm ET on Bill O’Reilly’s.

As it turned out, the one single anonymous source was later withdrawn and the article was rewritten to show the information provided by that source had been false.

A senior GOP congressional official expressed concern Thursday that the bill could steer government checks to undocumented workers, but in fact the measure prevents anyone without a Social Security number from claiming tax credits of $500 per worker and $1,000 per couple.

Stories like these tend to instigate anti-immigration sentiments given the controversial topic, and Fox News, Lou Dobbs, and the Drudge Report only add fuel to the fire. The point is simple: pushing false information has the lasting consequences on the image of immigrants, and those perceived to be foreign. Ineffectively informing the public about two important issues, immigration and the economy, will only strengthen the tensions amongst the various ideologies debating these topics.

Can we restore the Rule of Law? Unlawful detained by Suspicion.

.

A video produce by CheckpointUSA On November 26th, I was stopped & seized for about the 50th time since the beginning of 2008. The seizure took place at an internal suspicionless Homeland Security checkpoint along Southern Arizona's SR86 near mile post 146. SR86 is an East-West public highway located over 40 miles North of the border and never intersects the border at any point.

During the stop, Agent Gilmore admitted he knew who I was & all three agents told me I wasn't being detained. Nonetheless, these facts didn't stop the agents from refusing to allow me to go about my lawful business, choosing instead to escalate the encounter by requesting that I move to secondary inspection for more intensive scrutiny absent my consent or any articuable suspicion.

While continuing to deny that I was being detained and refusing to allow me to leave, the agents threatened me with arrest for impeding their operations.

After close to eight minutes of being unlawfully detained, a Border Patrol supervisor eventually arrives on-scene and wastes no time in telling me that I'm free to go with no further scrutiny.

Given the circumstances surrounding this extended non-detention, the only reasonable explanation that can be attributed to the agent's behavior is a desire to train the traveling public to be obedient to the whims of any federal agent with a shiny badge & a gun.

For those of you who actually think the government cares about the border, how many illegal aliens do you think crossed unchallenged 40 miles to the South because three Border Patrol agents were harassing Americans 40 miles to the North at a suspicionless checkpoint?

Police Officer violating Civil Rights beaten a man while restrained in a wheelchair.

I wonder why some fellow Citizens refuse to call to Police for help.!!!!!!!!!!.
A Chicago police officer pleaded guilty today to violating the federal civil rights of a man whom the officer struck repeatedly with a dangerous weapon while the man was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Loretta King, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office announced.

William Cozzi, 51, pleaded guilty to a one-count information in U.S. District Court in Chicago, admitting he used excessive or unreasonable force while acting under color of law. Cozzi joined the Chicago Police Department in 1992 and was assigned to the 25 th District at the time of the alleged incident. He was subsequently suspended from duty. Cozzi was indicted in April 2008 for depriving the victim of his civil rights.

On Aug. 2, 2005, while performing his duties as a police officer, Cozzi admitted that he used a “sap,” a dangerous weapon similar to a blackjack, to repeatedly strike the victim who was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair at Norwegian American Hospital, resulting in bodily injury. At the time, the victim was awaiting treatment in the hospital emergency room after being stabbed in the shoulder.

“The defendant violated the public trust by abusing his law enforcement authority,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King. “This prosecution demonstrates that the Civil Rights Division is committed to aggressively prosecuting law enforcement officers who willfully use excessive force.”


“No law enforcement officer may use unreasonable force with impunity and every citizen, regardless of being in police custody, has a constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force,” U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald said.

Cozzi pleaded guilty while reserving his right to appeal a ruling last year denying his motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that the prosecution was based in part on compelled statements he made to the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and during a police review board hearing.

According to a plea agreement, Cozzi was dispatched to the hospital to respond to the stabbing and approached the victim who was being loud and verbally abusive while awaiting treatment for the stabbing. Shortly after approaching the victim, Cozzi placed him in handcuffs and left the emergency room to retrieve leg shackles, which he then placed on the victim. With the victim restrained, Cozzi used a sap to repeatedly strike him in the face and body. According to the plea agreement, at the time of the assault the victim posed no physical threat to Cozzi or anyone else at the hospital.

Cozzi also admitted that he subsequently prepared a false arrest report and misdemeanor complaints stating that the victim attempted to punch him and two hospital security guards, as well as a false tactical response report stating that he used an “open hand strike” on the victim but omitted that he struck the victim with a sap.

U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning set sentencing for March 26, 2009. Cozzi faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Drury from the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Betsy Biffl of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

California will recover 112 million for Medi Cal Program fraud.

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that California will recover $112 million for its Medi-Cal program as part of a national settlement with Eli Lilly and Company for the unlawful off-label marketing of its anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa, which the company aggressively marketed for such unapproved uses such as treatment for depression, anxiety, irritability, disrupted sleep, nausea and gambling.

“This settlement means that Eli Lilly can no longer reap massive profits by aggressively marketing this drug for unapproved uses at the expense of state health care programs for seniors and the infirm,” Attorney General Brown said. “California’s Medi-Cal program will receive almost $112 million, which is more than welcome at a time when the state faces massive budget deficits.”

Eighteen percent of the $112 million recovered for the Medi-Cal program will go to relators (whistleblowers) – the remainder will be split between the State, which will receive $54 million and the federal government, which will receive $41 million.

Beginning in 2001, Eli Lilly launched a marketing campaign called “Viva Zyprexa!” which encouraged physicians to prescribe Zyprexa for children, adolescents, and dementia patients.

In October 2008, the California Attorney General entered a settlement with Eli Lilly over the Zyprexa marketing campaign. In his original complaint, Attorney General Brown alleged that Eli Lilly engaged in unfair and deceptive practices when it marketed Zyprexa for off-label uses and failed to adequately disclose the drug’s potential side effects (including diabetes and hyperglycemia) to healthcare providers.

Under this settlement, Eli Lilly agreed to change its marketing practices and to cease promotion of its off-label uses. Off-label uses are those not approved by the FDA when it approves the sale and use of a particular drug. Physicians are allowed to prescribe drugs for off-label uses, but federal law prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers from marketing products for off-label uses.

The total settlement is $1.415 billion—the largest recovery in a health care fraud investigation in U.S. history. The settlement includes $800 million in civil damages to be paid to the States and $615 million as a result of criminal charges brought against the company for illegal marketing.

Although both California and the U.S. contribute 50% to the funding of the Medi-Cal program, California’s share is larger than the federal share due to the federal Deficit Reduction Act, which provides monetary incentives to states to use False Claims Acts to pursue Medicaid fraud.

Patriot Act and the War on Civil Liberties.

A brief history of the Patriot Act, showing the many deceptions brought in by the Bush Administration, including: requesting total secrecy form public input and swapping at the last moment, the original Bill that Congress agreed to sign, with one manipulated by the Administration. The Administration's version of the Bill contained unconstitutional provisions that had been rejected earlier by Congress.

Regardless, Congress rushed to pass an, otherwise, unread Bill which sought to greatly expand all federal law enforcement powers -- far beyond their intended means. Hence, America would later discover that the Patriot Act had little, if anything, to do with fighting the actual "war on terror" and much more to do with bypassing the civil protections, granted under the US Constitution

Lenders and Banks ignoring the responsible Homeowners.

Need help from your bank before you're forced to default? Good luck with that. Conventional wisdom may tell homeowners who can see financial trouble approaching to reach out for help as soon as possible. But most borrowers trying to follow that advice are finding they can't get their bankers to discuss the options — including loan modifications — until they've missed payments.
"It is extremely difficult for any consumer who is not delinquent to even find someone to talk with at their lender," says Michele Johnson. "The consumer who is really being proactive and trying to do the right thing faces challenges that are unexpected."
A harsh reality Marvin Webb, pastor of the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond, Calif., called his bank nearly two months ago to say that although his credit is good and he's current in his payments, he can see financial trouble coming. "They said they were looking for a loan they could put me in, something good. But they never got back to me," Webb says.
He called back recently. "I told them what they told me, and they still didn't have anything to say. You know, they take your number and (say) 'We'll call you back.'"

Logic suggests banks should help struggling homeowners early, renegotiating loans to avoid even-more-costly foreclosure. Ben Windust, Wells Fargo senior vice president for customer and default operations, says, "We can always work with any borrower who is having any kind of financial difficulty," even before a loan is in default. But those who work with homeowners say that, mostly, that's not happening.

"One of the really unfortunate contradictions of this crisis is that it's only when people have ruined their credit that they can get even a response from their bank," says Adam Kruggel, director of the Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization. Part of the problem is banks are overwhelmed by the flood of people who cannot make payments. And that leaves plenty of struggling but still-current borrowers "hanging on and sometimes they are making enormous sacrifices; in some cases they are draining their entire life savings" to keep up their mortgage payments, he says.

Sean Woods was one of them. At this time last year, he was a mortgage broker in Goodyear, Ariz., an expensive suburb of Phoenix. He was earning about $12,000 a month, he says, so payments of roughly $4,500 a month on two loans for his family's home in a golf-course community seemed manageable.
Then, in February, Woods received what turned out to be his last mortgage commission payment. Record home prices in the Phoenix area had encouraged overbuilding, so prices were falling and sales were slowing. "I saw the writing on the wall," he says.
In late spring, he called Washington Mutual to say that although he was current in his payments, he was struggling. He was running through savings and using credit-card cash advances to make his home payments.
He asked to talk to the bank's loss-mitigation department. Typically, when you punch your loan number into the bank's phone system, you are routed to the bank's customer service or collection department, depending on whether your payments are current or overdue.
A collections officer's job is to recoup past-due payments and set up repayment plans allowing a homeowner to make full, regular payments plus a portion of the delinquency in order to catch up. But negotiating a lower interest rate or reduction in the loan principal is usually beyond the authority of the collection department, says Azucena Valladolid, chief operating officer at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Nevada and Utah.

Woods says he told his bank, "I'm making the payments, but it won't be long before trouble will be upon me, before I start missing payments."
Loss mitigation basically told me, 'This loan is performing. You haven't missed a payment.' Basically (they said), 'Call us when you start missing payments.'"

In July his check bounced and his mortgage went into default. He got financial counseling and the bank offered a tentative modification offer.By then, though, he'd begun to question the value of a bank modification. What was the sense in committing to a plan without an income to support it? Shouldn't he just focus on getting work?
The big picture Like the troubled loans they are meant to fix, modification plans can include complex loan features: interest-only periods that reset in a few years, gradually increasing payments, or complicated formulas for sharing appreciation or equity. Some simply stretch the loan over 40 years reducing the payment amounts but increasing the total loan cost.

Woods, sadder but wiser, is keeping his options open. "I'm one of those homeowners that's troubled but also accepts the responsibility for signing these documents and getting into this situation myself," he says.

Today, his $597,500 home is worth about $435,000. "I paid over $100,000 in just payments for this home in the last two years and my principal payment may have went down $5,000. At some point, either you concede to be insane or you wise up and say it's better to walk away from this thing than continue to put money down a black hole."

Banks are making relatively few modifications. In the third quarter of 2008, only about 40,000 loans were modified — a small proportion of the millions of loans said to be in trouble. And 58% of loans modified this year were back in default within eight months, according to the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

Rod Dubitsky, a banking industry analyst at Credit Suisse, says there's no consistent program or standard to help people who are struggling financially but who are still current on their mortgages. He says the government should analyze data from banks on modification agreements to see which modification plans are really working, then create a national program with uniform standards.
"The sad thing," Dubitsky says, "is that the message a lot of struggling 'currents' are getting is, 'Come back to us when you're delinquent.' I've heard it said that some servicers will coach the borrower to become delinquent (in order to get help)."

An unexpected rescue That's the advice friends were giving Barbara Quinn of Asheville, N.C., after she got little help when she called Ocwen, the company collecting payments on her home mortgage. She says she reached out to the servicer before her interest rate reset and added $300 to her house payment but "got bounced around from one person to another and really didn't get to talk to anyone who could talk with me."
Friends were advising her to stop making payments in order to get the bank's attention. She couldn't stomach that idea. "I was saying, 'I don't want to be in default on my mortgage,'" she says. "I'm not the kind of person to miss a payment."
Also, it scared her. What if the strategy didn't work? "Then you're out on a limb," she figured. "I was wondering, at 75 years old, what am I going to do? Live in the street?".

Take action and be proactive. If you run into a wall, call your Congress member and senators. (Find contact information here; enter your ZIP code next to "Find Your Officials" at the upper right corner of the page.) Also, grassroots activist groups work through the PICO National Network to press local, state and federal officials to take homeowners' needs into account in addressing the mortgage crisis.

The economy sank because some people over-borrowed for houses they couldn't afford, and financial institutions over-borrowed for investments they badly misjudged. Lawmakers solution is to borrow $800 billion that it cannot afford. How will adding $800 billion to the national debt (which will also raise interest rates) solve a recession created by imprudent borrowing? And who will bail out the American taxpayer when the bill comes due?

No Help for Middle class Americans. Can we get help sooner than later?.

After a year of failed efforts, Congress and the new administration are considering more aggressive measures, including a possible change to bankruptcy law. Homeowner relief could come as part of a new economic stimulus plan, a revised financial system bailout program or as a standalone measure.

So far, progress remains painfully slow. More than 3 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the housing bubble burst. Roughly one in 10 homeowners with mortgages are either in foreclosure or more than 30 days late in payments — the highest delinquency rate on record.

Without more aggressive measures, another 8 million to 10 million foreclosures are forecast over the next four years, according to Credit Suisse. That amounts to roughly one in six households with a mortgage

It is simply mind-boggling to me that (Congress and the White House) have moved so slowly to address this issue,” said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which has been lobbying for foreclosure relief.

Congress and the incoming administration are taking a multipronged approach to foreclosure relief.

"Accelerating foreclosures is obviously, in my view, the huge driving problem right now,” said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor appointed by Congress to chair a panel overseeing the financial bailout. "Until we think in a more comprehensive way, we can't create solutions that will really make a difference," she told Congress last month.

Many of solutions tried so far have been stymied by the legal morass created by the modern mortgage.

In past recessions, it was not uncommon for lenders to work out more affordable terms with borrowers who had fallen on hard times. Bankers often prefer to cut their losses by lowering monthly payments and stretching them out over a longer term rather than bearing the cost of foreclosure. But the complex system of financing the recent housing boom — which was based heavily on the pooling of mortgages that were then sold to thousands of investors — has hopelessly complicated a once fairly simple renegotiation between lender and homeowner.

Multiple classes of investors, each with different claims on the same mortgage, often have conflicting interests. Some will do better with a loan foreclosure while others would profit by keeping the loan performing. Some contracts setting up these pool pay loan “servicers” — the companies that manage mortgage payments to investors — more generous payments for loans in foreclosure and offer little financial incentive to undertake the more costly process of modifying terms.

“You have got to have the investor or their representatives come to the table motivated to do something,” said Taylor. “And that’s currently what we don’t have.”
To break the logjam, Congress is considering various proposals, including both "carrots" and "sticks."

One of the "carrots" is included in a proposed revision to the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP

Foreclosure Proposals:

Brankuptcy Law:

A deal between key Democrats and Citigroup opens the door for a measure first introduced a year ago that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of first mortgages on primary residences -- the only debt excluded from the bankruptcy process.
Under the latest proposal, borrowers must contact the mortgage lender 10 days prior to filing Chapter 13 to give the parties time to work out a modification. If no offer is made by the lender, the homeowner could file Chapter 13 and the judge could then treat as unsecured debt any amount of the mortgage that exceeds the newly appraised value of the home. The judge also could reduce the interest rate and extend the maturity of the loan.

This so-called "cramdown" provision is strenuously opposed by the lending industry, which argues that the risk that a loan will later be modified will increase the cost of borrowing.

FDIC PROGRAM:

Using Troubled Assets Relief Plan funds, the Treasury would pay mortgage servicers $1,000 for every modification they make under the program. Modifications must bring a borrower’s mortgage debt-to-income ratio to 31 percent.
Mortgage servicers start by reducing interest rates before extending the maturity to up to 40 years. If those steps do not work, the servicer defers principal. That means the borrower does not pay interest on part of the loan, though he must repay the full balance when he sells or refinances the house.

Hope Program:


Approved last summer under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, the Hope for Homeowners program has $300 billion available to refinance troubled borrowers into FHA mortgages. Legislative restrictions on the program have made it largely ineffective.
Congress is expected to eliminate many of these restrictions as part of the TARP revision, which means lenders will absorb a smaller loss if they refinance a troubled borrower into an FHA mortgage.

GSE/FHA Loan Program:

The maximum limit for Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and FHA loans dropped to $625,500 on Jan. 1. Many Democrats, including House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, support restoring the maximum loan size to the prior limit of $729,750.
This would help lower interest rates on these mortgages. FHA is becoming the program of choice for first-time buyers. Higher limits also put more homes in higher cost coastal cities into play for FHA.

Tax Incentives:

Spurred by the homebuilding industry, Democrats are working on tax strategies to help with the housing crisis. These include a tax credit available to all homebuyers, not just first-timers, of $7,500 -- and perhaps more.
The mortgage interest deduction may be extended to taxpayers who don't itemize. Tax incentives may also be provided to owners who rent out vacant properties.

Lower Mortgage Rates:

So far, the Federal Reserve has led the move to lower longer-term interest rates after targeting short-term rates as low as zero percent. Congress is looking at additional efforts to push mortgage rates as low as 2.99 percent.
These measures could include providing an explicit government guarantee on mortgages issued by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and federal home loan banks.

Republicans Mission Accomplished?. Legacy or Minority Party?

A reflective President Bush acknowledged a number of blunders that have marred his White House years, but he told a small group of Texas reporters that he has "a great sense of accomplishment and I am going home with my head held high."

Bush mused fondly about his future life in Dallas, saying he looked forward to walking down supermarket aisles, sitting in a rocking chair with old friends and staying out of the public spotlight.

"I am looking forward to going back to Texas," the former Texas governor said. "I am going home to a place where I've got a lot of friends - people who will be my friends regardless of what happened in politics."

In a 51-minute interview in the Oval Office, the president discussed his eight years in office and admitted to missteps such as failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform, allowing the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner to be unveiled and using incendiary language in the run-up to war.

But Bush stoutly defended his decision to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that shaped his presidency. And he said his move to bail out foundering financial institutions was necessary to avoid an economic collapse worse than the Great Depression.

When Bush leaves office in a couple of days, he plans to divide his time between his Crawford, Texas, ranch and a spacious home in the exclusive Preston Hollow neighborhood in Dallas.

"Laura bought a house," he joked. "I haven't seen it yet. They say it's a beauty."

The president said he planned to write a memoir about his tumultuous presidency that will "put people in my place," as well as "give some speeches" and "spend some time on the (Southern Methodist University) campus," where his presidential library and freedom institute will be built. He said he told President-elect Barack Obama earlier this week that he'd be "more than willing" to listen if the new commander in chief had "some tasks he may want me to take on."

Before leaving office, the president said he is likely to deliver a farewell address to the nation that would include thanks, praise and discussion of lessons he has learned.

In the interview, Bush pointed to accomplishments including a series of tax cuts, two energy bills, the No Child Left Behind education legislation, expansion of Medicare to include a senior citizen prescription drug benefit and free-trade pacts.

He said he is "pleased with the progress we have made in dismantling al Qaeda." But, he acknowledged, "it's been hard to keep the American people convinced there's still a threat."

Among his political setbacks, Bush particularly regrets the failure of immigration legislation, which was killed by the Senate in 2007.

"I'm very disappointed it didn't pass," he said. "I'm very worried about the message that said Republicans are anti-immigrant."

Bush also admitted to several war-related missteps. The infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner on an aircraft carrier after U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was a mistake, he said, because "it conveyed a sense of finality in the Iraqi theater." And his rhetoric, he conceded, "at times has been a little rough and over the top."

Bush says he will miss the creature comforts of the presidency - the luxury of Air Force One, the convenience of having a helicopter outside your back door and the "fantastic" service at the White House.

"I don't know what it's going to be like to wake up on the morning of the 21st of January," he acknowledged.

President Bush called for a ‘compassionate’ Republican Party and warned against the GOP becoming ‘anti-immigrant’ in one of his last interviews as president, defending his vision of the party, which has become unpopular among some Republicans And I wonder How Mr. George Bush wake up every morning thinking and doesn't know how Millions of People lost their houses, their employment, their value of their houses, their dreams, their Hope, their American faith and Values and not realized to do anything about it. Ashamed Mr. Bush and Hypocrisy is not a family value.

Are you tracing Corporate America Bailout?

No. Then just look at this link here and check for yourselves how corporate America will be Bailout and not Middle Class Americans, The people who running the economy, the peple who's always be blaming for, the people who's really suffering, The people who's paying taxes, If a business can't survive without taxpayer money they deserve to fail but Hundreds of banks and a handful of insurers and automakers have applied for funds from the Treasury Department as part of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury Department has transferred capital to the majority of these companies as Taxpayers expenses.

Where's accountability and responsability? Are we there yet?

If you owned the bank or Mortgage company money do you think they'd give you a break to pay an overdue bill or would they ask you to live the house and file for bankruptcy?
We need to Understand there is no such a hope, a help, a bail out for American Taxpayers, Citizens, workers, middle class americans. The sense of Hopelessness are at the tip of iceberg for Power, political purposes and Money. That's ashamed.

Rising depression. Suicide rates for the Mortgage crisis. No Help at all for middle class americans.

Towards our leaders & institutions; they are naive beyond belief. Although being used, abused & oh so confused by their so-called leaders, big media and this one-sided economic system; they keep on chuging along still wanting to believe in the american dream they are sold every minute, every day.

The real whiners are that 1% of happy few plutocrats and their 90% + of the whole shabang. They are the ones we are bailing out. They are the ones constantly lobbying & begging for more deregulation & tax cuts. They are the welfare corporations slaughtering US's middle class and making them feel guilty about it too…

There’s this big squeeze on the nation’s workers, wages have been flat, health and pension benefits are getting worse, at the same time corporate profits have gone up very, very nicely. Employee productivity has gone up 15, 20 percent, yet wages have been flat, plus companies are pressuring workers, you know, to work harder and harder.

And that’s part of a broader health crisis in the nation, where, since the year 2000, even though we’ve had pretty good economic times until the last few years under the Bush Administration, nine million more Americans are out of work than was the case in 2000. So now, almost 50 million Americans, nearly one-sixth of the workforce, is uninsured. And you think how crazy that is, in ways. You know, we’re the world’s wealthiest nation, yet one-in-six workers are out of work.

Wall Street is exerting much more pressure on corporations to maximize their share prices, as you know, which means maximize profits, which often translates into lowering costs and especially lowering payroll costs. So a lot of managers will say, you know, the area where they have most flexibility to reduce cost and increase profits is on payroll. So that’s why we’re seeing all these waves of downsizing and Suicide is becoming an increasingly popular response to debt.

For more than two decades, the couple had lived in their three-level house, where the elms outside blazed with yellow shades of fall and their four golden retrievers slept in the yard. The town had always been home, with a lazy river and rolling hills dotted by gnarled juniper trees.

Yet just before lunch on Oct. 23, the Donacas closed all their home's doors except the one to the garage and left their 1981 Cadillac Eldorado running. Toxic fumes filled the home. When sheriff's deputies arrived at about 1 p.m., they found the body of Raymond, 71, on the second floor along with three dead dogs. The body of Deanna, 69, was in an upstairs bedroom, close to another dead retriever.

"It is believed that the Donacas committed suicide after attempts to save their home following a foreclosure notice left them believing they had few options," the Crook County Sheriff's Office said in a report.

Their suicides were a tragic extreme, but the Donacas' case symbolizes how the housing crisis is wrenching the emotional lives of legions of homeowners. The escalating pace of foreclosures and rising fears among some homeowners about keeping up with their mortgages are creating a range of emotional problems, mental-health specialists say. Those include anxiety disorders, depression and addictive behaviors such as alcoholism and gambling. And, in a few cases, suicide.

Crisis hotlines are reporting a surge in calls from frantic homeowners. The American Psychological Association (APA) and other mental-health groups are publishing tips on how to handle the emotional stress triggered by the real estate meltdown. Psychologists say they're seeing more drinking, domestic violence and marital problems linked to mortgage concerns ? as well as children trying to cope with extreme anxiety when their families are forced to move.

"They're depressed, anxious. It's affected marriages, relationships," says Richard Chaifetz, CEO of ComPsych, a Chicago-based employee-assistance firm that is counseling homeowners over mortgage fears. "People tend to catastrophize, and that leads to depression. Suicide rates go up. We see an increase in drinking, outbursts at work, violence toward kids. Before, their houses were like ATMs," as they rose in value. "Now, they feel trapped.

Foreclosure filings surged 65% in April compared with the same month last year, according to a report Wednesday by RealtyTrac. One in every 519 households received a foreclosure filing last month, and the number of homes with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.

Don Donaca, Raymond's brother, says it's hard to understand the suicide, but he thinks the pending foreclosure led to their deaths.

"He got so deep in debt he couldn't figure out what else to do," says Don, 74, a retired sawmill worker in Prineville. "I guess a guy would have to walk a few miles in his shoes to understand."

Financial concerns at the top.

Many other homeowners are at risk of less-severe, but still significant, psychological distress: One in seven homeowners worry that they won't be able to make their mortgage payments on time over the next six months, according to an April Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance poll, and more than one-quarter fear their home will decline in value during the next two years.

ComPsych says financial concerns are now the top issue the firm's counselors are hearing in calls from clients. Calls about financial worries have surged 20% over last year; those related to mortgage problems have doubled.

"It's escalated to the No. 1 issue because of the housing crisis," Chaifetz says.

Half of Americans identify housing costs, such as rent or mortgage payments, as significant sources of stress, particularly on the East and West coasts, a 2007 survey by the APA says. Sixty-one percent in the West, and 55% in the East (compared with 47% in the Midwest and 43% in the South) reported housing costs as a very or somewhat significant source of stress.

"The problem affects the whole spectrum, not just people losing their homes," says LeslieBeth Wish, a psychologist and social worker in Sarasota, Fla. "The stress exacerbates what is already there. It brings to the surface problems that were often already there, like marital problems. There is so much blaming people for the situations they're in, and that adds to it."

One of Wish's patients was semiretired when she bought a home in 2005 in southwest Florida as an investment that she hoped to "flip," turning a profit. The woman now owes more than the house is worth and can't sell it.

Wish says her client has developed anxiety, dwelling on her financial situation from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep. Other clients, Wish says, are reporting physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach pains stemming from anxiety over their mortgage situation.

ComPsych's counselors are hearing similar stories of the mental-health toll caused by the housing slump. At the request of USA TODAY, ComPsych's spokeswoman Jennifer Hudson queried counselors to come up with examples of the types of employees they're helping. One couple were going through a divorce, and the wife told ComPsych counselors that financial stress was the final trigger. They had maxed out their credit cards and were living off credit in hopes that they could keep their house. Another woman called because she suspected her husband was gambling again, apparently hoping to win big so they could repair their financial mess. She was afraid they were going to have to move in with her parents, ComPsych says.

For Gary Sweredoski of Myrtle Beach, S.C., the threat of losing his home to foreclosure has taken both a physical and an emotional toll. In 2007, Sweredoski, who had no health insurance, underwent triple bypass surgery and wound up with more than $300,000 in medical bills. Then Sweredoski, 60, a real estate broker, saw his business suffer as the housing market crashed.

Today, he and his wife, Irene, struggle to make the mortgage payment on the dream home they built in Myrtle Beach and are trying to stave off foreclosure. Like many other homeowners struggling with the financial consequences of the housing slump, Gary says the emotional pain can be severe.

Standing on his deck overlooking a lake where ducks swim and bobbing pontoon boats drift by, he says such circumstances "shatter your pride and become very humiliating, even though the circumstances are not of our making.

"The situation keeps you up at night, preventing you from getting the rest you need. A lot of the depression that I feel, I do in private," he says.

"It angers you. It frustrates you. It has a large bearing on your emotional state. When the thought of losing a home looms, you lose more than a building. You lose what you worked for so many years, all of the equity that you have accumulated over the years. It's humbling. It affects us deeply."

Rising depression, suicide rates

Historically, research shows, rates of depression and suicide tend to climb during times of economic tumult.

Cardiologist Convicted of 51 counts of Healthcare Fraud. Ethic? Moral?

United States Attorney Donald W. Washington, along with Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge, Mike Fields, and FBI, New Orleans Division, Special Agent in Charge, David Welker, announced the conviction of DR. MEHMOOD M. PATEL, 64, of Lafayette, by a federal jury of healthcare fraud After a three-month trial which began on October 1, 2008, and six days of deliberation, a jury returned a guilty verdict on 51 counts of healthcare fraud in United States District Court in Lafayette.

After the verdict Tuesday evening, Judge Tucker Melancon denied the government’s motion for detention before sentencing, but increased Patel’s release bond obligation to $500,000.00. The court also ordered the defendant to surrender all medical licenses, including those allowing him to practice medicine
in Louisiana, Canada, India and elsewhere by 9:00 a.m. on December 31, 2008. A date for sentencing is expected to be set soon.

PATEL was indicted in February 2006 stemming from a complaint made to the Department of Health & Human Services that the defendant was placing stents in people who did not need them. A search warrant was executed on Patel’s office in November 2003, at which time patient files were seized. Beginning on or about September 2003, Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) Hospital in Lafayette, LA conducted an internal investigation leading to the suspension of DR. PATEL’S privileges at OLOL. A similar process was undertaken by Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC) in late 2003 and early 2004 which also led to DR. PATEL being suspended from practicing at LGMC. After the hospitals suspended the defendant’s privileges, the Louisiana State Medical Board restricted DR. PATEL’S license to practice interventional cardiology, leaving him the ability to practice internal medicine pending the results of the criminal trial.

Testimony at trial revealed that MEHMOOD M. PATEL, M.D., who has been practicing interventional cardiology in Lafayette, Louisiana and surrounding areas for more than 25 years, was falsifying patient symptoms in medical records, falsifying findings on medical tests, and performing unnecessary coronary procedures such as deploying angioplasty balloons and stents. Testimony from experts in cardiology specialties revealed that the defendant deployed stents, balloons and radiation in coronary arteries that had little or insignificant disease. Testifying medical experts included doctors from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia, PA, Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, and the University of California at Los Angeles, CA, as well as cardiologists practicing in Louisiana. Each expert testified about only a small number of the thousands of procedures performed annually for many years by DR. PATEL. The indictment in the case contained 91 counts involving only 75 patients chosen by the government with the help of these experts.

Additionally, the jury heard testimony from dozens of other government witnesses including medical technicians, nurses, and patients who painted the defendant as one who lacked concern for patient care and safety. Many of the nurses and technicians indicated their concerns and made complaints to their supervisors after witnessing unnecessary angioplasty procedures performed by the defendant doctor. Testimony also revealed that DR. PATEL was performing unnecessary medical procedures and billing both Medicare and private insurance companies, which added up to millions of dollars paid to DR. PATEL and the hospitals where many of the procedures were performed. During the years 1999-2003, DR. PATEL was the number one biller in cardiology services for the State of Louisiana. During the approximately three-year period covered by the indictment, DR. PATEL billed Medicare and private insurance companies more than $3 million, of which he received $541,745.00 from this scheme. The indicted charges included less than $90,000.00 of the amount received by the defendant.

DR. PATEL performed procedures at both Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Lafayette General Medical Center, as well as a leased mobile catheterization lab located outside his practice, Acadiana Cardiology, before he opened his own catheterization lab in mid-2002 on the second floor of his office on St. Julien Street in Lafayette, Louisiana.

United States Attorney Donald W. Washington stated: “Patient care and safety are the primary duty of all healthcare providers. Doctors are never privileged to perform medically unnecessary procedures on any person for any reasons whatsoever. I hope that this matter sends a strong message to those good and honorable medical professionals to police their ranks and be faithful to their credo of doing no harm to any patient. Healthcare providers like Dr. Patel are not entitled to payment by federal and/or private health plans for medically unnecessary procedures. Physicians must be held accountable when they fail in their primary mission to care for their patients appropriately, ethically and respectfully. Healthcare fraud will continue to remain a priority for this office, and we will aggressively investigate and devote our full attention and resources to matters of this magnitude.”


Special Agent in Charge for Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General, Mike Fields, stated: “Yesterday, Dr. Patel heard from this jury what healthcare providers who defraud Medicare are hearing from juries all over America - you will be held accountable for your greed. HHS-OIG agents will
continue to work closely with our state and federal law enforcement partners to protect the Medicare Trust Fund.”

Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New Orleans Division, David Welker, stated: “It is reprehensible to think that a medial professional would put patients at significant risk and conduct medically unnecessary procedures simply to fill their personal coffers. Hopefully, as U.S. Attorney Donald Washington notes, this conviction should send a powerful message to healthcare providers of the perils of deviating from their oath. It should also send a message to patients to be personally involved in their own care. We will continue to aggressively investigate healthcare fraud to ensure the safety of the public.”
PATEL faces a maximum of ten years imprisonment, a fine not more than $250,000.00, and a term of not more than three years of supervised release following confinement.

Sentencing in federal court is determined by the discretion of federal judges and the governing statutes. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. This case was investigated by Special Agent Barbara Alleman of Health & Human Services and Special Agents Troy Chenevert and Greg Harbourt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by United States Attorney Donald W. Washington and Assistant United States Attorney Kelly
Uebinger

Undocumented Immigrants draining the Medicare program? A lie or a Lie.!!!

If you put all the different sources of funding together today- the SSI, the IHSS, the child care, welfare and Section 8 - they can make a family income of $5,000 to $8,000 a month without having to really work. That's up to $100,000 a year tax-free. They can live in very nice homes and drive nice cars but the Goverment, Nativist, Minuteman Groups and Anti Immigrants blaming undocumented immigrants when to the contrary are not eligible to receive any "welfare" benefits and even legal immigrants are severely restricted in the benefits they can receive.

As the Congressional Research Service points out in a 2007 report, undocumented immigrants, who comprise nearly one-third of all immigrants in the country, are not eligible to receive public "welfare" benefits -- ever.

In the months since the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury found that "scam artists" are "embedded" inside the county's in-home care program, an investigation has uncovered widespread fraud, including county employees involved in the schemes.

More than 700 instances of suspected fraud have been referred to the state Department of Health Care Services for investigation, and arrests of In-Home Supportive Services employees are pending, prosecutors said.

"I think the extent of the fraud is greater than anyone ever realized," said James Baker, assistant head deputy in the Welfare Fraud Division of the county District Attorney's Office.

He said officials in the Department of Public Social Services are re-examining the whole in-home care program and protocols.

"They have started an internal review of all IHSS and DPSS employees (involved)," he said.

As the number of county residents receiving in-home care has doubled to 174,000 in the past decade, officials say fraud in the $1.6 billion program has also grown exponentially.

Last summer, the little-noticed section of the grand jury's report found that the entitlement program, which provides in-home care to elderly and disabled people, is rife with fraud.

"The IHSS program is not supposed to be a cottage industry for scam artists, especially those embedded within the ranks of DPSS itself," the report authors wrote. The scams "start inside the organization itself," said

John Gleiter, chairman of the grand jury's Investigative Committee and co-author of the report.
"It's the old Mafia game," said Gleiter, a retired businessman who lives in North Hollywood. "You look inside to see who is watching the chickens, and it's the fox who is watching the chickens."

County Social Services Director Philip Browning, who previously served as the state fraud director in Alabama, said fraud will not be tolerated among the department's 14,000 employees.

"It's heartbreaking to hear situations where employees have done things they shouldn't have and misused the program," he said. "I personally don't believe we have very many employees who are abusing the system, but when we do find these individuals, we want to take every disciplinary action possible and prosecute them to the fullest extent."

Growing concerns about fraud in the in-home program arose after the settlement of two lawsuits involving DPSS workers who blew the whistle.

Earlier this month, the county Board of Supervisors approved a $148,000 settlement for DPSS employee Sandra Siedenburg, who said she suffered retaliation for reporting many instances of elder abuse, theft of government funds and fraud, according to the lawsuit filed by Beverly Hills attorney Leo James Terrell. In the lawsuit, Siedenburg, who lives in Palmdale, complained about failures to investigate after she reported the incidents to her superiors.

In 2006, the supervisors approved a $250,000 settlement with former DPSS welfare case reviewer Gamil Youssef, who alleged he was retaliated against after making allegations of fraudulent activity inside the department.

Last month, the Service Employees International Union permanently banned Tyrone Freeman, former president of the union representing in-home care workers, from union membership, according to an SEIU statement. The SEIU said an independent hearing officer, former California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin, found that Freeman had engaged in a pattern of financial mismanagement and self-dealing in violation of union bylaws. The union demanded that Freeman pay $1.1 million in restitution.

David Kline, spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association, said the grand jury report, the lawsuit settlements and the union president's ouster point toward the need for a statewide investigation.

"It seems like this is exactly the kind of investigation that is needed in every corner of the state because this program has grown very rapidly," Kline said. "If this much waste and fraud is going on in Los Angeles County, then we can only imagine what is going on in the other 57 counties."

In the report, grand jurors wrote that the "well-intentioned" aid program employs more than 120,000 people - mostly family members and relatives - paid $9 an hour to provide care and domestic services to elderly and disabled people.

The care is provided to people unable to take care of themselves. When effective, the program saves the state money by enabling elderly and disabled people to remain in their homes, rather than in far more costly nursing homes and medical facilities.

But county grand jurors found that the program has had mixed effectiveness: on the one hand, helping the "truly needy (and) the thought-to- be-needy," but on the other hand, inadvertently supporting criminal behavior.

"The mission of DPSS-administered aid programs is to ameliorate the plight of the poor and otherwise needy, not to cultivate their situation," jurors wrote.

Baker said his office has prosecuted dozens of people in IHSS scams costing taxpayers millions of dollars - as when people pretended to be blind or schizophrenic to receive benefits, or when some used multiple identities.

Baker said many involved in in-home care scams are also involved in abuse of programs to help the needy with child care, Section 8 housing and food stamps, as well as income assistance through federal and state welfare and Supplemental Security Income programs. In all, it may cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually in fraud, Baker said.

In July, Baker's office filed criminal charges against 21 men and women accused of an IHSS scheme that cost taxpayers more than $2 million.

Among those facing welfare-fraud charges is Kim Johnson, 40, of Palmdale. While receiving $194,000 in IHSS benefits for 24-hour protective supervision due to claimed disability, Johnson was observed driving a Cadillac Escalade, investigators said.

Prosecutors also accused Johnson and others of being involved in a conspiracy to buy a home in the Antelope Valley with profits and $100,000 in Section 8 benefits.

One of the big problems with in-home care is that people can qualify for "any type of disability," including ones "hard to really prove or disprove," Baker said.

"For instance, someone can have someone take them to the doctor and say, `I hear voices,"' he said. "The doctor writes a diagnosis of schizophrenia. They take that to DPSS or SSI, and they get benefits based on the doctor's note."

To crack down on fraud, grand jurors recommended fingerprinting, photographing and conducting criminal-background checks of recipients and providers. They also called for enhanced computer technology to cross-reference program participants and periodically reassess the recipient's actual needs.

In response, the DPSS sponsored a recent meeting with prosecutors and officials from state and federal agencies. The group drafted 29 recommendations to reduce fraud but not eliminating.

Both Browning and Baker say a big problem is that the state Department of Health Care Services, responsible for investigating IHSS fraud, has only a few investigators. Of the 747 fraud referrals DPSS made to the state since 2005, only 142 have been investigated.

A bill was introduced earlier this year to allow counties to conduct their own IHSS investigations, but it did not pass.

"Most of these recommendations are not within our authority," Browning said. "It will take the state Department of Social Services or the Department of Health Care Services to allow us to take some action."

Former IRS Employee involved on Tax Refund Scheme.

FORMER IRS EMPLOYEE AND WIFE SENTENCED IN D.C. PROPERTY TAX REFUND FRAUD SCHEME

Fraudulently Obtained Nearly $9 Million in D.C. Government Checks;
Used Funds to Purchase at Least Four Jaguars, a Townhouse and Vacations to the Bahamas.

Greenbelt, Maryland—U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced former IRS employee Robert O. Steven, age 55, of Edgewater, Maryland, today to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and his wife Patricia A. Steven, age 73, of Harwood, Maryland, to 70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, for receipt of stolen property and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a property tax refund scheme in which over $48 million were stolen from the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey A. Taylor.

Judge Williams also ordered that Robert Steven and Patricia Steven each pay $8,833,310.32, and, in order to satisfy such money judgment, to forfeit three Jaguar cars, two residences, jewelry and monies held in four bank accounts.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, “This case is particularly egregious because Robert Steven was an IRS employee when he joined in this conspiracy to steal millions of dollars from D.C. taxpayers and spend the money on luxury items, and his wife Patricia Steven spent over 16 years laundering almost $9 million into a bank account she controlled with her husband. We seek the forfeiture of all criminal proceeds and property purchased with stolen money because victims deserve restitution and criminals must not be permitted to profit from their crimes.”

“Money laundering is not a victimless crime. The underground, untaxed economy harms the entire nation’s economic strength. IRS-Criminal Investigation is united with the rest of the law enforcement community in our resolve to financially disrupt criminal organizations that commit crimes against our society and economy,” said C. Andre' Martin, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge.

According to court documents, Robert Steven was employed with the IRS since 1975. At the time of his arrest, Steven’s position was Division Director, Modernization Information Technology Systems, and his office was located at the IRS National Office in New Carrollton, Maryland.

According to the plea agreements, Patricia Steven first met Harriette Walters, a former manager within the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, in the mid-1970s. By the late 1980's, Harriette Walters proposed that Patricia Steven deposit a check drawn on a District of Columbia government bank account and made payable to Patricia Steven. Walters explained that Steven would be allowed to keep a portion of the proceeds from the check, but would have to return a substantial portion to Walters. Despite knowing that Walters obtained the check fraudulently, Patricia Steven agreed and deposited the first check.

Robert and Patricia Steven opened a business that eventually developed into a clothing design business called “Bellarmine Design.” Bellarmine Design never grossed more than $15,000 in a single year. From 1990 to 2007, Patricia Steven and Harriette Walters made 67 deposits of fraudulently obtained District of Columbia government checks or cash proceeds from the scheme into a Bellarmine Design checking account maintained by Steven and Patricia Steven. The individual checks ranged in amounts from a handful of initial deposits over $4,000 each, to subsequent deposits of up to $490,000. Patricia Steven also transferred at least $344,700 to Harriette Walters.

Patricia and Robert Steven transferred at least $1,709,500 of these funds into another bank account used primarily by Robert Steven. Using these funds, Robert and Patricia Steven purchased at least four Jaguar cars, a townhouse located in Edgewater, Maryland and multiple vacations to the Bahamas.

Harriette M. Walters, age 52, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy; 10 years for District of Columbia tax evasion; five years for federal tax evasion; and an order to pay restitution in the amount of $48,115,419.09. U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Emmet G. Sullivan has scheduled her sentencing for March 25, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. Alethia O. Grooms, age 52, of Clinton, Maryland and Samuel Earl Pope, age 61, of Washington, D.C. also pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme. Judge Sullivan scheduled their sentencing for February 24 and 26, 2009.

Jayrece Turnbull, age 34, of Bowie, Maryland, who is Harriette Walters’ niece, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore to her participation in this tax refund scheme in which she deposited over $24 million in fraudulently obtained government checks into accounts she controlled. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for receipt of stolen property; 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the transactions involved, whichever is greater, for conspiracy to commit money laundering; 30 years for mail fraud; and five years and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greater, for tax evasion. Judge Williams has scheduled her sentencing for February 4, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.

Judge Williams sentenced Ricardo R. Walters, age 33, of Ft. Washington, Maryland, on July 23, 2008 to 78 months in prison for receipt of stolen property and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Judge Williams sentenced Richard Walters, age 49, of Bowie, Maryland, who is Harriette Walters’ brother, on November 4, 2008 to 51 months in prison for receipt of stolen property and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with this scheme.

Marilyn Yoon, age 40, of Derwood, Maryland; Walter Jones, age 33, of Essex, Maryland; and Connie Alexander, age 53, of Bowie, Maryland have also pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme. Yoon, the next defendant to be sentenced, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for possession of property obtained by fraud at her sentencing scheduled for December 11, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. Walter Jones faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the transactions involved, whichever is greater, for conspiracy to commit money laundering at his sentencing on January 5, 2009. Alexander faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for receipt of stolen property and 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering at her sentencing scheduled by Judge Williams for February 12, 2009.

United States Attorneys Rod J. Rosenstein and Jeffrey A. Taylor thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; the Inspector General’s Office for the District of Columbia; the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, Criminal Investigation Division; the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; and the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Integrity and Oversight for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan Su and Deborah Johnston from the District of Maryland and Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy Lynch and David Johnson from the District of Columbia, who are prosecuting the case.

Minuteman Member guilty of Urinating in Public. Enforce the Law.

By Stephen Lemos. Phoenix New Times.

In a surprising turn of events in the pending bench trial of nativist and noted Yosemite Sam-lookalike Buffalo Rick Galeener, the grizzled 58 year-old entered Phoenix Municipal Court this morning, and pleaded "guilty" to one count of public urination. He was ordered to pay a fine of $194. According to Chief Assistant City Prosecutor Vicki Hill, the deal had been arranged in advance, and Galeener was supposed to have made an appearance before Thanksgiving to enter the new plea, but didn't make it in because he had been feelin' poorly. His trial in Judge Deborah Griffith's courtroom was set to begin today. Urinating in public is a class 1 misdemeanor, and carries a potential $2,500 fine, and six months in county stir, where, hypothetically, Galeener might have enjoyed the luxurious hospitality of his hero, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The incident, in which Galeener was spotted making water by a local Hispanic lady Paulita Cortes and her two year old son, took place on March 8, nearby the Macehualli Work Center, just south of 25th Street and Bell Road. Galeener was outside the work center for migrant day-laborers as part of a months-long protest of the site by members of United for a Sovereign America, the most virulent anti-immigrant hate group in the Valley, and one that recently marched outside of Mayor Phil Gordon's home to protest Gordon's outspoken criticism of Sheriff Joe's immigration policies. According to the Phoenix police report of the incident, Cortes spotted Galeener around noon near his 1992 Ford Ranger truck, "exposing his penis and urinating in a container." The same report stated Galeener admitted to a police officer that he had urinated, but had done so inside his truck where nobody could see him. It should be noted there's a McDonalds and a Taco Bell just about a block away from where the incident took place.
Phoenix cops cited Galeener for misdemeanor indecent exposure, but the charge was later changed by the City Prosecutor's office to public urination, which carries the same penalty. Galeener hired a lawyer, Phoenix attorney Joey Hamby, and insisted on fighting the case, though all the City Prosecutor wanted Galeener to do was plead guilty, pay a fine and walk. A mean old cuss who has been overheard in the past referring to non-whites as "monkeys," and who has a Web site where he proudly proclaims, "I hate illegals," among other racist gibberish, Galeener refused cop to the al fresco whiz up until the last minute. Macehualli's director, Salavador Reza, said Galeener's lawyer questioned one of the cops involved in the arrest, the victim Paulita Cortes, and Reza himself, long before the trial date. "The lawyer tried to portray [Galeener] as a respectable person," related Reza. "I basically said I thought he was an eccentric and had a foul-mouth. That's about it."Reza said he believed Galeener and his lawyer wanted to prove some conspiracy against Galeener existed between the cop, Cortes, and Reza. But there was no proof of such an unlikely scenario. Told of Galeener's plea deal, Reza thought the Gabby Hayes doppelganger had gotten off easy."If any day laborer had done that in a white neighborhood, they'd probably be in Arpaio's jail as a sexual predator," said Reza. "He was cut a break. On the other hand, I think he had to pay a lot of money to his lawyer. And it showed him for who he is, somebody who's so crazed with hate, that he'll go to extremes to prove a point."Galeener's earned a certain amount of infamy for his nativist activities, getting written up by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report magazine, being parodied by pro-immigrant activists, even inspiring a Buffalo Rick impersonator at a recent Halloween/ Day of the Dead celebration, complete with a fake bottle of urine. No doubt his recent plea of guilty will only add to his unsavory reputation.

Tax Evasion with no paper trail.

The IRS has estimated that $50.0 billion in U.S. tax revenue is lost to evasion annually. Based on data showing the value of high-net-worth individuals and the proportion of their portfolios held offshore, $255.0 billion in worldwide tax revenue is lost annually from U.S. Citizens, and more than $400.0 billion from companies Blaming Undocumented Immigrants guilty of the "outright of Tax Evasion. We need a new IRS commissioner that respects the rule of law and understands that tax reform is needed to fix the problems in the tax code.
The misguided initiative, which would require U.S. financial institutions to automatically report the interest paid to foreign investors, is contrary to U.S economic interests. Faced with a loss of privacy, foreigners will take their money out of American banks, meaning less loan money available for families and businesses.

Fiscal deficits are ballooning now that America and Europe are paying for auto bailouts and stimulus packages, so you'd think their governments would be keener than usual to crack down on tax cheats for the extra billions in revenue it could bring in. They are, but with glacial zeal.

Liechtenstein signed an agreement with U.S. authorities on Monday in which it would, starting Jan. 1, 2010, provide information on U.S. banking clients who are being investigated for dodging tax. The tiny Alpine principality is renowned for allowing the world's wealthy to hide their money and (for some) to dodge the tax man.

Yet while this all sounds like good news, it is still miles away from the easy information sharing that's needed to help stop tax evaders. The so-called Tax Information Exchange Agreement that Liechtenstein has signed is notoriously difficult to use: a similar agreement between the island of Jersey and the United States was signed in 2002, yet has been used only four times.

The problem is that American authorities need to be armed with substantial evidence on a banking client before Liechtenstein will hand over any information, and that is nearly impossible considering that most tax evaders work hard to ensure they leave no paper trail. A spokesman for the principality told Forbes.com that "fishing expeditions," in which U.S. authorities would seek significant amounts of information in order to identify tax evaders, would not be possible.

Richard Murphy Founder of tax consultancy Tax Research, said Monday's agreement would at least help act as a deterrent to wealthy people who were looking for a place to hide their money from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or other tax agencies: they may instead opt for Dubai, Singapore or Switzerland. The move also puts pressure on Switzerland to sign a similar agreement. "It's a symbolic move and it's a disincentive, but it's not going to be used that often," he said.

More significant would be the passing of a law that calls for full automatic information exchange from offshore tax havens. The European Union published its revised savings tax directive on Nov. 13, which proposes just that, and while it could still be years before a law is finally passed, that proposal has the support of Europe's Council of Finance Ministers.

Add a new Crisis. Food prices risen to the tip of the Iceberg.

What a relief to see gas prices falling - some places are selling as low as $1.80 a gallon. There are a number of factors that can effect costs, including long term contracts, weather conditions, even global demand for different foods. Retail food prices have jumped on average 6 percent this year — triple the normal inflation rate of around 2 percent. The economics of the food business are partly to blame. Though crude oil is the main ingredient of gasoline, processed foods like cereal, crackers or cookies use only a small amount of corn, wheat and other grains, limiting manufacturers' pricing power. So why aren't food prices falling as well?

Add another economic worry to inflation and deflation: ecoflation, the rising cost of doing business in a world with a changing climate.

Ecoflation could hit consumer goods hard in the next five to 10 years, according to a report by World Resources Institute and A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm.

Companies that make fast-moving consumer goods, everything from cereal to shampoo, could see earnings drop by 13 percent to 31 percent by 2013 and 19 percent to 47 percent by 2018 if they do not adopt sustainable environmental practices, the report said.

The costs of global warming are showing up now in the form of worse heat waves, droughts, wildfires and possibly more severe tropical storms but they are not yet reflected in consumer prices, said the institute's Andrew Aulisi after the report's Dec. 2 release.

Instead, these costs are paid by governments and society, Aulisi said in a telephone interview. That could change if President-elect Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress push for a system that puts a price on the emission of climate-warming carbon dioxide, Aulisi said.

This is unlikely to happen next year in time for a December 2009 deadline to craft an international pact to fight climate change but it is more likely to happen in 2010.

These rising costs and possible tightening regulation of greenhouse gas emissions are not necessarily a bad thing, he said.

"The message we don't see in this study is that regulation is going to cost ... a lot of money," Aulisi said. "We think the analysis is a catalyst to convince companies to take greater action on these important issues."

LESS PLASTIC

In fact, some companies are already looking at ways to cut their emissions in advance of any new regulation, said Daniel Mahler of A.T. Kearney.

One example is consumer giant Procter & Gamble (PG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which has a team looking across the company's varied laundry, hair-care and health-care businesses to see how they can use less plastic, a fossil-based material, Mahler said by telephone.

But the changes may need to go deeper and wider, he said, spreading to the basics of how supply chains are managed.

For instance, companies that presumed U.S. transportation costs would be low and U.S. labor costs would be high had their goods made in countries where employees would work for less. But a new cost to the carbon emitted by long-distance transport could change that equation, making foreign manufacturing less attractive, Mahler said.

Within the United States, there could be a move away from big, centralized manufacturing plants to smaller, more widely dispersed ones, according to Mahler.

"That is not a little tactical change," he said. "It is an infrastructure change that we see companies ... addressing much more aggressively than they had been in the past

Under the ecoflation scenario, the world's major economies are likely to set a price on carbon emissions of $50 a tonne, Aulisi said.

That is between five and 10 times the price of carbon being traded on voluntary markets in the United States now. There is no mandatory U.S. carbon market, though the first regional market will begin trading in January

A Nation of Law against they own Rules.

The United States' commitment to separation of church and state has defined the nation, from the structure of the schools and the welfare system to the nature of American politics and society. Many citizens mistakenly point to the First Amendment, which guarantees the freedom of religious practice, as the origin of this separation. Indeed, the Bill of Rights represents a crucial step toward the division of religious institutions from the affairs of the government. Yet, from the days of the early republic, the separation of church and state came about slowly, amid contentious legal, intellectual, and religious debates.

Since the first few days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration has taken the view that the president has unilateral, unchecked authority to wage a war, not only against those who attacked us on that day, but against all and non terrorist organizations of potentially global reach. The administration claims that the president's role as commander in chief of the armed forces grants him exclusive authority to select "the means and methods of engaging the enemy." And it has interpreted that power in turn to permit the president to take actions many consider illegal. which I will collectively call "the Bush doctrine," the administration has brushed aside legal objections as mere hindrances to the ultimate goal of keeping Americans safe. It has argued that domestic criminal and constitutional law are of little concern because the president's powers as commander in chief override all such laws; that the Geneva Conventions but...

A nation's laws must be upheld? Such simplistic paranoia is at the foundation of the anti-immigrant crowd who cannot intellectualize their belief system. For example take this editorial, A Nation of Laws; its lack of substance prevents any meaningful progress for solving this issue.

What would happen to you if police caught you on video fraudulently voting?
Would cops quickly arrest you and throw you in jail, only to have the District Attorney immediately charge you with breaking the Law(Voterfraud)? Well, see the video above.

What would happen to elected government officials if they were caught doing the same? Absolutely nothing? In fact, our representatives in the U.S. government have become so brazen, that they commit fraud in plain view, on a daily basis, while at the same time trying to pass laws that would further restrict and criminalize the public for doing the same.
This is a clear sign of excessive government, when the government is so large and overwhelmingly powerful that it's agents can abuse the civilian population without any sense of guilt, remorse, or fear - when government officials deny charges of illegal conduct made against themselves as a matter of semantics, and when agents of the government expect and get immunity from any of their actions; actions that would be criminally prosecuted upon any other citizens.
The few standing up for freedom, liberty, and the Constitution, are the only hope for America; the only hope for returning our empire-sized government to it's proper Constitutional levels of national defense, upholding the law, and protecting the rights of the people and individual liberties. There's been a lot of debate at the State Capitol on bills relating to voter integrity. Some lawmakers are pushing for measures such as requiring voters to show a photo identification before being allowed to cast a ballot.
Another bill would criminalize anyone who delivers a ballot for someone unable to drive to the polls. With so much emphasis on one vote for one person, you'd think lawmakers would make sure they follow the rules, too.

In this CBS 42 Investigates, Nanci Wilson found many don't. State Representative Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, authored the bill that would require voters to show a photo ID. "It's all about integrity," Riddle said. But the integrity of one person, one vote doesn't apply at the legislature. CBS 42 found many lawmakers vote more than once. During a vote, Riddle votes, turns around and votes again for another state representative. There's so much going on during the vote on the HPV vaccine mandate, you really have to pay attention.

First, State Rep. Mike Hamilton is at his desk. He leans over to vote a second time for his deskmate Dan Branch. Hamilton reaches back to vote for Charlie Howard, then casts a fourth vote for Wayne Smith. He's not the only one scrambling to vote.

State Rep. G.E. West and State Rep. Larry Phillips both lean over to vote for themselves and their deskmates. Phillips votes a third time for State Rep. Wayne Christian.

Donna Howard votes for State Rep. Hubert Vo. State Rep. Jim Dunnam didn't have to leave his chair to cast four votes--one for himself then for Garnet Coleman, Trey Martinez Fischer and Marc Veasey. Sometimes the voting is across party lines. Will Hartnett, a Republican, reaches back to vote for Democrat Rene Oliveira. Democrat Jim McReynolds votes for Republican Kirk England, and Republican John Davis votes for Democrat Rick Noriega. Most voters have no way of knowing if their lawmakers are actually casting their own votes. Even though the legislature is broadcast on cable TV, the cameras change when it's time to vote. But if you're sitting in the third floor gallery, you have a better view. "I certainly noticed. There appears to be far more votes on the tick board than there were people in the room," capitol visitor Laurel Weiss said. Arnie and Laurel Weiss were baffled when they came to see the legislature in action. "It seems very inappropriate and they should do something about it," Arnie Weiss said. Riddle says voting for other members is done out of necessity. "We have a lot of amendments," Riddle said. "We don't have lunch breaks, dinner breaks, restroom breaks." Necessity or not, one thing is clear, they aren't supposed to be doing it. According to the official House rules--written, voted and approved by lawmakers at the beginning of the session--"Any member found guilty by the House of knowingly voting for another member on the voting machine shall be subject to discipline deemed appropriate by the House." So, should lawmakers do it? "No, there's no question," Weiss said. "On face value it appears to be a blatant violation, an affront, of their own rules." It is against their own rules. But the issue is with enforcement. It is the speaker's job to make sure rules are followed. When CBS 42 asked Speaker of the House Tom Craddick's spokesperson about it, she just shrugged her shoulders and said it was up to the House members to decide what do to if there's a violation. Although the practice is widespread, CBS 42 couldn't find any instances of lawmakers being disciplined for voting more than once.