Blog 13

Clarify the Honest Services Fraud

On Tuesday December 8, the Supreme Court will hear two separate cases related to the Honest Services Law, originally of 1988.  This law requires private company owners and managers and public officials to, “act in the best interests of their constituents or employers” (NewYorkTimes).  The law was originally designed to protect the consumer or constituents “intangible” right to honest services.  It is extremely unclear as to what these “honest services” are and to what extent of violation they pose. The most extreme example being an individual working for a company who decides to spend time during the work day looking on the internet at new flat screen TVs for sale.  The company is paying for this man’s work, not for him to look on the Internet, technically, the company is being cheated out of honest services.  However, for the obvious reasons, this law is only applied to high-ranking CEOs and public officials.  The most famous of these cases was against the former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling.

Mr. Skilling was just one of the few convicted of honest services fraud that has attempted to overturn his conviction.  The two cases being heard by the Supreme Court this Tuesday involve Conrad Black, ex- executive from Hollinger International, and Bruce Weyhrauch an ex- Alaskan State Legislature. Mr. Black is not arguing that he did not defraud the company Hollinger International but that he did not contemplate economic harm.  Weyhrauch is arguing that the honest service law violates the principles of federalism.  Mr. Skilling’s case will not be heard until later on.  Mr. Skilling challenges his conviction on the grounds that the honest services law is “unconstitutionally vague”.

Critics say the honest services law has been used when prosecutors cannot get enough evidence to convict a guilty person of any other major crimes, it becomes the back up charge.  The true flaw with the honest services law is the vague nature of the conviction. However, the only way to clear up this unclear law is not to expand the definitions or influence but to expand the regulatory powers whose jobs were to watch these officials in the first place.  The powers of the regulatory mechanisms are too weak to deal with the broad scope of corruption that taints both the public and private sectors.  

BLOG 12

Let The Afghans Try

With President Obama scheduled to announce his Afghanistan strategy tomorrow at a United States Military Academy at West Point.  There have been many different viewpoints from many different experts on the level of American involvement in this unstable country.  With opinions ranging from those of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who requested an additional 40,000 troops to that of Karl W. Eikenberry, who opposes troop increases.  Mr. Eikenberry opposes these increases because he fears the Afghan government will be too reliant on American forces in the country.  With a wide range of opinions, it is no wonder President Obama is still strategizing the war plan.  Many of Obama’s supporters and critics take caution because they fear Obama will make the same mistakes in the Afghan war that President Lyndon B. Johnson made during his Vietnam strategy. 

I agree more along the side of the argument against substantial troop increases.  Afghanistan has, for thousands of years, proved impenetrable to outside forces (from Genghis Khan to the Soviet Union), often proving the collapse of these invaders.  Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Carl Levin proposes an increase of security training for the Afghan forces to ensure Afghan control.  This is a key step in reducing Afghan dependence on the United States, in addition to guaranteeing the stability of the Afghan government, which in turn will hinder any Taliban insurgency from thriving in the rural countryside of Afghanistan. 

Because the Afghan Government is so weak and corrupt, and President Karzai.’s power so feeble, the United States is funneling many billions of dollars into a war against guerilla insurgents that will become useless when the troops do withdraw.              Unless the our government wishes to have a never ending presence in Afghanistan, we will eventually have to hand back control to the Afghans. 

However much the many experts in this field disagree, there is one common element in the key to success in Afghanistan, there needs to be more control given back to the Afghans, this involves training more Afghan led security forces, maybe even more NATO and UN involvement.  Another valid point brought up by David R. Obey of the House Appropriations Committee, there needs to be an additional source of revenue to fund the war.  To empower the Afghans and to protect our own people, steps that are often unpopular will have to be taken to ensure the survival of the Afghan government so our troops can come home. 

Blog 11

Increase Entitlement Programs

It is quite a shame, as pointed out by an under secretary of agriculture, that in a country as wealthy and productive as ours, that many people still go hungry.  A recent analysis of food stamp usage, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, showed skyrocketing rates across the country, with as many as 36 million people using this program, and swelling by roughly 20,000 people a day.  There has also been a significant rise in the number of children receiving this federal aid.  Food stamp usage in many counties across the country has more than doubled in the last two years.  This drastic rise in food stamp usage throughout the country further illustrates the country’s dire need for more entitlement programs in these hard economic times.

While I myself am not a full-fledged taxpayer, I will definitely support much need rise in public assistance, to the nation’s poorest, provided of course, there are regulations on those who benefit.  As a product of an upper middle class family, I have never had to deal with a lack of any of life’s necessities.  In light of the recent health care debate there has been a spotlight on health related entitlement programs such as medicare and medicade, but other important programs such as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program, have been eliminated, even the funding food the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been slashed drastically, despite rising need in this recession.  Now, the SNAP program is one of the few remaining entitlement programs remaining to help feed a population with an unemployment rate reaching 10 percent.  With the number of people receiving this aid increasing by 20,000 a day, the program will be hard pressed to find the resources to support such an ambitious program

I propose a rise in entitlement programs aimed at temporary relief, a New Deal-esque type of approach.  These programs should target those who really need the assistance to make ends meet and supplement dwindling savings.  Even staunch conservative  counties have begun to reexamine the stigma attached to food stamp usage, I think it is time for the legislatures to do the same.  There is a need that needs to be met, and it is about time a politician approached the subject. 

Blog 10

Now That Health Cares Moving…

With the passing of the House of Representatives version of the expansive health care overhaul bill, the focus of many members of Congress will now turn to President Obama’s next item of agenda, energy bills.  This piece of legislation has already passed through the House and is now aimed for the Senate. As I blogged about in an earlier rant, the “cap and trade” emissions policy allows all businesses are given a cap on their greenhouse gas emissions.   Then can then trade their allotted emission consumption with other companies if they reduce their own. 

With the Copenhagen climate change summit fast approaching, Obama still has relatively little to show for his commitment to reducing greenhouse gases.  As John Kerry of Massachusetts points out, the cap and trade system, by cutting out inefficiencies in energy production, transportation, and consumption will actually be more cost effective for the consumer.  That fact that Mr. Kerry is working on this piece of legislation with Lindsey Graham, a republican, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent, point to the possibility of a bipartisan bill.

While Mr. Obama ventures to China in a few days, specifically to reconnoiter the two countries’ energy consumptions levels, he will not be proposing a tangible climate change policy, but will instead be focusing on another important aspect controlling carbon emissions, alternative energy.  Obama plans to talk about electric cars.  In additions to alternative energy abroad, Obama recently announces a $3.4 billion investment in modernizing the nation’s power grid, an effective way of saving money and developing alternative energy solutions.

Blog 9

The Lethal Dilemma; Suspend the Death Penalty Indefinitely

The most popular method of execution in the United States today is lethal injection.  Although not as painful as the firing squads and hangman’s nooses of earlier years, the process of lethal injection can still cause pain to the person receiving the cocktail of drugs to paralyze the body then kill the victim.  This debate has cause much conflict in state courts as well and the Supreme Court, although there have not been decisive cases to overturn the death penalty so far.  With the exception of the Atkins v. Virginia case in 2002, where the court agreed that the execution of a mentally ill person was “cruel and unusual punishment.”  There has been recent evidence that the cocktail of drugs can cause severe pain and distress.  One of the drugs injected immobilizes the body, leaving the victim in a “terrifying conscious paralysis.”

Why then do most states continue to execute people? This savage form of barbarity should not still exist in these civilized times.  Courts and prosecutors are too hesitant to examine the issue because the reluctant to sully their career by upsetting there trigger happy constituents.  The first state to abolish the death penalty was Michigan in 1846.  Fifteen states have followed suit, and the District of Columbia.   The electric chair has been used as recently as 2008 in South Carolina.  It has been proven that people undergoing the electrocution have undergone extreme pain because their nerves still function. In addition, in a recent case in Ohio, a man was stabbed with a needle 18 times unsuccessfully.  Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstates, there have been 1,167.  The cost of death row is significantly higher than the keeping those same inmates on a life sentence with out the chance of parole.  An anti capital punishment advocacy group estimates that it costs the state of California alone around $115 million dollars more a year. 

While I do not propose releasing dangerous savage killers back into our streets, something as insanely barbaric as killing then in retribution for their crimes seems to go against every other message this country stands for.  Senator of Kansas Carolyn McGinn has pushed recently for a bill that would replace capital punishment with a life without parole sentence.  This is the most appealing alternative to the death penalty.  While most states fritter away millions of costly trials, and numerous appeals, other states have found other ways to spend that money.  I encourage the proponents of the moral values debate to take another look at their own Bibles and reread Jesus’s teachings.  

Blog 8

This week, in California’s state capital, Sacramento, lawmakers and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have had many tense, private meetings to deal with the state’s chaotic water crisis. Recent tactics of Governor Schwarzenegger include a mass veto of over 700 bills currently on his desk, most of which are not water related bills. Schwarzenegger is attempting to push lawmakers into finding a reasonable plan to deal with the states current water shortage and deal with the environmental degradation of the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta.  California is in its third year of a drought, restricting water allocations for all state residents as well as farmers in the Central Valley.  In addition recent restrictions of water to protect native endangered fish have led to more water being withheld from residents and farmers.  There have been several new bills proposed by California lawmakers to deal with the delta issue in recent weeks after a statement by President Obama encouraging California lawmakers to resolve the issue soon.  These new bills range from improving water management to removing the dams in the delta and restoring the watershed to its former state.  Estimates for the cost range in the $10-12 million region.  Over 25 million residents and thousands of acres of farmland rely on the water from the delta.

The proposal for the new canal has meet two different reactions from farmers. In general those in the Delta oppose the new canal plan because they believe it will siphon health, fresh water out of the delta to Southern California.  Farmers in the Central Valley favor the plan because they want more water rights, especially those that they lost to protect endangered fish.  Native fish populations like the Chinook salmon and the Delta Smelt have seen significant declines in population since the major dams and canals were built in the 1960s to supply arid drought stricken Southern California. Recent projects like one in Friant Dam in Fresno, California, have aimed at restoring original flow and enticing fish populations back into their native breeding habitats.  While project, which was just started recently, has yielded no results, salmon populations are expected back with in ten years, and eventually a sizable amount will inhabit the delta again, after 60 years.

I propose the lawmakers and individual consulting groups take a look in the plausibility of restoring all of the original Sacramento San Joaquin Delta’s ancestral river channels.  This would not only promote the cultivation of native fish but also restore the watershed to its former capacity. While our fellow residents in Southern California still need drinking water to survive (and water their emerald lawns and fill their Hollywood pools) I propose a new, low impact canal be built to divert water to the southern portion of the state. However, in addition to dealing with the big picture of California’s water problem, I propose there be a water metering on private residents.  Reducing water waste could be one of the simplest ways to deal with water shortages, especially with the large population in California. Not everyone needs to take a 10-minute shower everyday of water the lawns multiple times a day. 

House Armed Services Committee and Private Contractors

The House Armed Services Committee is underway with an investigation on the illicit activities of the employees of private military companies serving in Iraq and Afghanistan during the recent conflicts. These private mercenaries are contracted by the Congress through letter of Marque and Reprisal. They fall under the protected of the United States military when convicted of crimes in the countries in which they serve; however, they are not subject to the same rules and regulations that army personnel are subject to. The most famous of these groups is Blackwater, whose trail for the killing of Iraqi citizens is set to begin in February of next year. The army needs to contract these private mercenaries because they lack a sustainable number in the all-volunteer army. The army is now functioning on soldiers who are enlisted for multiple tours of duty, and are subject to an unreasonable amount of stressful conditions.

The Iraqi government has recently asked the United States to allow private contracting companies to be subject to Iraqi law, this request has come after months of outrage on the part of Iraqi citizens after several Blackwater guards were put on trial for murdering unarmed Iraqi civilians. With recent stress on President Obama to deal with the military conflict on Afghanistan, the issue of solider health and well being remains in the spot light. I propose that importance of the war dictate the spending the government does. Instead of hiring private mercenaries I propose a tax increase to so that the army can provide incentive for enlisting.

If the battle is important enough for the funding that is being spent, then there should be a large enough public support for the actual war. The battle should therefore be important enough for soldiers of the army, not just those mercenaries who make substantially more than the everyday army employee. While I am not a proponent of an all out draft, I think public support should dictate the commitment of the country’s resources for the war.