Fortune investigation: More on the truth about the Fast and Furious scandal
July 5, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Katherine Eban follows up her investigative report in Fortune from last week, "The Truth about the Fast and Furious Scandal", with more on the truth about the Fast and Furious scandal Fast and Furious follow up: The ATF and gun stores:
In the six months of investigations that led Fortune to conclude that the ATF had no policy to intentionally permit weapons to be trafficked, we examined 2,000 pages of ATF records, Congressional reports and testimony, and interviewed 39 people involved in or knowledgeable about the case. That body of evidence shows the ATF did not have a policy of encouraging gun dealers to sell to traffickers. Until now, the alleged encouragement of gun-dealers has not been a central focus of the Fast and Furious scandal. As a result, we did not address those points in the article. However, given the interest in this question, we thought it was worth taking readers through the evidence on this point.
It should be noted at the outset that the Congressional committee investigating Fast and Furious has never claimed the ATF had any official, written policy to encourage gun dealers to sell to traffickers. No documents, emails, or testimony mentioned in Congressional reports show signs of an agency-wide policy, or even a policy within Phoenix Group VII, the unit that worked on Fast and Furious.
What the allegations in the Congressional hearings and reports boil down to are two specific situations. In one, as we'll see, the allegations are true — but misleading and incomplete — and in the second, the evidence is contradictory. It's possible that the Congressional investigators have other evidence, but these two episodes are the only ones that have surfaced to date.
Claim No. 1
In August 2010, after a successful wiretap led Phoenix Group VII to seize 114 weapons in a single month, an employee at a gun dealership informed Group VII supervisor Dave Voth that one of their chief suspects was looking to purchase 20 9mm pistols. Based on evidence it had gathered on the wiretap, the ATF had enough probable cause to immediately arrest the suspect if he purchased the weapons. So — in the only such instance known to date — Voth wrote back and asked the dealer to make this particular sale. Voth says he encouraged the sale so that the agents could arrest the suspect outside the gun dealership. In the end, however, the suspect did not make the purchase and the arrest did not take place. No evidence has emerged that Voth ever made such a statement to any other gun seller.
Claim No. 2
This allegation involves a gun store called Lone Wolf Trading Company and shifting assertions made by its owner, Andre Howard. ATF records and Justice Department correspondence show that Voth and federal prosecutor Emory Hurley met with Howard soon after Voth arrived in Arizona. According to those records, Hurley advised Howard that, obviously, he could not make illegal sales (which he wasn't), and needed to use his judgment regarding legal sales, but that the government would appreciate any information about the purchasers and the sales to aid the investigation. Lone Wolf cooperated with the ATF, according to agency documents, regularly providing records of gun sales and permitting the ATF to install a surveillance camera in the store.
That Pesky Oppo Book
July 4, 2012
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Posted by Bob Lord Earlier today, BlogForArizona reported on Mitt's investment in Stericycle, a firm that handles the disposal of aborted fetuses. http://www.blogforarizona.com/blog/2012/07/romney-stericycle-and-aborted-fetuses.html#more So continues the drip, drip, drip of unsavory snippets from Mitt's past. You could see this coming a mile away. Mitt has not been careful with his activities and statements, financial and … Read more
Refuting the “positive economic impact” of Rosemont mine
July 4, 2012
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by David Safier A commenter on my post this morning about Rosemont Mine's problems brought up the "Rosemont will create jobs" meme. "Tucson Native" tore the jobs argument to shreds in the next comment, which you can read below. If Rosemont gets approved the only positive economic impact will be for the company headquartered in … Read more
Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney is a captive of the radical Tea-Publican base
July 4, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: "Large and in charge" Willard "Mittens" Romney is not. He has no convictions or courage. "Mittens" is a captive of the radical Tea-Publican base. His senior adviser said earlier this week that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee believed the "ObamneyCare" mandate was a penalty and not a tax (even though Mittens has previously admitted … Read more
Mitt’s mystery money in Bermuda
July 4, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
On Tuesday, Vanity Fair visited Mitt''s money in the Cayman Islands in this report by Nicholas Shaxson. Investigation: Mitt Romney’s Offshore Accounts, Tax Loopholes, and Mysterious I.R.A. | Vanity Fair.
On Wednesday, the AP in the Washington Post visits Mitt's mystery money in Bermuda. Mystery Bermuda-based company and other undisclosed Romney assets hint at larger wealth:
For nearly 15 years, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s financial portfolio has included an offshore company that remained invisible to voters as his political star rose.
Based in Bermuda, Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd. was not listed on any of Romney’s state or federal financial reports. The company is among several Romney holdings that have not been fully disclosed, including one that recently posted a $1.9 million earning — suggesting he could be wealthier than the nearly $250 million estimated by his campaign.
The omissions were permitted by state and federal authorities overseeing Romney’s ethics filings, and he has never been cited for failing to disclose information about his money. But Romney’s limited disclosures deprive the public of an accurate depiction of his wealth and a clear understanding of how his assets are handled and taxed, according to experts in private equity, tax and campaign finance law.
Sankaty was transferred to a trust owned by Romney’s wife, Ann, one day before he was sworn in as Massachusetts governor in 2003, according to Bermuda records obtained by The Associated Press. The Romneys’ ownership of the offshore firm did not appear on any state or federal financial reports during Romney’s two presidential campaigns. Only the Romneys’ 2010 tax records, released under political pressure earlier this year, confirmed their continuing control of the company.
The mystery surrounding Sankaty reinforces Romney’s history of keeping a tight rein on his public dealings, already documented by his use of private email and computer purges as Massachusetts governor and his refusal to disclose his top fundraisers. The Bermuda company had almost no assets, according to Romney’s 2010 tax returns. But such partnership stakes could still provide significant income for years to come, said tax experts, who added that the lack of disclosure makes it impossible to know for certain.
Rosemont Mine prospects continue to look shakier
July 4, 2012
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by David Safier The push by Augusta Resource Corporation to build the Rosemont Mine has been running into all kinds of problems lately. Environmental decisions haven't been favorable. The corporation is running out of money and having trouble digging up new funds. And now this. Augusta Resource Corporation CEO Gil Clausen submitted his resignation from … Read more
Happy Independence Day!
July 4, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and … fireworks! Happy birthday, America.
Expanded Medicaid is too good a deal to refuse
July 3, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Neoconfederate "states' rights" Tenthers who are Tea-Publican Governors and legislators, like we have here in Arizona, are threatening not to participate in the "expanded Medicaid" provisions of the Affordable Care Act on ideological grounds. "We hate Obama! We hate the federal guvmint!"
They also object to covering more people under expanded Medicaid on the ground that it will cost taxpayers too much money. This is code for access to medical care is a privilege, not a right, and should be rationed according to the ability to pay. Medical care is only for those who can afford it. If you can't afford it, the GOP healthcare plan is simple: "Let them die!" How this comports with their alleged Christianity, I don't have a clue.
The first three years of expanded Medicaid is 100% covered by the federal government. Thereafter, the state share would gradually increase to around 10%. Suzy Khimm at Ezra Klein's WonkBlog has this important factoid. The truth about Medicaid’s cost to states, in three charts:
What would happen to state budgets if all states went ahead with the Medicaid expansion? The Congressional Budget Office says that it would increase state spending on the program by $73 billion by 2022—the equivalent of a “2.8 percent increase in what states would have spent on Medicaid from 2014 to 2022 in the absence of health reform,” the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explained.
That said, this is an aggregate look at the expansion: the budgetary impact on states will vary considerably, depending on how far a state has gone already to cover its low-income residents. The Urban Institute has a state-by-state breakdown of the impact, available here. (.pdf).
