Government Ethical Standards Are Toothless, Unenforced

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "t r u t h o u t" <messenger@truthout.org>
Date: Dec 8, 2012 2:29 PM
Subject: Government Ethical Standards Are Toothless, Unenforced
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Saturday, 8 December 2012 View Recent Newsletters Tell a friend about Truthout! Donate Today!   Truthout is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization; donations are tax deductible.

BuzzFlash The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return soon.   First Study of Its Kind Detects 44 Hazardous Air Pollutants at Gas Drilling Sites Read the Article at InsideClimate News   Michigan Police Pepper-Spray, Arrest Protesters Opposing "Right-to-Work" Law Read the Article at Crooks and Liars   US Military Facing Fresh Questions Over Targeting of Children in Afghanistan Read the Article at the Guardian   Catastrophe in the Making: Mining for Uranium Could Begin on the East Coast Read the Article at AlterNet   Sign of the Times: Labor Strikes May Make Comeback Read the Article at NPR   Deal Reached in Doha to Extend Kyoto Protocol Read the Article at Al Jazeera   Arizona Conservatives Back S.A.N.E. Immigration Reform Read the Article at New America Media     Government Ethical Standards Are Toothless, Unenforced Donald G. Schweitzer, Truthout: In the 34 years since the formation of the Office of Government Ethics, none of the 5,700 employees working in the 133 executive agencies has found any wrongdoing to be significant enough to trigger enforcement of ethical standards. Read the Article  Supreme Court to Review Gay Marriage Cases Adam Liptak, The New York Times News Service: The Supreme Court agreed to hear cases challenging state and federal laws that define marriage to include only unions of a man and a woman. The court's docket is now crowded with marriage equality cases, with decisions expected by June. Read the Article  Death and Number-Crunching in Corporate America Thom Hartmann and Sam Sacks, The Daily Take: We now know that the death of 112 workers in the Tazreen garment factory in Bangladesh was the result of a cost-benefit analysis. This one was apparently largely done by Walmart, but the practice is common across the corporate world. Read the Article  A Look at the Numbers Behind "Obamacare" John Light, Moyers & Company: Although "Obamacare" will have a hefty price tag, most of the burden will be carried by the federal government. Here is a breakdown of the numbers behind the Affordable Care Act. Read the Article  Fracking for Foreigners? New Report From Feds Backs More Natural Gas Exports Mary Bottari, PRWatch: The US appears to be getting ready to significantly increase exports of natural gas from fracking. Due to the terms of global trade agreements that the United States has entered into, we are legally obliged to export to the nations covered by those agreements. Read the Article  On the News With Thom Hartmann: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Introduces Right-to-Work Law, and More In today's On the News segment: Michigan's Republican Gov. Rick Snyder called on his allies in the state legislature to immediately introduce and pass a Right-to-Work (for less) law in the state; six people are dead and more than 700 injured as clashes in Egypt enter their third week; the number of undocumented immigrants in America dropped to just over 11 million, the lowest in a decade; and more. Watch the Video and Read the Transcript  After Dismantling Campaign Finance Laws, Montana Group Under Scrutiny Paul Abowd, The Center for Public Integrity: American Tradition Partnership (ATP), the shadowy group responsible for dismantling Montana's campaign finance laws, faces recent scrutiny. Reports suggest possible illegal coordination with candidate campaigns, alongside indications that ATP may have misled the IRS. Read the Article  Hawaii Teachers Unleash Work-to-Rule Campaign Samantha Winslow, Labor Notes: Two years after an imposed contract stuck them with wage and benefit cuts, the teachers are building momentum to win a better deal in 2013. Read the Article  One Sandy Victim Among Many More Danny Katch, Socialist Worker: Rockaways resident Kizzy Parsons talks about the hardships she and her children have had to endure in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Read the Article  Employee-Owned Businesses Ignored by Mainstream Media Gar Alperovitz and Keane Bhatt, AlterNet: Thousands of creative projects - from green businesses to new forms of combined community-worker efforts - are underway and thriving across the country, yet they receive little media coverage. Read the Article

Support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation  Please add messenger@truthout.org to ensure you receive our messages Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047 Subscribe | Unsubscribe Privacy Policy