by | BLOG
I get email from all sorts of groups, but this one caught my eye earlier today. “Jews United for Democracy and Justice” invited Andrew Weissmann as a speaker for a talk entitled, “THE QUEST FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: An Expert’s Analysis of Trump’s Liabilities” to be given on Wednesday, 6/26. The fact that Andrew Weissmann is speaking on accountability is hypocrisy in its purest forms, given his history of despicable lawyer practices.
During the Colombo crime cases in the 1990s, Weissmann withheld exculpatory evidence and was reprimanded for doing so by a judge in the Eastern district of New York. Several years later during his tenure as head of the task force investigating Enron, he intimidated witnesses and made repeated threats, resulting in his abrupt resignation in the midst of jury deliberations. Similarly, Andrew Weissmann persecuted and prosecuted Jim Brown, a Merrill-Lynch executive, for a deal with Enron during which Weissmann concocted evidence and hid Brady material, and then repeatedly lied to the court about having such material. Initially, Jim Brown was found guilty and sent to prison, but the fraud and conspiracy charges were later overturned for him and three other Merrill Lynch executives.
Likewise, Andrew Weissmann brought an indictment against the Arthur Andersen firm as an entity arguing that it covered up for Enron. No indictment against a company for the action of one person had never been done before — or ever since. But in the end, no crime was actually ever committed, as determined later by a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court decision. During the oral argument, the Court viciously ridiculed the theory that Weissmann used in order to charge the crime in the first place. Unfortunately, that exoneration came too late: Weissmann had destroyed an 89-year-old accounting institution and eliminated 85,000 jobs by distorting the law, denying the defendants a fair trial, and taking intent out of the jury instructions.
In 2013, Weissmann faced ethical charges before the First Judicial Department Disciplinary Committee in NY for his outrageous behavior, including hiding evidence and lying to the court, during the Enron trial. But the Committee passed the disbarment issue on to the Eric Holder DOJ in DC, who buried the charges.
Having Weissmann give a talk about credibility is utterly laughable. For all the people they could have invited to talk about Trump, he is the absolute worst. Weissmann does anything to win, including violating all moral and ethical principles. Weissmann should have been disbarred years ago; having him as any speaker anywhere whatsoever denigrates the organization that invites him.
by | ECONOMY
My utility provider, Con Edison, recently announced yet another increase in utility prices and many of my neighbors are incensed. According to their website, “New York City residential customers may see an 11% increase in summer bills due to higher delivery charges. For the same reason, Westchester residential customers may see a 12% increase.” This is on top of continuous increases over the past few years.
But their anger is misplaced. Instead of blaming Con Ed, they should be outraged at the state and local legislators who have irrationally pushed wind and solar projects to the detriment of the utility consumer.
NY residents have been subjected to the closure of nuclear power plants, the closure of extraordinarily efficient, natural gas plants, and the construction of extraordinary, wasteful, wind, and solar projects. Several of these have monumentally failed — but these huge financial losses are now built into our utility cost base!
It is now commonly understood that the wind and solar projects that have been imposed upon us in recent years will have virtually no effect on the climate. But what it has done is add tens of millions of dollars of increased wasted costs that are now built into our utility cost base for the consumer to bear through increased prices, like the ones announced by Con Ed last week.
The most distressing part about this is not what our government has done to us, but that the media, the newspapers, and mostly the elected officials absolutely ignore this reality.
As a tax accountant, a significant portion of my work is now moving people out of New York, because of huge living costs as well as huge taxes. I myself expect to be leaving New York, mostly for these reasons. For a constituency that’s supposed to be intelligent, it is extraordinarily disappointing that we continue to elect these people. We should all be ashamed.
by | BLOG, Israel
It is simply outrageous that the French government recently banned Israeli exhibitors from participating in a defense industry trade show after pro-Palestinians protested their participation. Nevermind the fact that the show, the Eurosatory, is the biggest international show for land and air-land defense and security held every other year in Paris. As Israel has always been a major military presence, it is a vital contributor, with 74 exhibitors scheduled to attend before the prohibition.
What’s even more egregious is that a French court, in deference to Palestinians, subsequently voted to ban any Israeli company from outright attending merely three days before the start of the exhibition. So not only were Israelis shut out from exhibiting, France further decided that they cannot even send representatives or employees to meet with or contact any of the exhibitors.
It has come to my attention that in early June, when the French announced the initial exhibitor ban, Representative Ogles (R-TN) introduced an NDAA amendment on this that passed by voice. It urged that the DOD and its agencies not participate in the Eurosatory this year if Israeli firms were also banned from participating. This is as far as it ever got in Congress and with the Eurosatory now underway this year, nothing more can be done.
It is heinous that the French used such a ban as a way to deter Israel from defending itself, and that our Congress knew about it and did nothing.
Congress and/or the administration MUST act to exact real consequences on France for these actions.
by | BLOG
My utility provider, Con Edison, recently announced yet another increase in utility prices and many of my neighbors are incensed. According to their website, “New York City residential customers may see an 11% increase in summer bills due to higher delivery charges. For the same reason, Westchester residential customers may see a 12% increase.” This is on top of continuous increases over the past few years.
But their anger is misplaced. Instead of blaming Con Ed, they should be outraged at the state and local legislators who have irrationally pushed wind and solar projects to the detriment of the utility consumer.
NY residents have been subjected to the closure of nuclear power plants, the closure of extraordinarily efficient, natural gas plants, and the construction of extraordinary, wasteful, wind, and solar projects. Several of these have monumentally failed — but these huge financial losses are now built into our utility cost base!
It is now commonly understood that the wind and solar projects that have been imposed upon us in recent years will have virtually no effect on the climate. But what it has done is add tens of millions of dollars of increased wasted costs that are now built into our utility cost base for the consumer to bear through increased prices, like the ones announced by Con Ed last week.
The most distressing part about this is not what our government has done to us, but that the media, the newspapers, and mostly the elected officials absolutely ignore this reality.
As a tax accountant, a significant portion of my work is now moving people out of New York, because of huge living costs as well as huge taxes. I myself expect to be leaving New York, mostly for these reasons. For a constituency that’s supposed to be intelligent, it is extraordinarily disappointing that we continue to elect these people. We should all be ashamed.
by | BLOG
Phil Gramm and John Early do a great job refuting the persistent concept of a gender pay gap in the Wall Street Journal. Whatever gap exists doesn’t stem from gender discrimination but rather from job choices.
The pay gap as published is calculated each year by dividing the average full-time, year-round pay for women by the average full-time, year-round pay for men. But, as the authors point out, “that comparison is misleading because full-time, year-round work is defined so broadly.” Comparing a lumberjack working 70 hours/week with defined hours earning $100,000/year with a secretary working 35 hours/week with flexible hours earning $50,000/year would calculate as a 50% pay gap. This number borders on meaningless.
Women often opt for different career paths based on flexibility or risk. Some prioritize family over maximizing income. Adjusting for factors like education and job risk narrows the gap. Women’s experience and child-rearing further affect their earning power. Fewer women graduate in high-earning fields. Men take riskier jobs, leading to higher wages but also more danger and less job satisfaction.
It’s no longer likely that a company is going to pay a woman 16% less pay for virtually the same work and get away with it. If that was truly the case, it would logically conclude that businesses would hire as many women as possible in order to minimize the cost of labor and maximize potential profits. But that’s just not happening.
The last time I wrote about “the Gap,” during the Obama administration, it was 23%. Now it’s 16%. Men’s evolving roles at home and preference for job flexibility, and women seeking the tougher jobs, have narrowed the pay gap. Understanding these nuances helps to explain wage disparities in terms of extenuating factors — and not gender.
