The Huffington Post | Full News Feed

Anthony Weiner Goes Ballistic At GOP For Killing 9/11 Responders Health Care Bill (VIDEO)

2010-07-30T04:09:56Z

House Republicans late Thursday were able to corral enough votes to defeat a bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to those sickened by toxins resulting from the 9/11 attacks.

In the process, they set off a host of fiery speeches and denunciations from their Democratic colleagues and produced a veritable YouTube moment from Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y), whose district includes many of the affected.

At the heart of the debate was a procedural maneuver made by Democrats to suspend the rules before consideration of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The move allowed leadership to block potential GOP amendments to the measure (there was worry that Republicans would attach something overtly partisan in hopes that it could pass on the otherwise widely-popular measure). It also meant that the party needed a two-thirds majority vote.

When the final tally was announced, there were 255 representatives for the measure, 159 against. The defeat of the bill, which would have provided free health care to those affected during the 9/11 rescue and recovery, raises the likelihood that compensation issues will have to now be figured out through the courts.

Weiner spoke right before the vote when it was clear that Republican lawmakers would stake their opposition on grounds of procedural concerns. But for the grace of the C-SPAN cameras, he managed to stay physically behind his lectern.

"The gentleman will sit!" he declared at one point, addressing, it is believed, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). "The gentleman is correct in sitting!"

9/11 Responder Aid Package Fails In House

2010-07-30T03:56:12Z

WASHINGTON — A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House on Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts.

The bill would have provided free health care and compensation payments to 9/11 rescue and recovery workers who fell ill after working in the trade center ruins.

It failed to win the needed two-thirds majority, 255-159. The vote was largely along party lines, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats supporting the measure.

For weeks, a judge and teams of lawyers have been urging 10,000 former ground zero workers to sign on to a court-supervised settlement that would split $713 million among people who developed respiratory problems and other illnesses after inhaling trade center ash.

The court deal shares some similarities with the aid program that the federal legislation would have created, but it involves far less money. Only the most seriously ill of the thousands of police officers, firefighters and construction workers suing New York City over their exposure to the dust would be eligible for a hefty payout.

But supporters of the deal have been saying the court settlement is the only realistic option for the sick, because Congress will never act.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you can wait and wait and wait for that legislation ... it's not passing," Kenneth Feinberg, the former special master of the federal 9/11 victim compensation fund, told an audience of ground zero responders Monday in a meeting on Staten Island.

Democratic leaders opted to consider the House bill under a procedure that requires a two-thirds vote for approval rather than a simple majority. Such a move blocked potential GOP amendments to the measure.

A key backer of the bill, U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, accused Democrats of staging a "charade."

King said Democrats were "petrified" about casting votes as the fall elections near on controversial amendments, possibly including one that could ban the bill from covering illegal immigrants who were sickened by trade center dust.

If Democrats brought it to the floor as a regular bill, King said, it would have passed with majority support.

GOP critics branded the bill as yet another big-government "massive new entitlement program" that would have increased taxes and possibly kill jobs.

To pay the bill's estimated $7.4 billion cost over 10 years, the legislation would have prevented foreign multinational corporations incorporated in tax haven countries from avoiding tax on income earned in the U.S.

Bill supporters said that would close a tax loophole. Republicans branded it a corporate tax increase.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the vote an "outrage." He said it was clearly a tactic designed to stall the bill.

"This is a way to avoid having to make a tough decision," Bloomberg said, adding that the nation owes more to "the people who worked down at 9/11 whose health has fallen apart because they did what America wanted them to do."

John Feal, a ground zero demolition worker who has lobbied extensively for the legislation, expressed disgust.

"They pulled the rug out from beneath our feet," Feal said. "Whatever member of Congress vote against this bill, whether Republican or Democrat, should go to jail for manslaughter."

The bill would have provided up to $3.2 billion to cover the medical treatment of people sickened by trade center dust and an additional $4.2 billion for a new fund that would have compensated them for their suffering and lost wages.

The potential promise of a substantial payout from the federal government had caused some ground zero workers to balk at participating in the proposed legal settlement, which would resolve as many as 10,000 lawsuits against the city.

Initially, the bill would have prohibited people from participating in the new federal compensation program if they had already been compensated for their injuries through a lawsuit, but a change was made in recent days eliminating that restriction.

Nevertheless, with the House rejecting the bill and no vote scheduled on a similar Senate version, it appears almost guaranteed that there will be no new federal law by Sept. 8, the date by which ground zero workers involved in the lawsuits must decide whether to accept the settlement offer.

Under the terms of the deal, 95 percent of those workers must say yes for the court settlement to take effect.

The compensation system set up by the court would make payments ranging from $3,250 for people who aren't sick but worry they could fall ill in the future to as much as $1.5 million to the families of people who have died. Nonsmokers disabled by severe asthma might get between $800,000 and $1 million.

About 25 percent of the money would go to pay legal fees. Contested claims would be heard by Feinberg, who would act as an appeals officer.

Researchers have found that thousands of New Yorkers exposed to trade center dust are now suffering from breathing difficulties similar to asthma. Many have also complained of heartburn or acid reflux, and studies have shown that firefighters who worked on the debris pile suffer from elevated levels of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease.

Many of the workers also fear that the dust is giving people cancer, although scientific studies have failed to find evidence of such a link.

The exact number of sick is unclear. Nearly 15,900 people received treatment last year through medical programs set up to treat Sept. 11-related illnesses, but doctors say many of those people suffered from conditions that are common in the general public.

The House bill is named for James Zadroga, a police detective who died at age 34. His supporters say he died from respiratory disease contracted at ground zero, but New York City's medical examiner said Zadroga's lung condition was caused by prescription drug abuse.

___

Caruso reported from New York.

Obama Administration Pushing To Expand U.S. Arms Exports By Gutting Approval Process

2010-07-30T03:40:20Z

WASHINGTON — The United States is currently the world biggest weapons supplier — holding 30 per cent of the market — but the Obama administration has begun modifying export control regulations in hopes of enlarging the U.S. market share, according to U.S. officials.

President Barack Obama already has taken the first steps by tucking new language into the Iran sanctions bill signed in early July. His aides are now compiling the "munitions list," which regulates the sale of military items.

The administration's stated reason for the changes is to simplify the sale of weapons to U.S. allies, but potential spinoffs include generating business for the U.S. defense industry, creating jobs and contributing to Obama's drive to double U.S. exports by 2015.

Wyly Brothers Gave Millions To Over 200 Republican Candidates

2010-07-30T03:29:10Z

The billionaire brothers from Dallas who were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with orchestrating a massive securities fraud scheme that netted them $550 million are well-known philanthropists and fundraisers for conservative politicians.

Charles and Samuel Wyly, along with their wives, have donated $2.5 million to more than 200 Republican candidates and committees over the past 20 years, including over $1.3 million to the Republican National Committee, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The top recipients of their largesse have been Texas Republicans. George W. Bush received at least $100,000 raised by the Wyly clan during the 2000 presidential election. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson has received $30,400 from the family; Rep. Pete Sessions, $29,000.

Other Republican senators who've received their donations include John Cornyn of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, John Thune of South Dakota and Kit Bond of Missouri. Sam Wyly also funded the Swift Boat campaign that torpedoed Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

And the Wyly brothers have been busy in the 2010 election cycle, most recently writing a check dated June 10 for $10,000 to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. Charles Wyly has contributed to FreedomWorks PAC, which has been instrumental in the Tea Party movement. The Wylys and their companies have also reportedly contributed $353,500 to Texas Gov. Rick Perry in recent years.

As reported by HuffPost's Sam Stein, the brothers played an instrumental role in helping Bush defeat John McCain during the 2000 Republican presidential primary, with a $2.5-million advertising campaign that marked the "very first ad" launched by a 527 -- "the oft-maligned political groups that came about due to a loophole in campaign finance laws."

Sam Wyly's son Andrew ended up being a major fundraiser (or "Texas Aviator") for McCain in the 2008 election. In the 2010 cycle, Andrew has contributed to Marco Rubio's Florida Senate campaign and Pat Toomey's Pennsylvania Senate campaign, among other Republican candidates.

Beyond politics, the charges are sure to shake up the close-knit community in Dallas, where the brothers wielded enormous influence. Charles Wyly donated millions to the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts to have a building named after him, which was designed by famed architect Rem Koolhaas and billed as the world's only "vertical theater."

A prominent lawyer for the Wylys, Michael C. French, and stockbroker Louis J. Schaufele III were also charged in the case. Schaufele III is the Investment Committee chairman of the Episcopal Foundation of Dallas.

The case, which caps a six-year investigation prompted by inquiries about overseas trusts kept by the Wylys, also serves as a vindication of sorts for Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who along with former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) issued a damning 2006 report on tax haven abuses that primarily focused on the Wyly brothers.

Through a lawyer, the brothers said the charges are "without merit."

Armenian-Americans Sue Turkish Government, Banks For Century-Old Mass Killings, Seized Assets

2010-07-30T02:07:34Z

LOS ANGELES — Armenian-American lawyers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the Turkish government and two banks seeking compensation for the heirs of Armenians whose property was allegedly seized nearly a century ago as they were driven from the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Lawyers were seeking class-action status for the suit, a process that attorney Brian Kabateck said could take as long as three years.

"We are rolling up our sleeves and are going forward," he said.

The suit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Garbis Davouyan of Los Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens, N.Y. It alleges breach of statutory trust, unjust enrichment, human rights violations and violations of international law.

It seeks compensation for land, buildings and businesses allegedly seized from Armenians along with bank deposits and property, including priceless religious and other artifacts, some of which are now housed in museums in the Republic of Turkey.

Attorney Mark Geragos said it was the first such lawsuit directly naming the government of the Republic of Turkey as a defendant.

"All of the lawyers involved have relatives who perished or fled the Armenian genocide, which gives it a special poignancy for us," he said.

The lawsuit claims more than a million Armenians were killed in forced marches, concentration camps and massacres "perpetrated, assisted and condoned" by Turkish officials and armed forces.

The U.S. government does not recognize the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide.

Also named in the lawsuit were the Central Bank of Turkey and T.C., Ziraat Bankasi, the largest and oldest Turkish bank with origins dating back to the 1860s.

The lawsuit claims the government of Turkey agreed to administer the property, collect rents and sale proceeds from the seized assets and deposit the receipts in trust accounts until the property could be restored to owners.

Instead, the government has "withheld the property and any income derived from such property," the lawsuit said.

A message left with the Turkish Consul General's office in Los Angeles was not immediately returned. After-hours e-mails seeking comment from both banks were not immediately returned.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs believe records of the properties and profits still exist, and they are seeking an accounting that could reach billions of dollars.

Geragos said the biggest issue in Armenian communities is seeking recognition for the ethnic bloodshed that allegedly claimed the lives of as many as 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919.

In 2000, the California Legislature recognized the deaths as genocide when it allowed heirs to seek payment on life insurance policies of dead relatives.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later invalidated the law. Geragos has appealed that ruling.

Still, the heirs were paid nearly $40 million by New York Life Insurance Co. and French insurer AXA.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of Kabateck in 2nd paragraf)

Google Confirms: We're Not Currently Blocked In China - by @alexia

2010-07-30T01:04:02Z

SEC Accuses Sam And Charles Wyly, Billionaire Dallas Investors, Of Insider Trading Yielding $550 MILLION

2010-07-30T01:00:11Z

DALLAS — Sam and Charles Wyly, Dallas billionaire investors known for their support of conservative candidates and causes, made $550 million in undisclosed profits through 13 years of insider trading, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit filed Thursday.

In a 78-page complaint filed in a Manhattan federal court in New York, the SEC said the Wylys held and traded tens of millions of shares in companies on whose boards they served and "defrauded the investing public" by misrepresenting their ownership and trading of those stocks.

"The apparatus of the fraud was an elaborate sham system of trusts and subsidiary companies located in the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands ... created by and at the direction of the Wylys," the SEC complaint stated.

Using this offshore system, the Wylys were able to sell stock worth more than $750 million in four public companies where they served as corporate directors. They also committed an insider trading violation at one of the companies that resulted in an unlawful gain of over $31.7 million, according to the complaint.

The complaint lists the four companies as Michaels Stores Inc., Sterling Software Inc., Sterling Commerce Inc. and Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings Ltd., which is now known as Scottish Re Group Ltd.

"The cloak of secrecy has been lifted from the complex web of foreign structures used by the Wylys to evade the securities laws," Lorin L. Reisner, SEC deputy director of enforcement, said in a statement Thursday. "They used these structures to conceal hundreds of millions of dollars of gains in violation of the disclosure requirements for corporate insiders."

The Wylys' defense attorney, William A. Brewer III of Dallas, called the charges "without merit" and said the Wylys "intend to vigorously defend themselves - and expect to be fully vindicated."

"At worst, the claims appear to represent an after-the-fact justification for a misguided six-year investigation," Brewer said in a statement issued by his law firm.

In March, Forbes magazine estimated Sam Wyly's net worth at $1 billion. He has given generously to Republican causes and candidates, including the Swift Boat campaign that helped re-elect President George W. Bush in 2004 by tarring his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry.

The Wyly brothers, with their wives, have donated almost $2.5 million to more than 200 Republican candidates and committees at the federal level over the past two decades, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Both Presidents Bush received donations from the Wylys. Other recipients included current and former Republican senators: Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn and Phil Gramm of Texas; Sam Brownback and Bob Dole of Kansas; Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina; Mel Martinez of Florida; Judd Gregg of New Hampshire; John Thune of South Dakota; and Kit Bond of Missouri.

Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are the Wylys' investment attorney, Michael C. French of Dallas, who was accused of covering the operation "with a false cloak of legality that was essential both to its concealment and its execution. Another defendant was the Wylys' stockbroker, Louis J. Schaufele III of Dallas, who was accused of using his position to conceal and misrepresent the Wylys' control over the securities and making insider trades himself.

Attorneys for French and Schaufele had no comment Thursday.

Associated Press Business Writer Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this report.

Users Say Google Is Not Blocked In China, Google Says Otherwise » TechCrunch:

2010-07-30T00:59:01Z

Google says China Web search blocked » Reuters:

2010-07-30T00:58:02Z

New blog post: Google computer reports China blockage, all humans report otherwise

2010-07-30T00:58:02Z

Sarah Palin Hits Obama For 'View' Appearance

2010-07-30T00:55:17Z

JUNEAU, Alaska — Sarah Palin is criticizing President Barack Obama for appearing on "The View."

The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee said Thursday on Twitter that Obama has "no time" to visit the U.S.-Mexico border yet can chat on the ABC daytime talk show.

She says she plans to visit to what she calls the "porous" border "in the near future." She wasn't specific.

A White House spokesman didn't immediately offer comment.

The administration has taken steps to address the border security issue, including Obama's decision that will send 1,200 National Guard troops to the region this weekend.

Palin has taken shots at Obama before, including over his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and what she called his lack of executive experience before assuming the presidency.

Google site blocked in China

2010-07-30T00:55:02Z

Top Story: Google Search Engine Blocked in China: Google said its search engine was "fully blocked" to users in ma...

2010-07-30T00:54:01Z

Google Search Engine Is Blocked in China

2010-07-30T00:47:02Z

Google Search Engine Blocked in China

2010-07-30T00:46:02Z