News release: “BP Exploration and Production Inc. (BP) has agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress and pay a record $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for its conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today. The 14-count information, filed today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, charges BP with 11 counts of felony manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of Congress, and violations of the Clean Water and Migratory Bird Treaty Acts. BP has signed a guilty plea agreement with the government, also filed today, admitting to its criminal conduct. As part of its guilty plea, BP has agreed, subject to the Courts approval, to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties the largest criminal resolution in United States history.”
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Daily Archives: November 15, 2012
Financial Services Subcommittee Report – Decisions by Corzine, Lack of Communication Between Regulators Led to MF Global Bankruptcy, Loss of Customer Funds
News release: “The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Randy Neugebauer, released the full results of its year-long majority staff investigation into the collapse of MF Global on [November 15, 2012]. The report chronicles the demise of the 230-year old commodities brokerage firm, which declared bankruptcy in October 2011. MF… Continue Reading
American Householders are Getting Older, Census Bureau Reports
News release: “The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the percentage of households headed by older adults has grown significantly over the last half century. The share of householders age 75 and older grew from 6 percent in 1960 to 10 percent in 2012. In 1960, 32 percent of all households in the country were headed… Continue Reading
Census Bureau Releases 2011 New Supplemental Poverty Measure Research Findings
“The Census Bureau, with support from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, today released its second annual report, The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2011, describing research on a new supplemental poverty measure. This measure extends information provided by the official poverty measure, released Sept. 12, by explicitly including benefits from many of the government programs designed… Continue Reading
FTC Issues Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2012
News release: “The Federal Trade Commission has issued its Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Performance and Accountability Report. The report shows American taxpayers how the FTC has managed its resources, highlights major accomplishments in fulfilling the FTC’s two core goals of protecting consumers and promoting competition, and outlines plans for addressing future challenges. As required by… Continue Reading
CBO – The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes
Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low- and Moderate-Income Workers, November 2012. “The effective marginal tax rate is the percentage of an additional dollar of earnings that is unavailable to a worker because it is paid in taxes or offset by reductions in benefits from government programs. In part, such rates are determined by income and… Continue Reading
Privacy: An Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Privacy: An Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Charles Doyle – Senior Specialist in American Public Law – October 9, 2012 “This report provides an overview of federal law governing wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). It also appends citations to state law in the area and the text… Continue Reading
51st issue of The Global Employer – The Social Media Issue
The Global Employer™ – The Social Media Issue, Paul Brown, Carlos A. Felce, Guenther H. Heckelmann, Cynthia L. Jackson. Baker & McKenzie “Social media presents particular implications for managing employment relations within organizations. The use and abuse of social media can touch on all aspects of the employment relationship: from employers digging social media data… Continue Reading
G20/OECD methodological framework on disaster risk assessment and risk financing
G20/OECD Methodological Framework for Disaster Risk Assessment and Risk Financing, November 7, 2012 “It is recognised that disasters can have widespread impacts, causing not only harm and damage to lives, buildings and infrastructure, but also impairing economic activity, with potential cascading and global effects. These impacts generate losses for households, businesses and governments as damages… Continue Reading
Paper – Stopping the Runaway Train: The Case for Privatizing Amtrak
“When Congress created Amtrak in 1970, passenger-rail advocates envisioned that it would become an efficient and attractive mode of travel. But more than 40 years later, Amtrak has become the most expensive mode of intercity travel while only accommodating a tiny part of the nation’s transportation needs. In a new paper, Cato scholar Randal O’Toole… Continue Reading
