Controversies

Why Does FDIC Keep Secret Its Settlement with Banks?

An investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that since the housing crisis last decade, the FDIC repeatedly chose to settle cases secretly with financial institutions. Such actions contradict the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Improvement Act of 1991, which called for bank settlements to be made public. Presumably, public disclosure of settlements would hurt the reputation of the banks that engaged in financial misdeeds, and thus threaten their profit margins. read more

U.S. Bioterror Labs Still at Risk due to Lack of Safety Standards

The USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) share responsibility for inspecting labs that are registered to work with dangerous germs and toxins that have bioterror potential. However, following a USA Today investigation about safety and security problems at CDC labs in Atlanta, the USDA was put in charge of inspecting labs operated by the CDC. read more

PTSD in Soldiers Found to be linked to a War’s Level of Morality

There is a view that, in spite of overlapping symptoms, moral injury—which isn’t necessarily caused by an actual traumatic event—is not the equivalent of PTSD, which is generally associated with nightmarish memories of frightening combat experiences. Not differentiating between the two “renders soldiers automatically into mental patients instead of wounded souls," stated Tyler Boudreau, a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran, who resigned for reasons of conscience. read more

Beekeepers Sue EPA over Failure to Protect Bees from Pesticides

Several scientific studies have linked neonicotinoids to harmful effects in bees, including the loss of a large number of queens. Recent declines in populations of bees and other pollinators have also been blamed on disease and habitat loss. Other studies have dealt with the threat of neonicotinoids to birds. The EPA has promised to review neonicotinoids and complete their study by…2018. read more

Senate Intelligence Committee Finally Agrees to Release Details of Its Votes

As good government organizations noted, had the senators not announced their votes, the public would have been left in the dark. “When you afford lawmakers the ability to hide how they voted, no one can hold them accountable,” Joe Newman, communications director for the Project On Government Oversight, told Roll Call. The Senate Intelligence Committee had been the only Congressional committee that didn’t disclose voting positions. read more

Reverse Discrimination Case not what it Appears to be

Fisher applied for admission to the university in 2008, when stiff competition meant that students who graduated in the top 10% of their class got 92% of the spots reserved for Texans. But Fisher was ineligible for the “Top Ten” admission program because her grades simply weren’t good enough—and she is not challenging her failure to meet these requirements. Instead, Fisher says she should have gotten one of the remaining slots, for which competition was particularly ferocious. read more

JPMorgan Chase Still Going Strong Despite Paying Billions for Long List of Misdeeds

Among its other transgressions, JPMorgan has been found to have • misled investors • engaged in fictitious trades • collected illegal flood insurance commissions • wrongfully foreclosed on soldiers, charged veterans hidden fees for refinancing • violated the Federal Trade commission Act by making false statements to people seeking automobile loans • illegally increased their collection of overdraft fees by processing large transactions before smaller ones read more

Is it Time to Stop Exempting Farms from Safety Rules?

During these incidents, 26 people were killed, with two-thirds of the accidents occurring on farms, including four incidents involving workers younger than 16. Grain bin suffocation deaths have averaged ten a year for the past 50 years. read more

Should the Right to Bear Arms Extend to Men Who Threaten Violence against Family Members?

In 1994, Congress passed a bill that forbids most people who are the subject of a permanent protective order from possessing firearms. However the law is rarely enforced, with less than 50 cases in all of 2012. This means that for practical purposes, each state makes its own laws. Currently, only a handful of states require gun owners to give up their weapons if a restraining order is placed on them by the courts. read more

Study Shows Disconnect between Politicians and Voters

Constituents tended to support gay marriage and universal health care by 10% more than their representatives had assumed. The disconnect was even greater among conservative politicians, who tend to be 20% more conservative than the people they represent. read more

Energy Drink Companies Rebrand as Beverages to Avoid Regulation

The switch gets the companies out of certain reporting requirements by the Food and Drug Administration—like revealing any deaths or ailments associated with the products. Bad publicity has caused Monster Energy’s stock value to plunge more than 40% in a year. read more

Bushmaster, Colt, Remington, Smith & Wesson Win Rejection of Assault Weapons Ban

“You'd think the Congress would listen, but they clearly listen to the National Rifle Assn.,” Feinstein said after Reid’s decision. The majority leader’s decision comes one week after Feinstein recounted at a Senate hearing her experience during the City Hall shootings—trying to find the pulse of a dying Milk and putting her finger through a bullet hole. read more

First Confirmed Case of Attempted Cyberfraud in U.S. Election

More than 2,500 “phantom requests” for absentee ballots were sent to the Miami-Dade County elections website prior to the state’s August primary, according to law enforcement officials investigating the case. The fraudulent requests for ballots focused on Democratic voters in the 26th Congressional District and Republicans in Florida House districts 103 and 112. read more

31% of Americans Have Abandoned News Outlets Due to Perceived Decline in Quality

Pew researchers said that those most likely to stop using news sources were better educated, wealthier and older than those who still used them—“in other words, they are people who tend to be most prone to consume and pay for news,” Pew’s The State of the News Media 2013 read. Losses of subscribers and ad revenues have negatively impacted many news organizations in recent years, forcing layoffs and reduced coverage. read more

Federal Appeals Panel Orders CIA to Reveal Info about Drones

“Given these official acknowledgments that the United States has participated in drone strikes, it is neither logical nor plausible for the CIA to maintain that it would reveal anything not already in the public domain to say that the agency ‘at least has an intelligence interest’ in such strikes,” wrote Garland. read more

Obama Administration Finally Agrees to Release Information about Immigration Fingerprinting Program

Initiated under the George W. Bush administration and expanded during the Obama years, S-Comm checks the fingerprints of arrestees at local jails against FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases for immigration problems. Since 2008, S-Comm has identified more than 918,000 possible problem cases—but has also ensnared citizens, as well as immigrants whose infractions are minor. read more