LOS ANGELES — A federal judge has sentenced law firm co-founder Melvyn Weiss to 30 months in prison for his role in a lucrative lawsuit kickback scheme targeting some of the largest corporations in the nation.
The 72-year-old Weiss also was ordered Monday to pay $9.7 million in forfeitures and $250,000 in fines.
You know, it would be really informative for Congress to have an oversight hearing into the abuses of the plaintiff's bar. Weiss would probably appreciate a trip to Washington to break upon the monotony of prison.
Can we at least all agree that S. 3036, the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill, is all about raising revenues? (Specifically: Title IV, Auctions and Uses of Auction Proceeds.)
Well, then, the bill should not have been introduced in the Senate and it should not be debated there.
Unless the U.S. Constitution has no meaning.
U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
The pro-regulation, pro-tax, pro-crush-the-economy side of the global warming issue -- supporters of Lieberman-Warner included -- want to claim the moral high ground in the debate, since inaction will supposedly lead to dead polar bears, endangered crustaceans, and every other bad thing that ever happens.
But doesn't the moral high ground actually belong to those productive members of our society who create wealth, including the tax revenues that finance the government's protection of the environment? Jobs creators have a better claim of doing good than do the jobs destroyers, right?
Anyway, just a thought, prompted by this observation in today's Washington Post:
"This is just a money grab," said James E. Rogers, the chief executive of Duke Energy. Rogers says he supports a cap-and-trade system but argues that this bill raises too much revenue from coal users while diverting too much of it to other purposes. "Only the mafia could create an organization that would skim money off the top the way this legislation would skim money off the top," he said. Duke, with customers in Ohio, Indiana and the Carolinas, relies heavily on coal-fired plants.
The chief political virtue of cap-and-trade -- a complex scheme to reduce greenhouse gases -- is its complexity. This allows its environmental supporters to shape public perceptions in essentially deceptive ways. Cap-and-trade would act as a tax, but it's not described as a tax. It would regulate economic activity, but it's promoted as a "free market" mechanism. Finally, it would trigger a tidal wave of influence-peddling, as lobbyists scrambled to exploit the system for different industries and localities. This would undermine whatever abstract advantages the system has.
And the basic truth that too many policymakers want to avoid addressing: "If we suppress emissions, we also suppress today's energy sources, and because the economy needs energy, we suppress the economy."
And The Wall Street Journal, "Cap and Spend," which does a great job of detailing just how this vast wealth transfer would be parcelled out by politicians.
When cap and trade has been used in the past, such as to reduce acid rain, the allowances were usually distributed for free. A major difference this time is that the allowances will be auctioned off to covered businesses, which means imposing an upfront tax before the trade half of cap and trade even begins. It also means a gigantic revenue windfall for Congress.
Ms. Boxer expects to scoop up auction revenues of some $3.32 trillion by 2050. Yes, that's trillion. Her friends in Congress are already salivating over this new pot of gold. The way Congress works, the most vicious floor fights won't be over whether this is a useful tax to create, but over who gets what portion of the spoils. In a conference call with reporters last Thursday, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry explained that he was disturbed by the effects of global warming on "crustaceans" and so would be pursuing changes to ensure that New England lobsters benefit from some of the loot.
Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to consideration of S. 3036, Climate Security Act, and vote on the motion to invoke cloture
on the motion to proceed at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Perhaps the most straight-forward thing you'll hear from the Senate this week.
The law firm Milberg, down to one name, is close to a deal with prosecutors to settle charges the firm engaged in a various federal crimes in paying kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits. The WSJ:
Class-action law firm Milberg LLP is close to a settlement that could end a federal prosecution of the firm for alleged kickbacks, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The deal would mark the climax of a case that has roiled the American plaintiff's bar.
While a deal could still fall apart, the sides have made progress after weeks of talks that have centered on the payment Milberg will have to make as part of a settlement. Last summer, prosecutors had sought about $50 million in fines and penalties, but the demand mushroomed this year to about $100 million, say people familiar with the negotiations. Recently, Milberg and prosecutors have zeroed in on a payout in the neighborhood of $75 million, these people say.
And from Reuters, a story on the today's sentencing of Mel Weiss.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Class-action legend Melvyn Weiss can expect a rough ride on Monday when he is sentenced by a judge who handed down the maximum penalty to Weiss's former partner for his role in a kickbacks scheme involving their former law firm.
The 72-year-old Weiss, who built a multibillion-dollar shareholder litigation empire around a law firm now known as Milberg LLP, pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in March.
More at Portfolio, a feature story on the Bill Lerach-Mel Weiss duo, with such tidbits as: "Compared with Lerach, Weiss has always been the more compelling and complex character, down to the diamond pink ring that he will probably be wearing to his sentencing hearing."
With all the deals done, the sentences issued, wouldn't now be a good time for Congress to hold an oversight hearing into the predations of Milberg Weiss and the plaintiff's bar?
P.S. That Boomtown Rats' song? "I Don't Like Mondays." Although "Rat Trap" might also fit.
Congress is back from its Memorial Day recess, with the Senate setting its cap for cap-and-trade anti-global warming legislation. You know, there's an old German saying: Lieber man wärmer als Lieberman-Warner.*
The Senate convenes at 2 p.m. and is scheduled to vote at 5:30 p.m. on cloture on a motion to proceed to S. 3036, the Climate Security Bill. The House convenes Tuesday at 2 p.m. The week's floor schedule includes"> H.R. 3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act; the conference report on S.Con.Res. 70, the budget resolution; and perhaps H.R. 2642, the war supplemental. The House floor schedule for the week is here.
Executive Branch: President Bush has a meeting scheduled this morning on the economy and tax cuts (10:50 a.m., EEOB). The White House congressional picnic is Wednesday afternoon; on Thursday the president makes remarks at the ceremonial groundbreaking for the U.S. Institute of Peace, yet another building on the Mall. (With a webcam, too.) He then meets with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also in town, meeting with POTUS on Wednesday. Secretary Paulson gives remarks in Dubai today on investment. Commerce Secretary Gutierrez is in Kiev, Ukraine, midweek; on Saturday, he's in St. Petersburg, Russia. USTR Ambassador Schwab is at the OECD Ministerial in Paris June 3-4.
Economic reports: Today is the release of the ISM report for May. Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the May jobs figures. More.
* "Better warmer than Lieberman-Warner." Roughly. Very roughly. And it's a joke, anyway.
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor Emily Stover De- Rocco sees Penn State as a driver of innovation and the Pennsylvania economy — something she plans to highlight in her new role as visiting senior policy fellow in Penn State’s Office of Workforce and Economic Development.
DeRocco, who is senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers, said this will be an opportunity to use her education and experience to shape the university’s role on a broader level.
“Higher education and universities around the country are taking on a much higher role in the transformation that’s occurring in education, our economy and the work force,” she said. “Penn State has for a long time had a substantial impact on the regional economy.”
DeRocco is an alumna of Penn State and will receive the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
This week's "Cool Stuff Being Made" takes us to the American cigar capital of ...Scranton, Pa.?
You bet. As Dominic Keating, company president, tells us on our factory tour, Avanti Cigar Company is the nation's largest producer of all-tobacco cigars, exclusively. From the company's website:
With prices that start at 45 cents each and top out at a dollar and a quarter, the cigar lines produced by Avanti Cigar Company are not status symbols. But for the serious connoisseur who wants to experience a unique, mild, and flavorful smoke, these Italian style cheroots are anything but a step down.
"We feel it's our turn now to be part of the cigar phenomenon" says Tony Suraci, Jr., marketing director and part of the third generation of the Scranton, Pennsylvania-based clan that produces Parodi, DeNobili, Avanti, Petri, and several other regionally recognized brand names for the Toscano-style cigar market. All told, the company manufactures and distributes over 30 million 100% U.S. tobacco cigars annually. While those numbers might sound impressive, the company routinely sold two to three times that number during its heyday in the 1960s. Nonetheless, Avanti still produces more all-tobacco cigars than any other U.S. company.
Mr. Keating does a nice job of explaining the machinery and processes and people, with lots of detail along the way.
Washington, DC - Just as the U.S. Senate is poised to vote on the Lieberman-Warner America's Climate Security Act (S. 2191), a new poll finds an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the higher energy costs that Lieberman-Warner would impose.
The poll, conducted by the Public Opinion and Policy Center of the National Center for Public Policy Research, found that 65% of Americans reject spending even a penny more for gasoline in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The number rejecting raising gas prices in an effort to combat global warming has increased by 17 percentage points -- or 35% -- in just over two months. The National Center conducted a similar survey in late February.
There's more here, including the questions and crosstabs, a sign of confidence in the poll and its results.
Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN) helped push passage of legislation that will create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. That agency will harness some of the best minds in America to help the nation develop solar, nuclear and other alternative energy, Gordon says.
“Bring in a program director, get the public sector, the private sector, the national labs, the universities, everyone together in trying to really break through,” says Gordon, a guest on this week’s “America’s Business with Mike Hambrick” radio program. “We’re going to have to have some major breakthroughs.”
Gordon, who is also chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, also talked about that panel's examination of ways to improve electronics recycling, or e-waste management.
Washington Post Columnist Bob Samuelson regularly gives his readers the straight dope on politics and the economy. Samuelson has been a guest on “America’s Business” before. He returns to talk about presidential candidates, free trade, and an issue on many people’s minds – sky high gasoline prices.
Americans love their gadgets but when our laptops, cellphones and video games break or go obsolete they end up in the garbage can. However, Mike will talk to Electronics Recyclers International Chief Executive Officer John Shegerian about how his company is turning a lot of that electronic junk into gold.
Keeping your tires properly inflated is one way to improve gas mileage. But did you know filling tires with nitrogen can improve gas mileage even more? Branick Industries President Brian Brasch will visit “America’s Business” to talk about his company’s nitrogen tire inflation systems.
In our regular segments, Renee Giachino of American Justice Partnership gives us the latest on tort reform and commentator Hank Cox recalls the “The Way It Was.” And the National Association of Manufacturers President Gov. John Engler will close the program with “The Last Word.”
For more about “America’s Business with Mike Hambrick” and to listen to the program online, please click here. And for video highlights and more, check out www.americasbusiness.org.
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