Hullabaloo
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Shakedown
by digby
It doesn't get any better than this:
Daily Kos reports:According to Barton, asking BP to set up an escrow account to compensate victims of BP's disaster was a criminal action -- a "shakedown" as he put it. Barton's not alone: his comments echo those made by other Republicans in recent days, including Michele Bachmann, Haley Barbour, and Tom Price.
Update 1 -- GOP Rep. Marcia Blackburn continues the "give BP a break" theme from the Republican Party, saying "the current administration deserves a significant portion of the blame for the oil spill." I guess BP would have loved an apology from her, but at least she told them that it really wasn't all their fault.Update 2 -- GOP Rep. Phil Gingrey continues the "attack Obama, not BP" message from Republicans, saying he's looking forward to testimony from the administration. You could feel the GOP love from Hayward, pleased that yet another Republican was taking heat off his company.
Joe Barton knows a little bit about shakedowns. After all he's taken many millions in campaign cash from the oil industry. But he doesn't stop at just campaign money:Wednesday, February 3, 2010WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Barton has earned nearly $100,000 from an interest in natural gas wells that he purchased from a longtime campaign donor who also advised the congressman on energy policy, according to interviews and records.
At a hearing last month of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Barton said he was "a small, small partner in a natural gas well in Johnson County in the Barnett Shale that is probably my 4-year-old son's college education." He later told a reporter that he couldn't remember precisely how he obtained the interest.
Land records show that Barton, R-Arlington, purchased his interest from Walter G. Mize, a Cleburne businessman who donated more than $30,000 to Barton's campaigns.
Mize urged Barton to create a federal oil and gas research program that was included in a 2005 energy law. Barton's ties to Mize, who died in 2008, go back 20 years, according to friends of both men.
Barton's interest could become controversial at a time when Congress is considering sweeping energy legislation that would boost demand for natural gas. Congressional experts say such deals raise ethical questions for lawmakers, who are expected by the public to maintain a firewall between their personal finances and official duties.
"If you are elected as a public servant to try to do what is right for the public generally and then you use that position to help bring in material wealth, I think it's unethical," said James Thurber, a distinguished professor of government at American University.
Yeah, I would guess most people agree with that.
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digby 6/17/2010 08:30:00 AM
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Charley Gallay / Getty Images
His once-promising career in tatters, his family and finances ravaged by his drug addiction, former Party of Five star Jeremy London is now claiming he was kidnapped and forced to get high. Jacob Bernstein talks to addiction specialists about what to make of the tale.
The way Jeremy London later told it, it was one of the worst days of his life.
On June 10, while attempting to change a flat tire on his car, he was abducted by three men and taken on a 12-hour joyride, during which he was forced to smoke crack cocaine and distribute drugs and alcohol in a gang-infested part of Palm Springs.
“It’s been an absolute nightmare,” the Party of Five star said in a video statement provided to RadarOnline. “First of all, I want to say [the incident] actually did happen... I thought I was going to die. Thank God I made it out alive.”
He added: “I had a gun put to my head. I had my family threatened. We’re working closely with the Palm Springs Police Department to get the rest of the guys. There’s one guy in custody. There’s two more out there.”
“I think that when people are found with drugs, just as when they’re found with lipstick on their collar, they have all sorts of excuses.”
If he suspected people might be skeptical, that’s because they were.
Indeed, in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, the case has been a source of particular fascination and gallows humor. While to other segments of the population the story has seemed terrifying and bizarre, with recovering addicts there’s been a knowing nod—a remembrance of what it was like to minimize one’s problem and tell outrageous tales to keep from getting caught.
London’s personal history hasn’t exactly helped establish his credibility. He has a long history with substance abuse, and a neighbor recently told reporters that he’d been begging to wash their cars for cash. And London’s twin, Jason, said his brother’s story didn’t “add up.” He urged him to get “psychological help.”
Last week, Radar reported that London had recently lost custody of his child and was being regularly subjected to drug testing. A positive test could have terrible consequences for him. (His spokesman, Dominic Friesen, confirmed that actor is being tested, telling The Daily Beast, “Jeremy is currently undergoing drug testing for his custody case and has passed all thus far.”)
One recovering addict I spoke to had posted a status update on his Facebook page: “Look! It’s the old ‘They kidnapped me and forced me to take cocaine excuse.’ Yawn.” Another said, “I immediately thought of the Six Feet Under episode where the gay guy gets kidnapped and forced to do drugs. Anytime something sounds too much like a television episode, it’s suspect.” A third said, “I’m sorry, but that’s such a lie. I have a friend who told that same story. When she withdrew all the money from her grandmother’s bank account, she claimed she was kidnapped and that they stole it from her. She even said she was raped.”
Plus, this person pointed out, most people who resort to crime because of their drug use don’t want to share their goodies with resistant kidnap victims. “For someone to say they were abducted and forced to do drugs is absolutely ridiculous. Who the f--- is going to force you to do drugs? For what? It makes no sense.”
That skepticism was echoed by three out of three addiction specialists reached by The Daily Beast. Combined, they have more than 60 years’ worth of experience treating drug addicts; all three were listed recently in New York magazine’s recent Best Doctors issue.
In each case, the specialists said they wanted to avoid casting aspersions on a man they hadn’t treated, but that they'd never encountered a person who was forced to consume illicit substances against their will.
“I can’t recall anyone ever being forced to take drugs, though I’m sure in the history of humanity someone has been,” said Kenneth Rosenberg, an addiction psychiatrist in private practice on the Upper East Side and a member of the voluntary faculty at Weill Cornell Medical College.
“People experience peer pressure, but I myself haven’t ever encountered anyone who’s been forced to take drugs,” seconded Marc Galanter, a professor of psychiatry at New York University with a practice on the Upper West Side. “Often you see people in denial that are greatly at variance with reality. It wouldn’t be surprising for someone to make a statement that seems nonsensical.”
Added Carol Weiss of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, “I think that when people are found with drugs, just as when they’re found with lipstick on their collar, they have all sorts of excuses.”
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When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is. ~Oscar Wilde
We live in what is called an "information age". There are few, if any, people left in this world who could not benefit from knowledge of how to use the information out there to improve their personal finances. That's what this article is about - specifically, how accounting principles can help us with our personal finances.
Now wait...before yawning and clicking away to find articles on Britney Spears or American Idol...think about this. Chances are you are using accounting in your life already, and may not know it. Most people have at least some dealings with money at their workplace, and will take admirable care of the finances for their employer. Yet these same people do little or nothing with their own money. Anyone with money of their own could benefit from some basic knowledge of accounting principles, which are not that hard to learn. Know how to wield the tool to make the most of what you have.
In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he's a wonder. ~Author Unknown
That's all accounting is...it's a tool to identify what we have, where it goes, and figure out where we'd like it to go. It's not about being huddled over a bank book or at the computer for hours. It's about figuring out our goals and who we really are.
Let's get started.
Accounting breaks down into three parts. The first part is identifying what we spend, and where, and how much. The second part is recording that spending in an organized, trackable way. The third part is communicating that information to others and analyzing what needs to change, if anything, about our spending patterns.
Anytime we spend money on something, from paying rent on your apartment to buying food to giving some change to a homeless person in the street, we are making what's called a transaction. What transactions do you make? Do you know where your money goes?
In most cases, you probably do. Often we may not be fully aware of where all our money goes, and we get to the end of the month desperate for the next check coming from our employer, because all our money is gone. Once we can learn to identify where our money is spent, we can plug up any undesirable holes and direct our money to go where we want it to go.
The writing down of transactions in an organized fashion is what most people think of when they think of accounting...the bookkeeping part of it. This is also the part that tends to turn most people off doing it, because it's somewhat tedious at times. Isn't is scarier to NOT know where it's going, however? There isn't one way and only one way to record information. There is a system for that works for anyone, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing where your money is going is priceless.
The third aspect of accounting is communicating this financial information to other people. If you pay taxes each year, you're already doing this. When you pay taxes to the IRS, you're communicating your financial information to an external party. If you have a spouse or partner who has a stake in the money you make, you're also doing this already, although your spouse or partner would be an internal decision-maker with you.
This third aspect of accounting is also for dreamers and doers, because it involves analysis and goal-setting. It's where we examine the past transactions we've made, and think to ourselves: Is that really where that money was supposed to go? Could I have done better? Does something need to change?
Sometimes this phase is the hardest, because most people don't know what they want, or how to use their money to get there. It may take time to determine what our goals really are, but any effort in that direction can pay off serious dividends to us.
Lack of money is the root of all evil. ~George Bernard Shaw
Once we become more aware of each transaction, and take steps to record it and analyze and communicate your results when necessary, we are well on the way to taking control of our money and not letting it control us.
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