August 31,
2011
From The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact Susan Kniep
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Bye, $1 billion: Solar venture goes broke Solar panel maker Solyndra today
said that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after failing to
successfully compete against lower-cost Chinese manufacturers. It is one of
largest failures ever suffered by venture capitalists, and a major black eye
for a U.S.
Department of Energy that loaned the company more than $500 million. Read More http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/31/solyndra-fades-away/?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_t2
Institute for Policy Studies report on
CEO pay
Recession fears ease on factory, hiring data
CL&P's Irene
Restoration Cost Estimated At $75M
DPUC gave engineer pay, 'almost no work' for 6 years
Justice Department blocks AT&T, T-Mobile merger
Some U.S. firms paid more to CEOs than taxes
WASHINGTON - Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned
more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax, according to a
study on executive compensation. Full Article
Inside Saif Gaddafi's Tripoli
Compound: Lions and Tigers and Bombs, Oh My! By Abigail Hauslohner/ Tripoli
Concessions Deal Leaves OT In State Pension Calculations
Through 2022 State unions' ratification of a big wage-and-benefits
concessions agreement chased away the specter of thousands of layoffs and cuts
in services, but it didn't erase the increasingly noticed issue of state
workers' pensions being inflated by massive overtime payments. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lender-column-pensions-0820-20110821,0,6738675.column
Morning papers: Fed official makes plea
for more stimulus
FT Adviser Bradley Gerrard Magazine: InvestmentAdviser Aug 31, 2011
Data shows softening in economy, no recession 10:38am EDT NEW YORK
(Reuters) - The pace of U.S.
private sector job growth slowed in August for the second month in a row, but
factory activity in the Chicago
area continued to expand, suggesting the economy would dodge a recession.
Nevada
Wallops Bank of America With Sweeping Suit; Nationwide
Foreclosure Settlement in Peril - ProP
Exxon Wins Russian Arctic
Access in Deal That Opens Up Gulf of Mexico to
Russian Oil Producer http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-30/exxon-wins-russian-arctic-access-in-deal-opening-gulf-of-mexico-to-rosneft.html
Five New Orleans Cops Convicted for
Their Role in Post-Katrina Shootings http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/five-new-orleans-cops-convicted-for-their-role-in-post-katrina-shootings/
Arctic has great riches, but greater challenges
By David Ljunggren
and Euan Rocha
At the rim of the Arctic Circle in Canada, gold mining firm Agnico-Eagle is learning how tough it is to operate in a
remote region with temptingly large, but frustratingly inaccessible, reserves
of oil, gas and minerals. Full Article
Why is the NFL a tax-exempt "nonprofit" when it
made $6.9 BILLION ...
Rell Pension: Retired Rell Collecting $60,360
Pension - Courant.com
Morgan Stanley Speculating to Brink of
Collapse Got $107 Billion From Fed
Bloomberg
Nuclear Policy News – August 29, 2010
State tells 11 towns they must increase education spending
This year 11 districts have adopted budgets
that spend less than the required amount, according to SDE figures. They are Bristol, Columbia,
Derby, East Windsor, Franklin,
Hartford, Lisbon,
Mansfield, Preston, Salem
and Winchester http://www.ctmirror.org/story/13769/11-school-districts-told-state-they-must-increase-spending
ACHIEVEMENT
GAP IN CONNECTICUT AND SURROUNDING STATES
2011
ACTS AFFECTING EDUCATION
New blow for BP in Russia as office raided | 
11:40am EDT
How to Make $1 Million Working for the State of California
(Phillip Reese / Sacramento Bee)
Prison Nurses Get Pension-Boosting OT Bonanza
Some state prison nurses are racking up tens of thousands of
dollars a year in overtime pay — with one pulling in $94,000 in overtime above
her $105,000 regular wages, for example. Meanwhile, part-time,
"per-diem" nurses, who could work many of those overtime shifts more
cheaply on "straight time," are being limited to two weekly shifts
each, totaling 16 hours per week. http://www.courant.com/health/connecticut/hc-lender-column-prison-nurses-0814-20110814,0,7985988.column
Report: $60B in War Funds 'Wasted'
In U.S. Stress Tests, a Tool to Gauge
Contagion in Europe
by Jesse Eisinger | @eisingerj
Unlike the European stress tests, neither the Fed nor the
Securities and Exchange Commission has forced United States banks to make
detailed disclosures about their exposure to European countries' debt. So it's
a matter of having to trust the banks and the regulators. http://www.propublica.org/thetrade/item/in-us-stress-tests-a-tool-to-gauge-contagion-in-europe/
Lines Blur Between Candidates and
PACs With Unlimited Cash
Nicholas Confessore, The New York Times News Service: "Most of this year’s presidential
candidates are now backed by one or more dedicated Super PACs. Unlike the
broad-based independent groups backing multiple candidates that flooded last
year’s Congressional elections with negative advertising - playing a role
similar to that of traditional party committees - the new groups are each
dedicated to the election of a single candidate. The groups are typically
founded by the candidates’ former aides, financed by the candidates’ top donors
and implicitly blessed by the candidates themselves." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/us/politics/28donate.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Obama administration backs oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/26/obama-approves-pipeline-alberta-texas
Despite $65 Billion Investment, World’s Most Costly Jet Still
Grounded
Ex-Mayor Daley Officials'
Unused Vacation Time Costs Chicago Taxpayers $9.5 Million (Fran Spielman / Sun-Times)
U.S.: BUDGET TALKS HAVE MAJOR DEFENSE CONTRACTORS ON EDGE When an
expensive unmanned aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corporation, a U.S.
defense contractor, disappeared during a U.S. military test flight off the
Pacific coast earlier this month, the debacle raised eyebrows.
The incident also raised criticism that the U.S. government
is spending millions on hefty defense contracts to pay for technology that does
not work. http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Newsfeed/Article/135370262/201108291706/US-BUDGET-TALKS-HAVE-MAJOR-DEFENSE-CONTRACTORS-ON-EDGE.aspx
California Dreaming: State Scholarships for Undocumented
Youths?
Read more: http://www.time.com/time#ixzz1Wd3LquZQ
Dear Super Committee: Defense
Contractors Are "Second to None" in Wasteful Spending Ben Freeman, Project on Government Oversight: "In what
some are calling an 'unprecedented' campaign, defense contractors as an
industry bloc are fighting reductions in national security spending to preserve
their place on the government gravy train. Spearheaded by the
reportedly enlisted the help of LMG Inc., a Washington public affairs firm, the
conservative Heritage Foundation, and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary
Assessments to push its agenda."
Read the Article
Check out WashingtonWatch.com
The bills before Congress affect our nation's budget - and
yours.
Washingtonwatch.com tracks the bills in Congress, along with
estimates about their costs or savings, when available. To learn more
information, comment, or take action, click on a bill.
On the Blog: New! More Cost Data and Better Debt Insight
Elderly Atlantic City lady sticks it to
Donald Trump
Boston Globe (blog)
US District Judge Decides to
Block Alabama's New Immigration Law for a
Month to Decide Its Constitutionality
Read the Article at The
Huntsville Times
Elements of 'Plan B' on the table despite concessions
approval August 29, 2011 By Keith
M. Phaneuf Though the
$20.14 billion budget
adopted in June for the current fiscal year is balanced on paper with the
concession deal, there is no guarantee it will yield the planned savings
targets: $700 million this fiscal
year and $900 million in 2012-13. Continued at ….. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/13734/portions-alternative-budget-linger-even-after-concessions-are-granted
SEC examining mutual funds' use of derivatives
Principal spent tax money on wine, dog treats http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/27/principal-spent-tax-money-on-wine-dog-treats/
Foreign Firms Helped Gadhafi Spy on
Libyans - WSJ.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576538721260166388.html
S&P balks at SEC proposal to reveal rating errors
What's a 'Significant Error'? Standard
& Poor's Says Leave It To Us
by Marian Wang | @mariancw
After the Treasury
Department blasts Standard & Poor's for a $2 trillion error in last week's U.S.
credit downgrade, the rating agency lobbies for a relaxed rule governing error
reporting.
The Housing Commission’s ‘Trojan Horse’ - voiceofsandiego ...
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/public_safety/pavement/article_f7093c46-cdbd-11e0-b20d-001cc4c03286.html
Missouri's top public salaries: Doctors get paid while
sleeping ... http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/08/06/missouris-top-public-salaries-doctors-get-paid-while-sleeping/
What Does the S&P Downgrade Mean, If France is Rated Higher than the U.S.?
by Marian Wang | @mariancw Just over a dozen countries currently have an AAA [5]—or lowest-risk—rating
from each of the three main rating agencies: Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard &
Poor’s. Until this weekend, the United
States was among them. (It’s now roughly on
par with Australia,
which also has two AAAs and one AA+.) Read more at http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/what-does-the-sp-downgrade-mean-if-france-is-rated-higher-than-the-u.s
The Latest on Our Sputtering Economy,
by the Numbers
Read the Embarrassing Hacking Allegations That News Corp.
Redacted http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/Read-the-Embarrassing-Hacking-Allegations-That-News-Corp-Redacted
The Man Who Time (Almost) Forgot: William H. McMasters
Finally ... Fraud Magazine http://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4294970026
Medicare costs for hospice up 70% - USATODAY.com
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/08/Medicare-costs-for-hospice-up-70/49854600/1