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House Subcommittee Begins Unraveling Restrictions on Legal Services Activism
John Carlisle
06/12/2009 - 15:18

Mollohan photoA key congressional appropriations committee recently took the first step in removing restrictions on the ability of legal aid programs funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to use taxpayer dollars to engage in politically-motivated litigation. On June 4, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, chaired by Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), voted to lift the restriction on the ability of LSC-funded programs to collect attorneys' fees.

This restriction was part of a series of provisions Congress enacted 13 years ago in an attempt to end the practice of legal services lawyers using taxpayer money to file lawsuits advancing liberal political causes. In addition to the prohibition on collecting attorneys' fees, the restrictions included bans on filing class action lawsuits, challenges to welfare reform, representation of undocumented aliens, and abortion advocacy.

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3,442 reads
Sharpton Rakes In Corporate Bucks But Stiffs Hotel
Peter Flaherty
06/12/2009 - 09:23

Sharpton photoAccording to today’s Memphis Daily News:

The South’s Grand Hotel is trying to collect a grand sum of money it claims is owed by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s nonprofit civil rights group.

The Peabody hotel has filed a lawsuit in Shelby County Circuit Court against Sharpton’s National Action Network seeking payment of almost $70,300, plus more than $17,000 in attorney’s fees and other costs. The lawsuit, which puts the total close to $88,000, was filed Tuesday…

The Peabody was the site of the 2008 national convention of the National Action Network (NAN). Corporate sponsors included Abbott Laboratories, Allstate, American Honda, Anheuser-Busch (since acquired by InBev), Chase Foundation, Chrysler, Colgate-Palmolive, Continental Airlines, Entergy, FedEx, Ford, GM, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Pfizer, UPS Foundation and Wal-Mart.

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The Hill: Ethics Panel Probes Allegation Involving Rangel
Peter Flaherty
06/11/2009 - 13:08

Isenberg photoFrom The Hill today:

The House ethics committee is investigating an alleged quid pro quo between Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and an oil company executive, the subject of a lengthy New York Times article published in December.

Eugene Isenberg, the oil executive accused of trying to influence Rangel through a $1 million donation to the education center bearing Rangel's name, is cooperating with an ethics committee investigation into the matter and predicts that the panel will find no wrongdoing.

The story by Susan Crabtree continues:

The assertion was caught on tape during a conversation with Peter Flaherty of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog that has investigated several ethics stories about Rangel. Flaherty approached Isenberg at the company’s annual meeting in Houston last week, taped the conversation and provided The Hill a transcript and audio recording.

As detailed in a previous entry, I actually questioned Isenberg (pictured) during the formal Q&A session of the Nabors Industries annual meeting on June 2. NLPC is a Nabors shareholder.

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Virginia Voters Reject Influence-Peddler Terry McAuliffe
Carl Horowitz
06/10/2009 - 12:56

McAuliffe photoBy a wide margin yesterday, Virginia voters nominated State Senator R. Creigh Deeds as the Democratic Party candidate for governor. In so doing, they rejected the candidacy of former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe, a top Clinton confidante with a long history of influence-peddling. With roughly 75 percent of the ballots counted, Deeds had received about 50 percent of the tally, with McAuliffe and State Delegate Brian Moran each with roughly 25 percent. Deeds will face Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who ran unopposed, in this November's general election. But the real news may be the defeat of McAuliffe, a powerful and ethically-challenged party fundraiser. Former President Bill Clinton, among other party stalwarts, actively had stumped on his behalf.

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Weekly Standard Updates State of Corporate 'Diversity' Obsession
Carl Horowitz
06/08/2009 - 18:11

Business diversityIt is hardly front-page news that for the last couple decades America's corporations have promoted racial, ethnic and sexual proportional representation, now rechristened "diversity," with brisk efficiency. From orientation training onward, an individual employee in many companies can expect to be barraged with the message: Diversity must be lived. A lengthy feature story in the May 25 Weekly Standard, "Where Everybody Is Disadvantaged," reveals, often to comic effect, how oppressively ingrained this mindset has become. Intrepid reporter Matt Labash provides a first-hand account of this corporate mischief, effectively amplifying observations contained in a 2007 NLPC Special Report prepared by the author of this blog.

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Flaherty Rips Barney Frank & 'Government Gone Wild'
NLPC Staff
06/06/2009 - 21:39

NLPC President Peter Flaherty debates Julie Roginsky of Comprehensive Communications Group on June 5, 2009. CNBC's host is Dennis Kneale. Click here to download a 4-page pdf transcript.

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2,753 reads
Will Tax Label Sink Cap-and-Trade?
John Carlisle
06/05/2009 - 14:27

Waxman PhotoThe Waxman-Markey bill, currently under consideration by several House committees, would impose a huge energy tax on the American people in the name of combating the scientifically unproven global warming threat. The Heritage Foundation estimates the average household will have to pay an extra $1,500 per year for gas and electricity while the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) puts that number at about $1,600.

That is why congressional Democrats and liberal advocates are trying to avoid this unpleasant fact by simply not admitting that the Waxman-Markey bill is a tax increase. They understand that if the public perceives this legislation for what it is - an energy tax - then it will fail.

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2,515 reads
Nabors Chairman Gets Testy With Flaherty About Rangel Center Donation; Calls NY Times ‘Full of Malarkey’
Peter Flaherty
06/05/2009 - 11:08

Eugene Isenberg photoEugene Isenberg, Chairman and CEO of Nabors Industries, is smiling in the photo at right but he wasn’t happy when I questioned him at the company’s annual meeting in Houston on Tuesday, June 2.

Isenberg’s controversial $1 million pledge to the so-called Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York came at a time when Rangel helped preserve a loophole that allowed Nabors to save tens of millions in taxes after moving to the Bahamas. These facts were first reported in the New York Times in an article by David Kocieniewski in late 2008.

Under my questioning, Isenberg again denied any quid pro quo. He also denied that there was any “understanding” or a “wink and a nod.” He would not even concede an appearance problem.

Click here to download a 7-page pdf transcript of our exchange.

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4,226 reads
Flaherty: Government Regulation Ruined GM
NLPC Staff
06/03/2009 - 21:15

NLPC President Peter Flaherty debates "what killed GM" with Martin Weiss of Weiss Research, and CNBC host Dennis Kneale on June 3, 2009. Click here to download a 3-page pdf transcript.

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4,187 reads
House Ethics Committee Asks NLPC For Info on Rangel-Led, Citigroup-Funded Caribbean Junket
Peter Flaherty
06/02/2009 - 15:48

Carib junket photoOn May 22, the House Ethics Committee asked NLPC if to provide photographs, audio recordings and other materials related to a trip to the sunny Caribbean island of St. Maarten in November 2008 by the following five House members: Charles Rangel (D-NY), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI), Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Donna Christensen (D-VI).

I was present in St. Maarten, where I documented violations of House Rules that prohibit corporate sponsorship of travel and hospitality.

When I inquired whether this matter was under investigation, I was told that House Rules prevented the Committee from confirming an investigation. We provided the material on May 29 along with a formal request for an investigation.

Click here to download a 4-page pdf of the Complaint, without exhibits.

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