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CIA Nominee Resumé Highlights Include Obama “Kill List” and Bush Torture Program
John Brennan, President Barack Obama’s CIA nominee, endorsed the Bush administration’s use of torture on detainees, favored granting immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in warrantless wiretapping, and was a principal architect of the U.S. drone “kill list.” read more
Why are DNA Databases Available to Prosecutors but not Defense Attorneys?
Operated and maintained by the FBI, the federal Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database contains data regarding 10 million offenders and 1.3 million arrestees, and is growing at an accelerating rate. At present, however, prosecutors have an iron grip on CODIS and only nine states—Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas—have laws granting defendants access to DNA databases. read more
Fiscal Cliff Winner: Tax Breaks for Oil and Gas Industries
Taxpayers for Common Sense estimates that oil companies will receive $78 billion in tax breaks and subsidies between 2012 and 2017. In March 2012 a majority of senators did vote in favor of the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act, which would have eliminated $2.4 billion in deductions gained by the five biggest oil companies, but the bill needed 60 votes to pass.
By the end of the fiscal cliff negotiations, Republicans and Democrats left all of the subsidies in place.
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Transocean to Pay only $1.4 Billion for Gulf Oil Explosion and Spill
The company has admitted to violating the Clean Water Act, and will pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
As part of the criminal settlement, Transocean will pay the National Academy of Sciences and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation $150 million each. These monies will pay for oil spill prevention and response in the Gulf and natural resource restoration projects.
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Obama First President Since Eisenhower to Win 51% of Vote Twice
With all ballots finally counted and certified, the tally from the November election revealed that Obama won 51.1% and Mitt Romney 47.2%. Four years ago, Obama received 52.9% of the vote.
Although George W. Bush was elected twice, he earned only 47.9% of the vote in 2000 and 50.7% in 2004. In fact, in 2000 he actually lost the popular vote to Al Gore by 543,895 votes.
Before Bush, Bill Clinton won 43.0% in 1992 and 49.2% in 1996. read more
War is Wonderful…If You’re a Weapons Maker
Ten years ago, the profits of these five companies were $2.4 billion (adjusted for inflation) collectively. By 2011, their profits had soared to $13.4 billion. During the period in which the profits of weapons makers were going up 450%, the U.S. defense budget rose 55%. During the same time frame, the median annual income for American families actually went down almost 6%. read more
Federal Judge Refuses to Order Release of Memo Justifying Obama’s Assassination Program
As much as she wanted to do something for those suing the Obama administration, federal Judge Colleen McMahon concluded on Wednesday that she just couldn’t force the government to reveal the memo that describes its legal justification for President Barack Obama’s assassinations of U.S. citizens accused of terrorism.
Included in McMahon’s opinion was a classified appendix that was kept secret and was not even made available to the lawyers of the plaintiffs in the case. read more
Rape Kits and other Criminal Evidence Destroyed by Hurricane Sandy
The New York Police Department (NYPD) had stored more than 10,000 barrels of evidence containing sensitive DNA material in two Brooklyn warehouses. The evidence included rape kits and other materials collected for the courts to use in upcoming trials.
In the case of a sexual assault trial, a rape kit may no longer be admissible if water contaminated the contents. The flooding may also have compromised about 5,000 “narcotics items” stored in one of the buildings. read more
Unchecked Wiretapping to Continue: Obama Signs FISA Extension, Senate Votes against Oversight
The law permits the NSA to pry into Americans’ international emails and phone calls without obtaining a court order. The spying program, which would have ended on December 31 without the extension, has been heavily criticized by civil libertarians.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a prepared statement that the law’s “main purpose” is to “give the government nearly unfettered access to Americans' international communications.”
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Arctic Oil Rig Grounded Dangerously in Alaska
The problems encountered by the Kulluk were not unexpected…at least to people other than those who work for Shell or the U.S. government. In August, when the Obama administration gave Shell the go-ahead for exploratory drilling, environmentalists warned that Shell and federal regulators were not prepared to deal with the dangers that come with oil drilling in frozen waters. read more
Current Congress Has Passed Fewer Bills than any Since at Least the 1940s
If the job of Congress is to pass laws, then the 112th Congress is the laziest in modern history. Of the 6,600 bills introduced, lawmakers passed only 231. At least 45 of the successful bills involved the naming of federal buildings, while many others were similarly insignificant, such as six commemorative coin bills and five correcting “technical errors” Congress made in past legislation. This paltry productivity means the 112th Congress will be the least productive in modern history. read more
Average of 2 Children Shot to Death in U.S. Every Week (not including Accidents)
The public and political outrage that followed the Newtown school shooting has largely ignored the fact that children across the country have been victims of gun violence on a regular basis.
Between 2006 and 2010 an average of two children a week were killed by firearms, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
During this period, 561 children under the age of 13 died as a result of gunfire. read more
10 Most Popular AllGov Stories of 2012
In 2012 AllGov readers appeared to be looking for stories that were overlooked on television news reports, particularly those that dealt with questions of individual liberty and the erosion of traditional rights.
1. Indiana First State to Allow Citizens to Shoot Law Enforcement Officers
2. Tax Evaders Renounce U.S. Citizenship
3. Congress, At Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain Warrant to Monitor Email
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2.1 Million Americans Just Lost their Jobless Benefits
If Congress is unable to reach agreement on a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the biggest losers will not be taxpayers, whose tax rates are merely returning to 2002 levels, but the 2.1 million Americans—and their families—whose unemployment benefits ran out as of December 29. That was the expiration date of the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, a Labor Department program that extends unemployment compensation to long-term unemployed workers. read more
Congress Votes between Christmas and New Year’s for First Time Since 1970
The last time Congress voted this time of year was in 1970, at the end of the second session of the 91st Congress, during a contentious fight over the federal budget and a filibuster over federal financing for the development of an American supersonic transport airplane to compete with the European-made Concorde. Congress passed several bills, including the Clean Air Act, but President Richard Nixon vetoed four of them. read more
Milk Prices Could Double Early Next Year
By December 31, Congress must adopt a new five-year farm bill that includes addressing milk subsidies because the current statute is expiring. If lawmakers don’t act, the government will be forced to operate under a 1949 dairy price subsidy that mandates the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase milk at inflated prices.
That could mean a doubling of milk prices in stores, from the current average of $3.60 to somewhere between $6 and $8 per gallon.
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