Illicit Financial Woes

An interesting study on illegal cash flowing out of developing regions like the Middle East and Northern Africa has been released. Crime, corruption and tax evasion seem to rule the day.

Obama plans to tackle global poverty. Will he begin by stopping crime and corruption in the Middle East? Or will he stop the crime and corruption in Washington? But wait, he's never been known as a fighter of crime. Just look at his American home state and his record there.

....."Illicit financial flows siphon revenue out of poor countries, robbing them of much-needed assets and forestalling economic development," said GFI director Raymond Baker. "These new figures reveal that illicit financial flows outpace ODA by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. This is critical to understanding global poverty and developing effective poverty alleviation and economic development strategies," Baker said......

Click to read the story.

Corruption Watchdog Blasts Obama Labor Secretary Nominee; Hilda Solis Supports Coercive Card Check and Says Illegal Aliens are Americans

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Carl Horowitz, director of the Organized Labor Accountability Project of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), today reacted to Barack Obama's nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) for Labor Secretary. He said:

This is a terrible nomination. Solis is a total flack for the union bosses. I predict an explosion of union corruption, especially with infrastructure stimulus funds flowing to unions like the Laborers and Teamsters, which still have not freed themselves from the influence of organized crime.

Solis is a co-sponsor of the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), the unions' top legislative priority. EFCA would force private-sector employers to recognize a particular union as the sole bargaining agent if its organizers can get at least 50 percent of affected workers to sign a card indicating their desire to join, ending secret elections.

This "card check" is inherently coercive. There have been many documented instances of union organizers giving reluctant employees a choice between signing a card and facing potential retaliation should the union become the collective bargaining agent. I guess that's what the unions mean by 'free choice.'

Solis also has made controversial statements about citizenship. In 1996, while serving as a California state senator, she said, 'We are all Americans whether you are legalized or not.' As Labor Secretary, Solis would be in charge of issuing labor certifications.

Solis recently introduced legislation to explore the possibility of naming a national park after United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez.