The CIA faced some embarrassment when it was revealed that the intelligence agency had been giving Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai bags of cash for favorable treatment. This revelation was embarrassing for a number of reasons. First, it confirmed reports that Hamid Karzai was running a corrupt government with facilitation by agents of the U.S. government. [...]

Embattled East Orange New Jersey Mayor Robert Bowser has an interesting theory. In a press conference on Friday Mayor Bowser told reporters that his admission of a sexual affair with a subordinate in a sexual harassment deposition is a private issue and belongs between him and his wife. The mayor read a prepared statement and [...]

Race you to the bottom. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling decided to take some of his constituents with him on a ski trip, no not the people of Texas’ 5th congressional district, Hensarling’s real constituents, Wall Street. In January, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, ascended to the powerful chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee. [...]

Empires are run using carrot and stick policies. The American Empire is no different. In Afghanistan the Taliban’s refusal to comply has gotten them the stick – drones, special forces teams, and all manner of things as punishment. President Karzai for acting as a U.S. puppet, has gotten some nice carrots. And like everything else [...]

(Video satire based on the Frontline Special) What can you say about former Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer that has not been said about any mob lawyer? Breuer is without a doubt a ruthless self-dealer who would do anything for money. But unlike Bruce Cutler, Breuer prostituted himself at the expense [...]

Walmart has told the SEC that it expects to have poor numbers this fiscal quarter due to bribery investigations the company is facing. While primarily related to the bribery probe in Mexico, Walmart is under investigation in multiple countries for corruption practices. Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) said it is ‘probable’ that the world’s largest retailer will [...]

Try to act surprised. It seems that the report that claimed the Keystone XL Pipeline would have negligible environmental impact was authored in part by quasi-representatives of TransCanada – the firm who stands to benefit from its construction. The Bush Obama Administration even had the TransCanada connected consultants’ work histories redacted in hopes that no [...]

In a post-Citizen’s United world quid pro quo is a way of life. So maybe it should not be a surprise that the Obama team’s fundraising strategy involves selling access to President Obama in exchange for cash despite President Obama’s clear promise not to do so in his early campaigns. President Obama’s political team is [...]

There may not be anyone left in America that doesn’t know Wall Street sets the agenda in Washington, that the revolving door between finance capital and the so-called regulators of finance capital spins so fast the IAEA should demand inspections. And so we learn that President Obama’s Treasury Secretary nominee not only worked for the [...]

I would say that William Cohan has had enough. The author of several books about the financial sector cannot believe that nobody on Wall Street has been held to account for the crisis that caused the Great Recession. And though it pains him to end up on the same side as Elizabeth Warren, to whom [...]

One of the areas that Sen. Ted Kaufman and his chief of staff Jeff Connaughton tried to focus on during his accidental two-year term in the Senate was high-frequency trading. The 2010 “flash crash” showed the potential dangers of this fast-growing industry. Consider that our financial system places a large emphasis on where super-computers are [...]