Accountability

Stem cell institute criticized on ethics

December 8, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>Taxpayer advocates who hammered the stem cell institute on the Reed matter were stymied as to how leaders of academic institutions did not identify the letters of recommendation as a potential conflict of interest. "It's simple. Stem cell board members cannot take part in any way in grants to their institutions," said John Simpson of the nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "Perhaps a few of these deans need to enroll in Ethics 101 at their universities and get the basics down." </p>

Controller will audit stem-cell institute

November 27, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>POLITICAL ETHICS AGENCY ALSO ASKED TO INVESTIGATE</h3><p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>California Controller John Chiang said he has asked the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate John Reed, chief executive of the Burnham Institute of La Jolla and a board member with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. A similar complaint was lodged against Reed last week by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Probe of Perata dealings quiet, but alive;

November 4, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>A grand jury has issued subpoenas and agents have collected records in the federal investigation into possible corruption by state Senate leader.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>A consumer group filed a complaint with a Senate ethics panel, based partly on a San Francisco Chronicle report that a business associate of Perata's received hundreds of thousands of dollars from campaigns supported by Perata while paying the senator's consulting firm for other work. "Don Perata was... pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars through his consulting business, based quite clearly on his position of power," said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. </p>

Enron case tests SEC’s allegiances

May 29, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>Mr. Lerach alleges that several Wall Street firms should be held liable for Enron's accounting fraud because they financed transactions the company used to inflate its results. A federal appeals court disagreed, arguing that because the bankers didn't make any misleading statements, they couldn't be held liable. This year, Merrill Lynch & Co., one of the defendants in the lawsuit, asked the SEC to weigh in on its side. The agency declined. Meanwhile, a California nonprofit, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, filed Freedom of Information Act requests to learn about the SEC meetings with Merrill Lynch.</p>

LAPD asks Philip Morris for $50,000 to help fund probe;

April 2, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The donation is solicited for an investigation into counterfeiting of the company's cigarettes. Ethics watchdogs raise fairness concerns.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Some ethics watchdogs criticized the request, saying it raises fairness concerns about whether wealthy crime victims should be allowed to pay for police protection that poor victims would not be able to afford.</p>

Mayor’s fund raises concern;

November 17, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>School district complaints point to a Villaraigosa committee, which may allow donors to circumvent contribution limits.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The mayor could have formed a nonprofit to accept donations and avoided disclosing his donors altogether, said Jamie Court, president of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "There's at least transparency," Court said. "Donors who want something from the mayor's office could gain favor by giving unlimited money to the mayor's cause. And we're looking at an issue that could very well define his political future."</p>

Lockyer not tough enough for some;

October 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Critics say the attorney general, now running for treasurer, has failed to diligently prosecute corrupt officials. He defends his record.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The watchdog groups say Lockyer should have established a division in his office to focus on corruption, in part because many district attorneys do little to combat the problem. An exception is Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, whose office has prosecuted 31 elected officials and candidates since 2001. Lockyer said he did not believe the attorney general's office should significantly expand its role in local corruption cases.</p>

Corporate crime merits ethics lessons

April 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Bradenton Herald (Florida)</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights estimates the cost of corporate crime at $1.5 trillion annually. It seems every day there's another Enron scandal in the making -- a corporate collapse estimated to have cost the public billions of dollars.</p>

County Weighs Limits on Lobbying;

February 28, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The proposed rules come too late, however, to have barred work by Supervisor Knabe's son.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"It's an embarrassment that the county has sat without this for so long," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a nonpartisan group based in Santa Monica. "Too often, officials in government are making decisions with one eye on the door."</p>

Ethics law on go-slow track;

October 11, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>City sees flaws in Measure B </h3><p class="source">Pasadena Star-News</p> <p>FTCR advocate Carmen Balber attended the meeting to refute charges by several council members that the measure is arcane and unconstitutional, and asked the council to enforce the voters' will.</p>

Blind Trusts Get New Look After Sale by Frist

September 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New York Times</p> <p>Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Calif., said members of Congress should either divest their holdings in an industry or recuse themselves for legislation affecting it. With blind trusts, he said, ''Senators have wanted to have it both ways.''</p>

More Accountability Needed in California’s Stem Cell Institute

July 11, 2005  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">KPCC 89.3 FM (Pasadena, CA)</p> <p>The way to move on is for the institute to voluntarily submit to the same democratic rules and good government laws as other state boards. And the public should be guaranteed some control over the fruits of its research.</p>