January, 31 2018, 11:15am EDT
"Corporate Profits and Self-Interest Come First for our Government Officials"
This morning, in response to the resignation of Center for Disease Control Director Brenda Fitzgerald, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at BlackRock, Inc., issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON
This morning, in response to the resignation of Center for Disease Control Director Brenda Fitzgerald, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at BlackRock, Inc., issued the following statement:
"Dr. Fitzgerald's resignation is shocking - not because of the extent of the conflicts of interest she was facing, but because she was actually held accountable for them. In the first few weeks of running the CDC, she invested money in tobacco and drug companies with the knowledge that she could increase the profits of those companies greatly, but she isn't alone in attempting to profit off her position in the government. In the past year, the Trump administration and Congress have dramatically and deliberately shifted the government's focus from maximizing the wellbeing of the people of this country to maximizing the profits of private business, and many at the highest levels of government are getting rich in the process. Fitzgerald's actions are unexceptional in this climate of corruption.
There are countless Members of Congress and high-ranking officials in the administration who stand to earn a windfall from the GOP tax bill in coming years, to say nothing of the high-paying lobbying jobs many of them have earned through their support for corporate tax cuts. From taxes to healthcare to environmental protection, corporate profits and self-interest come first for our government officials, and they should all be held as accountable as Dr. Fitzgerald."
To schedule an interview or for further comment, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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Wyden Says Spying Bill Would Force Americans to Become an 'Agent for Big Brother'
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Sen. Ron Wyden.
Apr 17, 2024
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to speak out against a chilling mass surveillance bill that lawmakers are working to rush through the upper chamber and send to President Joe Biden's desk by the end of the week.
The measure in question would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years and massively expand the federal government's warrantless surveillance power by requiring a wide range of businesses and individuals to cooperate with spying efforts.
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Wyden (Ore.), referring to an amendment that was tacked on to the legislation by the U.S. House last week with bipartisan support. "That means anyone with access to a server, a wire, a cable box, a Wi-Fi router, a phone, or a computer. So think for a moment about the millions of Americans who work in buildings and offices in which communications are stored or pass through."
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Wyden's remarks came after the Senate narrowly approved a motion Tuesday to proceed to the FISA reauthorization bill ahead of Section 702's expiration at the end of the week. The Oregon senator, an outspoken privacy advocate, was among the seven members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the procedural motion.
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Titled Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), the legislation passed the Republican-controlled House last week after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have added a search warrant requirement to Section 702.
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Privacy advocates warn RISAA would dramatically expand the scope of Section 702 by broadening the kinds of individuals and businesses required to participate in government spying. A key provision of the bill would mandate cooperation from "electronic communications service providers" such as Google, Verizon, and AT&T as well as "any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used" to transmit or store electronic communications.
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More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of "plausibly" genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.
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The wife of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sharply criticized "assurances" the U.S. government made as the U.K. High Court considers allowing the 52-year-old Australian's extradition to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison.
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Responding on social media, his wife, Stella Assange—who is an attorney—blasted the U.S. assurances as "weasel words."
"The United States has issued a nonassurance in relation to the First Amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty," she said. "It makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution's previous assertion that Julian has no First Amendment rights because he is not a U.S citizen."
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