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Enron Corporation
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Rewarding bad behavior
W hen the federal government steps in to cushion the inevitable consequences of bad decisions, taxpayers almost always are left paying the bill. Rewarding risky or even fraudulent behavior in this manner guarantees more of the same. Congress chartered the Federal National Mortgage Association, better known as Fannie Mae, during the New Deal to make it easier for the average American family to buy a house, still a cornerstone of the American Dream and one of the best ways to accumulate family wealth. Fannie Mae buys home mortgages from lenders to free up money for new mortgages. When it went private in 1968, Fannie Mae retained significant tax benefits and could borrow money at a lower rate than anybody else in the mortgage industry. That should have practically guaranteed its continued profitability.
Righting energy deregulation’s wrongs
As the incoming chairman of the Public Service Commission, I could not let Lawrence J. Hogan’s July 13 column, “Electricity rates and broken promises,” pass without a response. Rather than rehashing the tired political battles of 2006, let me offer some candid observations about the present and future of electricity in Maryland.
Timothy Carney: IndyMac forgot to pay protection money
Follow the divergent treatment recently of four different financial companies suffering from the mortgage crisis, and you begin to detect a pattern: The well-connected — with big lobbying budgets and generous campaign contributions — get special favors from Washington, while the others get special abuse.
Aquila board gives CEO Green bonus
One of the last official acts of Aquila Inc.'s board of directors before handing the company to Great Plains Energy Inc. on Monday was to give its outgoing chief executive a $1 million parting gift.
Milberg Weiss has no shame
If anyone doubted the utter depravity of the disgraced Milberg Weiss class-action plaintiffs’ law firm, the final proof came to light Monday on The Wall Street Journal editorial page. Readers should understand that this situation isn’t just a morality play about a single law firm, but is instead the backstory of how one deeply corrupt firm set the template for class-action securities lawsuit abuse generally.
Plea to tax count ends lawsuit kickback charges
The last defendant in a major federal kickback case involving class-action lawsuits against some of the nation's biggest corporations pleaded guilty Monday to a tax-related felony.
Black Hills and Great Plains close Aquila deal
Great Plains Energy Inc. said Monday it had completed its $1.7 billion purchase of Aquila Inc., ending more than a year of struggle to acquire its crosstown Kansas City rival.
Justice softens hardball tactics with corporations
The Justice Department has agreed to back off hardball tactics to force corporations to turn over confidential communications between their attorneys and company executives under scrutiny by prosecutors.
Howard Kaloogian: Regulators are causing energy crisis
Gitmo and guns are getting all the press. But energy mavens are talking about another recent far-reaching — but little-noted — Supreme Court decision on the California energy crisis: It took them seven years but they finally figured it out.
Summaries of leading Supreme Court rulings
Brief summaries of the rulings from the leading cases before the Supreme Court in its just-ended term: |
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