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08/21/2013

Statement: Court Finds Appointment of NLRB’s Lafe Solomon Invalid

In November of 2011, Cause of Action requested an investigation into Mr. Lafe Solomon, the then-acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Cause of Action has highlighted the conflict of interest concerning Lafe Solomon’s actions in the Boeing case, as well as his engagement in ex-parte communications with a member of the NLRB.   In a June 26, 2013 editorial, Cause of Action explained that “the NLRB’s chief enforcer of unfair labor practices – was himself a recess appointment.”

Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, offered this response to recent ruling that confirmed that Lafe Solomon’s appointment was invalid:

“U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle’s decision on August 13 that ruled that National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel Lafe Solomon’s appointment was invalid recognizes what the NLRB has failed to acknowledge: that former acting general counsel Lafe Solomon’s authority was questionable and came at an extreme cost to America’s job creators, like Boeing and Wal-Mart.

Worse, because the NLRB’s General Counsel lacks an Inspector General, this decision provides accountability in ways that the Executive Branch and Congress had failed to do.”

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08/21/2013

HARDI: Court Denies Latest APGA Motion In Regional Standards Case

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia  has agreed to hear the case of  HARDI, which challenges a Department of Energy rule that would raise energy costs for consumers around the country. Below is HARDI’s press release which can be found here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2013 
Contact: Jmelchi@hardinet.org 

Court Denies Latest APGA Motion In Regional Standards Case  

Columbus, OH– On Monday, August 19, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia again issued an order requesting all parties involved in the Regional Standards lawsuit agree to a briefing schedule within the next 30 days. Additionally, the Court denied efforts by other parties in the lawsuit to deny HARDI’s opportunity to present its case before the Court.

“HARDI has consistently worked to expedite these proceedings as much as possible while fighting for what our members believe is right,” said Jon Melchi, HARDI’s Government Affairs Director.  “We could have completed this portion of the process by now absent the now-denied motion so now we just have to focus on doing everything we can to help the court move as expeditiously as possible.”

  • The proposed APGA/DOE settlement on the furnace standard. HARDI was the only party in the lawsuit to support this settlement when it was proposed to the Court.
  •  HARDI’s motion to continue on with the lawsuit to address procedural issues which developed the A/C standard.
  • The merits of the case in its entirety.

“This is another affirmation by the court of HARDI’s standing in this case and the merits of our arguments,” said Brian Cobble, G.W. Berkheimer Co. and HARDI’s 2013 president.  “It is regrettable that other parties chose to delay the court proceedings by attempting to reverse the court’s earlier decision but now the path is cleared for the court to hopefully conclude this issue well in advance of the next 2015 implementation deadline in the favor of those who are likely to be most harmed by these unprecedented regionalized efficiency standards.”

 

 

 

Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) represents more than 460 wholesale companies and 300 manufacturing associates as well as nearly 140 manufacturer representatives. HARDI members represent an estimated 85 percent of the dollar value of the HVACR products sold through distribution.

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08/21/2013

Statement: Cause of Action responds to Rep. Levin and Cummings on IRS investigating ACORN-related groups

Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee released new documents claiming “IRS Scrutiny of Progressive Groups,” by highlighting the IRS’ attention to ACORN and its successors.

Dan Epstein, Cause of Action’s executive director responded:

Rep. Levin and Rep. Cummings are claiming that the IRS targeted ACORN in the same fashion as pro-liberty groups.  The difference, however, as Cause of Action demonstrated one year ago, is that ACORN and its successors engaged in potentially illegal activity, so of course its successors, such as New York Communities for Change, Texas Organizing Project, and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, should be on the ‘Be on the Lookout’ lists. Two problems exist: First, we see no evidence that the IRS is actually conducting a diligent oversight of rebranded ACORN groups, and secondly there is no evidence that Tea Party groups engaged in illegal activities.

To compare a law-breaking organization like ACORN to True to the Vote is not only illogical, it’s unethical.

For more information on Cause of Action’s investigations into the IRS, click here.

 

 

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08/7/2013

Cause of Action Report Exposes Profiteering Scheme Using Taxpayer Funds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                 

August 6, 2013

 

Cause of Action Report Exposes Profiteering Scheme Using Taxpayer Funds

 “Political Profiteering” Shows How Forest City Enterprises

Makes Private Profits at the Expense of American Taxpayers

 

WASHINGTON – Today, Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, released “Political Profiteering: How Forest City Enterprises Makes Private Profits at the Expense of American Taxpayers,” the first installment in a three-part investigation examining how real estate development giant Forest City Enterprises (FCE) uses politics for profit.  The report exposes how between 2002 and 2012, FCE secured more than $2.6 billion in direct and indirect government subsidies by spending millions of dollars on campaign contributions. Two of the most high-profile examples of FCE using politics for profit include the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, NY and The Yards project in Washington, D.C.

“We are exposing an enterprise of corruption within one of the largest private real estate developers in the country,” said Dan Epstein, Cause of Action’s executive director.  “For far too long, Forest City Enterprises has operated on the model of political profiteering, essentially rigging the marketplace by paying off government officials with lavish campaign contributions and gambling with taxpayer funds for its private profit.”

“Unless there is effective oversight of how government subsidies are granted to companies like Forest City Enterprises, businesses will continue to use American taxpayer dollars to bolster their own private profits.”

CoA’s nearly two-year investigation uncovers how Forest City Enterprises, one of the largest publicly-traded real estate development companies in the United States, runs on the practice of using public money and government influence to reap millions in profit and finance its net worth of nearly $10.6 billion. In its pursuit of land development projects, FCE regularly uses highly paid lobbyists, political connections, campaign contributions, and strategic hiring of government officials to obtain lavish public subsidies, tax-exempt financing and the seizure of private land from eminent domain condemnations.

 Among the most blatant examples of FCE’s political profiteering CoA uncovered:

  • From 2002 to 2012, FCE and its subsidiaries received or signed agreements for fifty-two direct and indirect subsidies or financial benefits with a total value of at least $2.6 billion.
  • FCE, its subsidiaries, and its employees spent $23 million on political spending such as campaign contributions and lobbying at the federal, state, and local level from 2002 to 2012.
  • In key election years, eighty-five percent of FCE’s eighty-one federal political contributions were given to candidates in areas where FCE had real estate projects.
  • Forest City Washington (FCW) in the District of Columbia (D.C.) used campaign contributions to extract favors from the politicians on the D.C. City Council, the D.C. Mayor, and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for its Yards project. FCW also hired an employee from the Mayor’s office dealing with development to assist in pushing its project.

In the reports that follow, CoA will show how FCE took public benefits under the premise of providing jobs for minority workers but failed to deliver, as well as how FCE enriched itself through bribery and political graft, without ever being subjected to investigation or oversight.

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a non-profit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that fights to protect economic opportunity when federal regulations, spending and cronyism threaten it. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins,  202-400-2721 or Jamie Morris, jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.

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08/1/2013

Cause of Action Files IRS Complaint Against Enroll America For Violating the Internal Revenue Code

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             

July 29, 2013

Cause of Action Files IRS Complaint Against Enroll America For Violating the Internal Revenue Code

WASHINGTON – Today, Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, filed a complaint before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asking for the IRS to revoke the charitable status of Enroll America, the nonprofit whose mission is to enroll individuals in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges. Enroll America is, the complaint alleges, improperly classified as a 501(c)(3) organization and therefore in violation of the Internal Revenue Code.

“If Enroll America is designed to benefit insurance companies instead of the American public, then its charitable status no longer applies,” said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action. “An organization that has been granted tax deductible status but is actually depriving the American people of taxable revenue warrants an investigation.”

Cause of Action has conducted previous investigations into how non-profit groups are handling federal grant money as well as how the IRS monitors tax-exempt groups. Their report on potential violations of the law concerning stimulus funds that went to a program called Communities Putting Prevention to Work can be found here. A report released last month delves into a little known provision of the tax code called fiscal sponsorship, which is ripe for abuse and not being monitored well by the IRS.  The report can be found here. This Enroll America complaint is the latest in CoA’s work to ensure that organizations benefiting from taxpayer dollars and tax exemption are adhering to the law.

Cause of Action is requesting an immediate investigation to address the following:

  1. Enroll America does not operate as a 501(c)(3) charity; it is organized more like a trade association for the healthcare industry, employing marketing and political tactics to sell health insurance.  Accordingly, Enroll America is not organized and operating exclusively for a charitable purpose.
  2. The for-profit healthcare providers represented on EA’s board of directors and advisory board stand to reap a substantial private benefit from EA that is not shared by its intended beneficiaries, meaning Enroll America fails the private inurement and private benefit doctrines.

Cause of Action will also be sending a letter to Covered California, California’s state health exchange, to alert them of liabilities under federal and state laws and guidelines. Enroll America will be a liaison to state health exchanges across the country, such as Covered California, who manage the sale of health insurance policies.

“The risk of spending federal money in wasteful, fraudulent or abusive ways as they fund outreach activities to enroll the uninsured should put state exchanges on high alert,” said Dan Epstein. “Covered California creates a one-stop insurance marketplace, while conducting outreach similar to that of Enroll America, and we want these exchanges to be aware of the numerous laws and regulations that could present multiple liabilities for them as enrollment begins.”

The complaint can be found here.

The liability alert letter to the General Counsel of Covered California is here.

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07/1/2013

Cause of Action letter to President Obama: Remove DHS Deputy IG Charles Edwards

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06/20/2013

Cause of Action Memos Impugn Obama Transparency Pledge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                           

June 20, 2013

Cause of Action Memos Impugn Obama Transparency Pledge

CoA obtains previously unreleased White House Memo detailing undisclosed FOIA policies

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, today released a previously undisclosed copy of an April 2009 White House memo sent to all Executive Department and Agency General Counsels urging them to run all third-party requests dealing with “White House equities”– including congressional and Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIA)–through the White House Counsel’s office. This memo was sent just months after the President issued his January 2009 Executive Order on FOIA and transparency, and Attorney General Eric Holder’s March 2009 memo on FOIA—both of which were made public. According to the Department of Justice this memo is still in effect.

Additionally, CoA also obtained a previously unreleased copy of a November 2010 Treasury Inspector General report, revealing two concerning aspects of how the IRS and Treasury handle FOIA requests:

  •  The IRS treats “major media” requests as “special review,” therefore applying an additional layer of scrutiny and slowing down the FOIA  process.
  • The White House may have reviewed Treasury Department FOIA productions and claimed privileges before documents were released to the requestor.

 

Dan Epstein, Cause of Action’s executive director, commented on the consequences of these findings:

“We are concerned that the President’s transparency pledges and removal of the Office of Political Affairs may have all been a charade to not only politicize the Freedom of Information Act but to use the White House legal office to politicize the executive branch. The White House is not an agency subject to FOIA and should have no control over the FOIA process. The White House policy violates the intent of FOIA, which requires that federal agencies promptly respond to requests.  The broad claim for documents relating to “White House equities” is unprecedented.

How are we to trust an Administration that has gone after the press and politicized the nation’s most important tool for knowing what its government is up to?”

Related Documents:

White House Memo 

Treasury Inspector General Report

 

 

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