Brown Presses NOAA For Policing Documents - Gloucester Daily Times

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown Monday formally asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for all memoranda and documents used by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to reach his decision not to discipline or punish the then- director of federal fisheries law enforcement or any of his agents and litigators involved in the mistreatment of fishermen documented by investigators.

In a letter to Eric Schwaab, administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Brown specifically asked for "41 documents you located but did not release in response" to a private attorney, whom the Times has identified as Paul Muniz, of Burns & Levenson, Muniz represents the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction.

The auction was one of 11 businesses or individuals identified by Locke as having been victimized by overzealous law enforcement or miscarriages of justice and given apologies and reparations in May.

Brown also specifically asked for "all memoranda from the Commerce Department Office of Assistant General Counsel for Administration Barbara Frederick (or staff) regarding the possibility of discipline for current or former leadership at the NOAA Office of General Counsel for Enforcement Litigation."

In his letter, Brown expressed anger at what he perceived as NOAA's decision to flout previous requests for documents in preparation of a Senate subcommittee hearing into NOAA practices. And the senator asserted that the attitude is that of an agency that considers itself "above congressional oversight."

It was Brown's idea to bring a Senate subcommittee to Boston for a June hearing on NOAA spending and law enforcement abuses. The Faneuil Hall hearing came after findings by both the Commerce Department inspector general and a special judicial master assigned by Locke detailed cases of potentially reversible miscarriages of justice."

Brown's letter to Schwaab probed substantively for the answer to a question he asked that came to define the Faneuil Hall hearing: "What does it take to get fired at NOAA?" Brown asked.

Brown quoted from the decision memo released by Locke in May when he apologized to 11 businesses and distributed nearly $700,000 in reparations based on the report of Special Master Charles B. Swartwood III.

Locke found a "systemic failing," yet that finding warranted no punishment to any NOAA personnel although Dale J. Jones Jr., the director of law enforcement, and the entire Northeast Office of agents and ligitators, based in Gloucester. Jones has been reassigned, while the key Gloucester agents have been reassigned or allowed to retire.

"At bottom," Locke wrote, "these problems were not the product of individual bad acts, but rather the result of conduct enabled and even encouraged by the management and enforcement culture in place at the time."

"In order to better understand Secretary Locke's decision," Brown wrote, "I am requesting that you provide me with all documents related to that legal review," Brown wrote.

He also expressed frustration at NOAA's refusal to provide documents sought as early as May 27 in preparation of the subcommittee hearing.

"Today is July 29, and I have not received the missing documents or the answers necessary to complete the hearing record...," Brown wrote. "While NOAA's initial unwillingness to provide certain documents was an unfortunate situation with a number of plausible explanations, I must now consider the logical conclusion that your agency feels itself to be above congressional oversight."

Brown added that such "behavior is disrespectful to the American people, Congress and the Massachusetts fishermen who have suffered because of NOAA's mismanagement of the fisheries.

"It is clear that NOAA has thus far failed to honor President Obama's stated commitment to transparency," he added.

The Brown letter also contains a refutation of what apparently was NOAA's argument that congressional requests for information are covered by the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

"Obviously," wrote Brown, an attorney, "in their private capacity, members of Congress have the same rights under FOIA to obtain government information enjoyed by 'any person.'... But as the legislative history of FOIA makes clear, 'the Congress has the additional rights of access to all government information which it deems necessary to carry out its functions."

Brown is the ranking Republican on the Senate Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that came to Boston's Faneuil Hall on June 20.

Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, and chairman of the subcommittee, who came to Boston for the hearing, did not respond to questions about Brown's letter, and Schwaab, through his spokeswoman Monica Allen, also declined to answer questions posed the Times regarding Brown's letter.

"Eric Schwaab will respond directly to the senator's letter," Allen said in an email.

Locke was confirmed last week by the Senate to be the new ambassador to China.

California utility executive John Bryson, has been nominated to succeed Locke at Commerce but has yet to be confirmed.

Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3464, or at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.

Gabrielle Giffords 'disappointed' At US Debt Ceiling Row After Congress Return - The Guardian

Lizzy Davies

Gabrielle Giffords on the floor of the House of Representatives. Photograph: AP

Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona politician who was shot in the head in January, said she had been "deeply disappointed" by the party political wrangling that brought the US to the brink of an unprecedented default, after her return to Congress for a vote on the debt-ceiling bill.

To rapturous applause from both Republicans and Democrats, the convalescent congresswoman appeared in the House of Representatives with minutes left before the end of the vote, walking unsteadily and mouthing "thank you" to those who had leapt to their feet to welcome her back, including the Vice-President Joe Biden and the Tea Party favourite Michele Bachmann.

Such a show of unity had been rare in the weeks leading to the vote, a fact Giffords, a Democrat, observed in a statement released afterwards.

"I have closely followed the debate over our debt ceiling and have been deeply disappointed at what's going on in Washington. I strongly believe that crossing the aisle for the good of the American people is more important than party politics," she said.

Giffords, who is still undergoing outpatient therapy, added: "I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy."

Her vote in favour of the bill was one of 269 that sent it through the House with a hefty majority. Hers was without doubt the most enthusiastically greeted.

"It was one of the most thrilling moments for all of us to see this real heroine return to the House and to do so at such a dramatic time," said the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, who welcomed Giffords back with what she called "girl hugs".

On the House floor, Pelosi paid tribute to a woman she called "the personification of courage, of sincerity, of admiration throughout the country".

She said: "There isn't a name that stirs more love, more admiration, more respect. Thank you, Gabby."

Leaning on an aide and with her once-blonde hair cropped and brown, Giffords appeared strikingly different from when she was sworn in as a third-term congresswoman in January. Days after that, she narrowly escaped death in a shooting spree during a "Congress on Your Corner" gathering in the car park of a Tucson supermarket. Six people were killed; Jared Lee Loughner has been charged with the attack – in May was declared unfit for trial.

At the vote, Giffords was accompanied by her husband, Mark Kelly, an astronaut who announced his retirement from Nasa in June, citing his wife's medical needs.

Politicians of both parties paid tribute to Giffords's courage. "She is a model for the attitude that we should all have because she is tenacious and she is relentless in her love for America. You were missed and we're glad to have you back," said the Texas Republican Ted Poe.

Biden told the Associated Press after the vote: "She's remarkable. She's the embodiment of a strong, strong, strong woman. Think about what that woman's been through, and think about her determination."

Late on Monday, a message was posted on Giffords's Twitter feed. "The Capitol looks beautiful," it read. "And I am honored to be at work tonight."

Paul Krugman And Ron Paul Agree: Debt Ceiling Deal Sucks - Forbes (blog)

"Don't Steal, the government hates competition" says the sign on Ron Paul's desk - RonPaul.com

As markets await a final vote on the debt ceiling deal reached by Democrats, with President Obama as their chief negotiator, and Republicans huddled behind House Speaker John Boehner, experts on both sides of the ideological coin have come out against the new plan.  Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, representing liberals, and Congressman Ron Paul, on the right, both have blasted the new plan for its false promises.

The new Obama-Boehner-Reid plan cuts the deficit by about $2.1 trillion by 2021, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  The first tranche of cuts will total $917 billion, coupled with a $900 billion debt ceiling increase; a special committee tasked with cutting an additional $1.5 trillion will be set up to get the rest of the task done by Thanksgiving.

The truth, according to Rep. Ron Paul (R, Texas), is that there are actually no cuts at all in the new plan.  “The ‘cuts’ being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases,” wrote Ron Paul.  With only 2% of cuts taking place before the next presidential election, according to Zerohedge, the truth is that Washington is about to pass “a bigger budget than ever” despite heavy rhetoric, said Ron Paul, who put it like this:

[The debt ceiling deal] is akin to a family “saving” $100,000 in expenses by deciding not to buy a Lamborghini, and instead getting a fully loaded Mercedes, when really their budget dictates that they need to stick with their perfectly serviceable Honda.

On the flip side is liberal economist Paul Krugman, who in his New York Times opinion column called the deal “a disaster.”  Krugman notes that the economics of the plan are completely flawed given that cutting spending in a weak economy will lead to further weakness.  Indeed, it will actually worsen the budget situation, making the economy weaker and reducing revenues.

Krugman thinks Obama conceded too much - newsrealblog.com

“Pay no attention to those who invoke the confidence fairy, claiming that tough action on the budget will reassure businesses and consumers, leading them to spend more. It doesn’t work that way, a fact confirmed by many studies of the historical record,” Krugman writes. The economist notes that given historically low interest rates, “spending cuts now will do little to reduce future interest costs.”

Krugman also had a handy-dandy analogy to explain the deal, taking a stab at Republicans:

So those demanding spending cuts now are like medieval doctors who treated the sick by bleeding them, and thereby made them even sicker.

Both Ron Paul and Krugman present alternative scenarios.  Rep. Ron Paul proposes freezing spending at current levels, noting “a simple freeze in spending would be a much bigger ‘cut’ than any plan being discussed.”  The Congressman for Texas explains that with revenues at $2.2 trillion and outlays at $3.7 trillion, freezing spending at current levels would cut $400 billion over the next few years; “it would only take us 5 years to ‘cut’ $1 trillion, in Washington math.” (Read Donald Trump: It’s Time For Republicans To Fix The Country, I Could Be Back In The Race).

Essentially calling the President a flop, Krugman explained that giving in to Republican demands have weakened his bargaining position.  Obama should’ve demanded an increase in the debt ceiling back in December, said the Nobel laureate.  “At the very least, Mr. Obama could have used the possibility of a legal end run to strengthen his bargaining position. Instead, however, he ruled all such options out from the beginning,” said Krugman.

If the most recent deal passes in both chambers of Congress, both parties, and the economy, can let out a cumulative sigh of short-term relief.  Default will have been avoided and maybe even a downgrade could be waived if Standard & Poor’s is feeling generous.  The reality, though, is that there are many problems with the current deal and that the U.S.’ fiscal and budgetary position remains untenable.  Even after a deal, Washington faces a steep climb. (Read Debt Ceiling Ripples Spread To Money Markets, Repos, Volatility).