Do you think we have labor laws and divisions to protect you from outright theft of your wages? Think again.
The GAO investigated the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour division, now under the Obama administration and found the DOL is simply blowing off workers with legitimate complaints on getting ripped off on unpaid wages.
The GAO report, Wage and Hour Division Needs Improved Investigative Processes and Ability to Suspend Statute of Limitations to Better Protect Workers Against Wage Theft, details this investigation.
The GAO released their TARP Report: June 2009 Status of Efforts to Address Transparency and Accountability Issues.
Some main points:
$330B "dispersed"
$69.2B repaid by end of month
still buying preferred shares
no disclosure from Treasury/Fed on criteria to purchase shares
no disclosure from Treasury on warrant repurchase
no disclosure on recapitalization on stress test results
"difficulties" in measuring TARP effectiveness
no set of determinate indicators to measure TARP impact
Most interesting is the criteria for those stress tests to determine additional needed capitalization. The unemployment rate, which many of us have shown, is much worst than forecast by the economists' consensus.
The blog Firedoglake has support of this bill as an action item.
The long title of the bill is:
To amend title 31, United States Code, to reform the manner in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States and the manner in which such audits are reported, and for other purposes
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) submitted an amendment (amending Section 714 of the United States Code) that would have given significant auditing authority to Comptroller General/Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Which managed to slip past the lobbyists and God knows who else in the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, which was just signed into law.
I don't know if any of ya all have been tracking this, but Boeing lost a major contract while Airbus, i.e. offshore outsourcing won the airforce tanker.
The GAO just agreed with Boeing and sustained their protest, which is good because it keeps taxpayer dollars in the US more for US jobs.
Speaking before a panel of the House Financial Services committee, Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich. and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged action as Americans face rising unemployment and sluggishness in the overall U.S. economy
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