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No Federal Charges for AIG Executives

Federal prosecutors have decided not to bring charges against any executives from AIG for their roles leading up to the company’s collapse in 2008. The Justice Department had been considering charging Joseph Cassano and other top AIG officers. Cassano was the chief executive of AIG’s Financial Products unit, which made huge bets on risky mortgage securities.


 

FDIC: 1/10 of US Banks in Trouble

In other financial news, a total of 775 banks, or one-tenth of all US banks, are now on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s list of "problem" institutions. The number of banks in trouble has jumped by 500 since 2008. Regulators have closed seventy-three banks so far this year.

Court Rules Against Prisoners at Bagram

A federal appeals court has ruled that prisoners held in an American-run jail in Afghanistan cannot challenge their confinement in federal court. The ruling impacts hundreds of prisoners held at Bagram Air Base, including men who were captured in other countries and then transported to Afghanistan. Tina Foster, an attorney for the detainees, criticized the decision. She said, "This is an extremely disturbing precedent that allows the US government to kidnap someone from any part of the world and never have to justify it, ever."

BP Rejects EPA Demand to Use Less-Toxic Dispersants

The British oil company BP has rejected demands from the Obama administration to use less-toxic chemical dispersants to break up the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past month, BP has used about 715,000 gallons of the chemical Corexit, made by the Illinois-based company Nalco. The chemical is banned in Britain, and scientists have questioned its safety as well as effectiveness compared to other dispersants. Last week the Environmental Protection Agency ordered BP to switch chemical, but BP is now fighting that order. The dispute between the EPA and BP highlights the power the oil company has been granted in controlling the cleanup of the spill. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen was questioned on CNN about BP.

Candy Crowley: "And they say, why is BP in control now? They don’t trust BP, so why is BP in control of this?"

Thad Allen: "I don’t think it’s an issue of control. What makes this an unprecedented, anomalous event is access to the discharge site is controlled by the technology that was used for the drilling, which is owned by the private sector. They have the eyes and ears that are down there. They are necessarily the modality by which this is going to get solved. Our responsibility is to conduct proper oversight to make sure they do that."

On Sunday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited the Houston command center where scientists for BP and the government have been working to plug the blown-out well.

Ken Salazar: "I am angry and I am frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this well from leaking and to stop this pollution from spreading. We are thirty-three days into this effort, and deadline after deadline has been missed."

Bipartisan Commission to Probe BP Oil Spill

President Obama has created a bipartisan commission to investigate the oil spill disaster. Heading the probe will be Democrat Bob Graham, a former US senator, and Florida governor and Republican William Reilly, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

President Obama: “If the laws on our books are inadequate to prevent such an oil spill, or if we didn’t enforce those laws, I want to know it. I want to know what worked and what didn’t work in our response to the disaster and where oversight of the oil and gas industry broke down. We know, for example, that a cozy relationship between oil and gas companies and the agencies that regulate them has long been a source of concern.”

Rand Paul: Obama’s Criticism of BP Is "Un-American"

While the Obama administration’s handling of the oil spill faces increasing scrutiny, Kentucky’s Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul weighed in on the oil spill on Friday. During an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, Rand Paul accused President Obama of being un-American for criticizing BP’s actions in the Gulf.

Rand Paul: "What I don’t like from the President’s administration is this sort of, you know, I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP. I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault. And instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen, I mean, we had a mining accident that was very tragic, and I’ve met a lot of these miners and their families. They’re very brave people to do a dangerous job. But then we come in, and it’s always someone’s fault. Maybe sometimes accidents happen."

Rand Paul’s comment came just days after he criticized the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for banning segregation in private businesses. Shortly after the Good Morning America interview, Rand Paul canceled his scheduled appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. Politico reports Karl Rove, the former top adviser to George W. Bush, called Paul’s campaign manager and said the candidate was hurting himself with all the media exposure. According to Meet the Press, only two other people have canceled appearances on the program: Louis Farrakhan and Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

Aiyana Jones Buried in Detroit

In Detroit, nearly 1,000 mourners gathered Saturday for the funeral of seven-year-old Aiyana Jones, who was shot dead by police in her own home. The Rev. Al Sharpton traveled to Detroit to deliver the eulogy.

Texas Approves New Right-Wing School Curriculum

The Republican-dominated Texas State Board of Education has approved new controversial curriculum standards for US history. Before the final vote, the board’s five Democrats criticized the Republican majority for injecting their political and religious views into the standards and giving short shrift to important Latino, African American and Asian figures in history.