In a year of presidential politics, many of America’s biggest corporations complain that they pay too much in taxes. But, how much is that? A recent analysis shows that many are actually getting off pretty easy. It turns out that the 10 most profitable U.S. companies only paid an average federal tax rate of 9… Read more »
Posts Tagged: ethics
Blogging without a license
Here’s an interesting case to watch. Steve Cooksey eats what he professes to be “a cave man diet.” On his blog, he says that it has lot of meat and greens, but no bread or pasta. He claims that the diet has helped him conquer diabetes. In North Carolina, where he lives, “assessing the nutritional… Read more »
Whistleblower Identifies Unnecessary Heart Procedures
In the summer of 2010, a troubling letter reached the chief ethics officer of the hospital giant HCA, written by a former nurse at one of the company’s hospitals in Florida. In less than two months, an internal investigation by HCA concluded the nurse was right. Unnecessary cardiac procedures were being performed to boost HCA’s… Read more »
LIBOR Scandal Widens
Bank of America, the second largest U.S. bank, has received subpoenas from the U.S.Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and U.K. Financial Services Authority requesting information about the company’s possible role in the rigging of a key international lending benchmark, LIBOR. Regulators have queried at least a dozen banks worldwide about their roles in… Read more »
Labor Department Violations
On Tuesday, the Labor Department announced that it had levied a $34,000 fine on C. J.’s Seafood for safety violations. This is the company that supplies crawfish to WalMart. In addition, the agency also ordered C. J.’s to pay $214,000 for wage and hour violations. Questions: 1. Where is the company based? 2. Specifically, how… Read more »
Super Hero Strength
The Associated Press reports that three of the five hospitals treating victims from the mass shooting will waive or limit medical costs. Children’s Hospital Colorado will use donations and a charity fund to cover the expenses of uninsured victims, and waive co-pays for the insured. Questions: 1. According to the article, about how much has… Read more »
Jail is not for Big Pharma
In the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history, A federal judge on approved an agreement to fine British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline for criminal and civil violations involving 10 drugs. Questions: 1. Do you think fines can deter unlawful behavior at Big Pharma? In your opinion, why didn’t anyone go to jail for these violations?… Read more »
The Barclays Scandal (AKA LIBOR LIAR)
Questions about the close links between banking regulators and the financial institutions they oversee will come into focus on Monday, when a top official at Britain’s central bank appears before a parliamentary committee here looking into the manipulation of global interest rates. Questions: 1. Explain the Libor rate. 2. As a result of this scandal,… Read more »
Number One Winner!
A new study by the nonprofit, Integrity Florida, ranks the Sunshine State as the nation’s most corrupt state. Since 1976, 1,762 of Florida’s public officials have been convicted of public corruption, with an average of 71 convictions per year over the period from 2000 to 2010. The study gives Florida a C minus grade on… Read more »
Another Loan Modification Nightmare!
When will these stories end? Lily Washington started a loan modification process with Bank of America (BoA). However, shortly thereafter her son was injured in Iraq and she had to travel to a military hospital in Germany to be with him. Although she had notified the bank and received a written response that they would… Read more »