Contractors

May 6, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton issued the following statement on a recent report that substandard maintenance work performed by a government contractor in Iraq may have led to deaths of several of our troops stationed there and the severe injuries of many more:    » read more »

April 28, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing entitled Contracting Abuses in Iraq: Is the Bush Administration Safeguarding American Taxpayer Dollars?

Blackwater helicopter over Republican Palace, Iraq: Photo by James Gordon (CC)

In March, Obama and Senator John Kerry introduced the Fair Share Act of 2008 (S.2775), which would increase accountability and transparency of our tax system by closing a tax loophole to prevent Federal contractors from using foreign affiliates or tax shelters to avoid paying payroll taxes.    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – The following is a statement from Change to Win executive director Greg Tarpinian on the introduction yesterday of federal legislation to prevent the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

“Change to Win applauds the introduction of the Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act by U.S. Reps. Jim McDermott, Richard Neal, and John Tierney. This long-overdue legislation will clamp down on companies that have turned tax fraud into a business model.

“Genuine independent contractors and entrepreneurs have an important place in our economy and the workforce. But when unscrupulous companies cut corners and misclassify their employees as independent contractors, they are swindling everyone.    » read more »

April 14, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - On the day before millions of everyday Americans are required to file their tax returns, the House today approved a bill requiring federal contractors to pay their taxes. According to studies by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), thousands of federal contractors owe billions of dollars in unpaid taxes.

Senator Barack Obama: Photo by Barack Obama campaign (CC)    » read more »

Used customers’ payments for personal expenses, failed to build homes for multiple families throughout Western New York

BUFFALO, N.Y. (April 3, 2008) – New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that a Buffalo area custom home builder that repeatedly defrauded customers has been put out of business and ordered to pay more than $325,000 in penalties and restitution.    » read more »

FedEx Asks For Review of NLRB Employee Determination

March 19, 2008 -- (Washington, D.C.) – FedEx Corporation [NYSE: FDX] subsidiary FedEx Home Delivery is defending its illegal contractor model in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

In a brief filed Tuesday, FedEx Home Delivery is requesting a review of a National Labor Relations Board determination that drivers at two Massachusetts terminals are employees and not “contractors” as contended by FedEx.

FedEx Express aircraft    » read more »

Reform Closes Offshore Tax Loopholes that Government Contractors Use To Dodge Social Security Taxes

March 13, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC - Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are introducing the "Fair Share Act of 2008," today with Reps. Brad Ellsworth (IN) and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) The reform will close the loophole that recently has allowed the defense contractor KBR Inc. to fleece the American taxpayer by almost $100 million a year.    » read more »

March 13, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - A bill written by Reps. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) to withhold federal contracts from companies and grantees that have not paid their federal taxes cleared its first hurdle today. According to studies by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), thousands of federal contractors owe billions of dollars in unpaid taxes.    » read more »

March 3, 2008 -- Chicago - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit alleging that a Bloomington building owner and his tenant broke the law when they did not use a licensed asbestos contractor to properly remove asbestos-containing materials during a major renovation project in 2006. The complaint, filed in McLean County Circuit Court, also alleges that the defendants did not follow proper removal procedures required by law to avoid contamination.    » read more »

February 27, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today raised concerns about the possibility that the Administration’s negotiations on a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Iraq – an accord formed between the U.S. and another country in an effort to provide a formal framework for the presence of U.S. military forces in the foreign country – may include immunity from Iraqi law for American contractors. In a letter to President Bush and in a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, McCaskill urged the White House to ensure that U.S.    » read more »

February 28, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that she has cosponsored legislation to ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq.    » read more »

County employee sold lots in Sierra Blanca subdivision lacking water, sewage facilities

January 25, 2008 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged Adolfo Ramirez, a Hudspeth County Appraisal District employee, and his wife, Patricia, with violating the state’s colonia-prevention laws. According to court documents, the Ramirezes failed to install or bond sewer and water services on residential lots offered for sale in the Sierra Blanca Land Development – Phase One subdivision.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- BOSTON – The joint venture of Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, Bechtel Infrastructure Corp., and PB Americas, Inc., f/k/a Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, Inc. ("Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff”), the management consultant to the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“the Big Dig”) has agreed to pay over $407 million to resolve its criminal and civil liabilities in connection with the collapse of part of the I-90 Connector Tunnel ceiling and defects in the slurry walls of the Tip O’Neill tunnel.    » read more »

17 January 2008 -- A report issued by a U.S.-based human rights group is criticizing the Justice Department for failing to hold private security contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan responsible for acts of violence. The report was released Wednesday in Washington.

The report by the New York-based Human Rights First says private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan are not being held accountable for excessive use of force, which has given rise to what the group calls "shoot first, ask questions later, or never."    » read more »

Stop Residential Construction Under Judgment Obtained By Nixon

January 16, 2008 -- Independence, Mo. — The developers of The Links at Stone Canyon, a residential and golf course project in Independence, must stop residential construction and take immediate steps to investigate and control the migration of methane and other subsurface gases, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon says.    » read more »