Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (205553)	11/29/2001 10:20:37 AM
From: DMaA	Respond to of 769670

This is the tip of the iceberg of criminal incompetence and malfeasance in the Federal Government: Two Ordered to Trial For Indian Trust By Robert Gehrke Associated Press Writer Wednesday, November 28, 2001; 8:39 PM WASHINGTON –– A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Interior Secretary Gale Norton to stand trial on contempt allegations related to a long-running lawsuit accusing her of mismanagement of a billion-dollar Indian trust fund. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth set a trial date of Dec. 3 for Norton and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb to show why they should not be held in contempt. The suit stems from the mismanagement of royalties from mining, grazing, timber harvesting and other activities on 54 million acres of Indian land held in trust by the Interior Department since 1887. Payments were supposed to be made to the Indian beneficiaries, but much of the money was lost, misappropriated, stolen or never collected. Specifically, Norton will have to show that her office has complied with Lamberth's 1999 order that the Interior Department piece together how much is owed to 300,000 Indians who sued the agency claiming it has squandered more than $10 billion in royalties over more than a century. Norton also must prove that she did not file false or misleading reports about the status of the accounting and the department's current system of tracking the Indian royalties. Dennis Gingold, the attorney for the Indians in the class action suit, praised Lamberth's decision to hold a trial. "It confirms everything we've said about the unfitness of the Secretary of Interior to continue to manage the Indian trust," he said. Hours before Lamberth acted, a department official told Indian leaders meeting in Spokane, Wash., that Norton would begin discussions with them in December about management of the trust fund In 1999, Lamberth held former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt and fined them $600,000 for failing to produce documents in the case. At an Oct. 30 hearing, Lamberth scolded the Interior Department's lawyer and advised the lawyer to "throw yourself on the mercy of the court," rather than defending conduct he called "so clearly contemptuous." Interior spokesman Eric Ruff said strides have been taken to improve the management of the trust fund and comply with court orders since Norton took office, including the creation of a new office specifically dedicated to trust fund management. "Such progress is evidence of the department's commitment and determination to resolve the Indian trust issue," Ruff said in a statement. In recent filings, department lawyers conceded that Interior has struggled with efforts to reform, but they argued that department officials have done nothing to directly violate a court order which would justify a finding of contempt. In 1999, Lamberth ordered Interior to fix the system and account for the lost money, but the department has failed to do either despite spending $614 million on the effort, according to reports by court-appointed watchdogs. The plaintiffs have asked on several occasions that the judge schedule a trial on whether Norton should be held in contempt. Other motions are still pending. Gingold has also asked that the judge strip Interior of its trust responsibilities. Lamberth has scheduled a hearing Friday to determine who may be needed to testify at the Dec. 3 contempt trial. washingtonpost.com

To: jlallen who wrote (205553)	11/29/2001 12:31:58 PM
From: E. T.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Sometimes you have to go it alone, true. But consider, United States foreign policy has had mixed results, its best laid plans have not always played out as desired. Why not consider what leaders of important countries like Germany have to say. I know it's easy to call them all a bunch of liberal morons that don't know what they're talking about, but sometime they do. But more importantly, when things f*ck up on the world stage, militarily or more acts of terror, it's good when everyone's on side. Ignoring or dismissing what important people in other allied countries have to say creates division amongst friends. It's a heady brew in the middle east. Many of the best heads have been thinking on it for a long time with mixed results,imo.