In the News
By Jay Heflin
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is sharply criticizing the Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for excluding minority- and women-owned firms from taking part in the sale of General Motors common stock owned by the Treasury.
Treasury obtained the stock as a result of the government bailout of General Motors. It owns about $43 billion in GM stock.
By STEVE MACEK and MITCHELL SZCEPANCZYK
On Dec. 3, 2009, the cable giant Comcast announced plans to buy NBC/Universal from General Electric in a $28 billion merger.
Ever since, lawmakers in Washington and legions of activists have been raising the alarm about the threat such a deal would pose to telecommunication workers, cable and Internet users, and communities of color.
By David Fiderer
The "special favors" performed by Maxine Waters' chief of staff were mundane tasks normally relegated to an administrative assistant or intern. Yet the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct inflated those actions into something more significant, namely the "crafting [of] legislation." You have to wonder who the Committee thought it would be fooling when it drafted its Statement of Alleged Violations last June.
By David Fiderer
It's not hard to figure out why the allegations against Maxine Waters seem bogus. You simply need to read the 80-page House Ethics Report carefully. In order to concoct a case against her, the authors of the report twisted the meaning of the House Ethics rules and embellished the underlying facts. The report was first published one year ago, but is now being released shortly before the 2010 campaign season. The timing alone makes you wonder.
By Bill Boyarsky
Broadway and Central Avenue in the Watts area of South Los Angeles are lined with dozens of small, marginal businesses, but hardly any banks. In a capitalist economy, these are streets without capital, losers in the race to the top. That helps explain—although perhaps not excuse—Rep. Maxine Waters' current troubles in her relationship with minority-owned banks.
By Jonathan Capehart
After reading through the documents issued first by the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the Statement of Alleged Violation from the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has a stronger case to make in her defense than Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), the pity-party pol from Harlem who hijacked the House floor yesterday.
by Jonathan Capehart
For 30 minutes yesterday, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) slammed his critics, hectored his fellow Democrats, warned them about the ethics process and called out President Obama for his expressed desire to see the Harlem congressman end his career with "dignity."
By Jay Newton-Small
News came out today that Rep. Maxine Waters is pushing vehemently to have the Standards Committee report on her case released asap and her trial be held before the elections. Given that Congress is coming back next week to vote on $27 billion in funding for first responders and teacher, there could be a window for the Standards Committee to start the same process it did with Rep. Charlie Rangel on July 29 -- formally launching an adjudicatory committee and releasing the charges -- for Waters.
By Larry Margasak
A defiant Maxine Waters disputed charges that she violated House ethics rules and released documents Friday that could undercut the complaint that the 10-term California Democrat sought federal money to bail out a bank where her husband owns stock.
With midterm elections three months away and no trial date scheduled by the House Ethics Committee, Waters — like her House colleague Charles Rangel of New York — made her case in the court of public opinion.
By Kate Linthicum
When the congresswoman entered, the crowd rose up like a congregation on Sunday morning for one, two, then three standing ovations.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D- Los Angeles) stood facing her cheering supporters. She wore a pencil skirt, pearls and a smile that looked curiously triumphant, considering the month she has had.