Tag: millions

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Benghazi Politics

The Pentagon – Republicans Are Wasting Millions on Benghazi Investigations

This is your fiscal conservatives doing what they do best – wasting taxpayer’s money.

The Pentagon said Tuesday that its work to comply with the six congressional investigations into the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, has cost the military millions of dollars and thousands of man hours.

The Pentagon said in a letter to Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed services Committee, that Defense Department officials have participated in 50 congressional hearings, briefings and interviews about the attack.

“We continue to work fervently to address outstanding items which include a document request from the chairman of the Armed Services Committee (HASC) and six additional interviews of military personnel by HASC and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staff,” wrote Elizabeth King, assistant secretary for legislative affairs.
Smith requested the estimate from the Pentagon in December. In response, he blasted the Armed Services Committee for continuing to investigate the terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Smith wrote to House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), calling on him to drop the committee’s investigation.

“We must stop wasting this committee’s and our military’s scarce resources chasing a scandal that does not exist,” Smith wrote in a letter obtained by The Hill.

“More than any other committee in Congress, this committee should understand the financial strain on the Department of Defense, which is being made worse by these ongoing and ridiculous investigations,” Smith said.

It does not appear that McKeon intends to abandon the investigation, however.

Categories
basketball Carmelo Anthony NBA Sports

Lakers Aim To Make A Big Signing…

…next year that is. Yes, the 2013-2014 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers seems more like a throw away season. The Lakers have lost their “next in line” player in Dwight Howard, have an aging Gasol, Kobe, and Nash, and have no cap space to sign any big name player this free agency. Heck, looking at the Lakers roster right now any person would laugh at it. This of course is all part of the Lakers plan for the 2014 free agency period.

Probably the Lakers biggest free agent signing, Center Chris Kaman

After this coming season, the Lakers will have around $40 million in cap space and only two players under contract, Steve Nash ($9.7 million) and Robert Sacre ($915,243). The Lakers can even waive Nash since he’ll be in his final season and stretch his money owed and only take a $3.2 million dollar salary cap hit in 2014-2015. Kobe Bryant will be the only big question mark considering he seems to want to play another three to four seasons, so let’s just pencil him in for around $10-15 million.

Lebron can become a free agent after 2014 and the Lakers are gearing up for a run at him

Let me read off some big names who will be free agents in 2014: Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Granger, Loul Deng, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwayne Wade. The list continues if you want to add in the Restricted Free Agents which focus around up and coming stars like Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Eric Beldsoe, and Paul George; all of them though aren’t leaving their respected teams no matter what. The 2014 free agent class is massive in terms of star power to say the least and a team like the Lakers plan to take full advantage of it.

Teammates? It’s not as far fetched as you’d think

Let’s get this out of the way, Lebron James will not be taking his talents to L.A, that’s a total pipe dream. The same can be said for any of the young restricted free agents, especially Kyrie and Paul George. The only possible star the Lakers can land would be Carmelo Anthony. In his current tenure in New York, Melo hasn’t had incredible playoff success and coming to a town like L.A where he will be the man and be paired up with another super star is an intriguing offer to say the least. Plus, the Lakers can offer Melo a huge contract of four years and around $100 million dollars. It shall be a very interesting off season to say the least and the 2015 free agent class promises to be the same with players like Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, and LeMarcus Aldridge becoming free agents. God I love the NBA.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney Made Part of His Fortune by Associating With “Disreputable” Businessmen

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney built his $250 million fortune with the help of two of Britain’s most disreputable business figures – Guinness fraudster Jack Lyons and crooked newspaper boss Robert Maxwell.

In the 1980s both men invested large sums in the Republican candidate’s first private equity fund, started during his years at Bain & Company, which launched his now highly controversial career in finance. Romney is under increasing pressure to release details of his business affairs including tax returns for the years before 2010 and details of offshore holdings, including a Swiss bank account.

Flamboyant publishing tycoon Maxwell was the former head of the left-wing Mirror Group newspapers and a one-time owner of the New York Daily News. He died in mysterious circumstances in 1991 at the age of 68 after falling overboard from his luxury yacht off the Canary Islands after which it was discovered he had plundered hundreds of millions from an employee pension scheme.

Lyons, who died in 2008, was one of the notorious ‘Guinness Four’ convicted for a massive share trading fraud in which they attempted to inflate the price of Guinness shares to assist a take-over bid for Scottish drinks company Distillers. He was subsequently fined £4 million for theft and false accounting and stripped of his knighthood.

In 1984 Lyons, a former colleague of Mr Romney’s at Bain & Company, along with members of his family invested almost $3million in Mr Romney’s capital fund.

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