|
The Attorney General of New York is the lawyer for the
People of New York. Why hasn't the Attorney General been prosecuting
corporate crime? The law gives the AG this power and the State
of New York has the resources to investigate these crimes. If
elected, I will use the resources and law of New York to prosecute
corporate crime.
The present flurry of attention to corporate crime is not
about just a few bad apples that have been found. Both Republicans
and Democrats have gone too easy on corporate abuse, fraud and
cronyism because they accept the notion that what is good for
corporate America is good for people. Recent losses on the stock
market are just the most recent example of why that is not the
case. The Green Party has always spoken out against consumer
fraud and corporate abuse, unlike Republicans and Democrats who
are only now saying we need to protect people against corporate
crime. Ralph Nader, the Green Party's presidential candidate
in 2000, has spent over 30 years working to protect people against
corporate criminality.
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer got a lot of publicity for
investigating investment firm Merrill Lynch who gave fraudulent
advice to investors. Spitzer let Merrill Lynch pay a fine that
was about one-third of their annual expense for postage and office
supplies. Merrill Lynch did not have to plead guilty to the crime
or go to trial and get convicted. Attorney General Spitzer was
concerned that a conviction might put Merrill Lynch in peril
of financial insolvency. This is the same Merrill Lynch who is
now being investigated for helping Enron with its schemes. If
I were elected Attorney General, I would be more concerned with
the insolvency of people's retirement funds and life savings
than with a corporation's solvency. I would have gone for a conviction
and pushed the principle of three strikes and you're out. Corporate
death sentences can happen by revoking the corporation's charter
or right to do business. It's already in the law but the present
Attorney General is not using the law to protect the people of
the state of New York. He is using the law to shield corporations
from the consequences of their persistent violations of the law.
A corporate death sentence for persistent violators of New York
Law. That's what I would do as Attorney General of New York.
The present State government is more interested in prosecuting
workers compensation fraud than corporate fraud even though it
involves less money and fewer people. Why is that? Because the
present State government is bought and paid for by corporate
America. There are lots of corporate crimes to prosecute: scams
to take pension money and life savings; pollution of our water,
air, soil and seed which is a crime that kills more people than
West Nile Virus or terrorist acts. The Attorney General should
enforce our environmental protection laws and prosecute the corporate
violators of these laws and revoke their corporate charters.
|
