Whistleblower Rights in Bailout Bill

GAP and other groups sent a letter to key House and Senate Committees yesterday urging for stronger whistleblower protections to be included in the much-covered “bailout bill” that is monopolizing Congress’ time at the moment. From the Washington Post:

"At a minimum, any credible solution must address one of the current crisis' fundamental causes -- corruption and other abuses of power sustained by secrecy," the letter said. "Otherwise, the taxpayers could end up giving $700 billion more to repeat the same disasters. Congress must prove it has learned this lesson. Any genuine solution must be grounded in transparency, with all relevant records publicly available and best practice whistleblower protection for all employees connected with the new law."

The article (citing GAP) details the need for immediate changes to be made to existing law:

One way or another, the coalition hopes the amendments become law soon. They are designed to close looming loopholes that are the result of court decisions.

While the law sought to protect whistle-blowers for "any" lawful disclosures of government wrongdoing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has turned the definition around so much that it's reminiscent of President Bill Clinton saying: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

Now, "any" no longer applies "if the disclosure is made to co-workers, supervisors or others in the chain of command, or those suspected of wrongdoing; if the disclosures are made during the course of doing one's job duties; if the disclosure challenges illegal or similarly improper policies; and if the whistleblower is not the first to make a disclosure," said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project.

The amendments would make "any" mean "any."

Another sore point with the coalition is a 1999 court decision that Devine says makes it almost impossible for whistle-blowers to qualify for protection, regardless of context. While Congress said employees must reasonably believe a disclosure is about misconduct, the court said workers must prove the bad deeds with "irrefragable" evidence.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Comments

[Axel]

Dear Readers, 9/24/2008

I am going to try to briefly write in the most humble and diplomatice manner as possible my efforts to compliment this Article.

Please allow me to attach this next paragraph that I hurriedly posted in reply to a recent POGO.org Article intitled 'Greater Trancparecy Needed in Financial Industry Bailout Plan'.

[ATTACHEMENT: Please allow me to more clearly mention in my prior blog comment response should also read the US DOJ and US Executive Branch of our US Government deliberate and intentional, wrongly, negligently and unwarranted failure to hold Accountable and Prosecute in the seemingly similar and identical Enron schemes (and now more pronounced with the repeal of Glass Stegal, merging of Banks and Wall Street Investment illiquid securities and the McCain/ Graham SWAPS Act) of off shore corrupt Financing of two illiquid shell Citigroup//Enron Entities, ironically named from memory as Evergreen and/or a or another similar name. Within a week of the Enron Announcement the US President Executive Branch sent a public letter to Citigroup Chairman whom seemingly expected to be held Accountable and Prosecuted which basicaly mentioned, asserted and implied that he was in the clear and Citigroup would be supported and protected by the White House Executive Branch of our US Government Administration and the complete intentional and deliberate, unjust, unwarranted and faliure of the US Department of Justice and the US Attorney General to review and consider for prosecution and the similar failure of our US Legislatures to further review and consider and to properly and forthrightly provide the absolutely necessary and warranted Oversight and Accountability for review and consideration.]

Briefly, I continue to hope that as our US Government and MSM, Main Stream media appears intent on providing a so-called 'Bailout Plan' (LOAN!!) and some seemingly unnecessary hysteria that they please cease this unnecessary retorhic and apply practical approaches within a initial few pages that are within 'Best Practices Accounting Principles from proper and forthright Accountants and most likely in direct accordance with FASB, Fedral Accounting Standards Board!!

Also and importantly, please note that it is my intent to offend our Congressional and Senatorial US Legislatures or anyone, although within my recent responses on the POGO.org Website my blog comment replies could suggest that our US Legislatures and others in our US Government and other prominent well-esteemed and recognized notables have no sense of moral obligation and decency and shame or ability thereof.

My exasperation and frustration is also from my hope that hopefully our US Legislatures will at least allow for this minimal sense of Decency, Dignity and Integrity towards 'Oversight and Accountability' and our US Constitution and Democracy and our Great Country with the immediate and/or inclusive floor vote and passage of the superb and excellent Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection Act. Clearly and unmistakeably within proper and forthright interpretation of Law these US Constitutional and Democratic inalienable rights and expectations should have been always allowed in the first place.

Thank you and all for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Axel
Axel V. Sabersky

[Axel]

Dear Readers, 9/23/2008

PLEASE NOTE AND APPLY THIS IMPORTANT CORRECTION!! PARAGRAPH #5 SHOULD READ ......IT IS MY INTENT TO NOT!!!! OFFEND..... ...."TO NOT OFFEND"....

Sincerely,
Axel
Axel V. Sabersky

PS. GAP has my direct permisson to apply the necessary and needed corrections to this/my blog comment reply to this Article.

[Nevermind]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/dirty-secret-of-the-bailo_n_128294.html

[nellwal]

Considering that as many as 30% of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers came from this industry (including 4 from Fannie Mae), and spoke up about the problems we are seeing now, and their complaints were dismissed or settled, I'm not sure that whistleblower protection is going to do that much good unless there is going to actually be some oversight.

[Dr. Charles W. Heckman]

Unfortunately, the whole tone of the article in the Washington Post is overly optimistic. This is best exemplified by the use of the term, "whistleblowers' rights." Whistleblowers have no rights, unless being isolate, losing a job, and being blacklisted can be called rights.
As a federal whistleblower who reported a $20,000 bribe offer by the U.S. Forest Service, which was confirmed by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, I have been blacklisted for all employment in the United States since 1999. Congress has confirmed many times that the clear English of the Whistleblower Protection Act has been misinterpreted in many ways by the judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the misinterpretations have been adopted by the Merit System Protection Board, which has never given adequate protection for any whistleblower. All new laws proposed by Congress lack provisions to guarantee jury trials to whistleblowers, which is a protected right written in Amendment VII of the Constitution. When the new law corrects the mistakes of the Federal Circuit judges, what is to prevent them from just misinterpreting the new law as they did with the old law? Clearly written English does not prevent them from changing whatever they do not want to uphold.
The fact is, the judges and administrative judges are making careers out of twisting the law to protect agency wrongdoers. I have personally faced an airtight blacklisting process since 1999, and all four of my appeals have been decided fraudulently by the administrative judges, who have a whole bag of tricks to keep evidence out of the record. My four appeals before the MSPB and other complaint processes I have been through have made work for highly paid lawyers, whose only purpose is to maintain walls of protection to keep the public from knowing what is going on within incredibly corrupt government agencies. Complaints to the U.S. Department of Justice about perjury and other felonies committed during appeals are not even investigated. Papers like the Washington Post are lying to their readers when they express optimism just because Congress is discussing laws that, if passed, will simply be violated with impunity as all earlier laws have been.