Janine Wedel - Unaccountable - How Elite Power Brokers Corrupt Our Finances, Freedom, and Security

After the revelations, top congressional “overseers” Senators Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss, the Democratic and Republican leaders, respectively, of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stood by Clapper and his earlier testimony. As Feinstein said, “There is no more direct or honest person than Jim Clapper.” (Feinstein, appearing on ABC’s This Week, June 9, 2013.)

33. See, for instance, Somini Sengupta, “The Pentagon as Silicon Valley’s Incubator.” New York Times , August 22, 2013 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/technology/the-pentagon-as-start-up-incubator.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0).

34. James Risen and Nick Wingfield, “Web’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders.” New York Times, June 19, 2013 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/technology/silicon-valley-and-spy-agency-bound-by-strengthening-web.html?pagewanted=all).

35. Nathan Heller, “Bay Watched: How San Francisco’s New Entrepreneurial Culture is Changing the Country.” The New Yorker, October 14, 2013.

This model of success differs from the more traditional notion, as Karen Ho points out. Karen Ho, “Occupy Finance and the Paradox Possibilities of Productivity.” Fieldsights—Theorizing the Contemporary, Cultural Anthropology Online, May 15, 2012 (http://www.culanth.org/?q=node/573).

36. Conversation with Sony Kapoor on April 11, 2014.

37. This issue is already presenting itself. See, for instance, Aarti Shahani, “Should Uber Be Responsible for Driver Recklessness?” all tech considered, NPR, February 2, 2014 (http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/02/02/270359642/is-uber-responible-for-driver-recklessness).

38. William White, “What Has Gone Wrong with the Global Economy? Why Were the Warnings Ignored? What Have We Learned from the Experience?” Presented at the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in London, October 24, 2013, http://williamwhite.ca/content/what-has-gone-wrong-global-economy-why-were-warnings-ignored-what-have-we-learned-experience

CHAPTER 3

1. William D. Cohan, “Mystery Men of the Financial Crisis.” New York Times , February 4, 2010 (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/mystery-men-of-the-financial-crisis/).

2. Louise Story and Gretchen Morgenson, “In U.S. Bailout of A.I.G., Forgiveness for Big Banks.” New York Times, June 29, 2010 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/business/30aig.html?hp=&pagewanted=all).

3. Jason Kelly, “Daschle’s Demise Linked to Hindery’s Private-Equity Lifestyle.” Bloomberg, February 4, 2009 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=abRm8pGXtr4Q).

4. Christopher Lee, “Daschle Moving to K Street.” Washington Post, March 14, 2005, p. A17 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32604-2005Mar13.html); Michael Scherer, “The Secret Life of Tom Daschle, Moonlighting for the Insurance Industry.” Time, August 17, 2009 (http://swampland.time.com/2009/08/17/the-secret-life-of-tom-daschle-moonlighting-for-the-inurance-indutry/).

5. Sam Stein, “Daschle’s Firm and Group Have Ties to Private Health Care Industry.” Huffington Post , July 19, 2009 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/18/daschles-firm-and-group-h_n_217594.html).

6. Fred Schulte and Emma Schwartz, “Daschle Had Public and Private Role in Push for Digital Health Records.” Center for Public Integrity, December 15, 2009 (http://www.publicintegrity.org/2009/12/15/7020/daschle-had-public-and-private-role-push-digital-health-records).

7. Kenneth P. Vogel, “Health Care Groups Paid Daschle $220K.” Politico , January 30, 2009 (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18237.html).

8. Carrie Levine, “Daschle Departing Alston for DLA Piper.” National Law Journal, November 17, 2009 (http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202435565631/Daschle-departing-Alston-for-DLA-Piper?slreturn=20140318204027).

9. On meeting with the president, see Office of the Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s meeting with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Today.” The White House, August 21, 2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/readout-presidents-meeting-with-former-senate-majority-leader-tom-daschle-today); with the vice president: Alexander Bolton, “Daschle is Still Go-to Guy on Healthcare.” The Hill, November 19, 2009 (http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68533-tom-daschle-is-still-the-go-to-guy-on-healthcare); in general: John Fritze, “Daschle Still Key Player on Health Care.” USA Today, May 21, 2009 (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-05-20-daschle_N.htm).

10. See Schulte and Schwartz, op. cit. Alston & Bird, the law and lobbying firm where Daschle was on the payroll, recruited him to help create a health-information technology unit charged with assisting clients in taking advantage of stimulus funds, according to the firm.

11. A description of the Daschle Loophole can be found in a February 19, 2014 Nation investigation by Lee Fang (http://www.thenation.com/article/178460/shadow-lobbying-complex#).

Arthur Delaney, “How Tom Daschle Lobbies in Secret: Influence Laundering.” Huffington Post , March 18, 2010 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/25/how-tom-daschle-lobbies-i_n_367634.html).

12. Elizabeth O’Bagy, “Elizabeth O’Bagy: On the Front Lines of Syria’s Civil War.” Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2013 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324463604579044642794711158.html).

13. Jay Newton-Small, “The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth O’Bagy.” Time, September 17, 2013 (http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/17/the-rise-and-fall-of-elizabeth-obagy/).

14. Fox News Insider, “Syrian Expert: Rebel Forces ‘Let Down’ by President Obama’s Decision.” Fox News Insider, August 31, 2013 (http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/08/31/rebel-forces-syria-let-down-president-obamas-decision); Renee Montagne, “Assessing Role Extremists Play in Syrian Opposition.” National Public Radio, September 6, 2013 (http://www.npr.org/2013/09/06/219560320/assessing-role-extremists-play-in-syrian-opposition).

15. Here is McCain referencing “Doctor” O’Bagy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7JqP8MMLYM; Greg Myre, “From Anonymous to Media Star to Unemployed in a Week.” The Two-Way, National Public Radio, September 11, 2013 (http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/11/221402205/from-anonymous-to-media-star-to-unemployed-in-a-week).

16. The Institute for the Study of War no longer has Elizabeth O’Bagy’s biography on its website (http://www.understandingwar.org/press-media/staff-bios/elizabeth-obagy).

17. O’Bagy is properly identified here in the Atlantic, although the article doesn’t explain what the Syrian Emergency Task Force is. Media outlets that did not properly identify her could have found this affiliation without much difficulty. Michael Weiss and Elizabeth O’Bagy, “Why Arming the Rebels Isn’t Enough.” The Atlantic, June 14, 2013 (http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/06/why-arming-the-rebels-isnt-enough/276889/).

18. Gordon Lubold and Shane Harris, “Exclusive: McCain Hires Controversial Syria Analyst Elizabeth O’Bagy.” Foreign Policy, September 27, 2013 (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/09/27/mccain_hires_controversial_syria_analyst_elizabeth_obagy).

19. Linda Keenan and Janine R. Wedel, “10 Shadow Elitists of the Decade.” Huffington Post , December 23, 2010 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-keenan/10-shadow-elitists-of-the_b_800634.html#s211985title=Neocon_Core).

20. My 2011 and 2012 interviews with top government auditors from countries such as India, Russia, Uganda, and Jamaica suggest that the phenomenon here described is widespread (Janine R. Wedel, unpublished interviews). Recent or current comptrollers or auditors general of their countries, these veteran officials all represented their countries in the UN Independent Audit Advisory Committee. It is striking that, independently of one another, they cite the privatizations and public/private partnerships introduced in the 1990s into their respective countries (often under sponsorship of international financial institutions) as creating unprecedented opportunities for corruption. These public/private arrangements and partnerships, which often involve more money and players who transcend geographical boundaries, are more complex and difficult to monitor than in the past, according to the auditors. As one auditor general expressed: “It’s fair to say that the privatization era was the onset of the grand corruption era. People became bolder and went for bigger stakes. Before, it was smaller amounts.”