Category: Tait Militana
Area Doctor Calls on SEC to Refund his Practice
HEARING
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
1/27/09
WASHINGTON – A Fairfield doctor lashed out against the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, saying that his practice lost more than $11 million in pension funds in the Bernard Madoff scandal.
Dr. Henry Backe of the Orthopaedic Specialty Group testified as a witness in front of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and the rest of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee at a hearing on why regulators were unable to detect Madoff’s alleged fraud. Backe said the regulators did not do a good enough job preventing the scam.
“They [his practice’s employees] are regular working-class Americans,” Backe said. “They were let down by Madoff, the regulators, the SEC and FINRA [the securities industry’s self-regulatory Financial Industry Regulatory Authority].”
Backe’s practice first invested in Madoff’s investment fund in 1992, he said. Since then the investments were used to fund pension plans for more than 140 employees, including doctors, nurses and office personnel. Last month, Madoff was arrested for allegedly perpetrating more than $50 billion in investor fraud in what has been called the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The practice’s employees, including a partner who had 30 years worth of investments with Madoff, lost all of their savings, Backe said.
According to Backe, the scandal has cast a shadow over the workplace. Many employees do not know when they will be able to retire and may have to sell personal assets to make up for their losses, he said.
“Our employees are scared, worried and angry,” Backe said.
Backe, who was in Washington seeking a way to get more of his firm’s investments back, said officials told him because the employees’ investments were pooled as a 401 (k) retirement plan, whatever they recover from settlement of the Madoff affair will be treated as a single investment and thus limited to no more than $500,000.
Backe said his employees have lost faith in the government.
“We don’t know where to turn, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here,” he said.
According to Backe, the group’s pension plan was audited by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2005 and by an independent Connecticut firm in 2008. In both cases, no concerns were raised.
During the three hour hearing, Dodd, the committee chairman, grilled regulatory officials on why they were unable to detect what Madoff was up to and protect victims such as Backe. He said that what he described as Madoff’s deception was allowed to continue for so long was unacceptable.
“Obviously a number of signals and warning were given,” Dodd said. “It is inexcusable, in my opinion, that this matter went on as long as it did. There were enough red flags being raised.”
Though Dodd said no immediate legislation is pending to overhaul financial regulation, he called on the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to report to the committee every three months on measures being taken to improve oversight and fraud prevention.
Backe said he felt obligated to fight for his employees because they worked hard to save money and do not need more distraction from patient care.
“I told them I would go to the end for them,” Backe said. “I wasn’t getting clear answers from all the sources I was looking at, so I thought the best thing to do would be to ask them myself.”
###
Area Residents Witness History: ‘It’s a New Beginning’
NORWALK
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 20, 2009
WASHINGTON- Graziano Bortot remembers the first time he witnessed racism in this country. Originally from Italy, he said he did not understand the first time he saw a “whites only” sign in South Carolina while stationed there with the military.
“I was struck to see places that said whites only,” Bortot said. “I didn’t know why they had to be separated. I had a lot of African American friends in the service.”
After attending the inauguration of President Barack Obama on Tuesday, Bortot said Americans are entering a different era.
“We have really moved on,” he said . “I feel proud of him.”
Bortot, 65, from Stamford, is one of dozens of local residents who traveled through the wee hours of Tuesday morning, braved the frigid temperatures and faced the enormous crowds to witness this historic moment. Three buses organized by the state Democratic Party left Hartford at midnight, picking up passengers in various area cities as they drove south.
Though several people who made the trip with Bortot were unable to get close enough to the Capitol to see anything, they said they loved just being involved in such a momentous event.
Lynelle Schneeberg, a doctor from Fairfield, watched the inauguration on a jumbo screen near the Washington Monument. Though she had occasionally to walk around to keep warm, she said she enjoyed the atmosphere because she met so many excited people from all over the country.
“Everyone was so joyful and wanted to connect and know everyone else’s stories,” she said.
After witnessing Obama’s speech, which touched on topics of identity, hope and foreign relations, Schneeberg echoed Bortot’s view that the country is turning a new page.
“It’s a new beginning,” she said. “It’s the real millennium for me. People have a sense that they are part of it.”
For Suzanne Francis, 37, from Fairfield, the most memorable part of the inauguration ceremony was when Obama spoke about moving on from our current economic problems. She said that as a mother of three and a working professional, she found his confidence very inspiring.
“I’m a small-business owner, and I was a little concerned,” she said. “I really feel I’m going to be OK, and he’s given me that sense.”
With such a large crowd, Francis was forced to watch the inauguration from near the Lincoln Memorial, nearly two miles from the Capitol. Before the swearing-in ceremony, she filled her day spending time at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and several Smithsonian museums and celebrating with friends and strangers alike in a nearby pub.
She said Obama’s ability to unite different people is one of the things she admires about him.
“I was surrounded by so many people from all around world, and I felt one with them,” said Francis.
For Bortot, the economy takes precedence. He said he wanted to see results within Obama’s first month.
“Now the party is over and he has to get down to business,” he said.
###
A Long Road to Pennsylvania Avenue for Trumbull’s Band
Photos by Caroline Bridges
TRUMBULL
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 19, 2009
WASHINGTON—For Dan Connolly, drum major of the Trumbull High School marching band, the hardest part about preparing for the inaugural parade was staying focused through all of the attention.
During a recent practice, he accidentally smacked a local television cameraman while conducting, but he never stopped. With less than two months to prepare for today’s parade, the band needed every minute of practice it could get.
“It’s alright,” Connolly said. “We just had to deal with it.”
Following the swearing-in ceremony of President Barack Obama, the band will march down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol until it reaches the White House and passes by the presidential reviewing stand. Trumbull, which will perform three songs, is one of the dozens of bands that will participate in the parade.
The band members spent Monday touring the city and meeting with Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, who told them they would be living history.
Nonetheless, the road to Jan. 20 has not been easy.
The band learned in early December it would participate in the parade, giving it about seven weeks to book a hotel, raise money for the trip and perfect the music. According to band director Peter Horton, the band practiced five days a week during school hours and two to three nights each week. He said the band is confident and excited.
“It’s amazing,” Horton said. “For the hard work of all the kids over the years, it’s a reward.”
Nonetheless, Horton said, despite all the preparations, his largest concern is the weather.
After participating in the 2001 inaugural parade, the band knows what an unpredictable effect the weather can have. Eight years ago, the band had to march through rain and sleet in near-freezing temperatures after spending hours waiting around. Horton said the way the students persevered through those conditions instilled confidence in him that the band can adapt to almost anything.
“We played right through,” he said. “They are able to turn the switch on and off.”
The band has played in several high-profile parades before. Since 1996 Trumbull has performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, the Hollywood Santa Parade, the Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans and the Citrus Bowl Festival in Orlando, Fla.. Yet, Horton said, the inaugural parade trumps all of that.
“For many this is a new beginning,” he said. “For them [the students] to be part of it makes it much more personal.”
Timothy Enos, a junior, said he was excited that so many people were traveling from Connecticut to watch the parade and participate in the inaugural events. The band traveled with dozens of parents and chaperones. Dodd and Himes also promised to watch the parade with their own families.
“It feels like we are representing the people,” Enos said.
The band will step off at approximately 2 p.m.
###
Area Residents Join Congressmen in Service
DODD
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 19, 2009
WASHINGTON- Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., called on citizens to give back to their country Monday and encouraged people of all ages to volunteer.
Dodd joined area residents and politicians at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium east of Capitol Hill to stuff care packages with toothpaste, gum, energy drinks and other treats for troops overseas. The event was held to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Dodd said that so many Connecticut residents were willing to come and participate in the festivities shows just how optimistic people are.
“People want a renewed sense of hope,” said Dodd. “You want to feel that sense of optimism. I think you want to be around when it happens and you want to carry it back.”
David Burstein, a Weston resident who works with a local non-profit, was one of the 12,000 people who turned out at the stadium. The workers formed long assembly lines inside heated tents, writing letters and picking out the best goodies for the soldiers.
“Our county is built on the work of volunteers,” said Burstein. “Without them our country wouldn’t work.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama also participated in the event.
###
Connecticut Obama Campaigners Celebrate in Washington
PARTY
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 19, 2009
WASHINGTON – For Lex Paulson, a volunteer in Norwalk for Barack Obama, the worst day of the campaign was before the primary when Obama trailed Hillary Clinton by 20 percentage points in the polls. After working with the failed Howard Dean campaign four years earlier, Paulson worried he would see his hopes for a Democratic president dashed again.
“I wasn’t going to fight any less, but I was thinking I had seen this movie before,” said Paulson.
Now Paulson is one of hundreds of campaigners from around Connecticut who is celebrating Obama’s victory in Washington. Several gathered in Georgetown on Sunday to toast their hard work and a brighter future. Jennifer Just, an Obama campaigner from Woodbridge, said she was elated that everyone’s hard work had paid off.
“To work this hard with such an amazing result is incredible,” Just said. “I am over the moon.”
Just, 50, hosted the chic party, which included local Obama volunteers, family and friends. Many had spent more than five hours Sunday traveling from Connecticut to see Tuesday’s swearing in ceremony. Paulson said that so many people from Connecticut are participating in the inauguration festivities shows how inspired the state is.
“It says we have a 400-year tradition of community organization,” said Paulson. “Buried beneath the surface, there is a revolutionary spirit.”
David Mooney, 32, a software engineer from Stratford, and Mike Brown, 57, a management consultant from Milford, also attended the bash. Both volunteered with the Obama campaign last year, working in area phone banks. Mooney said the sheer number of people descending on the capital this weekend shows the potential for the Obama administration. The inaugural committee has predicted more than 1 million visitors for the swearing in ceremony.
“The president that doesn’t have the support of the people can’t do his job,” said Mooney. “His popularity shows his potential to be effective.”
Several supporters said they would be working Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. day of service projects, attending inaugural balls and participating in other festivities. However, Just said much of the work for Obama and others is not done.
“He has to deal with the economy,” Just said. “I think he needs to tackle healthcare. He has to take everything on all at once and I would like to see him start on day one.”
###
Area Mayors Say Infrastructure Projects “Ready to Go”
MAYORS
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
1/17/09
WASHINGTON – Area mayors, in town for the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, named improving the local infrastructure a top priority in the coming months, calling for a collaborative effort to increase jobs in Fairfield County and pass President-elect Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.
The conference announced more than $150 billion in “Ready to Go” projects across the nation that if funded could start this year and create 1.5 million jobs in 2009 and 2010. Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, a conference trustee, said the money needs to be spent to reinvent America.
“We want merchants and citizens to know that mayors are arguing their case,” said Malloy. “That relief needs to be delivered to Main Street and we will be their advocate.”
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and Fairfield Selectman Kenneth Flatto also are attending the meeting, which has focused on the economy, jobs and infrastructure.
Of the $150 billion in potential projects named in the conference report, more than $180 million could be spent in Norwalk, including $45 million towards a wastewater treatment plant upgrade, $43 million to renovate the urban core to include sidewalks and lighting and $7 million to repair and modernize schools.
Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia did not attend the conference and was not immediately available for comment.
According to Malloy, these projects are especially important for Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport residents because much of the infrastructure is so old.
“Rather than plasma TVs we’re going to buy infrastructure that will allow our country to be competitive,” said Malloy. “We spend less on infrastructure than any other industrial nation in the world. We’re way behind.”
The report also predicted the Northeast will be one of the hardest hit areas in the country in 2009. It forecasted almost 7,000 people will lose their jobs this year in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk corridor and unemployment in the area will rise to more than 7 percent.
Rahm Emanuel, who will be Obama’s chief of staff, spoke at the conference and called on the mayors to support Obama’s plan, saying smaller cities such as Stamford and Norwalk are just as important in turning around the economy as larger ones.
“We’re not distinguishing big cities versus small,” Emanuel said. “We’re making sure that our investments in healthcare, energy independence and 21-century education are our standards.”
Finch said it is important that cities lead the way in creating jobs. According to the report more than 85 percent of the country’s population lives in urban areas and cities produce 90 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
“Whether you are a large city or small city, the economy doesn’t know where town boundaries are,” said Finch.
####
