In October 2010, George H. Painter, one of the two Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) administrative law judges, retired, and in the process requested that his cases not be assigned to the other judge, Bruce C. Levine.[16] Painter wrote, On Judge Levines first week on the job, nearly twenty years ago, he came into my office and stated that he had promised Wendy Gramm, then Chairwoman of the Commission, that we would never rule in a complainants favor, Painter wrote.[16] A review of his rulings will confirm that he fulfilled his vow. In further explaining his request, he wrote, Judge Levine, in the cynical guise of enforcing the rules, forces pro se complainants to run a hostile procedural gauntlet until they lose hope, and either withdraw their complaint or settle for a pittance, regardless of the merits of the case.[16] Gramm, wife of former Senator Phil Gramm, was accused of helping Goldman Sachs, Enron and other large firms gain influence over the commodity markets. After leaving the CFTC, Wendy Gramm joined the board of Enron.[16] The fact that we put more people in prison than any other country on Earth is more impressive when you remember we do it without ever coming after people like these.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 03:02:58 +0000