Courtesy of Larry Doyle.
Not a day goes by in which the citizens of our nation are not forced to continue to wade through a financial-political-regulatory cesspool of real cronyism and corruption.
The stench from this menage-a-trois is overpowering. Transparency is the only real disinfectant.
Who provides that transparency? Whistleblowers.
We owe immeasurable thanks to our fellow brethren who have taken immeasurable personal and professional risks to expose real waste, fraud, and abuse emanating from that cesspool. In honor of these true patriots a resolution was passed earlier this week designating July 30, 2014 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.
Let’s navigate.
Designating July 30, 2014, as “National Whistleblower Appreciation Day”.
Whereas, in 1777, before the passage of the Bill of Rights, 10 sailors and marines blew the whistle on fraud and misconduct harmful to the United States;
Whereas the Founding Fathers unanimously supported the whistleblowers in words and deeds, including by releasing government records and providing monetary assistance for reasonable legal expenses necessary to prevent retaliation against the whistleblowers;
Whereas, on July 30, 1778, in demonstration of their full support for whistleblowers, the members of the Continental Congress unanimously enacted the first whistleblower legislation in the United States that read: “Resolved, That it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof, to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge” (legislation of July 30, 1778, reprinted in Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (Washington, D.C., 1904-37), 11:732);
Whereas whistleblowers risk their careers, jobs, and reputations by reporting waste, fraud, and abuse to the proper authorities;
Whereas, when providing proper authorities with lawful disclosures, whistleblowers save taxpayers in the United States billions of dollars each year and serve the public interest by ensuring that the United States remains an ethical and safe place; and
Whereas it is the public policy of the United States to encourage, in accordance with Federal law (including the Constitution, rules, and regulations) and consistent with the protection of classified information (including sources and methods of detection of classified information), honest and good faith reporting of misconduct, fraud, misdemeanors, and other crimes to the appropriate authority at the earliest time possible.
Clearly our forefathers got it. That is not to say that there was not likely very real corruption back in the day. Of course there was but they knew that it needed to be rooted out.
Who in the “go along to get along” crowd on Capitol Hill is willing to display a modicum of courage and really embrace the efforts of whistleblowers as opposed to feeding at the trough that propagates and perpetuates a system of legal and illegal corruption? I commend Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) for standing up, speaking out, and sponsoring this resolution.
The Washington Post this morning brings attention to this resolution and pronounces Mark Felt (“Deep Throat), Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, and Linda Tripp as 5 of the Most Famous Federal Whistleblowers.
Many deeply embedded in the cesspool and occupying positions that go right to the top of our government might ‘talk the talk’ about whistleblower protections but they certainly do not ‘walk the walk.’
Yes indeed, money and power corrupts.
I welcome adding the following great Americans who have exposed real corruption within the aforementioned financial-political-regulatory cesspool as the Sense on Cents Top 5 Whistleblowers (more extensive details on each of these individuals is highlighted in my book, In Bed with Wall Street):
5. Peter Scannell: exposed market timing trading ongoing at Putnam Investments. Apprised the SEC’s Boston office which sat on this and then only moved when Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin informed them that he was going to do exactly that.
4. Peter Sivere: this JP Morgan compliance executive was “ratted out” by SEC attorney George Demos when he brought information of market timing activity ongoing at JPM to the SEC’s attention.
3. Harry Markopolos: well known as having brought attention over a ten year time frame of the ongoing scam perpetrated by Bernie Madoff to the SEC’s attention. During a Congressional hearing on February 4, 2009, Markopolos painted Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization FINRA as deserving of an A+ in corruption.
2. David Weber: this former assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the SEC was fired after having brought attention to a raft of issues and corruption ongoing within the commission. Earned real vindication when he won his suit that he brought against the SEC.
1. Gary Aguirre: in my opinion, Aguirre is the one individual who could have been our modern day Ferdinand Pecora and brought real justice to the corruption flourishing at the intersection of Wall Street and Washington. This former SEC attorney was fired by the commission in the midst of working on an insider trading case that he continued to pursue — and ultimately made — as a private citizen. An absolutely incredible story that every individual in our nation should know.
Make no mistake, despite all assertions to the contrary, the abuse of whistleblowers persists within the cesspool.
Along with commending the heroic patriotism of these top 5, I also want to bring attention to the work of the Project on Government Oversight and Government Accountability Project in promoting and protecting the efforts of patriotic whistleblowers.
Let us never forget that just as Irish philosopher Edmund Burke stated, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Navigate accordingly.
