Author: Joshua De Leon

The first amendment has always been a hotbed for controversy, especially in recent times.  The six Espionage Act indictments during the Obama Administration are a testimony of such controversy.  Free speech is tremendously gracious right and a beautiful cornerstone of America and it is being exploited by corporations. The New Republic published a piece called “The Right to Evade: How Corporations Hijacked the First Amendment,” by Columbia law professor Tim Wu.  The article focuses on the exploitation and manipulation of free speech by major corporations to solely benefit their greed.  One key instance is that of information mining company...

In what the U.S. Department of Justice is calling the “largest international money-laundering prosecution in history,” Liberty Reserve was allegedly laundered over $6 billion in “criminal cash,” reports the BBC. After an investigation that spanned 17 countries, Liberty Reserve was indicted for allegedly laundering money for heinous criminal enterprises like identity theft, investment fraud, child pornography, and drug trafficking, among many others.  According to a U.S. DOJ press release, Liberty Reserve had over 200,000 user in America, over one million globally, and made about 55 million transactions. “The only liberty that Liberty Reserve gave many of its users was...

Minnesota Republican pleb Michele Bachmann announced that her current term in the House of Representatives shall be her last.  Since her election to the House in 2007, Bachmann has spewed one ridiculous idea and action after another.  In regards to her decision and its coverage by the media, Bachmann has been quoted as saying “I fully anticipate the . . . liberal media to put a detrimental spin on my decision not to seek a fifth term.”  Now, with that said, let’s look at some of the biggest blunders of Bachmann’s career. 5.  In 2008, Bachmann cried for a...

The Wall Street banks have been pumping millions into lobbying Congress for more financial free rein.  Now, along with contributing to members of the House Financial Services Committee, the banks are extending their reach by having their lobbyists help draft financial legislation. Ever since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was approved by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010, the banks have been taking every avenue possible in attempts to smother Dodd-Frank with the proverbial pillow.  They have upped the ante by sending more lobbyists to Congress to change finance reform and have been...

In a recent article on Forbes entitled The Supreme Court Must Stop The Trial Lawyers’ War on Innovation, Theodore H. Frank argues that trial attorneys are stifling company innovation.  Frank misses the mark in his corporately-funded argument in that these litigations are actually, and should be, fueling innovation, rather than stifling it. There is a case soon to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court called Sears v. Butler.  The case concerns product defects in Whirlpool front-loading washing machines which have been found to produce mold in certain instances. Frank uses the case to bolster his feeble argument and...