Dan Rostenkowski Former U.S. Congressman, dies at 82

 

Former U.S. Congressman Dan Rostenkowski speaks to members of the City Club of Chicago during a luncheon, in this April 16, 1998 file photo. Rostenkowski, who as Congress' chief tax-writer was one of most powerful U.S. politicians in the 1980s and early 1990s until brought down by a corruption conviction and a 17-month prison sentence, has died at age 82, according to media reports on August 11, 2010.

Illinois Democrat one of the most powerful politicians in the 80s

Dan Rostenkowski, who as Congress' chief tax-writer was one of most powerful U.S. politicians in the 1980s and early 1990s until brought down by a corruption conviction and a 17-month prison sentence, has died at age 82.

The office of an alderman in Rostenkowski's old congressional district in Chicago on Wednesday confirmed his death.

As chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee for 13 years starting in 1981, the Illinois Democrat had a hand in some of the most important legislation of that period.

But a federal grand jury indicted him on felony corruption charges in 1994, and he eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

Just last March, another Democrat who led the Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel, was forced to step down as chairman in the face of ethics charges.

Even as federal prosecutors closed in on him, Rostenkowski worked to get then-President Bill Clinton's healthcare plan though his committee, a mark of the political skills he learned as the son of a Chicago alderman.

Born on January 2, 1928 in Chicago, Rostenkowski attended Loyola University. He then entered the famed political machine of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, and at 24 became the Illinois House's youngest member.

In 1958 he was elected to the House, where he became known as Daley's man in Congress. After Daley died in 1976, Rostenkowski gained a reputation for his ability to make deals, twist arms, call in debts and get things done.

He took over a badly fractured Ways and Means Committee, and after suffering defeats by newly elected Republican President Ronald Reagan, worked to rebuild its authority.

Rostenkowski derived some of his power by hand-picking loyal members secure enough in their own districts to cast votes that were sometimes unpopular back home.

The results included the landmark 1990 and 1993 deficit reduction plans and a 1986 tax reform bill.

But then federal investigators spent two years interviewing witnesses to build a case against the legend in Congress known as "Rosty." Among the charges against him were trading in stamps purchased for official business in return for money, keeping "ghost" employees on his payroll and buying gifts like expensive chairs for friends with House funds.

Rostenkowski remained respected and even feared throughout a two-year investigation. In his home district of Chicago, he proved his popularity by being easily renominated.

But after the indictments, he was defeated in 1994 by Republican Michael Flanagan. Flanagan in turn lost his seat in 1996 to Democrat Rod Blagojevich, who is currently awaiting a verdict in a corruption trial relating to his tenure as governor of Illinois.

In 1994 Republicans used Rostenkowski as the symbol for a House controlled by Democrats for a half century. Republicans took control of Congress that fall.

After his release from prison, Rostenkowski became a political consultant and commentator. Clinton pardoned him in 2000.

Source

Nissan, Hyundai Extend Gains as U.S. Auto Sales Cool in July

Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. led U.S. gains in July among major automakers as sales for most large competitors in the market cooled amid consumer concerns that the economy may weaken.

Nissan, Japan’s third-largest automaker, said sales rose 15 percent and Seoul-based Hyundai reported a 19 percent increase. Deliveries fell 3.2 percent at Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, and 2 percent at Honda Motor Co.

“It’s companies that really focus on retail sales that are coming through this year,” said James Bell, industry analyst for Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. “We see that with Ford, and certainly with Nissan and Hyundai. Interest in all Hyundai vehicles has been buoyed by the introduction of Tucson and Sonata. Nissan’s core products have all been shined up in the past year, and retail buyers are noticing.”

Nissan and Hyundai managed increases as many potential customers shunned showrooms amid signs that the economic recovery is slowing. A U.S. jobless rate that remains at a 27-year high helped push the New York-based Conference Board’s measure of consumer sentiment to the lowest in five months.

Industrywide sales grew 5.2 percent, faster than the 4.2 percent increase for carmakers based in Japan and South Korea, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 6.4 percent for General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker; 3.3 percent for Ford Motor Co.; and 8.9 percent for Chrysler Group LLC.

The percentages aren’t adjusted for one more sales day last month than in July 2009. Some automaker report adjusted figures.

“July had the opportunity to be such a great month. It started out strong, but definitely didn’t finish strong,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, an automotive research website in Santa Monica, California.

U.S. market share for Asian companies fell to 48.2 percent in July, from 48.7 percent a year earlier. The U.S.-based companies’ share rose 0.1 percentage point to 43.7 percent.

Toyota

Toyota, the largest Asia-based automaker, sold 169,224 Toyota, Lexus and Scion models last month, down from 174,872 a year earlier. Bob Carter, head of Toyota-brand sales in the U.S., said the results were “very good” given the effect of the so-called cash-for-clunkers government incentives that began in the year-earlier month.

“Last July was a particularly good month for us,” as a result of the federal program, Carter said in a conference call yesterday. Toyota led the industry in July in retail sales, or deliveries to non-fleet customers, he said.

July showed a return to normal trade-in conditions for the first time this year, with more customers swapping vehicles from rival brands than repeat Toyota buyers, Carter said.

“Our trade-ins appear to be 43 percent Toyota, 57 percent competitive makes, which is where we were historically,” he said.

Lexus Repair

Deliveries for Lexus were held back by a sales suspension of the HS hybrid sedan that lasted most of the month, said Mark Templin, head of the luxury brand in the U.S. The Toyota City, Japan-based company fixed a fuel-system problem that triggered the sales freeze on June 25, and Lexus dealers began repairing vehicles late last week, he said.

Toyota’s U.S. market share in July fell to 16.1 percent, from 17.5 percent a year earlier, according to research firm Autodata Corp., based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Honda, Nissan

Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, sold 112,437 Honda and Acura vehicles, a drop from 114,690. The decline was led by its top-selling Accord and Civic cars and Fit hatchbacks, Tokyo- based Honda said in a statement.

Like Toyota, Honda cited the year-earlier effect of the cash-for-clunkers program. Honda’s market share declined 0.8 percentage point to 10.7 percent, according to Autodata.

Nissan, growing at its fastest pace in the U.S. since 2004, reported sales of 82,337 Nissan and Infiniti models last month, an increase from 71,847 a year earlier. Light trucks led the growth, surging 52 percent. Car sales, dominated by the Altima sedan, fell 0.1 percent.

“It seems the news has turned more negative on the economy, but our floor traffic was really good in July,” Al Castignetti, vice president of the Yokohama, Japan-based company’s U.S. sales unit, said in an interview. “The people who were coming in to our dealerships were buyers.”

Nissan’s market share rose to 7.8 percent, from 7.2 percent in July 2009. Its U.S. sales have gained 25 percent this year.

Hyundai, South Korea’s largest automaker, sold 54,106 vehicles in July, a record for the month. Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai’s affiliate, said its sales rose 21 percent to 35,419.

U.S. business group accuses Obama of shorting Taiwan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a prominent U.S. business group accused President Barack Obama of compromising Taiwan's security to promote U.S. ties with China.

Barack Obama | China

Self-ruled Taiwan, which China deems a wayward province, is watching "with increased exasperation," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council.

The council's board chairman is Paul Wolfowitz, a former World Bank president and former U.S. deputy secretary of defense. The group long has advocated arms sales to Taipei, including meeting its wish to buy 66 advanced Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighter jets to update its F-16 fleet.

The council represents scores of companies doing business with Taiwan, including Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier by sales; Boeing Co; and Raytheon Co. China strongly opposes all U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Hammond-Chambers said the U.S. departments of state and defense, as well as the U.S. Trade Representative, appeared interested in building closer U.S. ties to Taipei despite resulting complications in the U.S.-China relationship.

"Regrettably, this effort runs smack into a White House that clearly views Taiwan as a barrier to U.S. interests in Asia," he wrote in an annual year-end report dated Thursday and distributed Friday.

Taiwan has improved its ties with China since the election of President Ma Ying-jeou, of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, or KMT, who took office in May 2008.

Obama, much like his predecessor, George W. Bush, has slowed the submission of proposed Taiwan arms sales to Congress, both for what analysts say is fear of disrupting China-Taiwan rapprochement and to avoid angering Beijing.

Hammond-Chambers said the council would press in 2010 to end such "packaging" of arms sales, a practice begun by Bush in 2007 in "a vain attempt to reduce Chinese ire" over what it regards as interference in its domestic affairs.

The alternative is to send arms sales notifications one by one to Congress, which has the power by law to block them. The United States is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan "defense articles and services" needed for its self-defense.

The stacking of notifications is "significantly weakening Taiwan force modernization," Hammond-Chambers wrote.

"If the Obama administration balks at providing replacement F-16 fighters to Taiwan, China will have won a major victory in the Taiwan Strait without firing a shot," the council president said. The updating of Taiwan's F-16 fleet was a "material response" to Beijing's own fighter modernization, he added.

The White House declined to comment on the criticism, which echoed the group's unhappiness with Bush's delay in meeting Taiwan's arm requests. Washington has placed more importance in recent years on working with China, a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member, including on such matters as North Korea, Iran and global warming.

Vance Chang, a spokesman for the de facto Taiwan embassy in Washington, had no immediate comment.

Hammond-Chambers said several other arms deals in the works -- including UH-60 Black Hawk tactical transport helicopters built by United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft unit and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile batteries and missiles built by Lockheed and Raytheon -- have been ready for notification to Congress for more than a year.

The business council had expected those sales would move forward after trips Obama made to China in November and a climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, he said.

"But it now appears as if that timetable is slipping," Hammond-Chambers wrote.

"The Chinese government can view these extended periods of delay, angst and commensurate half-decisions and non-decisions as important improvements in their position on this issue," he said.

Hammond-Chambers, in a follow-up e-mail to Reuters, said the council sees the sale of updated F-16s as a top priority in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship in 2010 "and will work with the Obama Administration to achieve this goal."

via