Issa: Beware of Toyota Driver "Ghost Reports"
AP
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said a California man's claim that his Toyota Prius sped out of control despite frantic attempts to slow the car could be false.
On the heels of a leaked government memo tied to the ongoing probe into the March 8 incident outside San Diego, Issa, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told CBS' "The Early Show" Monday that NHTSA and Toyota investigators have "figured out very little."
The 2008 Prius James Sikes, seen at left, drove last week allegedly hit 94 miles per hour as it roared along Interstate 8 near San Diego. Sikes said his gas pedal was stuck and that even standing on the brake wouldn't slow the car down, adding that he could smell his brakes burning. A patrol car caught up to him and the officer instructed him to pull the emergency brake and put the car in neutral, which slowed the vehicle to a stop.
Listen to an excerpt of the 911 call
You get a lot of "ghost reports," Issa said, when you have a widespread recall of automobiles.
It "doesn't mean it didn't happen," Issa said. "It doesn't mean it did happen," adding that some drivers do not always know how their car is supposed to operate.
Continue »Report: Toyota Repairs No Fix for Problems
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
So far, at least seven complaints in the last two weeks have been filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, saying the repairs to pedals and floor mats have not stopped their cars from surging unexpectedly, the paper reports.
NHTSA has not confirmed the allegations.
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Vancouver Named World's Most Livable City
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The survey, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, marks the second consecutive year Vancouver, the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, has topped the list.
According to the Economist, each city is scored on a scale of 0-100 on 30 factors in five areas: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
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BoA Approves $4B in Compensation
(AP Photo)
The money is equal to about 19 percent of the $23 billion in revenue created by BoA's investment banking activities and is close to the company's 2006 compensation packages, the source told the Journal ($).
"We tried in determining year end compensation to balance the need to pay competitively with the need to recognize the general concerns about the level of compensation on Wall Street," a BoA spokesman said.
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U.S. Banks Brace for Bonus Backlash
(iStockphoto)
Despite the recession, financial firms had a blockbuster year. For some chief executives and top producers, they could be getting bonuses with six, seven or even eight figures, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.
Service Employees International Union head Andy Stern tells the Financial Times of the bonuses: "They (banks) backed the truck up to Fort Knox in broad daylight. They emptied it out, we rescued them and they get $150 billion in bonuses."
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Spitzer: The Banking System is Broken
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
On the cusp of bonus season on Wall Street, Spitzer blasted U.S. banks for their imminent multimillion dollar executive compensation packages, telling CBS' "The Early Show" Monday their profits were built solely on taxpayer-funded bailouts. "They (banks) believe they are entitled to these crazy sums of money," Spitzer said. "It is inequitable, it is wrong."
Despite the recession, financial firms had a blockbuster year. For some chief executives and top producers, they could be getting bonuses with six, seven or even eight figures, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.
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Report: $30B in Bonuses Doled on Wall St.
(AP)
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, which have all exited the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, are set to dole out $29.7 billion in bonus money.
According to Bloomberg, "The money, split among 119,000 employees, equals $250,400 each, almost five times the $50,303 median household income in the U.S. last year."
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Economist: High Unemployment to Last
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Zandi told CBS' "The Early Show" Monday that the nation's near 10 percent unemployment rate will "stay there through this time next year."
However, the economist said, "we're heading in the right direction."
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Gambling Revenue Down Across U.S.
(AP Photo/Cie Stroud)
In yet another sign of the recession's toll on the U.S. economy, eight of the 12 states that allow commercial gambling, including Nevada, experienced declines in revenue, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In 2008, states' take from casinos was down 2.2 percent to $5.7 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, and casinos as a whole earned roughly $33 billion, down 5 percent from the previous year's total.
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Swiss Banks To Yanks: Get Lost
(AP Photo/Walter Bieri, Keystone)
UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG have given Americans a choice: move your money to special accounts they have created in the U.S. or lose the account, Bloomberg reports.
"American citizens are starting to feel like they're Typhoid Mary," Charles C. Adams, managing partner at the law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP in Geneva, told Bloomberg. "The Swiss simply don't want American customers because it requires so much infrastructure and hassle that they don't make any money."
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Job Cuts Here To Stay, Survey Says
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A recent survey suggests that 52 percent of companies that cut jobs plan to employ fewer people in the next three-to-five years than they did prior to the recession's start, the Journal reports.
The news for salaries is only slightly better with 55 percent of companies asked saying they would restore pay to pre-recession levels.
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Bailout Blues Don't Stop Exec Jet-Setting
(CBS/iStockphoto)
The Wall Street Journal reports that top officials at some banks on the government dole retained their personal use of corporate jets, with records showing destinations that are near vacation homes and luxury resorts.
The news comes as the Obama administration sets out to limit the excessive perks and payouts that helped Wall Street lose its grip and send the U.S. economy into a spiral.
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Madoff Sits Down With SEC, Sources Say
(AP Photo/Louis Lanzano)
Madoff reportedly met with SEC Inspector General David Kotz, but when asked about the meeting, would only tell CNN, "We've been making substantial progress in the investigation and plan to issue a comprehensive report very shortly."
The 70-year-old Madoff faces up to 150 years in prison on 11 counts that include fraud, money laundering and perjury. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 29.
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Credit Issuers Play Let's Make A Deal
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As The New York Times reports, some companies are working with their delinquent customers to eliminate balances. The companies have revised guidelines, the Times reports, and in some cases are calling up customers before they call the companies.
"Now it's the card company calling you and saying, 'Let's talk turkey,'" David Robertson, publisher of the credit industry journal The Nilson Report, told the Times.
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Eli Lilly Exaggerated Reviews, Suit Claims
(CBS)
Lawsuits brought by insurers and pension funds seeking to get back money spent on the drug Zyprexa, which they claim Eli Lilly overpriced and exaggerated its effectiveness, revealed internal memos within the company that it practiced "ghostwriting."
Additionally, Bloomberg reports the pharmaceutical giant set guidelines on hiring researches who would write glowing reviews of its products.
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