Business Comes Through For Reform Drive

Take a deep breath,Can you smell the corporate mackerel. In fact take a look.


Regional Leadership Council

2009 Regional Leadership Council Board Members



Bruce Alexander, Vice President & Director, New Haven & State Affairs, Yale University
David Benfer, President, Hospital of Saint Raphael
Larry Bingaman, CEO, South Central CT Regional Water Authority
David Blitz, Senior Vice President, TD Banknorth
R. Kelley Bonn, Senior Vice President, Bank of America
Marna Borgstrom, President & CEO, Yale New Haven Hospital
Ramona Carlow, President- Connecticut, AT&T
Edward Condra, Publisher, New Haven Register
Craig Edmondson, Executive Director, Area Cooperative Ed Services
Richard Evans, VP Senior Client Manager, Bank of America - Bank of Opportunity
Scott Flora, President, Covidien
David Fusco, President, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
William W. Ginsberg, President & CEO, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Jon Hitchcock, General Manager, News Channel 8
Roger F. Joyce, Vice President, Bilco Company
Donald Kehoe, Supreme Secretary, Knights of Columbus
Dorsey Kendrick, President, Gateway Community College
Jeff Klaus, Regional President, Webster Bank
Lisa Maass, Senior Vice President, Citzens Bank of ConneCTicut
Margaret Mason, Partner, Tyler Cooper & Alcorn
Patricia McDermott, Senior Vice President, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth
Fred McKinney, President, Ct. Minority Suppliers Development
Michael Morand, Associate Vice President, Yale University
Michael Neubert, Founding Partner, Neubert Pepe & Monteith
Cheryl Norton, President, Southern Connecticut University
Peyton Patterson, Chairman President & CEO, NewAlliance Bank
Anthony Rescigno, President, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce
Alfred Smith, Partner, Murtha Cullina, LLP
Pete Stein, Regional Growth Partnership
James Torgerson, President, UIL Holdings Corporation
Kevin Walsh, VP of Development, Yale New Haven Hospital
Maureen Weaver, Chairman, Exec Committee, Wiggin and Dana LLP
Donald Weinbach, Vice President of Development, Quinnipiac University
Michele Whelley, CEO, President, Economic Development Corp
Diane Wishnafski, Executive Vice President, NewAlliance Bank
Anne Worcester, Tournament Director, Pilot Pen Tennis/Market New Haven

3/5,

Why does it seem Machiavellian to you that a huge amount of money was raised very quickly and it happened to come from people of means? Isn't large philanthropy expected from large earners?

Robn

Why does it seem Machiavellian to you that a huge amount of money was raised very quickly and it happened to come from people of means? Isn't large philanthropy expected from large earners?

It is machiavellian to me because we have to ask how did they become large earners. Let us start
with Bank of amercian

Law Blog
WSJ on the cases, trends and personalities of interest to the business community.
Everything You Need to Know About the Madoff Sentencing The King of Litigation
June 29, 2009, 8:48 AM ET Report: Freshfields Benefitted From Slave Trade
Article Comments (7) Law Blog HOME PAGE �Email Printer Friendly Permalink Share:
facebook StumbleUpon Digg Twitter Yahoo! Buzz Fark reddit LinkedIn del.icio.us MySpace Text Size
By Ashby Jones
According to a recent report in the Financial Times, �two of the biggest names in the City of London had previously undisclosed links to slavery in the British colonies.� The names: banking scion Nathan Mayer Rothschild and, more notably for our purposes, James William Freshfield, the founder of the firm now known as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer � one of the UK�s top firms. Click here for the story.

In regard to Freshfields, reports the FT, the records show that he and his sons had several slave-owner clients, mostly based in the Caribbean. The lawyers acted as trustees of the owners� estates and in one case tried to claim unpaid legal fees for the firm through the government scheme set up to compensate owners after abolition.

Both Rothschild, the bank, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer were quick to point to their predecessors� anti-slavery credentials. Freshfields said James William Freshfield was an active member of the Church Missionary Society, �which was committed to � the abolition of the slave trade.�

In recent years, several institutions, many here in the U.S., have acknowledged their links to slavery. In some instances, the institutions have apologized. Those mentioned by the FT article: healthcare giant Aetna; insurance company New York Life; and financial-services firms JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia and Bank of America.



Check out good old Anthem Blue cross and blue shield.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXWP2HuxGE&amp;feature=player_embedded#&quot; rel="nofollow"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXWP2HuxGE&amp;feature=player_embedded#&quot; rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXWP2HuxGE&amp;feature=player_embedded#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;

Next UIL Check these corporate vampires out.

BY DREW SMITH
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has asked the Department of Utility Control (DPUC)
to reject locally-based United Illuminating's request for an $81.5 million
rate increase.

The proposed increase would take place over a two-year period and would represent a 4.5 percent rate hike in 2009 and 4.4 percent in 2010.

United Illuminating is also asking for a 4 percent raise for employees, a 10 percent increase in the size of its workforce and a 1 percent increase in its profit margin.

"This rate hike request is customer relations spelled backward -- an overstuffed, outlandish proposal when consumers and our economy can least afford it," the Democratic attorney general said. "It is unnecessary and unconscionable, imposing pain on customers for gain to company profits and executive paychecks. The right response is a rate cut, not a hike. UI must make do with less, just as its customers are doing."

Blumenthal is calling on DPUC to not only reject the increase, but also to cut the company's utility rates by $10.3 million next year, cap all raises at 3 percent and lower its allowable profit margin from 9.75 to 9.5 percent.

"It is difficult to imagine worse timing or more difficult circumstances for the consideration of UI's request for such a massive rate increase. As a result, Connecticut consumers -- who already bear some of the highest electricity rates in the United States -- face very difficult and uncertain times," Blumenthal said.

Earlier this year, Blumenthal was successful in getting DPUC to slash the utility rates of Southern Connecticut Gas by $15.1 million


<a href="http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/in-the-news/2009/february/big-jump-in-blue-cross-premiums-sparks-outrage.html&quot; rel="nofollow"><a href="http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/in-the-news/2009/february/big-jump-in-blue-cross-premiums-sparks-outrage.html&quot; rel="nofollow">http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/in-the-news/2009/february/big-jump-in-blue-cross-premiums-sparks-outrage.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;

Yale we already no the deal on them. I could go on but you can look up the rest of they records. Bottom line all they are doing is giving this money so they will have a tax writeoff at the end of this year. Nothing more than a corporate 3 card monte.

Hear, Hear ROBN. SImply stated, noblesse obligee. If it helps to improve education in New Haven, thank you, and do any of you know of a suitable (small s) superintendent?

3/5,

Regardless of the past and current corporate sins, you've failed to prove any sinister underlying motive of these donors other than a tax write off (which btw, provides no net gain...donations exceed write offs).

robn

Regardless of the past and current corporate sins, you've failed to prove any sinister underlying motive of these donors other than a tax write off (which btw, provides no net gain...donations exceed write offs).

When you stated that current corporate sins,There is the proof that they will not stop from the sins of past. My point is that there are using money that there got from exploitation of the people and than come back to the community as saviors.Case in point,I Remeber how the gangsters
would shake down the people and than on hoildays
give out turkeys,Where do you think these gangsters got the money from. Same as those corporate vampires who are giving money to this program.

3/5,

If you were calling Goldman Sachs the vampire, I'd be sold, but with no proof or even reasonable assertions of an ulterior motive, you're jumping to radically libelous conclusions about people in our community who have been generous enough to donate money for improving our educational system. Cool it man.

robn

If you were calling Goldman Sachs the vampire, I'd be sold, but with no proof or even reasonable assertions of an ulterior motive, you're jumping to radically libelous conclusions about people in our community who have been generous enough to donate money for improving our educational system. Cool it man.
Sounds like you work for one of these corporatist
companies.First I never said anything about people in the community,I was speaking about the track record of some of the corporation that are on this list.Second as far as proof I said to you to look up there track record and see for your self.Let me ask you this walmart gives a lot of money out to the community,But there track record on labor is bad,Should we still take money from them. Again my point is look how these corporation made there money.Last If I am jumping to radically libelous conclusions The NHIP would not have posted my comments.