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The jury of former Democratic presidential nominee John Edwards' case has been getting a lot of media coverage recently as they spent over 50 hours deliberating six counts based on allegations of illegal campaign contributions, falsified documents, conspiring to receive and conceal contributions, CNN reported. The coverage of this case has caught the attention of many media sources, and many probably wouldn’t want to be in Mr. Edwards' position simply because of the media coverage of his suspected misconduct. However, not all media coverage has to be negative coverage. In the recent blog post “Don't Be Scared of the Media,” The Business Finance Store discusses how small businesses can take a much more active role in their media management strategy.
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'We're stable': Cash-strapped Spain's finance minister says nation is back on track despite claims it asked IMF for massive €300BILLION bailout - Daily Mail
- World finance bosses deny rumours of staggering bailout plan
- But sources say contingency preparations are well under way
- Loans would be from IMF and EU, leaving British taxpayers footing part
- European markets rocky: FTSE-100 plunges to year-long low
- FTSE-100 is 0.87% down; CAC 40 is 1.47% down; DAX is 2.58% down
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Spain's finance minister today said his nation was fiscally stable and on the right track - despite claims it has asked the International Monetary Fund for a massive €300billion bailout.
Cristobal Montoro said that Spain's 17 semi-autonomous regions were meeting strict deficit reduction targets, meaning his government's plan was adhering to EU rules and working.
But his comments were surprising, seeing as sources said Spain wanted the staggering amount of cash to help prop up its ailing economy.
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Talks: IMF boss Christine Lagarde (left) has denied rumours that Spain wants a €300billion bailout, as the nation's finance minister Cristobal Montoro (right) said the country was 'stable'
Working lunch: German chancellor Angela Merkel sits with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso Baltic Sea States leaders earlier this week
The speculation, which has so far been denied by IMF, intensified as Spain's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria flew into Washington for talks with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
But all parties insisted the visit was 'routine' and mainly concerned with discussing how Spain can finance an overhaul of its banking sector.
The loans, which would come from both the EU and the IMF, would end up costing British taxpayers who would have to foot part of the bill.
World markets are currently rocky due to the fears, with the FTSE-100 plunging to a year-long low.
The FTSE-100 is 0.87 per cent down at 5,274.51; France's CAC 40 is 1.47 per cent down at 2,972.55; and Germany's DAX is 2.58 per cent down at 6,102.50.
Spain's banking system has been crippled by nearly €120billion of toxic loans to homeowners and developers. One in four Spaniards are now out of work.
Saenz de Santamaria said that it was 'just a coincidence' that she was coming to Washington in the midst of the banking crisis because her meetings were scheduled months ago.
Desperate: European leaders scrambled to stop the financial crisis in Spain spiralling out of control and infecting other countries such as Italy
But if it is a coincidence, then it is also extremely convenient, seeing as the Spanish economy is this week going through a particularly thorny period.
The government nationalised major bank Bankia earlier this month, and now says it needs to inject $23.6billion in public money into the bank - more than twice what the government had estimated.
And doubts over how recession-hit Spain will handle the bailout have sparked concerns that the country will soon follow Greece, Portugal and Ireland in asking for financial assistance.
The amount it pays on its 10-year government bonds has been rising steadily towards the critical 7 per cent level that saw those three nations begging for financial help.
Today it stands at a worrying 6.57 per cent.
Lagarde called her meeting with Saenz de Santamaria productive. She also denied a Wall Street Journal report that the IMF was drawing up plans for a rescue loan for Spain.
Saenz de Santamaria said that she discussed with Geithner some of the ideas being discussed in Europe about how to set up a fund to recapitalise European banks.
She said: 'The problem is not Spain as a country. But our financial system in a given moment has needs just like the other states had at other times.'
The denial comes as senior European officials last night issued a grave warning that the very survival of the euro is at risk as the crisis in Spain threatens to tear the region apart.
Politicians and central bankers said the situation in the eurozone was unsustainable and drastic action was needed to prevent the ‘disintegration’ of the single currency.
Crisis: Spain's government nationalised major bank Bankia earlier this month, and now says it needs to inject $23.6billion in public money into the bank
'EUROZONE JOBLESS HITS RECORD HIGH AND WILL KEEP ON RISING'
Eurozone unemployment has hit a record high and job losses are likely to keep climbing as the debt crisis eats away at businesses' ability to hire workers while indebted governments continue to cut staff.
Around 17.4million people were out of work in the 17-nation eurozone in April (11 per cent of the working population) - the highest level since records began in 1995, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said today.
'This 11 percent level is going to continue edging up in the coming months and probably until the end of the year,' said Francois Cabau, an economist at Barclays Capital who sees the eurozone's economy contracting 0.1 per cent this year.
'The economic activity situation tells you the story of the labour market. There's been basically no economic growth since the fourth quarter of last year and indicators are pointing to very weak growth momentum for the second quarter,' he said.
ING economist Martin van Vliet said he sees the unemployment rate reaching slightly above 11.5 per cent if the economy starts to recover later this year. But if the downturn worsens, 'the risk is for an even higher peak in unemployment,' he said.
As the debt crisis intensifies, companies in the euro zone are trying to keep their labour costs low as they struggle with falling demand and profits, while a German-led drive to cut deficits and debt is pressuring governments to shrink spending.
But some economists say austerity policies in an economic downturn are self-defeating because governments receive less tax receipts as unemployment grows and must pay out more money in jobless benefits.
They spoke out as European leaders scrambled to stop the financial crisis in Spain spiralling out of control and infecting other countries such as Italy.
The euro crashed to a 23-month low against the US dollar at $1.2335 but was up slightly against sterling having recovered from its lowest level since late 2008. Last night, 1 was worth €1.2460.
Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, said the eurozone was unsustainable in its current form.
In his sharpest criticism yet of eurozone leaders’ handling of the crisis, he said the European Central Bank could not ‘fill the vacuum’ left by governments in terms of economic growth or structural reforms.
And he called for overwhelming force to be used to shore up Europe’s battered banks to restore confidence in the financial system.
Ignazio Visco, governor of the Bank of Italy and a senior ECB member, said political inertia and bad economic decisions have put ‘the entire European edifice’ at risk.
‘There are growing doubts among international investors about governments’ ability to ensure the survival of the single currency,’ he said.
Olli Rehn, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner, said bold action was required ‘if we want to avoid a disintegration of the eurozone’.
The apocalyptic tone from usually measured EU officials betrayed the spreading sense of panic.
Irish voters are likely to approve a European treaty on budget discipline in yesterday’s referendum – securing continued aid.
The result will be announced later today.
But the outcome of a second Greek election on June 17 – seen as crucial for the country’s future in the eurozone – is too close to call.
Edwards Case Shows How Complex Campaign Finance Law Can Be - US News and World Report
Former Sen. John Edwards campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa during his 2008 presidential run.
After a drawn-out trial and nine days of jury deliberations, John Edwards was acquitted on one charge and his case was ruled as a mistrial, but the campaign finance landscape is no clearer than it was before.
The jury found Edwards not guilty on count 3—that he broke campaign finance law in accepting $700,000 from a billionaire supporter in 2008.
[Read: Jurors in John Edwards' Case Reach Verdict]
Neither side denied Edwards took the money and used it to cover up an affair. But U.S. Attorney George Holding indicted Edwards last summer under the belief that doing so was a crime under one interpretation of campaign finance law.
The case turned on deceptively complex question: Were the secret payments made, with Edwards' knowledge, for the purpose of influencing his 2008 presidential campaign? If so, they were illegal campaign contributions. If not, they were personal gifts.
The prosecution argued that Edwards solicited the money to hide his mistress and illegitimate child in order to maintain his public image during the 2008 presidential campaign. The defense depicted Edwards' actions as morally, not legally, wrong. The money was personal, Edwards' lawyers argued, used to hide the affair from his cancer-stricken wife, not keep afloat a 2008 campaign which was effectively over.
Had Edwards been found guilty, the legal definition of a campaign contribution, now defined vaguely as money given with the intent to "influence an election," would have been made more clear. The campaign finance implications of that would have been vast, but it would have taken a stronger case, legal experts say.
"In terms of campaign finance, you have to have that smoking gun," says Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center. "The prosecution was unable clearly to provide clear evidence, beyond the testimony of Mr. Young, that there was willful and knowing illegal activity by Mr. Edwards."
Given the current law and legal precedents, the prosecution's case was novel and the verdict a dodged bullet, says Allison Hayward, vice president of policy at the Center for Competitive Politics.
"Had there been a guilty verdict, especially on count 3, you would've had a lot of confusion among the bar and other prosecutors," Hayward says. "That the court would instruct the jury that the donor's purpose was somehow what made this a camp contribution, not the person being charged, that was a bit scary."
[Read: Justice Dept. Unlikely to Retry Edwards]
Edwards' case was interpreted differently by legal experts on both sides: the judge, the prosecutors, and Edwards' team. But however campaign finance law is interpreted, prosecutors should build a strong case before bringing an indictment, says Rick Hasen, a campaign finance expert and professor at UC-Irvine.
"This was a weak case to begin with," says Hasen. "(The verdict) doesn't have broad implications for campaign finance other than it might make prosecutors worry."
In many campaign finance law prosecutions, those being indicted are motivated by alleged political motivations, Hasen says. In this case, Edwards' indictment was brought by a Bush-appointed attorney general, George Holding, who this month won a GOP primary for a Congressional seat in a district that includes the courthouse where Edwards was tried.
"Whether or not there's any truth to that in this case or others I don't know," Hasen says. "But given the nature of the campaigns, I think prosecutors have a motive to chase the big fish. The incentives for prosecuting a political are very high."
Edwards case made one thing clear for both sides: campaign finance law is complex and prosecuting it is not easy.
Liverpool Manager Brendan Rodgers: Enough Money to Spend - ibtimes.co.uk
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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has, meanwhile, confirmed Werner's claim Rodgers was always first choice and confirmed also he had spoken to the new boss ahead of the appointment.
"I'm excited, I'm really looking forward to working with Brendan. We shared a phone call last night and I'm really looking forward to meeting him in person and getting started. What I can go on record and say is that Brendan was the first choice. I was in the loop all the way through the last few weeks with the Liverpool board and owners - and Brendan Rodgers was the first choice," ESPN quoted Gerrard as saying.
"When he was in the running for the job, I was speaking to the Chelsea boys and some of the players who had worked with him as well. They all spoke highly of him, said he was a good coach and a good guy: very honest and supports his players very well. That's all you ask for as a player," the England captain added.
Rodgers received praise from football pundits and fans across the globe last term for effectively deploying his positive, Barcelona-inspired tiki-taka style of play at Swansea's first season in the English top-flight and managing to finish 11th in the table.
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When are people going to take to the streets and say that enough is enough. What will it take? - Tinkerbelle, Devon, 1/6/2012 15:52 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ha ha.....How Daily Mail.......it's always somebody else who has to do something. It's never you is it?
- Phil, Sussex, 01/6/2012 16:01
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