Ameriprise

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/ameriprise-speaks-with-a-new-voice/
Excerpt:
September 16, 2011, 1:30 pm

Ameriprise Speaks With a New Voice

By STUART ELLIOTT

The actor Tommy Lee Jones appears in a series of new commercials, directed by Errol Morris, for Ameriprise Financial.

Introducing the Story of Ameriprise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMRLZTGoXRk

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/03/us-ameriprise-settlement-idUSTRE72250J20110303
Excerpt:

Ameriprise settles investor suit for $27 million: lawyer

By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK | Thu Mar 3, 2011 11:46am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ameriprise Financial Inc agreed to pay $27 million to settle lawsuits filed by clients of its independent-brokerage unit who bought private placements in companies later revealed to be Ponzi schemes, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said on Thursday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameriprise_Financial

Excerpt:
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) is one of the leading diversified financial services companies in the U.S.^[3] Ameriprise Financial engages in business through its subsidiaries who provide a wide range of financial planning, products and services designed to be utilized as solutions for its clients’ cash and liquidity, asset accumulation, income, protection, and estate and wealth transfer needs, including wealth management, asset management, insurance, annuities and estate planning.
Ameriprise Financial, Inc., the holding company is incorporated in Delaware. The company's headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. James Cracchiolo is the chairman and chief executive officer. The company's primary subsidiaries include Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and RiverSource Life Insurance Company. Threadneedle Asset Management is Ameriprise's international asset manager and an award-winning provider of investment solutions to institutional and retail clients across the globe.

[edit] History

[edit] Spin-off from American Express

Ameriprise Financial is the successor to American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA), a former subsidiary of the American Express Company. In 2005, American Express spun off AEFA as an independent company. Its new name came into effect August 1, 2005, and the transaction closed on September 30, 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Lee_Jones
Excerpt:
 Jones graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas, where he attended on scholarship and is now on the board of directors, and attended Harvard College on a need-based scholarship. He stayed in Mower B-12 as a freshman, across the hall from future Vice President Al Gore, the son of Sen. Albert Gore of Tennessee. As an upperclassman, he was roommates in Dunster House with Gore and Bob Somerby, who later became editor of the media criticism site the Daily Howler.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000169/bio
Excerpt:

Mini Biography

Born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Clyde C. and Lucille Marie (Scott) Jones, Tommy Lee Jones worked in underwater construction and on an oil rig. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas, a prestigious prep school for boys in Dallas, on a scholarship, and went to Harvard on another scholarship.He roomed with future Vice President Al Gore and played offensive guard in the famous 29-29 Harvard-Yale football game of '68 known as "The Tie." He received a B.A. in English literature and graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1969.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/ameriprise-to-sell-securities-america/
Excerpt:

April 25, 2011, 6:12 pmMergers & Acquisitions

Ameriprise to Sell Securities America

By SUSANNE CRAIG

Securities America is on the auction block.
Ameriprise Financial, one of the nation’s largest financial advisory firms, told investors on Monday that it had “decided to identify an appropriate buyer” for the troubled unit. Securities America, along with Ameriprise, recently agreed to pay hundreds of its investors roughly $160 million to settle claims over private placement notes in firms that turned out to be fraudulent.

http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2005/07/the_rove_collec_1.htm
Excerpt:

July 14, 2005

The Rove Collective Mind has absorbed Bob Somerby

-- by Gary Boatwright

As I reported yesterday, Bob Somerby has been absorbed by The Rove Collective. His normally reasonable and analytical mind has completely broken down. In the second part of today's Daily Howler Bob demonstrates the standard inability to See the forest for the trees that typifies the weakness of The Rove Collective Mind.

« Was CIA Agent Executed Because Of Rove's Leak? | Main | He's Still In The White House After This!

Excerpt:

ROVEGATE -- July 10, 2005 --Newsweek magazine is reporting on the contents of a July 11, 2003 email between reporter Matt Cooper and Time Washington bureau chief Michael Duffy that was handed over, along with other email and notes, to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. Although the email shows that Rove talked to Cooper about Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife, there is no mention of how columnist Robert Novak obtained the information on Brewster Jennings & Associates, the carve out brass plate firm that was used by Valerie Plame and her colleagues and which was rolled up as a result of the leak. Rove and his lawyer are trying to limit the spin to Rove "not knowing" Plame's name, let alone that she was a covert CIA agent. Yet Plame's association with a non-official cover (NOC), by default, means that she was covert, pure and simple. Brewster Jennings reportedly "suffered greatly" as a result of the disclosure,

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4443.htm
Excerpt:

Language: A Key Mechanism of Control

Newt Gingrich's 1996 GOPAC memo 

   As you know, one of the key points in the GOPAC tapes is that "language matters." In the video "We are a Majority," Language is listed as a key mechanism of control used by a majority party, along with Agenda, Rules, Attitude and Learning. As the tapes have been used in training sessions across the country and mailed to candidates we have heard a plaintive plea: "I wish I could speak like Newt."

http://www.who2.com/ask/newtgingrich.html
Excerpt:
Always in the news but never exactly beloved by the public at large, Gingrich saw his image further damaged in 1997 when he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. After a disappointing Republican showing in the 1998 election, Gingrich resigned the Speakership and his seat in Congress. He was succeeded as Speaker by Illinois representative Dennis Hastert. Out of office, Newt Gingrich turned consultant, author and political pundit, and has been expert at keeping his name in the headlines despite not holding an elected position. He announced in May of 2011 that he would seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/newt-gingrich-again-scolds-debate-moderator-over-choice-of-question/
Excerpt:

Newt Gingrich Again Scolds Debate Moderator Over Choice Of Question

video

by Tommy Christopher | 8:56 pm, September 7th, 2011

» 252 comments
In a reprise of his dressing-down of Fox News’ Chris Wallace at last month’s Republican Debate, polling blip Newt Gingrich scolded Politico’s John Harris Wednesday night over his choice of questions at the NBC/Politico debate. Asked to weigh in on the “genuine philosphical difference” between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney over the individual health care mandate, Gingrich responded by (I’m not kidding) scolding Harris for “trying to get Republicans to fight with each other.”
Yes, why does the evil media want people at a debate to disagree?

Gingrich seems to be the debate “medic” tonight, rushing in to repair the damage the other candidates do to each other by pumping them up, and tearing President Obama down. His response to Harris got huge applause from the audience, as he segued from scolding the moderator (and that evil lamestream media) to explaining that every candidate on the stage would be better than Obama, a sentiment he snuck into an earlier answer, as well. Maybe Newt is bucking for the bottom of a ticket, anyone‘s ticket?
Here’s the clip, from MSNBC:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/ethics.htm
Excerpt:
The Gingrich Ethics Probe
The following are some of the key Post stories on the House ethics investigation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
IRS Clears Foundation That Aided Gingrich Course
February 4, 1999
The Internal Revenue Service cleared an organization of charges that it violated its tax-exempt status when it helped fund a college course taught by former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich Pays Off Ethics Penalty
December 31, 1998
Speaker Newt Gingrich completed payment of a $300,000 penalty imposed for violations of House rules.
Ethics Committee Drops Last of 84 Charges Against Gingrich
October 11, 1998
The House ethics committee dropped the three remaining ethics charges against Gingrich.
Excerpt:
Ethics Committee Drops Last of 84 Charges Against Gingrich
By Curt Anderson
Associated Press
Sunday, October 11, 1998; Page A13 The House ethics committee dropped the three remaining ethics charges against Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) yesterday, despite finding that Gingrich repeatedly violated one rule by using a political consultant to develop the Republican legislative agenda.

The ethics panel decided to take no further action because there is no evidence that "Rule 45" violations are continuing in the speaker's office, a post Gingrich has held since 1995. Consultant Jeffrey Eisenach's work took place while Gingrich was the GOP minority whip in 1990-91.
Gingrich was elected speaker after Republicans took control of the House.
"The committee believes you have been adequately informed and cautioned on Rule 45 issues and anticipates full compliance in the future," said Rep. James V. Hansen (R-Utah), the panel's chairman, and Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) in a letter to Gingrich.
The committee decision came near the close of the House session as lawmakers hurried to clear languishing business and return to their districts to campaign for next month's election.
Eisenach was a paid consultant to GOPAC, a Republican political group formerly chaired by Gingrich, according to the letter.
Gingrich is paying $300,000 for the costs of an ethics committee investigation after admitting last year he made inaccurate statements during a lengthy probe into Democratic allegations that he misused tax-exempt donations. Gingrich denied the charges but submitted to a reprimand by the House.
In a brief interview, Gingrich said he felt a "big sense of relief" now that the four-year investigation is over.
"It ends a chapter. Let's go on to other things," he said.
The speaker's office issued a statement noting that yesterday's dismissal of the last three charges means that 83 of the 84 ethics allegations filed by Democrats have been dropped.
The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, as the ethics panel is formally known, also decided to defer to a federal judge's decision to dismiss an allegation that GOPAC improperly subsidized Gingrich's 1990 reelection campaign.
U.S. District Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer in 1996 threw out a Federal Elections Commission lawsuit contending that GOPAC broke election laws by assisting federal candidates and not making its donor lists and spending reports public.
The ethics panel was "persuaded by the court's findings" that the laws were not violated, Hansen and Berman wrote.
"It appears to us that to the extent that GOPAC was exonerated by the court, you are by implication exonerated as well," they wrote to Gingrich.
A third allegation that Gingrich benefited personally from $250,000 in GOPAC "Newt Support" and should have reported it as income for federal tax purposes was also dropped by the ethics committee for lack of evidence.
Gingrich to Pay Penalty With His Own Money
September 15, 1998
Gingrich abandoned plans to borrow money from former Senate majority leader Robert J. Dole to pay the $300,000 ethics penalty the House imposed on him.
Speaker Sets $150,000 Limit on Borrowing From Dole
May 16, 1997
Gingrich said he would borrow no more than $150,000 from Dole to pay the $300,000 penalty the House levied against him for violating ethics rules.
Gingrich to Pay Penalty With Dole Loan
April 18, 1997
Gingrich accepted a $300,000 loan from Dole, his onetime rival as leader of congressional Republicans.
House Reprimands, Penalizes Speaker
January 22, 1997
The House voted overwhelmingly to reprimand Gingrich and order him to pay an unprecedented $300,000 penalty.
Files in Gingrich Case Detail Misstatements
January 19, 1997
Gingrich repeatedly declined to acknowledge inaccuracies in statements he made to an ethics subcommittee until weeks after the panel announced publicly that it was expanding the inquiry to include the veracity of his answers to investigators.
Ethics Panel Supports Reprimand of Gingrich
January 18, 1997
The House ethics committee recommended that Gingrich face an unprecedented reprimand and fine after concluding that he violated congressional rules by using tax-deductible money for political purposes and providing inaccurate information to investigators.
Use of Tax-Exempt Groups Integral to Political Strategy
January 7, 1997
Over the years Gingrich and his top advisers have tried repeatedly to use tax-deductible donations to help promote their political goals, a review of his record shows.