Freyne Land

***UPDATE: Tarrant issues statement (4:40 p.m.)***

STATEMENT FROM RICH TARRANT IN REGARDS TO A RECENT NEW YORK TIMES REPORT

“IDX took every appropriate step to keep all information concerning the deal with GE Healthcare confidential and secure.  As Chairman, all stock transactions made by me were public for shareholders and the market to evaluate.”

Your comment?

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Lunchtime on Monday.

We’ve got emails in - two hours ago - to Tarrant Campaign Manager Tim Lennon and advisor Kate O’Connor (yes, formerly with Howard Dean) seeking comment on the New York Times insider-trading story (which is prosecuted under fraud statutes) that noted IDX stock's trading and price fluctuations last September during the corporation's sale to G.E. Healthcare for $1.2 BILLION. Tarrant was IDX chairman-of-the-board at the time.

Nothing back yet. Maybe, they're busy?

We'll keep you posted. We hear other press in on the trail, too.

However, we have received one press release from both Candidate Tarrant and one from his opponent, Independent U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, this morning.

From Tarrant HQ:

HYPOCRISY WATCH:  WHEN IT’S LUCKY TO BE A CHICKEN

An investigation by the Humane Society of the United States found that chickens at the farm that supplied eggs to Ben and Jerry’s were dying of starvation, live hens were living among dead ones and sick or injured birds were caught in cage wires.

On Wednesday Ben and Jerry’s Homemade announced it will sever ties with the egg supplier accused of mistreating the chickens.  The company’s CEO was quoted as saying it “seemed like the right thing to do.”

A report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation found that workers at Florida Crystals, a company owned by the Fanjul family of Palm Beach, Florida, live in  “appalling working conditions on plantations in the Dominican Republic, where Haitian cane cutters live like slaves.  Workers who live on Central Romano, a Fanjul-owned plantation, go hungry while working 12-hour days to earn $2....

Congressman Sanders has accepted a campaign contribution from Florida Crystals.  Yet he refuses to return the contribution.  By failing to return the contribution from the political action committee Congressman Sanders is not only breaking his long standing pledge never to accept corporate PAC money, but worse he is turning a blind eye to the working conditions of Florida Crystals’ employees.

Isn’t it time for Congressman Sanders to show that he believes people are just as important as chickens?

VS.

From Rep. Sanders Capitol Hill office:

Statement from Congressman Sanders on One-Year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Sanders said, "In the weeks following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush promised Gulf Coast residents that the Administration would do what it takes to rebuild their communities and their lives. Unfortunately, as we mark the one-year anniversary of the storm, it is clear that this President has not kept his promise.

"Currently only 3 out of 10 acute-care hospitals in New Orleans have re-opened; only 56 of 128 public schools in New Orleans are enrolling students this fall; and 80% of Gulf Coast businesses with approved SBA disaster loans are still waiting to receive the funds they need to rebuild. Less than half of the $110 billion in federal money that Bush has touted has actually been spent-the rest having been tied up in bureaucratic delays and mismanagement. This rampant mismanagement also includes awarding more than 70% of the government contracts to repair the region without full competition, wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and delaying desperately needed repairs. The residents of the Gulf Coast deserve more than delays and empty promises, they deserve real action that will help them rebuild their communities."

Interesting contrast, eh?