The Federal Financial Forum

 Editors Note:  The following is drawn from KochFacts.com. Reliance on a recognized third-party is usually an effective way to get the truth out.

UPDATE Confronting False Allegations about the George Zimmerman Case

Statement from July 17, 2013

Contrary to rumors that are circulating, Koch companies, Koch affiliates, and the Koch family have no connection to or involvement whatsoever, either direct or indirect, with George Zimmerman. We did not and are not paying his legal fees. This is another completely false and baseless rumor. In addition to this statement, we published the statement below on April 19, 2012. Snopes.com has also stated that the rumor alleging we paid his legal fees is false.

CRE has been a long time advocate of using Interactive Public Dockets (IPD’s) to vent regulatory and public policy issues.  To date IPD’s have been used primarily by watchdog groups such as CRE and  the media.

Koch Facts  is, if not the first then one of the first, users of an IPD by a corporate entity. For this reason CRE will be reporting on events surrounding its implementation and acceptance.  In doing so CRE will periodically report on whether the respective posts on an IPD, or about an IPD, are compliant with the Data Quality Act (DQA).

Editor’s Note: We appreciate our informed and balanced readership efforts to keep us informed of the events as they unfold with regard to items addressed on our IPD’s.  The following piece was just released  by one of the nation’s most celebrated schools of  journalism:

“Really, the only charge that counts is being caught in an embarrassing fact error. That’s the only thing journalists really fear, not being called names, but making an error that undermines the premise of the story. What really discredits a story is getting it wrong. Facts are, after all, stubborn things.”

The Washington Post reports on July 15:

“Unlike most companies, which tend to work out their differences with reporters behind the scenes, Koch (pronounced coke) often takes its feuds public using KochFacts [http://www.kochfacts.com/kf/ ] as its spearhead…..KochFacts also posts lengthy, point-by-point critiques of news stories and calls out reporters for alleged factual errors and biases”.

Upon first reading it appears that KochFacts is the initial stage of an Interactive Public Docket (IPD),  a communications mechanism championed by CRE for a number of years.

The interactive nature of the Koch website occurs through its “Contact” tab.

From: The Telegraph

The European Union is to push for an agreement on banking and financial services as a key part of this week’s historic trade talks with the US which could see the introduction of an American-European super-regulator.

By James Quinn, and Katherine Rushton