By Alicia A. Caldwell (AP)
Nearly all illegal guns seized in Mexico come from the United States, the head of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday.
ATF acting director Michael Sullivan said investigators have traced 90 to 95 percent of the weapons found in Mexico to the U.S. Generally, only law-enforcement officers or military personnel can legally possess guns in Mexico.
Sullivan, speaking at the fifth annual Border Security Conference at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the weapons are being traced as part of an effort by the U.S. and Mexico to stop the illegal flow of guns south.
"In Mexico, investigators have provided some tremendous leads ... to weapons trafficking organizations," Sullivan said.
One bust came in May, when the owner of a Phoenix gun shop was arrested on charges that he knowingly sold hundreds of weapons to "straw purchasers" who funneled the weapons to violent drug cartels in Mexico. Two Mexican men accused of helping to set up the sales also were arrested.
Many of the weapons being found in Mexico have been traced to smuggling points in Southern California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, Sullivan said. But he added that weapons are being traced to sellers in "virtually every state, as far north as Washington state."
Sullivan said recent successes in tracking guns thought to be fueling an increasingly violent drug cartel war are attributed to an "e-trace" system that allows officials on both sides of the border to quickly track weapons.
"Tracing where these weapons are from is critical in the early stages," Sullivan said.
The weapons tracking program is only part of the U.S. effort to help curb drug violence in Mexico and in the U.S., Sullivan said.
FBI Director Robert Mueller, who also spoke at the border conference Monday, said the FBI is working directly with Mexican officials as part of an anti-kidnapping effort in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. His agency has also developed a task force to focus on the "very few law enforcement officials who assist drug cartels" in the U.S., as well as helping curb the growth of prison gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.
"We have slowed drug trafficking, tracked down violent fugitives and rescued kidnapping victims," Mueller said.
"It's time for the big corporations to pay their fair share," Dorgan said.
The hospital opened in October 2005, featuring cutting-edge technology including an all-digital medical records system and top-flight amenities such as wireless Internet in each room, gourmet meals that patients could order any time and movies on demand.
But the hospital has struggled financially from the start. The largest problem has been a lack of patient volume, hospital administrators said. It has recently been averaging about 60 beds filled each day -- far fewer than what's needed financially, Reynolds said.
The hospital would not confirm or deny the possibility of an imminent bankruptcy petition, but officials indicate that it is not expected to close.
Until recently, Century City Doctors Hospital's prospects appeared to be good. The hospital, previously known as Century City Hospital, was closed in April 2004 by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. But it was then acquired by Beverly Hills-based Salus Surgical Group, which invested about $100 million to renovate the facility.
Although many larger hospitals in affluent areas continue to thrive financially, many smaller hospitals around the state are severely struggling.
Since 1996, 70 community hospitals have closed across the state, with a disproportionate share -- more than 50 -- in Southern California. Regionally, 14 emergency rooms have closed in the last five years, including 10 in Los Angeles County.
Some worry that the trend is worsening and increasingly afflicting crucial areas and facilities.
Four years ago, Robert F. Kennedy Medical Center in Hawthorne shut down. Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook was closed in August when the federal Medicare and Medicaid agency pulled half the hospital's funding. That closure followed nearly four years of failed attempts to reform the troubled institution formerly known as Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. Brotman Medical Center in Culver City filed for bankruptcy protection last fall.
Hospital experts say that as many as two dozen other area hospitals are under severe financial strain.
Because of its relatively affluent location, where hospitals are not as likely to be overburdened with high numbers of uninsured and underinsured patients, the Century City hospital was thought to be in better shape. Its financial troubles are raising worries that an even broader shakeout in the regional hospital system than recently expected could be in the future.
One issue of concern to local health officials: Even if the hospital is sold, there is a risk that administrators could have to close its money-losing emergency room, officials said.
One option currently on the table, they said, is to turn the hospital into a specialty facility focused primarily on orthopedic care.
Such specialty hospitals, which typically don't have emergency rooms because most care is done through scheduled visits, are increasingly popular across the region and country.
The potential loss of another emergency room in Los Angeles, in particular, is a major concern to local health officials. Emergency rooms throughout the region are swamped with the sick, injured and uninsured -- and the loss of any ERs would exacerbate the problem, officials say.
"We have lost 10 ERs in the past five years and this is such a critical situation that we cannot afford to lose even one more," said Carol Meyer, director of governmental affairs at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Meyer added that recent state cuts had made the situation even more precarious.
By Jennifer C. Kerr (AP)
Unlike the rest of us, most U.S. corporations and foreign companies doing business in the United States pay no federal income tax, according to a new report from Congress.
The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, and about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.
Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO's estimate.
"It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who asked for the GAO study with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.
An outside tax expert, Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, said increasing numbers of limited liability corporations and so-called "S" corporations pay taxes under individual tax codes.
"Half of all business income in the United States now ends up going through the individual tax code," Edwards said.
The GAO study did not investigate why corporations weren't paying federal income taxes or corporate taxes and it did not identify any corporations by name. It said companies may escape paying such taxes due to operating losses or because of tax credits.
More than 38,000 foreign corporations had no tax liability in 2005 and 1.2 million U.S. companies paid no income tax, the GAO said. Combined, the companies had $2.5 trillion in sales. About 25 percent of the U.S. corporations not paying corporate taxes were considered large corporations, meaning they had at least $250 million in assets or $50 million in receipts.
The GAO said it analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service, examining samples of corporate returns for the years 1998 through 2005. For 2005, for example, it reviewed 110,003 tax returns from among more than 1.2 million corporations doing business in the U.S.
Dorgan and Levin have complained about companies abusing transfer prices — amounts charged on transactions between companies in a group, such as a parent and subsidiary. In some cases, multinational companies can manipulate transfer prices to shift income from higher to lower tax jurisdictions, cutting their tax liabilities. The GAO did not suggest which companies might be doing this.
By Daniel Costello (LA Times)
Century City Doctors Hospital, a small but key healthcare provider on Los Angeles' Westside, is coping with deteriorating finances and weighing options that include a sale of the struggling hospital.
The 176-bed facility, located in the Century City Medical Plaza, has tried for months to get in better financial shape but has struggled to pay its growing debt, which the hospital estimates is as much as $60 million.
Century City Doctors Hospital, a small but key healthcare provider on Los Angeles' Westside, is coping with deteriorating finances and weighing options that include a sale of the struggling hospital.
The 176-bed facility, located in the Century City Medical Plaza, has tried for months to get in better financial shape but has struggled to pay its growing debt, which the hospital estimates is as much as $60 million.
In an interview, hospital Chief Executive John Reynolds said, "Like many hospitals in the Los Angeles marketplace and across the state, Century City Doctors Hospital has been faced with significant financial challenges for an extended period of time."
Reynolds said the hospital had been for sale for several months but was seeking to close a deal as soon as possible.
"After considering all of the options available for addressing the financial needs of the hospital, we have decided to pursue a qualified buyer to ensure the long-term financial stability of this important community asset."
If a sale isn't completed soon, the hospital could be forced to file for bankruptcy as early as this month, people familiar with the matter said.Reynolds said the hospital had been for sale for several months but was seeking to close a deal as soon as possible.
"After considering all of the options available for addressing the financial needs of the hospital, we have decided to pursue a qualified buyer to ensure the long-term financial stability of this important community asset."
The hospital opened in October 2005, featuring cutting-edge technology including an all-digital medical records system and top-flight amenities such as wireless Internet in each room, gourmet meals that patients could order any time and movies on demand.
But the hospital has struggled financially from the start. The largest problem has been a lack of patient volume, hospital administrators said. It has recently been averaging about 60 beds filled each day -- far fewer than what's needed financially, Reynolds said.
The hospital would not confirm or deny the possibility of an imminent bankruptcy petition, but officials indicate that it is not expected to close.
Until recently, Century City Doctors Hospital's prospects appeared to be good. The hospital, previously known as Century City Hospital, was closed in April 2004 by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. But it was then acquired by Beverly Hills-based Salus Surgical Group, which invested about $100 million to renovate the facility.
Although many larger hospitals in affluent areas continue to thrive financially, many smaller hospitals around the state are severely struggling.
Since 1996, 70 community hospitals have closed across the state, with a disproportionate share -- more than 50 -- in Southern California. Regionally, 14 emergency rooms have closed in the last five years, including 10 in Los Angeles County.
Some worry that the trend is worsening and increasingly afflicting crucial areas and facilities.
Four years ago, Robert F. Kennedy Medical Center in Hawthorne shut down. Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook was closed in August when the federal Medicare and Medicaid agency pulled half the hospital's funding. That closure followed nearly four years of failed attempts to reform the troubled institution formerly known as Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. Brotman Medical Center in Culver City filed for bankruptcy protection last fall.
Hospital experts say that as many as two dozen other area hospitals are under severe financial strain.
Because of its relatively affluent location, where hospitals are not as likely to be overburdened with high numbers of uninsured and underinsured patients, the Century City hospital was thought to be in better shape. Its financial troubles are raising worries that an even broader shakeout in the regional hospital system than recently expected could be in the future.
One issue of concern to local health officials: Even if the hospital is sold, there is a risk that administrators could have to close its money-losing emergency room, officials said.
One option currently on the table, they said, is to turn the hospital into a specialty facility focused primarily on orthopedic care.
Such specialty hospitals, which typically don't have emergency rooms because most care is done through scheduled visits, are increasingly popular across the region and country.
The potential loss of another emergency room in Los Angeles, in particular, is a major concern to local health officials. Emergency rooms throughout the region are swamped with the sick, injured and uninsured -- and the loss of any ERs would exacerbate the problem, officials say.
"We have lost 10 ERs in the past five years and this is such a critical situation that we cannot afford to lose even one more," said Carol Meyer, director of governmental affairs at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Meyer added that recent state cuts had made the situation even more precarious.
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