2016 - Checks and Balances Project

Who Is Investigating Questions about Professor O’Neill’s Ethics?

2016-12-29

Our reporting has found strong evidence indicating Penn State Professor John W. O’Neill is using his position at the School of Hospitality Management to bolster his consulting practice and credibility of his hotel lobby-funded research. If true, this would violate the university’s ethics standards. So, we were encouraged to learn via a Dec. 17 Centre Daily Times… Read more »

Coast Guard Still Searching for Records of “Study” that Undermines Offshore Wind Energy

2016-12-28

Over the past 10 months, we have uncovered the shipping lobby’s influence in the Coast Guard’s offshore wind energy study, known as the Atlantic Coast Port Access Route Study (ACPARS), which was charged with balancing shipping navigation safety with the development of an offshore wind industry. Our reporting shows the study’s authors never visited an… Read more »

Questions About Penn State Professor O’Neill Referred to Ethics Office

2016-12-19

As state support for universities drops, there is a growing trend of corporate support in the form of specially designated departments, professorships, etc., often with alarming consequences.

Marriott’s Overseas Cash Pile Grows

2016-12-16

Will Hotel Lobby Giant Bring Money Home? The new, widely-popular, and more sustainable method of hospitality offered by home sharing is under attack by the hotel lobby. As we continue to examine the hotel lobby’s campaign, one giant of the industry keeps turning up. It’s the largest hotel chain in the world: Marriott International. Marriott… Read more »

2016-12-15

Romney as Audit Chair Saw Marriott Son of BOSS Shelter Defy IRS Bloomberg Pro By Jesse Drucker – Feb 23, 2012 12:01 AM ET Mitt Romney has long had close ties to hotel operator Marriott International Inc. (MAR) The candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, whose full name is Willard Mitt Romney, was named after… Read more »

Was NYC Council Member Rosenthal’s Toronto Trip Worth More Than a Phone Call?

2016-12-2

During the week of October 24, 2016, Ms. Rosenthal traveled to Toronto at the behest of the “concerned citizens” group known as Fairbnb.

Next Step in Investigation of Coast Guard Offshore Wind Energy Study

2016-11-28

C&BP Requests Records of Coast Guard’s George Detweiler As our probe into the Coast Guard’s offshore wind study continues, a central player has emerged: George Detweiler. As readers will remember, we’ve been investigating the shipping lobby’s influence over an important, five-year study about balancing the development of a fledgling offshore wind energy industry in the… Read more »

Will Dean Crouter Enforce Penn State’s Ethical Standards?

2016-11-22

C&BP Writes to Dean Crouter for Help to Get Prof. O’Neill to Follow Established Policy In October, we posed a series of questions to Penn State Provost Nicholas Jones about the School of Hospitality Management’s (SHM) and Professor John W. O’Neill’s relationship with the hotel industry lobby. On November 9th, the University finally responded in… Read more »

Hotel Lobby President Katherine Lugar Refuses to Discuss Model Legislation to Tax Home Sharers

2016-11-21

C&BP Executive Director’s Questions Rebuffed at AH&LA Board Meeting. We traveled to New York City last week to pose some important questions directly to Katherine Lugar, the leader of the hotel lobby, about efforts to penalize the sustainable, home sharing economy. During a break at the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s (AH&LA) board meeting at… Read more »

Hotel Lobby Proposes $1.25 Billion Tax on Home Sharers

2016-11-9

Model Legislation by Hotel Lobby Also Proposes New Regulatory Scheme While Hotels Receive Billions in Corporate Welfare. As readers know by now, we’ve begun looking into the hotel industry’s efforts to slow the growth of the home sharing industry, a more sustainable form of travel. Only hours after we published a new report on how major… Read more »

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