LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 51

Democrats hoping that the upcoming Republican presidential primaries will be reminiscent of the sprint to the far-right four years ago may have been disappointed Wednesday after remarks made by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Defending his tax plan from conservative criticism, the hopeful Commander-in-Chief not only suggested that inequality is problematic, but said that Ronald Reagan’s approach to governing wouldn’t be appropriate today. Rubio said that Republicans “need to recognize that the 21st century has some significant differences from the era from which [Reagan] governed,” in response… Keep Reading

The Obama administration concealed American Indians’ appeals to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, according to a report published Tuesday by The Hill. The nations had written to the Department of the Interior, claiming the TransCanada tar-sands vessel would jeopardize the cleanliness of resources, infringe upon prior treaty agreements, and violate sacred lands, in stacks of letters only revealed through Freedom of Information Act Request. “Interior sent 175 pages of letters from tribes to the State Department, according to documents obtained by The Hill,” the daily… Keep Reading

A House Tea Party Republican with well-known ties to major corporate handout-seekers is at the center of a charge to weaken post-2008 financial reforms. Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) has attached his name, through co-sponsorship or authorship, to half of eight measures on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau being taken up by the House this week. Many of those proposals are, however, also backed enthusiastically by Democrats, who helped carry them to approval by wide margins in House Financial Services Committee mark-up votes. The bipartisan zeal–along with the… Keep Reading

Two Democratic lawmakers from Oregon are teaming up with a rightwing, anti-tax zealot to provide relief to small businesses getting into the marijuana game. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) announced plans on Thursday to introduce legislation to update IRS laws. A reform that would allow businesses that sell pot in compliance with state law to take routine tax deductions. Current law prohibits marijuana retailers from deducting business expenses like payroll, utilities, and rent, which could force business owners to deal with a federal tax… Keep Reading

While the public is used to hearing about Wall Street lobbyists’ siege on financial regulators, a government watchdog has warned the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that its lax operational security has for years left it vulnerable to attacks by other malicious actors—especially those from within. Deficiencies in the federal retail deposit backer’s computer systems have long put sensitive, market-moving information at risk, the Government Accountability Office warned in a report published Thursday. Particularly vulnerable, it said, is information about collapsed and moribund banks. The corporation isn’t… Keep Reading

Lawmakers could soon find themselves increasingly presented with a flimsily constructed paradox in lobbyists’ unrelenting effort to erode financial reforms. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, in an annual letter published late Wednesday, said Dodd-Frank regulations make banks “less able to act positively in the next crisis,” and praised the cash injection big banks offered the market through fire-sale acquisitions, as the financial sector was ravaged late last decade by the mortgage crisis it created. “In the last crisis, banks underwrote (for other banks) $110 billion of stock… Keep Reading

Republican-backed tax cuts that would primarily benefit the children of dead millionaires would cost the country almost $30 billion every year, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday. The so-called Death Tax Repeal Act, which passed out of the House Ways and Means committee last month, would “reduce revenues, thus increasing federal deficits, by about $269 billion over the 2015-2025 period,” the CBO said. The bill–proposed by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the chair of the Joint Economic Committee–has 135 cosponsors to date; the majority of… Keep Reading

Environmentalists concerned by zealous pushes to exploit what lies beneath the melting Arctic ice may have found themselves on Tuesday with an unlikely comrade in arms. Adm. Bill Gortney, the chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), cast doubt on the wisdom of northern development, citing continued “very, very harsh” conditions, environmental instability itself, and difficulties shipping. “It’s actually more dangerous today than when we had a stable shelf,” he said. While Gortney said that “the reality is there’s gonna be more activity up… Keep Reading

Rand Paul’s entrance into the 2016 presidential race looks set to cause a schism among Republicans, as their presidential primary looks increasingly like it will be a lightning rod for Wall Street-backed criticism of “Audit the Fed” legislation. As Paul prepared to officially launch his bid, The Financial Times reported on Tuesday morning that many Republican party donors would be more openly hostile to the broad rightwing support of the bill if they didn’t need conservatives on so many other issues “Banks fear that openly… Keep Reading