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Sam Knight - page 10

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

Banking Giant Still Has a Scam Factory Blueprint, Democrats Warn, As Wells Fargo CEO Appears Before Senate

Wells Fargo claims to have changed after its fake accounts scandal made headlines last year, but the bank still seems poised to rip off customers and workers, Senate Democrats said on Tuesday. At a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, they questioned the integrity of Wells executives and said the framework is still there for the bank to continue to push the boundaries of legality and ethics. “The Federal Reserve should remove all of the current board members who served during the fake accounts scam,”… Keep Reading

Independent TV Stations Subject to “Functional” Control by Giant, If FCC Approves Merger

The proposed Sinclair-Tribune TV broadcasting merger could lead to a single conglomerate exerting significant control over stations that it wouldn’t even own. Integration between the two companies could see advertising markets increasingly dominated by a near-monopoly, Senate Democrats said Friday, in a letter to the country’s lead telecoms regulator. Twenty-four members of the Senate Democratic Caucus signed the letter, calling on FCC Chair Ajit Pai to pump the breaks on his ongoing deregulatory push, noting the $3.9 billion deal between Sinclair and Tribune. The two… Keep Reading

SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Koch-backed Union Busting Case

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would decide a case that could see the last bedrock of the labor movement starved of funding. Justices granted plaintiffs’ request for a hearing in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31—a challenge of an Illinois law requiring public sector employees to pay agency fees that fund collective bargaining. The Court looked set to strike down a similar law last year in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Oral arguments were held in January, but the death of conservative hardliner… Keep Reading

Voluntary FDA Enforcement Blasted by Inspector General

Federal food safety inspectors, in recent years, discovered a facility with a leaky roof and the presence of a life-threatening bacteria. But Food and Drug Administration officials merely issued a warning to the firm’s owners, only to repeatedly discover the same problems over the next 24 months. “Three subsequent inspections documented that the facility did not correct the violations, and FDA continued to find unsanitary conditions and the presence of Listeria monocytogenes,” a federal watchdog report stated this week. The findings were among discoveries in… Keep Reading

Equifax CEO Retirement Puts Spotlight Back on Executive Pay “Clawback” Rule Delay

The top Democrat overseeing financial markets pushed the Securities and Exchange Commission to finalize an executive pay “clawback” regulation in the wake of the massive Equifax data breach. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) prodded SEC Chair Jay Clayton on Tuesday to finish the rulemaking process, which was initially ordered more than seven years ago by Dodd-Frank financial reform. “I intend to finish the mandate. There is a prioritization,” Clayton told Brown, the vice chair of the Senate Banking Committee. “I am going to be very open with… Keep Reading

U.S. Government Increasingly on Hook for Non-Bank Mortgages, Despite Lack of Regulators and Preparedness

Ginnie Mae has struggled to keep tabs on the rapid growth of the lightly-regulated non-bank mortgage market. The wholesale mortgage guarantor’s unpreparedness may leave it struggling “to immediately respond to increased risks posed” by recent industry changes, according to a report published Monday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) inspector general. “As a result, Ginnie Mae may not identify problems with issuers in time to prevent default,” the report warned. Ginnie Mae guarantees payments by issuers of certain mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to… Keep Reading

Latest Local Official to Defy ICE Detention Requests Tells Trump Admin to Get a Warrant

The struggle over immigration policy between the Trump administration and local officials turned to New England this week. A county sheriff in Maine became the first in the state to announce he wouldn’t honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests, according to the Associated Press. Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce revealed the decision in a letter last week to ICE officials. In interviews with local media on Wednesday, Joyce explained that he had concerns about the constitutionality of ICE operations. “Let’s say that the case… Keep Reading

Warren, Gillibrand, Brown Echo Canadian Call to Scrap Union Busting “Right to Work” Laws During NAFTA Talks

Democratic lawmakers are throwing their weight behind a labor-empowering initiative amid moves by the Trump administration to renegotiate trade deals—ostensibly to benefit American workers. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would make it tougher for states to bust unions. The trio are seeking to outlaw what Republicans have branded as “right-to-work” laws. The rules allow individual workers to free-ride on collective bargaining agreements–by giving them the option of withholding fees from unions who represent them… Keep Reading

Trump Uses UN Podium to threaten Nuclear Annihilation

President Donald Trump raised the possibility of launching high-stakes US military operations in three corners of the world on Tuesday, at his first address to the United Nations General Assembly. The president targeted North Korea, Iran and Venezuela–which he termed as “rogue regimes,” from the UN podium, in a speech reminiscent of George W. Bush’s pre-Iraq War “Axis of Evil” State of the Union. Trump’s harshest rhetoric was reserved for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it… Keep Reading

House Republicans Pass Wide-Reaching Anti-Immigrant Bill, With DACA Negotiations Ongoing

Amid negotiations between President Trump and Democrats over the status of Dreamers, Republican lawmakers passed legislation that could lead to wholesale crackdowns on immigrant communities. The House on Thursday advanced a bill hinged on the principal of guilt-by-association, marking for deportation of non-US citizens merely suspected of knowing those engaged in a wide list of activities. The “Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act” passed in a 233-175 vote largely along party lines, with 11 Democrats supporting the measure, and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) opposing it.… Keep Reading

Paul AUMF Repeal Garners Support From More Than One-Third of Senate, But Falls Short

An effort by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to sunset the broad legislation authorizing post-9/11 military operations failed on Wednesday. Paul’s bid, an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, was killed 61-36, in a motion brought to the Senate floor by Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Thirty-three Democrats and two Republicans–Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Dean Heller (R-Nevada)–joined with Paul, in a bid to keep his amendment alive. Thirteen Democrats voted for the Corker motion at the urging of Jack Reed (D-R.I.),… Keep Reading

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