Sam Knight - page 13

UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has cancelled the first two weeks of the August recess. The Republican Party’s glaring shortcomings are currently impossible for its own lawmakers to ignore. Congress’ failure to pass any major legislation has led to some Senate Republicans calling on their leaders to cancel the August recess. Ten Republican senators said Tuesday that Congress should be in session next month, with only 31 working days scheduled between now and the end of the fiscal year, and zero major accomplishments to speak… Keep Reading

Two million more Americans are without health insurance thus far in 2017, amid problems with the Affordable Care Act and Republicans’ unpopular efforts to repeal the law. The uninsured rate was up on a quarterly basis for the second time in-a-row this year, according to the results of a survey released Monday by Gallup. The measure of those lacking coverage was at 11.7 percent in the second quarter, up from 11.3 percent in the first quarter, and 10.9 percent at the end of 2016. Gallup… Keep Reading

Wall Street should take more of a role in the housing market, a Federal Reserve Governor said on Thursday. Speaking before a right-wing think tank in Washington, Jerome Powell said the government’s role in the mortgage industry is “unsustainable.” “Today, the federal government’s role in housing finance is even greater than it was before the crisis,” Powell said in a speech given to the American Enterprise Institute. “Above all, we need to move to a system that attracts ample amounts of private capital to stand… Keep Reading

The Trump administration confirmed that it considering the integration of two energy regulators that were split after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe due to inherent conflicts of interest. Katharine MacGregor, a high-ranking official at the Department of the Interior, acknowledged the “internal” deliberations on Thursday. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Interior was discussing re-merging the two offices—the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). MacGregor, the ‎Acting Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management, was asked about… Keep Reading

A member of the Presidential Cabinet claimed that millions will lose healthcare coverage under Republican reform proposals due to “individual choice.” Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta made the assertion on Tuesday, when asked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) about the intention of Republicans’ healthcare plan. “We are asking how we can go forward as a nation with a bill that respects individual choice,” Acosta said before a Senate appropriations subcommittee. “Insurance is really important to people,” Murphy replied. “Do you think that the purpose of healthcare… Keep Reading

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) painted internal criticism of her leadership as coming from the Republican Party. Pelosi made the characterization on Thursday amid a defense of her position, when asked by reporters about her future in the wake of recent special election losses. “I don’t think that any party should allow the opposite party to choose their leaders,” she said “I don’t think members of our party should pick up the line of the Republicans,” Pelosi also stated. “And that’s what my members… Keep Reading

President Trump’s top trade negotiator won’t seek to reject mechanisms in trade deals that offer legal recourse only to investors and multinational corporations. Robert Lighthizer said that the administration “would not commit that we’re going to get rid of” investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) panels, when asked on Wednesday by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “There is a negotiating objective, as I understand it, that we’re going to strengthen ISDS,” the US Trade Representative told Brown, possibly referring to negotiation authority legislation passed by Congress in… Keep Reading