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Sam Knight - page 25

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

Obama Admin Allowing Debt Collectors to Hound Attendees of Bankrupt For-Profit College

Debt collectors are pursuing payments from people who attended a for-profit college that went bankrupt after numerous fraud-related lawsuits, despite the Department of Education promising them avenues for debt relief. Only 5 percent of the 80,000 former students of Corinthian Colleges who are eligible for debt discharge under department programs formulated since 2015 have been granted that right, according to an investigation by the staff of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Of those 76,000 people being pursued for Corinthian-related obligations, over 30,000 have seen government benefits… Keep Reading

Janet Yellen: “Possible” But “Extremely Challenging” For Big Banks to Follow Laws

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that she believes the largest banks in the country can legally exist, days before a handful of them are due to submit reports to the Fed that could lead to their breaking-up. “We believe it is possible, even though it is extremely challenging for [these] organizations to comply with the law,” she said, in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Yellen made the remarks in response to questions about Wells Fargo that had been asked by Rep. Brad… Keep Reading

Lawmakers Ask White House to Delay Kratom Ban, Claiming Improper Procedure

Dozens of Democratic and Republican lawmakers are calling on the White House to thwart the Drug Enforcement Administration’s moves to ban kratom, claiming the herbal opioid substitute was rescheduled in violation of procedural law. The lawmakers, organized by Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), asked Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan on Monday to “use your statutory authority” to the delay implementation of the rule change. Fifty-one US Representatives, including 22 Republicans, signed the letter, according to The Huffington Post. Under… Keep Reading

Intelligence Whistleblower Award Created By Obama Administration

The intelligence community is establishing an award to recognize whistleblowers, according to a report on open government released last week by the White House. Intelligence officials will now be recognized for “effectuating change by speaking truth to power, by exemplifying professional integrity, or by reporting wrongdoing through appropriate channels,” according to the paper. As Steven Aftergood noted in Secrecy News on Monday, there are already more than a dozen awards regularly given out to members of the intelligence community, but none are for flagging malfeasance.… Keep Reading

Biden: Ramming TPP Through Lame Duck “Our Only Real Shot”

Vice President Joe Biden said that “our only real shot” of Congress approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a vote during the upcoming lame duck session. Biden made the remarks on Wednesday at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, while conceding the agreement has a “less than even chance” of passage. “Sometimes when there’s no election to face and people are leaving and others who are staying, they may see the wisdom of TPP,” said Biden, according to Reuters. One consideration might involve post-Congressional… Keep Reading

Seventy Percent of Worldwide Farm Tech To Be Controlled By Two Firms, If Mega-Mergers Approved

The proposed mergers between Monsanto and Bayer and Dow Chemical and Dupont would create a duopoly that controls 70 percent of the entire world’s agricultural technology market, according to testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The claim was made Tuesday by the president of a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting cartel behavior, at a hearing alongside executives from the four companies. Diana Moss, head of the American Antitrust Institute, noted that the plans to merge are already occurring amid “increasingly high prices paid by farmers… Keep Reading

“Too Big to Manage…Too Big to Regulate” — Senators Say Wells Fargo Shows Need to Break Up Banks

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday to assuage lawmakers’ concerns about the massive bank’s management practices. Instead, some questioned if the firm should even legally exist. Stumpf apologized for recent revelations about the bank, which was found to have opened more than 2 million accounts in their customers names, without proper authorization, to boost sales numbers. But he stressed that the wrongdoing was carried out by “only one percent” of the bank’s total workforce of 100,000 employees. Senators… Keep Reading

Trump Sticking With Christie As Transition Team Head, Despite Bridgegate Revelations

Donald Trump said that he would stick with Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) as the leader of his transition team, the day after federal prosecutors said that Christie was aware of a 2013 bridge closure, which had been ordered in retaliation for the lack of a political endorsement. In a statement made to The New York Times, the Republican Presidential nominee lauded Christie, giving no indication he would drop the embattled governor. “I have known and liked Chris for 15 years,” Trump said. “After his recent… Keep Reading

tractor applies pesticides

E.P.A. Paper Affirms Widely-Used Monsanto Chemical is Non-Carcinogenic

The Environmental Protection Agency published a paper late Friday, which concluded that a key ingredient in a Monsanto-manufactured herbicide doesn’t cause cancer. Glyphosate, which is an integral part of Round-Up—a heavily-used chemical in the cultivation of genetically-modified crops–was declared “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” The declaration comes ahead of a final agency assessment on glyphosate. EPA officials told Politico last week that the ruling is expected early next year. It is already two years late, the newspaper noted. The EPA decision doesn’t mark… Keep Reading

rubin glasses

Former Clinton Treasury Sec. Had Been Recommended for 2008 Mortgage Meltdown Criminal Probe

Former Treasury Secretary and Citibank Chair Bob Rubin was cited by a special congressional panel as someone who should have been the subject of a criminal investigation for activities related to the 2008 subprime mortgage meltdown. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) had told the Justice Department that it should open an investigation of Rubin, Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, for alleged securities fraud perpetrated as a member of Citibank’s board. Rubin was among nine executives recommended for a criminal probe by the FCIC that… Keep Reading

the hands of a medical doctor

Dem Congressman: GOP Knows “Only Alternative is Single-Payer

A Democratic congressman said that Republicans aren’t offering a unique alternative to Obamacare because they know that the only working substitute would be Medicare-for-all. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) made the accusations on Wednesday, at a House committee hearing set up by Republicans to criticize the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “The reason they have not proposed a viable alternative to the ACA, other than going back to pre-ACA situation, I’m convinced, is because the only other alternative is single-payer,” Yarmuth said. The law has come under… Keep Reading

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