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Sam Knight - page 35

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

Congress Lets Puerto Rico Default on $370 Million Debt Payment

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla (PPD-P.R.) announced on Sunday that Puerto Rico would not be able to make $370 million in debt payments due Monday. Garcia said the US territory was not willing to sacrifice essential public services in order to pay the money it owes. Puerto Rico had been previously scheduled to pay on Monday $422 million in bond obligations. “Faced with the inability to meet the demands of our creditors and the needs of our people, I had to make a choice,” Garcia said.… Keep Reading

McCain: White House “Intellectually Dishonest” in Ignoring Anti-ISIL Coalition He Imagined

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) accused the Obama administration of turning its back on a large multinational counter-Islamic State (ISIL) ground force that would only contain a slim minority of US soldiers. The Senate Armed Services Committee Chair told Secretary of Defense Ash Carter that the White House is ignoring the option, pretending it doesn’t exist in an “intellectually dishonest” manner. McCain told Carter at an oversight hearing that the coalition could invade ISIL-held territory, including the two largest cities occupied by the self-described caliphate: Raqqa,… Keep Reading

Cover for Financial Speculators Stuffed into Agriculture Spending Bill

House Republicans are again trying to use an agriculture spending bill to undermine regulation of financial speculators. The agriculture appropriations bill passed out of committee this year would relax Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight of so-called “swap dealers.” Currently, firms and individuals that trade $8 billion annually in swaps are officially considered dealers by the CFTC. The designation requires them to comply with additional rules, including “disclosure, recordkeeping and documentation requirements,” as Tim Massad, the commission’s chair, noted in February. The threshold is set… Keep Reading

Van Hollen Claims Victory in Maryland Dems’ Ugly Senate Primary

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) defeated colleague Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) Tuesday in what was one of the nastier senate primaries thus far this election year. Van Hollen bested Edwards 53-39 for a chance to win the seat of retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). He had the support of many Democrats, demonstrated earlier this month by criticism from lawmakers and the White House in response to a pro-Edwards ad. Edwards had also been attacked by Van Hollen supporters as unqualified and insensitive to the needs… Keep Reading

Obama Admin Approves Merger that Would Create Second Largest Internet Provider

The Obama administration conditionally approved Charter Communications’ bid to acquire Time Warner Cable, paving the way for a deal that would create one of the largest media companies in the country. Officials from the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission said on Monday that they wouldn’t stop the merger, if the companies agree to terms that would restrict their practices. Charter would become the second and third largest provider of internet and video, if a federal judge also approves of the deal. Comcast would still… Keep Reading

Airfares Finally Drop After Historic Plunge in Oil Prices, Opening of Antitrust Investigation

The cost of air travel finally fell last year, after the mid-2014 plunge in energy prices intensified scrutiny on airline industry business practices. The average airfare fell in 2015 by 8.3 percent to $363, according to Department of Transportation (DOT) data released Tuesday. The last time prices fell in a comparable manner was in 2009, after the global financial crisis lowered both consumer demand and wholesale energy costs. As early as December 2014, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on the Department of Justice and DOT to investigate… Keep Reading

White House: Minimum Wage Increase Would Lower Crime, Spending on Prisons

White House economists said that raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 would reduce crime by 3-5 percent, saving US taxpayers up to $17 billion. President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) made the declaration in a report on criminal justice reform published this weekend. Jason Furman, the CEA chair, said Monday that reductions to crime would still occur even if a higher wage floor were to impact the unemployment rate. “Labor market conditions and increased educational attainment can have large impacts on crime reduction… Keep Reading

Dodd-Frank Rule on Risky Bonuses Finally Proposed

The Obama administration is seeking to fulfill a remaining obligation under the Dodd-Frank Act by proposing rules on risky Wall Street compensation packages. Multiple agencies are set to act in concert to force the largest financial institutions to defer executive bonuses for four years. They will also propose mandating a seven-year window in which “clawbacks” can occur at all banks with over $1 billion in assets. The Wall Street Journal reported the development on Thursday, noting that three year deferrals are “the common industry practice.” If… Keep Reading

Republican Denial of Climate Change, Occupation of Palestine Converge in Effort to Hinder Paris Accord

Republican senators are seeking to undermine the US role in international efforts to address climate change due to a United Nations body’s recognition of Palestine. The lawmakers pointed to a 1994 law prohibiting federal money from going to any UN affiliate that recognizes groups without “internationally recognized attributes of statehood”–a clause that has effectively targeted UN organizations that admit Palestine. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry sent earlier this week, the 28 senators said the March 17 recognition of “the State of… Keep Reading

State Dept.: Honduras “Continues to Make Progress” By Detaining Refugee Kids

The Obama administration praised the Honduran government on Tuesday for detaining children and families fleeing its chaotic and oppressive rule. A top State Department official said the Honduran government “continues to make progress in apprehending [unaccompanied alien children] and family units being smuggled out of the country.” Francisco Palmieri, an aide to Secretary of State John Kerry, made the comment in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Honduras has been ruled by a US-backed right-wing authoritarian regime since 2009, when its duly-elected populist President… Keep Reading

Obama Admin Finally Grants Homeowners 2008 Crisis Debt Relief; “Big Banks Got Their Money Immediately,” Warren Laments

Three-quarters of a decade after the global economic crisis, the Obama administration decided to grant debt relief to Americans whose home values plummeted after financial markets were tanked by Wall Street. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced last week it would grant mortgage principal reductions to about 33,000 underwater homeowners–those who owe more than their property is currently worth. FHFA Director Mel Watt hailed the current state of the economy, but warned that “there are still areas of the country where home values have… Keep Reading

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