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Sam Knight - page 36

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

G.O.P. to Soon Advance Minimum Wage Carve-Out in Puerto Rico Emergency Legislation

House Republicans this month look set to advance legislation that would widen a loophole to federal minimum wage laws in Puerto Rico. The push to exempt Puerto Rico from the critical labor rules is being included in a package that would prevent the US territory from going bankrupt on May 1. The Republican-backed legislation would raise the age limit to a minimum wage carve-out for younger workers, to 25 years-old from 20 years old. Currently, employers under US jurisdiction may pay workers under 20 years-old… Keep Reading

More Than A Thousand Prisoners Could Be Released After Latest SCOTUS “Three Strikes” Decision

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that its decision last year to narrow minimum sentencing “three strike” laws applies retroactively. Justices voted 7-1 to allow a Florida prisoner named Gregory Welch to challenge the length of his incarceration. An appeals court had last year denied Welch’s case three weeks before Johnson v. United States was decided by the top federal court. The move to apply the June 2015 opinion retroactively could eventually see more than 1,000 prisoners released earlier than previously expected, according to SCOTUSblog.… Keep Reading

Military Denies Arming anti-ISIL Militias in Afghanistan; CIA Wouldn’t Comment

Piecemeal anti-Islamic State militias in Eastern Afghanistan aren’t being supported by the Pentagon’s primary mission in the country, a US military representative said Thursday. US Army Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland claimed that the armed groups–revealed last week by The Wall Street Journal–aren’t receiving aid from Resolute Support Mission. “As I think you know, we have a fairly strenuous process to make sure that anyone we provide support to meets a variety of conditions,” he said, via satellite link-up from Afghanistan, to the Pentagon press corps. Afghanistan’s… Keep Reading

Amid Supreme Court Knockdown-Dragout, Senate Panel Advances FBI Whistleblower Protections

Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee temporarily set aside their nasty fight over the Supreme Court vacancy to advance new protections for FBI whistleblowers. The panel unanimously approved of a bill on Thursday that would make it illegal for bureau officials to retaliate against underlings who inform them of wrongdoing. Currently, the FBI only allows personnel to make protected disclosures to oversight organs, such as the Justice Department’s inspector general, or to a select number of high-ranking officials. Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.) and… Keep Reading

FDIC, Fed Rulings Could See Five “Too Big To Fail” Wall Street Firms Broken Up By 2018

Federal regulators announced Wednesday morning that Dodd-Frank-mandated resolution plans of five “too big to fail” banks were “not credible,” setting in motion a process that could see them broken up in thirty months. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that plans outlined by the quintet–Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, New York Mellon, and State Street–were inadequate. Because of the joint ruling, the firms are under pressure to revise their so-called “living wills.” The FDIC and Fed… Keep Reading

Despite Proposing Rule Last Fall, CFTC Lacks Resources to Oversee High Frequency Trading

The chief regulator overseeing Wall Street speculators warned that his agency doesn’t have the money to properly analyze increasingly-computerized financial markets. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Timothy Massad told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that “we don’t have the resources to keep up,” when asked by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) about high-frequency traders. “This really illustrates the problem,” he said. “Ten years ago, you could engage in surveillance in our markets by watching floor traders in trading pits. That isn’t the case anymore.” Massad then said that because “almost… Keep Reading

Non-Banks Now Service Quarter of Mortgage Industry; GAO, Warren, Cummings Sound Alarm

The federal government is limited in its ability to oversee the housing market due to a trend that has emerged since the financial crisis—one that disproportionately impacts the poor and troubled borrowers. Non-bank firms grew to account for nearly one-quarter of the mortgage servicing market in 2015, up from 6.8 percent of the sector in 2012, according to a report published Monday by the Government Accountability Office. The development has left the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) hamstrung… Keep Reading

Discontent Index Drops By Two Points Around the New Year

The District Sentinel Discontent Index dropped by over two points around the turn of the year. The measurement fell to 99.17 in December 2015, and then to 98.04 in January 2016. It was at 100.26 in November 2015, the last month for which a reading was released. The movement over the two months was driven by broad improvements in the economy, reflected in each of the index’s subcomponents. Labor Discontent was down by 0.89 points, Consumer Discontent dropped by 0.72 points, and Housing Discontent fell… Keep Reading

Senate Dems Obstruct SEC Picks, Decry “Gobbledygook” Opinions on Money in Politics

Senate Democrats held up the nomination of financial regulators, taking exception to two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees’ opinions about corporate disclosure of political spending. Senate Banking Committee members Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday they wouldn’t support Lisa Fairfax and Hester Maria Peirce—the former is a Democrat, the latter is a Republican. The move caused committee chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) to hold off on attempting to advance the SEC nominations, which were paired “en bloc” with… Keep Reading

Key Watchdog: Pentagon Hurtling Toward Missing “Audit-Ready” Deadline Set 7 Years Ago By Congress

The chief federal government-wide watchdog warned on Wednesday that the Pentagon looks almost certain to fail a basic oversight test mandated by law. Government Accountability Office (GAO) head Gene Dodaro told the Senate Budget Committee that the Defense Department is “not really fixing underlying problems” stopping the agency from being held to a full financial examination. “They weren’t able to pass the test of an audit on one-year budget activity at the department,” the Comptroller General noted, citing Army, Navy and Air Force efforts in 2015.… Keep Reading

Recent Trade Deficit Uptick Casts Pall Over Economy

Import-export data released this week by the Census Bureau calls into question the long-term strength of the US economy. The United States’ monthly trade deficit increased by 2.6 percent in February to $47.1 billion, the agency reported on Tuesday. A three-month moving average of the gap—a mean calculated to give a more clear reading of trends—was also up in February by 2.6 percent, and up by 7.7 percent on an annual basis. The data shows economic activity in the US passing over job creators. It… Keep Reading

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