A NEWS CO-OP IN DC SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE

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Sam Knight - page 76

Sam Knight has 859 articles published.

Despite Downward Trend, Sentinel Discontent Index Up Slightly In September

The District Sentinel Discontent Index rose by 0.1 point in September, but indicated that the economy appears to be improving over the long run. Labor Discontent, narrowed by an improving job market, was down on a monthly basis by almost half a point. Those gains were more than washed out by increasing Consumer Discontent—pushed 0.62 points up by a diminished Consumer Confidence Index. A slight decline in the seasonally-adjusted rate of seriously delinquent FHA-backed mortgages, meanwhile, saw Housing Discontent fall slightly, by 0.02 points. The… Keep Reading

Discussing US-Middle East Trade, Kerry Uses Eyebrow-raising Euphemism

Using a euphemism decried as misleading by public interest groups, Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that American diplomats routinely urge Middle Eastern governments to alter laws to placate multinational corporations and investors. At a “Middle East Commercial Center Leadership Dinner” at The US Chamber of Commerce, Kerry said Monday that the “elimination of non-tariff trade barriers” is one of many issues “that US officials raise constantly in conversations with our regional counterparts.” The term has featured heavily in the protracted negotiations over the Trans… Keep Reading

Leahy Blasts House GOP Over Sunshine Sunset

One of the authors of a transparency reform bill passed unanimously by the Senate took aim at House Republicans after the lower chamber recessed for the 113th Congress without acting on it. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a statement saying the legislation would have restricted the executive branch’s ability to withhold information from the public, and that should have made it congressional conservatives’ bread and butter. “I would think that members of the House Republican leadership, who have spent so much time on oversight of… Keep Reading

Wall Street “Cromnibus” Carried By Dems Who Received Most Cash From Banks Pushing It

As the fate of the “Cromnibus” hung in the balance on Thursday night, it was reported that widely-reviled JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon personally phoned Members of Congress to urge them to support the bill and the Trojan Horse deregulation it contains. Seventeen of those 56 House Democrats who answered the call–either literally or figuratively–were among party congresspeople to receive the twenty largest donations from Dimon’s bank during the last election cycle. Seven lawmakers changing their votes from “aye” to “nay” could have killed the bill. Of… Keep Reading

In Approving Islamic State Fight, Senate Panel Wants War on Terror Authorization to End

In authorizing military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday set the stage for a key War on Terror law to expire. An amendment paired with the resolution assembled by committee chair Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) would relinquish the post-9/11 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) in three years. “Those of use who were in Congress in 2001 never envisioned that authorization would still be utilized today the way it was utilized in thirty separate military operations,”… Keep Reading

NLRB Okays Online Labor Organizing Aikido

The National Labor Relations Board ruled Thursday that workers can use their bosses’ tools to organize against them. Sort of. Employees will be able to use work email systems in a bid to form unions after the board reversed a 2007 decision it made under the Bush administration. The NLRB also noted that e-organizing must not be met with additional surveillance by bosses. If employers regularly intercept their underlings’ communications, they will be allowed to continue the practice. But a company is forbidden from “increasing… Keep Reading

House Dems Unanimously Approve Backdoor Dodd-Frank Collateral Repeal

House Democrats unanimously supported a terrorism insurance bill that would hogtie regulators concerned with certain types of risky financial deals. The legislation passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 417-7, with the slim dissenting minority consisting entirely of Republicans. It contains a provision that would allow “non-financial firms” to deal with banks without putting up collateral–a move that could see corporate America and Wall Street enter agreements without crucial safeguards. Public Citizen financial policy advocate Bart Naylor said that the move might not have… Keep Reading

Surprise Right-wing “Aggressive Fantasies” Undermine Budget Talks

Congressional Republican leaders have been trying to cram items on a right-wing wish-list into annual year-end budgetary sausage-making. If one rider loosening restrictions on campaign donations is an indication, some of these eleventh hour insertions have come as a surprise, even to some on the right. “That’s a provision I’m going to have to look at in more detail,” Senate Appropriations Committee member John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said of the proposed rules Wednesday morning on C-SPAN. “Some of these negotiations came right down to the wire.” Hoeven… Keep Reading

After Torture Report, US Can’t Say If It’s Obeying International Agreements

The State Department could not say if the US is living up to its international legal obligations the day after an unclassified version of the Senate Intelligence Committee torture report was released to the public. Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Wednesday afternoon that she would have to consult with diplomatic legal consultants after reporters asked multiple questions on the issue. “We’re committed to complying with our international obligations,” Psaki said. When pressed by a reporter about the difference between commitment and compliance, she said that she “will check… Keep Reading

Fracking Will Only Add 1% to GDP By 2040 — And That Doesn’t Account For Environmental Damage

A government report released Tuesday throws cold water on claims that fracking could solve America’s labor market woes–and the findings didn’t even account for the possibility of environmental catastrophes. The Congressional Budget Office predicted that the exploitation of so-called shale resources will only increase Gross Domestic Product 0.66 percent by the end of the decade and 1 percent by 2040. It also said that fracking should increase federal tax revenues 0.75 percent by 2020 and 1 percent twenty years after that. In an appendix, the… Keep Reading

Kerry Invokes Bin Laden, 9/11 In Justifying Months-Old Islamic State War

Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday said that the former Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden was to blame for the United States’ current war against the Islamic State. Kerry made the remarks at a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing in which he often clashed with fellow Democrats about statutory limits to ongoing operations ordered by President Obama. Most Democrats on the committee and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed concerns that the administration’s desire for “flexibility” in seeking authorization for the use of military force against… Keep Reading

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