LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 20

Ballot initiatives on minimum wage increases and marijuana legalization were approved by voters in a number of states on Tuesday night, despite Republicans’ jarring gains in representative elections. Measures that would increase the minimum wage were approved in Washington, Colorado, Maine and Arizona. Voters in Washington backed a move to raise the hourly wage floor to $13.50, while the other three states got behind increases to $12 per hour. The hikes will be phased in over the next four years. Voters, meanwhile, backed referenda that… Keep Reading

After an appalling rebuke of the political establishment on Tuesday night, the nation is girding itself for a Donald Trump presidency. The Republican Party, meanwhile, is eyeing the opportunities they will have in January, with the GOP set to take control of the both houses of congress and the White House. “I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans,” Hillary Clinton said Wednesday morning, publicly conceding the election to Trump. She had already privately phoned her rival in the early morning hours, after… Keep Reading

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Wells Fargo in the wake of the bank’s account falsification scandal. The company disclosed to investors on Thursday that the stock market regulator is among the bodies inquiring into its sales practices, according to CNBC. The revelation came roughly 12 hours after The Wall Street Journal broke news of the development. SEC officials have asked the bank for documentation and the agency’s fact-finding is still at an “early stage,” WSJ reported. In September, it was… Keep Reading

President Obama’s top trade negotiator said on Tuesday that he is hopeful the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be approved by Congress, during its upcoming lame duck session. “If they bring it forward, I think we can get the votes there,” US Trade Representative Michael Froman said Tuesday, in an interview on CNBC. “This trade agreement eliminates 18,000 taxes on our exports,” Froman also claimed, “and members of Congress are starting to see that.” The outlook contrasted with a more cautious tone struck in late… Keep Reading

Donald Trump’s campaign stump speech routinely name-checks China as a foreign bogeyman that’s stealing American jobs and wealth. On Tuesday, the East Asian power slightly jabbed back at the GOP nominee. According to Reuters, China’s top climate change negotiator criticized Trump’s pledge to shred the Paris Agreement—a pact was approved by more than 190 nations last year in an effort to reduce rising global temperatures. “I believe a wise political leader should take policy stances that conform with global trends,” Xie Zhenhua told reporters, responding to… Keep Reading

Two weeks before election day, the Obama administration confirmed that insurance premiums are set to increase by double-digits next year, despite the President’s signature healthcare reform law. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported Monday that in 39 states where the government has set up Affordable Care Act exchanges, the average cost of purchasing the benchmark health insurance policy will rise by 25 percent next year. “It’s over for Obamacare,” Donald Trump said on the campaign trail Monday night, striking a tune that Republican… Keep Reading

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called on the Justice Department to reject a settlement that it reached earlier this month with Mylan, over accusations that the federal government is one of many customers that the pharmaceutical giant ripped off. Blumenthal said that the $465 million deal was “far less than $700 million in harm” estimated to have been done to public finances, after Mylan jacked up the price of the Epipen. Outrage spread over the hikes in August, in the wake of media reports about the increased… Keep Reading

After it was caught accepting direct payments, lavish vacations, and sports tickets from a drug company seeking to improperly boost profits, Omnicare Inc. has agreed to a settlement with the US Department of Justice. The nation’s largest nursing home pharmacy will pay $28 million for its role in a massive kickback scheme perpetrated by drug manufacturer Abbott Laboratories dating back six years. “Omnicare solicited and received kickbacks from Abbott in exchange for recommending that physicians prescribe Depakote, an anti-epileptic drug manufactured by Abbott, to elderly nursing home… Keep Reading

Investment bankers look set to water down a Dodd-Frank rule designed to snuff out the proliferation of toxic financial products. Players on Wall Street are preparing to minimize the impact of the so-called “skin in the game” rule by setting up affiliated companies to satisfy requirements on risk-sharing, according to The Wall Street Journal. The legal framework, which was finalized by the Obama administration in 2014, is set to take effect on Christmas Eve. The regulations require those who sell Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) to hold onto… Keep Reading

Congressional Democrats believe that they can not only recapture the Senate, but a House Majority, in the wake of Donald Trump’s latest meltdown. House Democratic electioneers told The Washington Post on Monday evening that internal polls conducted the night before reveal Republican legislators confronting “a backlash regardless of whether they continued to support Trump or not.” Surveys conducted after the second presidential debate by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) show their candidates have “a 12-point edge if the Republican recently withdrew their support from… Keep Reading