LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 44

A former White House communications director claimed that a key shift in the Obama administration’s approach to labor policy occurred just months after the Occupy Wall Street movement started. Dan Pfeiffer said in an article published Monday morning that a December 2011 presidential speech in Kansas can be seen as a watershed moment in the Obama era. “Perhaps the most substantively important speech of the Obama presidency was the Osawatomie speech in 2011,” Pfeiffer said, in a Times trend piece detailing a recent rash of… Keep Reading

The economic effects of a free trade deal being negotiated by the administration will remain secret for a decade because of national security implications, according to claims made by the nation’s trade czar. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the US International Trade Commission (ITC) analysis he recently requested on plans to lift tariffs on over 400 environmentally damaging products should remain classified for a decade. Froman’s request for a study on the unstable commodities, which include toxic insecticides and nuclear reactor parts, was revealed by… Keep Reading

A leading government economic analyst said Tuesday that global financial markets’ chaotic start to the week have not thus far impacted his office’s outlook. Congressional Budget Office Director Keith Hall described the worldwide dip in stock market indexes that occurred Monday as routine over the long-run. He made the remarks during a press conference announcing updated CBO data that is predicting the federal deficit will this year be less than previously believed by $60 billion. “With respect to the stock market, I’m not sure we… Keep Reading

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest claimed Monday that regulations implemented since President Obama took office will likely stop the ongoing global financial turmoil from being as severe as the crisis of 2008. Earnest said that rules mandated in 2010 by Dodd-Frank financial reform have the left the US more able to cope with market hiccups like the current global panic. On Monday, investors around the world participated in an asset fire informed by increasingly vocal concerns about the underlying health of China’s economy. The… Keep Reading

A bid by the US government to root conflict minerals out of consumer goods has fallen short, with most companies admitting that they have no clue about source origins, according to a federal watchdog report. The Government Accountability Office reviewed new disclosures from companies having to file, for the first time ever, information about where they derive tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold—minerals known to originate from conflict-ridden zones in war-torn countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Based on a review sample of the… Keep Reading

Republican Presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker gave his outsider image a boost on Tuesday when he promised to close a legal loophole that doesn’t exist. While unveiling his alternative to Obamacare in Minnesota, Walker said he would prod the legislative branch to repeal the landmark law by ordering the removal of a Congressional exemption that has been repeatedly described as fictitious by non-partisan fact-checkers. “On my very first day, I will issue an executive order that will pull back on the special deal… Keep Reading

An investigation by the Department of the Interior uncovered serious safety oversight lapses aboard a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2012, Sean Granger, an employee of Pioneer Energy Services, Inc., was found by the department to have illegally manipulated readings on the rig’s blowout gauge in order to “compensate for poorly functioning testing equipment.” The sleight of hand, interior said, made it it impossible for inspectors to determine if the device was working properly. The discrepancies were discovered during a “routine inspection” by the department’s Bureau… Keep Reading

Republican Presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Monday that he wouldn’t spare his own party from attacks, if elected. Walker made the remarks while campaigning at the Iowa State fair as part of an attempt to portray himself as a scrappy outsider. “They told you during the last election that if we just elected a Republican senate, the leadership would put a bill to repeal Obamacare on the desk of the president,” he said. “It’s August. We’re still waiting for that measure.” The… Keep Reading

Wind energy prices reached new lows in 2014 but the sector still remains in the long run almost entirely at the mercy of tax policymakers in Congress, the Department of Energy said Monday. The department said in a report on the industry that retail prices for wind energy have fallen to about one-third of their 2009 peak and that the source is “competitive with wholesale power prices” in the interior of the country, but warned that “a possible policy cliff awaits” wind producers. “With the [production… Keep Reading

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) evened the score with Hillary Clinton in national labor union endorsements after securing the support of the National Nurses United. The organization, which boasts a membership of 185,000, announced the endorsement during an event in Oakland, Calif. on Monday. “He’s real. He’s authentic. That’s why we’re supporting him,” said NNU’s executive director RoseAnn DeMoro. “Bernie’s issues align with nurses from top to bottom,” she added, citing Sanders’ support for a single-payer healthcare system, his focus on climate change,… Keep Reading