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LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 48

With Key Trade Vote Looming, Supporters Entice the Undecided While Opponents Push to Expose Secret Deals

House members who haven’t made up their minds about President Obama’s trade agenda are this week in the middle of a tug-of-war before crucial Friday votes on the matter. Supporters of bestowing the president with Trade Promotion Authority are currently engaged in horsetrading with undecided Dems, while opponents of the deal from both parties are pushing transparency measures that they hope, if passed, would expose a bad deal. The on-the-fence bloc is currently rather significant, comprising roughly one-in-three House seats, according to an article published… Keep Reading

With T.P.P. and Fast Track in Limbo, Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Deregulatory Trade Agenda in Less Prominent T.I.S.A.

Wikileaks on Wednesday purported to publish details of ongoing negotiations over the Trade in Services Agreement in a move that could hand ammunition to opponents of President Obama’s trade agenda. While the President has repeatedly claimed, to much opposition, that his negotiators are currently finalizing “the most progressive trade deal in history” through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, critics say Wednesday’s publication reveals that his negotiators are seeking, through TISA, another vehicle through which regulators can be hamstrung. According to the leaked “Domestic Regulations Annex”, for example, the… Keep Reading

Elizabeth Warren Accuses S.E.C. Chief of Deliberately Giving Her “Misinformation” In Private Meeting

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Tuesday accused the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission of intentionally misleading her. Warren wrote to SEC chair Mary Jo White, saying that “there could not have been a misunderstanding” when the top federal regulator last month divulged to her, in a private meeting, bogus information about an impending rule. The regulation, which was mandated in 2010 by Dodd-Frank financial reform, would force a company that publicly trades securities to disclose the ratio in pay between its CEOs and its… Keep Reading

Yellen’s Number Two: Welfare Spending Crucial During Crisis If Congress Dithers on Stimulus and Aid

Welfare spending could insulate Americans against not just an economic collapse, but also against any Congressional inability to deal with such a calamity, the Federal Reserve’s second highest ranking official said on Monday. Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said that social safety net outlays triggered by changing economic conditions play a crucial role for policymakers trying to manage a sharp downturn “because the lags with which policy affects the economy may be relatively long.” Fischer noted that so-called “automatic stabilizers” can bridge “the lag between a… Keep Reading

Intellectual Grifter at Head of Senate Environment Committee Leads Charge Against E.P.A. Water Rules

Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reacted with indignation to a new interpretation of anti-pollution statutes revealed Wednesday by the Obama administration. Led by its science-illiterate committee chair Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), conservative members of the panel sounded off, declaring the Environmental Protection Agency measures to be the latest example of President Obama abusing executive branch authorities. “The EPA has set themselves up to increase federal control over private lands, and I will not allow it,” Inhofe said, in a statement released after… Keep Reading

Federal Government Incapable of Containing Animal Disease Outbreak, Watchdog Warns

The US government is ill-equipped to deal with a “devastating or highly contagious outbreak” on livestock and poultry farms, the Government Accountability Office warned in a report published Tuesday. The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is charged with responding to widespread animal illnesses, lacks “a detailed plan to augment or train its workforce to respond” to a major epidemic, and is also without sufficient staffing levels, the investigation concluded. Per a tabulation calculated earlier this fiscal year, APHIS… Keep Reading

Discontent Index Reaches Post-Collapse Low Again

The District Sentinel Discontent Index continued to fall in February but decelerated, dropping on a month-over-month basis by 0.58 points to 105.09, from 105.65 in January. The decline, though modest, meant that the measure fell to its lowest level since the worldwide financial collapse of 2008 for the second consecutive month. Falling most significantly, by 0.8 points to 29.14, was Labor Discontent. Housing Discontent fell by a mere 0.04 points to 105.09, while Consumer Discontent actually increased by 0.58 to 31.64. The labor subcomponent dropped… Keep Reading

Sen. Orrin Hatch Is Opposed To T.P.P.—He Just Doesn’t Realize It

One of the main arguments leveled against the Trans Pacific Partnership is that it could weaken domestic safeguards for workers and the environment through international dispute settlements. By allowing international courts, open only to investors’ complaints, to penalize governments for passing regulations deemed out of compliance with the deal, critics warn the TPP will undermine important oversight functions and national sovereignty. Which is why it was odd that one of the biggest supporters of the TPP, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), made the exact same argument… Keep Reading

I Got Your “Fact And Scrutiny” Right Here, Pal: Sen. Warren Issues T.P.P. Report After Obama Accuses Her of Lies

Last week, nasty infighting between Democrats broke out over President Obama’s public claim that Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Ma.) criticism of his trade agenda didn’t pass “the test of fact and scrutiny.” Warren’s progressive ally, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) charged that the president was acting in a sexist way, and the White House subsequently demanded an apology from Brown. Warren, meanwhile, remained silent on the matter. But on Monday her office issued what can only be seen as a de facto response to President Obama’s broad criticism… Keep Reading

Bernie Still Can’t Get Respect From Democratic Leadership

In an interview that aired on Friday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid seemed to forget that his colleague and caucus member, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is running for President, commenting that Hillary Clinton “has a clear field” to the nomination. “Right now we have Hillary Clinton. And that’s it. There’s not another Barack Obama out there. There are no all-stars out there,” Reid told MSNBC anchor Jose Diaz-Balart, according to an interview transcript reported on by The Hill. Reid added that he’s “glad” that Clinton… Keep Reading

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