LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 5

The recent wild fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrencies has the Senate Banking Committee probing potential consequences. The panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on virtual currencies early next month, committee leaders announced last week. And at a Wednesday hearing on the Bank Secrecy Act, some members voiced concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering. Bitcoin, the most prominent of virtual currencies, saw its value explode 800 percent in the second half of last year. Roughly half of the spike occurred in… Keep Reading

President Trump’s second pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged that he oversaw the jacking up of drug prices, as as a pharmaceutical executive. Alex Azar deflected criticism from Democrats on Tuesday, while testifying before the Senate Finance Committee. The nominee said high prices were a systemic problem, and that he wasn’t personally responsible for the trend, as the former President of Eli Lily. “I don’t know that there is any drug price of a branded product that has ever gone… Keep Reading

Congress appears poised to finally ensure that millions of kids who rely on the federal government for healthcare won’t have to depend on the legislative process for the rest of President Trump’s first term. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) touted a proposed five-year renewal of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday morning. CHIP expired in October, as Congressional Republicans scrambled to ram through landmark reductions to the corporate tax rate before the end of the year. “This month, we can set this right”… Keep Reading

A bill that would grant money to the Children’s Health Insurance Program for three months is making its way through Congress, as part of a deal to avert a government shutdown. The proposal would keep CHIP funded until March 31, 2018. The program expired in October and has not been renewed since—to much criticism from Democrats, as Republicans ate up the legislative calendar passing a major permanent tax break for corporations. House Democrats are expected to vote against the deal—a continuing resolution that would keep… Keep Reading

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved of an overhaul of the US tax code, sending reforms that will overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the wealthy to President Trump’s desk for signature. It was the final congressional hurdle for a piece of legislation that is unpopular with the American people, and defies the GOP’s stated concerns about fiscal responsibility, by adding an additional $1.4 trillion of red ink to the national debt. “Nobody knows the answer to that question because that’s in the future,” Ryan said… Keep Reading

Senate Democrats are vowing to filibuster an impending must-pass funding bill, if it includes add-on proposals that would undermine environmental regulations. Forty-two members of the Democratic Senate Caucus say they lodge “strong opposition to any riders” included in proposed funding packages “that would gut bedrock US environmental laws.” The federal government is set–yet again–to run out of money on Friday. Forty lawmakers in the upper chamber can filibuster any bill that would keep the government open. The Democratic Senators cited several House Republican proposals that have already… Keep Reading

A watchdog report released Wednesday criticized the Pentagon for not taking enough precautions to deal with climate change-induced damage at military sites around the world. Although the Department of Defense has previously acknowledged that a warming planet poses a threat to its operations, it hasn’t done the legwork in evaluating those threats on a site-by-site basis, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). And when finally confronted on the damage climate change is already inflicting on sites around the world, the military is adopting a position… Keep Reading

The Trump administration is refusing to even respond to a public information request on climate science, accusing a public non-profit of trying to trigger an “endless fishing expedition.” Lawyers for the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency made the claim in response to a lawsuit brought by the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The organization had filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to determine what sort of analysis EPA head Scott Pruitt relied on–when making declarative statements about climate… Keep Reading

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised the heat on Republicans’ scramble this week to keep the government funded. The two Senators called on their colleagues to increase spending on the neglected, patchwork federal safety net, and threatened to withhold support for a push to avert a government shutdown. The US government runs out of money on Friday. Congressional Republicans are hoping to pass a two-week extension of funding, while simultaneously attempting to finalize watershed legislation that would slash corporate tax rates. “The Republicans… Keep Reading

Divisions within the Democratic Party were laid bare on Tuesday, as the Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 to grant relief to some of the largest financial institutions in the country. The left-wing of the party, led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), questioned the merits of both the process and the substance of the legislative package, clashing with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Centrist Democrats, including Mark Warner (D-Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana), defended their proposals as… Keep Reading