LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 52

The Senate completed an annual series of symbolic “Vote-a-rama” budget roll calls early Friday morning, giving hints at reforms and policy tweaks that could pass the 114th Congress. Out of the 58 “deficit neutral reserve fund” legislative placeholder amendments attached to the budget, senators approved of five by unanimous consent. Voting on the amendments started Tuesday. The purely domestic measures to pass the sideshow without opposition were Federal Water Pollution Control Act tweaks proposed by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a bill aimed at strengthening veterans’ healthcare… Keep Reading

The Senate bucked majority leadership on Thursday to pass a symbolic vote in favor of paid sick days. In defiance of Senate Budget Committee chair Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Republicans joined Democrats to to approve of the resolution 61-39. The amendment to establish a “deficit neutral reserve fund” for paid sick time, proposed by Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), came amid an annual theatric series of budget resolutions—the creatively named “Vote-a-rama.” Politico described the yearly string of votes as a… Keep Reading

Opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is likely to grow following the unauthorized disclosure of draft provisions that call into question the administration’s assessment of the deal. Wikileaks on Thursday published the material, the Investment Chapter, to the working TPP. The documents detail how the much-maligned Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) tribunal will be structured to provide multinational corporations tools to challenge signatory nations’ laws. Although there have been prior leaks of sensitive TPP-related documents, these come at a critical juncture–with the veil of… Keep Reading

Republicans foiled a bid led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to attach student debt relief to a budget resolution, in a Wednesday vote that was split strictly along party lines. The amendment would have permitted students who opened lines of credits backed by the Treasury Department to refinance debt at lower interest rates. It would have also been paid for by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. “The cost of the amendment is fully offset by requiring millionaires to pay at least a 30 percent… Keep Reading

The complete dysfunction in Washington caused by conservatives’ obstinate approach to federal debt is a reason to sell part of the government itself to corporate interests, a Republican committee chair said Tuesday. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said that “a governance and financing structure that is broken beyond repair” should force the Federal Aviation Administration to privatize part of the nation’s air traffic control system. The appeal to sell off management of the system, Shuster said, does not result from “an indictment… Keep Reading

The nation’s aging fleet of atomic power plants is safe in a post-Fukushima world, members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. But one lawmaker wasn’t easily convinced. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said she is concerned that the lack of uniformity among plants makes it exceedingly difficult for regulators to do their job, and elevates the chances that problems could mushroom should something go wrong. She pointed to a nuclear nation like France, which, using technology from Westinghouse, has near… Keep Reading

The Obama administration’s highest ranking immigration official last week attempted to walk back remarks intoning she supports a controversial enforcement policy that blurs lines between local police forces and the federal government. But her efforts to clarify her position did not impress one immigrants’ rights group working to uncover more information about an emerging Department of Homeland Security immigration program. “The fact that the President has ostensibly offered relief to some immigrants does not excuse his policies which criminalize other immigrants,” Pablo Alvarado, executive director… Keep Reading

In an otherwise heated intra-party debate, House Democrats playfully accused the White House’s leading trade negotiator of abusing cannabis before making “bullshit” arguments about trade. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said Thursday that US Trade Representative Michael Froman, when talking to Democratic lawmakers about the administration’s agenda, is “baffling them with bullshit,” while Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) wondered aloud whether Froman was at least one toke over the line. “Perhaps he has gotten access under DC’s new legalization law to some marijuana and he’s filling in gaps… Keep Reading

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced Wednesday that it has unanimously decided to increase the probability it will soon raise key interest rates. Board Chair Janet Yellen said that the the central bank has altered its forecasts, but that any raise in the federal funds rate will be “data dependent.” A Fed press release noted that its Federal Open Market Committee “anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when it has seen further improvement in… Keep Reading

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday gave insight into how the administration intends to sell its trade agenda to the left, two days before other cabinet-level officials will hold closed-door meetings with Congressional Democrats on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Lew’s remarks show how the White House is laboring to make the passage of “fast-track” legislation–a prerequisite to TPP advancement–more palatable to Democrats by paying lip service to trade-related anxieties, on one hand, while failing to be completely forthright about the multilateral deals it seeks.… Keep Reading

In the aftermath of the financial meltdown, a considerable amount of public outrage was directed at banking executives who walked away from taxpayer-protected institutions they pillaged with enormous bonuses. Roughly a half-decade later, calls are growing louder to make sure that doesn’t happen again. In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, ten different organizations including think tanks, labor unions, and public interest groups, called for new rules aimed at snatching short-term bonuses away from executives responsible for long-term rot. “The premise… Keep Reading