LABOR, ECONOMY & THE CLIMATE - page 61

While the Senate infamously passed one deregulatory measure sneaked into the year-end spending bill, it scuppered another. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act died in the upper chamber before the holiday recess started Tuesday . With it went down a measure that would forbid regulators from imposing “margin requirements” on “non-financial” corporations–rules, in layman’s terms, that force non-banks to put up collateral when dealing with banks. But Senate Democrats have a Republican to thank for sparing them possible blushes. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) refused to grant unanimous… Keep Reading

President Obama’s pick for Surgeon General was approved by the Senate Monday night, after right-wing political theater staged before the holiday recess went awry. Vivek Murthy, a nominee who had previously been held up by Republicans for his views on gun control, was approved in a 51-43 vote split along partisan lines with some exceptions. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) crossed the aisle to join Democrats, while Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) disapproved of Murthy. The vote never should have happened.… Keep Reading

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the nation’s airliners over rising ticket prices, but according to a government watchdog the problem is less about competition and more about corporatism. “At a time when the cost of fuel is plummeting and profits are rising, it is curious and confounding that ticket prices are sky-high and defying economic gravity,” Sen. Schumer said in a press release on Monday. At $55.91 a barrel, oil is at its lowest price since… Keep Reading

As the fate of the “Cromnibus” hung in the balance on Thursday night, it was reported that widely-reviled JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon personally phoned Members of Congress to urge them to support the bill and the Trojan Horse deregulation it contains. Seventeen of those 56 House Democrats who answered the call–either literally or figuratively–were among party congresspeople to receive the twenty largest donations from Dimon’s bank during the last election cycle. Seven lawmakers changing their votes from “aye” to “nay” could have killed the bill. Of… Keep Reading

The National Labor Relations Board ruled Thursday that workers can use their bosses’ tools to organize against them. Sort of. Employees will be able to use work email systems in a bid to form unions after the board reversed a 2007 decision it made under the Bush administration. The NLRB also noted that e-organizing must not be met with additional surveillance by bosses. If employers regularly intercept their underlings’ communications, they will be allowed to continue the practice. But a company is forbidden from “increasing… Keep Reading

Millions of Americans with medical debt are being treated unfairly by credit ratings agencies, and subsequently have their livelihoods hindered, according to a government report published Thursday. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) blamed “complexity” and a “lack of transparency” for the growing prevalence of medical debt, which now accounts for more than half of all individual obligations reported to national credit ratings agencies. The bureau also found that 20 percent of those with a credit score, or 43 million Americans, have some sort of… Keep Reading

House Democrats unanimously supported a terrorism insurance bill that would hogtie regulators concerned with certain types of risky financial deals. The legislation passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 417-7, with the slim dissenting minority consisting entirely of Republicans. It contains a provision that would allow “non-financial firms” to deal with banks without putting up collateral–a move that could see corporate America and Wall Street enter agreements without crucial safeguards. Public Citizen financial policy advocate Bart Naylor said that the move might not have… Keep Reading