Needed: A Size Cap on Big Banks
One of the major flaws with the financial reform bill that passed the House last week is that it does nothing to stop behemoth banks from growing even bigger.
Corporations
Rewarding Failure
Submitted by Mary Bottari on
In a stunning report that will give every fired Joe and failed small businessman pause, a new Public Citizen review shows that the CEOs of 10 failed Wall Street firms were paid an average of $28.9 million per year in the years leading up to the Wall Street meltdown.
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Blue Cross Working to Make Health Care Reform Unconstitutional
Submitted by Anne Landman on
Health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield has been quietly working with the conservative, pro-business front group, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to pass legislation that uses the issue of states' rights as a pretext for declaring healthcare reform unconstitutional.
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Democrats Weaken Financial Reform Package Before Debate Even Begins
The long-anticipated debate on financial services reform was scheduled to begin on the House floor yesterday. But in a bad sign for reformers, conservative Democrats managed to wring damaging concessions out of House leadership before the debate even began.
Job Creation Takes Center Stage in Washington
There was some good news out of Washington yesterday for a change. The President hosted a high-profile summit on jobs and Congress started work on a Wall Street speculation tax to help pay for a new jobs bill.
Led by Oregon Representative Pete DeFazio and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a group of lawmakers introduced a measure sure to drive Wall Street crazy.
Chrysler (Fiat) Breaks Pledge on Electric Cars
Reuters recently reported that Chrysler's new foreign owner, Fiat, has disbanded its "Envi" environmental division "dedicated to rushing a range of electric vehicles to showrooms." This "marks a major reversal for Chrysler, which had used its as part of the case for a $12.5 billion federal aid package."
Indeed, a pledge to become more innovative and make electric cars more readily available to consumers was a major part of the case for taxpayer assistance that then-CEO Robert Nardelli made to the US House Committee on Financial Services in his testimony on behalf of Chrysler on November 18, 2008 and December 4, 2008. For example, in his December statement, Nardelli said, ". . . we expect that 500,000 Chrysler electric-drive vehicles will be on the road by 2013." And, in a December 15, 2008 interview with CNN Money, Lou Rhodes, Chrysler's Vice President for Advanced Vehicle Engineering, insisted that "electric cars aren't just a side-show or a public relations move for Chrysler, but a major strategic move."
Anniversary Sparks Renewed Efforts to Break Up the Banks
Thursday, November 12th marks the ten year anniversary of the repeal of the depression-era Glass-Steagall Act that protected consumers from casino-style gambling on Wall Street and prevented significant financial crises for almost 60 years. As Congress took up a series of bills this fall to restore confidence in the financial sector, notably lacking were any bills to break up the big banks and restore Glass-Steagall protections.
Newsweek Is Neck Deep in Oil & Conflicts
TPM Muckraker has exposed the fact that Newsweek is teaming up with the American Petroleum Institute (API) to host a "briefing" for Members of Congress on climate and energy policy.
"For Better or Worse" - Geithner, Goldman, and AIG
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has trouble understanding that the core responsibility of any federal official is to be thrifty with taxpayer dollars. This has been confirmed with new revelations from Bloomberg about Geithner's role in the secret AIG-Goldman bailout.
House Panel Calls Out Energy Astroturfers for Corrupting Democratic Process
Submitted by Anne Landman on
The House Global Warming Committee conducted a hearing to investigate the astroturf lobbying firm Bonner and Associates, which las
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