President Barack Obama on Friday cast the state of the economy in upbeat terms, declaring that it was headed in the right direction even as employers slashed payrolls last month for the first time in half a year. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent. “To every American who is looking for work, I promise you we’re going to keep on doing everything that we can,” Obama said. “I will do everything in my power to help our economy create jobs and opportunities for all people.”
Filed under: Policy
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Brady supports lowering state minimum wage
Republican governor candidate Sen. Bill Brady today said he supports lowering Illinois’ minimum wage if he wins in November and the state rate remains higher than the federal one. “For the state of Illinois to come in and micromanage wages above the federal minimum wage is a mistake,” Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, told reporters.
June 25, 2010 at 4:45 p.m.
Filed under: Banking, Credit Cards, Government, Mortgages, Policy, Regulations What financial reform means for you
As legislators on Capitol Hill trumpet a final agreement on sweeping financial reform, consumers might be wondering, “What’s in it for me?”
They will benefit in a big-picture way from many of the provisions in the bill, likely to be passed by Congress next week. It is meant to provide a more stable financial system, prevent government bailouts of banks and protect investors. Get the full story »
June 25, 2010 at 10:37 a.m.
Filed under: Banking, Exchanges, Government, Policy, Politics, Regulations Lawmakers reach a deal on financial reform
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) talks with a group including Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), left, during a recess from a committee conference on Wall Street reform. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Ending more than two weeks of often-contentious negotiations, House and Senate lawmakers reached agreement early Friday on the most far-reaching rewrite of financial rules since the Great Depression.
The final details, including creation of an agency to protect consumers in the financial marketplace and new regulations to reduce risk-taking by large banks and limit their trading of complex derivatives, were hashed out in a marathon 20-hour session that began Thursday morning.
Lawmakers on a joint conference committee labored until dawn reconciling House and Senate versions of the legislation in time for President Obama to brief foreign leaders on the completed deal at a major economic summit in Canada starting Friday.
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Even with new rules, life goes on for Wall Street
Despite historic changes to the rules on Wall Street from financial reform, banks like Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley won concessions that watered down the proposals that could have been most damaging to their profits, staving off a watershed overhaul like the one that took place after the Great Depression. Get the full story »
Senate scrutinizes DeVry, other for-profit colleges
Democratic senators sharply questioned Thursday whether for-profit colleges reaping huge amounts of federal aid dollars are delivering on promises to students and taxpayers.
The fast-growing for-profit college industry has faced increased scrutiny in recent months and is fighting greater government regulation, which it says will cut off access to education at the worst possible time. Get the full story »
Fed holds interest rates near zero
The Federal Reserve acknowledged a faltering pace of U.S. economic recovery on Wednesday as it renewed its vow to hold benchmark interest rates exceptionally low for an extended period.
In a statement at the end of a two-day meeting, the Fed scaled back its assessment of the pace of recovery, taking note of pockets of weakness, and issued a cautionary note about volatile financial markets in light of Europe’s debt woes. But it stuck to its expectation that the economy will continue to gradually emerge from the worst recession in decades. Get the full story »
Sources say ShoreBank bailout looks doubtful
From Fox Business News | Senior executives at major Wall Street banks say they doubt that community lender ShoreBank, despite its ties to the Obama White House, will be able to survive a government takeover and eventual liquidation that a bailout was designed to prevent. Just a few weeks ago, the officials thought they had contributed enough money to bail out the bank.
Daley applauds Wal-Mart wage moves
Mayor Richard Daley Tuesday applauded Wal-Mart’s offer to pay workers at Chicago stores at least $8.75 an hour, saying the retailer is showing it is willing to go beyond what it pays elsewhere in order to bring much-needed jobs and healthy food options into the city.
The pro-Wal-Mart stance by Daley comes ahead of Thursday’s key City Council Zoning Committee vote on whether to allow the giant retailer to open a second store within city limits following years of stalled expansion efforts. The $8.75 an hour figure is 50 cents more than minimum wage but 50 cents less than labor unions are seeking.
Congress nears deal on consumer protections
CNN | Lawmakers on Tuesday will consider a deal that would house a powerful new consumer finance regulator inside the Fed. The Senate and the House passed different versions of Wall Street reform legislation, and last week 43 lawmakers started melding the two bills together.
Lawmakers start meeting at 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday to consider consumer protection issues, as well as how to monitor risk in the financial system and how to fund a new process for taking down failing financial firms. Get the full story »
EPA pushes back enforcement of lead paint rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed until Oct. 1 the date by which contractors must be certified to safely remodel homes built before 1978 that may contain lead paint.
The Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, which involved specific safety precautions and criteria for contractor certification, took effect April 22. The agency has faced criticism for more than a year from remodelers’ trade groups that argued there was not adequate time to get firms certified.
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