US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1576

We should all do so well while under assault.

JPMorgan Chase earned $4.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, the company announced on Wednesday, down from a year ago, but capping what CEO Jamie Dimon called a record year for the biggest U.S. bank by assets.

Despite this success, Dimon warned that "banks are under assault," from government regulators.

"In the old days," Dimon said, "you dealt with one regulator when you had an issue, maybe two. “Now it’s five or six. It makes it very difficult and very complicated.

"You all should ask the question about how American that is. And how fair that is," he added. "And how complex that is for companies."

The biggest U.S. bank by assets has had its fair share of trouble with regulators in recent years. In the fourth quarter, JPMorgan paid $1.1 billion to settle charges by U.S. and foreign regulators that its traders had manipulated currency markets. In those settlements, J.P. Morgan did not admit nor deny any wrongdoing.

"Obviously, companies make mistakes," Dimon said on Wednesday. "We try to resolve it, we try to fix it, we admit it."

In the past two years, JPMorgan has paid out $14 billion in settlements and fines related to the London Whale trading losses, manipulating the key interest rate benchmark Libor, and issuing bad mortgages that helped lead to the financial crisis.

"In the old days," Dimon said, "you dealt with one regulator when you had an issue, maybe two. “Now it’s five or six. It makes it very difficult and very complicated.

On January 15 2015 09:20 Simberto wrote:


Maybe that is just me, but that sounds suspiciously like "Before, i just had to bribe one dude and the problem would go away. Now that there are more, it becomes way harder

Poor banks. All that evil regulation, after they proved how well they dealt with stuff unregulated just a few years ago.

On January 15 2015 09:20 Simberto wrote:


Maybe that is just me, but that sounds suspiciously like "Before, i just had to bribe one dude and the problem would go away. Now that there are more, it becomes way harder

Poor banks. All that evil regulation, after they proved how well they dealt with stuff unregulated just a few years ago.

On January 15 2015 09:55 GreenHorizons wrote:

It's not just you. Of course I think bribing is being a bit generous. Manipulating and tricking is probably closer to what they were doing.

It's harder to get one over on more people than it is on less people who are more overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the work.

On January 15 2015 10:00 Millitron wrote:

Sometimes its easier to fool lots of people than a few people. Eventually, you fool enough that the one's you've fooled start fighting your battles for you.

On January 15 2015 09:32 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

They were never unregulated. Many people think that banks would face stricter and more coherent regulation if there were fewer regulators rather than more (less regulatory arbitrage).

Reflexively opposing anything a bank complains about isn't always wise.

On January 15 2015 09:32 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

They were never unregulated. Many people think that banks would face stricter and more coherent regulation if there were fewer regulators rather than more (less regulatory arbitrage).

Reflexively opposing anything a bank complains about isn't always wise.

On January 15 2015 11:43 Sub40APM wrote:

Many people out of Chicago. Sure. They also think rich people should get positive payments instead of taxes because they are more productive. Thats the magic of belief.

An "accountability board" assembled by the CIA has cleared five of the agency's employees of any wrongdoing related to improperly accessing the Senate Intelligence Committee emails and computer network. Sen. Dianne Feinstein says the breach violated the Constitution.

NPR's David Welna reports:

"The five-member Agency Accountability board, which included three veteran CIA officers, told the top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that the CIA officials who broke into the panel's computer system had acted 'reasonably.'

"That contradicted CIA inspector general David Buckley, who concluded the five officials had acted improperly. Buckley is quitting as the CIA's internal watchdog at the end of the month."

The board said personnel from the CIA general consul's office and IT department had not tampered with any of the panel's "work product" and were instead "investigating a potential security breach in the highly classified shared computer network," said former Sen. Evan Bayh, who led the review.

The report stems from a very public disagreement between the CIA and members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that was sparked by the panel's exhaustive review of the CIA's interrogation techniques, renditions, and other activities (the panel's report was finally released last month).

On January 15 2015 13:59 Danglars wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWKdGkG30uo

Boehner shows signs of life. I guess he felt it was time to look active on a conservative position, now that midterms have handed him the biggest Republican majority in the house since before FDR.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will deliver the GOP response to President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced at the House and Senate GOP retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

"Sen. Ernst brings a unique perspective to the Senate. She is a mother, a soldier and an independent leader who serves in Washington because Americans voted for change in the last election, and Joni understands that middle-class Americans want Congress to get back to work and that they want Washington to get refocused on their concerns, instead of those of the political class,” McConnell said in a statement Thursday.

Ernst was elected to the Senate in November, becoming the first woman elected to federal office from Iowa. She said she's "truly honored" to deliver the GOP address.

President Barack Obama on Thursday renewed his push for paid leave for parents and other workers, signing a memorandum directing federal agencies to advance workers six weeks of paid sick leave.

Obama, who will make a new push on the issue, beginning with the State of the Union address he delivers Tuesday night, said he is astonished that so many people don’t receive such benefits. "How can we support working families so they have the tools to succeed in this new economy?" Obama said at a Baltimore cafe that offers earned sick leave to its small workforce. He and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., had discussed balancing work and family with a group of women there. Obama said the issue transcends demographics and geography. "We really can do something about it," he said.

Obama will call on Congress, states and cities to pass measures to allow tens of millions of workers to earn up to a week of paid sick time a year. He'll also ask Congress for more than $2 billion to encourage states to create paid family and medical leave programs.

In addition, Obama will take steps to provide federal employees with up to six weeks of paid sick leave to care for a new child. And he'll propose that Congress pass legislation to give federal workers an additional six weeks of paid parental leave.

Details on how Obama would raise the $2 billion will be released next month.

Obama said the Baltimore cafe owner has offered above-minimum-wage pay and earned sick leave to all employees since opening in late 2010. He said that type of investment "pays dividends" and cited reduced turnover as one benefit.

Obama wants Congress to pass legislation, sponsored since 2005 by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., to allow workers to earn up to a week of paid sick leave to care for themselves or a sick family member, obtain preventive care or deal with domestic violence. Workers would earn an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work. Employers that already provide paid sick time would not have to change their policies as long as the time earned can be used for the same purposes.

Republicans in Congress are doing a 180 on net neutrality as the Federal Communications Commission prepares to issue new rules within weeks.

For years, GOP lawmakers have adamantly opposed any rules requiring Internet service providers to treat all Web traffic equally, calling them unnecessary and an example of Washington overreach.

But now that the FCC is moving toward issuing a tough net neutrality order that would subject broadband to utility-style regulation — an approach endorsed by President Barack Obama — top Republicans in both chambers are making plans to legislate their own rules to ensure the agency doesn’t go too far.

“Times have changed,” Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the chairman of the House telecom subcommittee, said when asked about the evolving GOP position on net neutrality. “The administration has latched onto this [utility-style regulation], and the FCC’s independence is nominal at best.”

According to Walden, the Republican bill — which “is ready” and will be released in the coming days — “gives the protections that the president and FCC say they want, and does it in a legally sustainable way.”

Walden and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) announced late Wednesday that they plan to hold double-header hearings on net neutrality next week, and Thune laid out set of principles that will guide them as they craft the legislation.

The language Republicans are using to talk about their proposed bill illustrates just how far the GOP has come on the issue. The principles embrace and even bolster ideas that were once controversial in Republican circles, like banning “paid prioritization,” the practice of charging content companies for an online fast lane.

Thune’s principles also include bans on blocking or throttling Web traffic and extending net neutrality protections to wireless networks, an idea put forward by Obama and congressional Democrats.

At the same time, the GOP measure would tie the FCC’s hands, prohibiting it from reclassifying broadband as a utility under Title II of the Communications Act, or using other sections of the law to create new rules.

Still, the fact that Republicans are even talking about legislating net neutrality marks a stark departure from their past position.


Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/republicans-congress-net-neutrality-fcc-114296.html?hp=c2_3

On January 16 2015 16:40 Souma wrote:


Well I'll be...