CEOs pitch plan to Washington, ask for second look on healthcare and financial regulatory reform

Regulations hurt competitiveness: business group
The Business Roundtable, which includes chief executives from top U.S. firms, said the Dodd-Frank bill passed earlier this year will be costly to implement and won't be effective. "What we want to do is stop, take a breather, fix those things that won't work the way they were intended to do," Ivan Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications as well as chairman of the business group. The Business Roundtable said it was initiating "a conversation" with the administration on five broad a...

Regulations hurt competitiveness: business group
WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 8, 2010 9:40am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A prominent U.S. business group on Wednesday urged the Obama Administration to consider modifying some provisions of a broad-based financial regulatory overhaul that they said hurt American competitiveness. The Business Roundtable, which includes chief executives from top U.S. firms, said the Dodd-Frank bill passed earlier this year will be costly to implement and won't be effective. "What we want to do is stop, take a breather, f...

Let's not foreclose on financial reform | Beth Wellington
This past week saw much coverage of the 1 December loan disclosures from the Federal Reserve, as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, so named because it was sponsored by Representative Barney Frank (Democrat, Massachusetts), shepherded by Senator Chris Dodd (Democrat, Connecticut) and signed into law on 21 July by President Obama, as a legislative response to the last two years' economic meltdown engendered by the sub-prime Mortgage debacle. Less reported w...

Top CEOs Offer Roadmap for Growth
By Elizabeth Williamson The Business Roundtable released a “Roadmap for Growth” – a 26-page manifesto on what the nation’s biggest multinational companies want from government before they start hiring again. The asks, according to the Roundtable’s summary: - Fiscal Policy and Competitive Taxation: Redesign the Corporate Tax system to promote investment and strengthen U.S. competitiveness in the international economy, and undertake significant reforms to reduce Government Spe

Jobless claims fall, near lowest level of the year
First-time claims for jobless aid fell by 17,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 421,000 in the week ending Dec. 4, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure, dropped for the fifth straight week to 427,500. That's the lowest since August 2008, just before the Financial Crisis intensified with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Claims have fallen steadily in the past two months. Applications dropped to 410,000 two weeks ago—the Lowest Level in more...

Some health insurers raising rates again
Some Health Insurers are bumping up rates yet again to reflect changes mandated by the new federal health overhaul law as well as state reforms that will go into effect Jan. 1. Blue Shield of California, for example, has sent letters informing customers with individual policies that their premiums will go up in the low single digits because of the federal law. Some of those same policyholders also could see their rates go up as much as an additional 17.7 percent to account for a new state law...

The Second Annual PUK Awards, Installment Deux
This is the second batch of entries for iOwnTheWorld's PUK awards (click here for Part One). Washington (DRNS) - Citing concerns over plummeting poll numbers, the Democrat National Committee today unveiled Postracialosaurus, its new mascot designed to appeal to Liberals and Children. "Our hope is that we can really pump up turnout with 'Postie'," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), "that's what our focus groups told us and that's what we believe." "Look at that Insurance company's caveman and liz...

It's Time for President Obama to Become a Leader
The president's Professorial approach to issues has left Americans wondering what he stands for. He needs to find his Berlin Wall and take a stand on something. Who is President Barack Obama? The question gives you pause, doesn't it? That's because there is no quick or obvious answer. This circumstance, more than any other, is a critical problem for Obama as he prepares for the 112th Congress to assume office. We still don't know who Obama is, what he is committed to and what he truly stands for...

While His Base Rages, Obama Faces Tax-cut Reality
Reality strikes. Barack Obama spurned the advice of columnists Paul Krugman and Katrina vanden Heuvel and agreed with Republicans to extend the current Income Tax rates -- the so-called Bush Tax Cuts -- for another two years. He got a few things in return, primarily extended Unemployment Benefits for another 13 months, and agreed as well to a 2 percent cut in the Social Security Payroll Tax. But he recognized the reality that in order to prevent a Tax Increase on those with incomes under $250...

If The Deal Fails
Ed Kilgore asks Liberals to think a couple moves ahead: [P]ersonally, I consider ever-worsening economic inequality the great undiscussed issue of our time, and think the abolition of estate taxes would be morally obscene. But those who urge a course of action that makes these positions non-negotiable have a responsibility to game-plan this out a bit in terms of real-life consequences. "Fighting" is not a strategy; nor is "drawing a line in the sand." No rebellion is going ...

Derrick Ashong: Don't Retreat, Reboot - Obama 2.0
I don't have to tell you how most Progressives feel today. It's in all the papers, it's all over Cable News and the blogosphere is on fire beneath our fingers. I spent yesterday morning commiserating with a number of politically active friends including one former DNC worker and another formerly ardent Obama organizer. The consensus was pretty clear - with the impending Bush tax-cut Compromise, the President we had busted our bloomers to elect was about to sell us out. I was a die-hard Obama s...

Bloomberg Stumps for Non-Partisan Politics and Jobs In Speech Bound to Flame Rumors of 2012 Run
Mayor Bloomberg wore a striped tie this morning—equal parts red and blue—and with ship cranes glistening over the Brooklyn Navy Yard behind him, offered a stinging critique of Republican and Democratic leaders, urging both parties to come together behind a package of pro-business policies. "We need our federal and State Governments to chart a middle way between a government that would wash its hands of the problem and one that seeks to supplant the Private Sector, between a governm...

Big, small firms not necessarily on same page
A hearing scheduled for today before the House of Representatives is a sign of the pro-business wind blowing over Washington, D.C., but as lawmakers listen to private-sector proposals to fuel job-creation, it becomes evident that big and small firms don't necessarily share one agenda or speak with a single voice. Today, for instance, Bay Area financier William Hambrecht will lead a delegation of investors who will ask the House Financial Services Committee to exempt companies filing initial pu...

Rise in job openings hopeful sign before holidays
WASHINGTON – December is generally a bad time to look for work, and even worse now that the Unemployment Rate is nearing double digits. But there's reason for some optimism this holiday season. Job openings are at their highest level in two years, according to new government data. And a private-sector survey predicts the next few months will be the best time for hiring since the Financial Crisis erupted. That should come as some comfort to job-seekers, especially after last week's report...

Mayor Bloomberg fuels speculation for 2012 run
Mayor Bloomberg Wednesday morning outlined six principles to fix the nation's economy - none of which he could do as mayor, but all of which he could do as President. In a Speech light on specifics but heavy on nationwide ambition, Bloomberg said America needs to cut regulations and taxes for businesses, promote trade and Immigration, restore confidence and invest in job training. "This is not a liberal or conservative approach to Job Creation. It's an effective approach. And it's an approach ...

U.S. probes trading practices in fragmented markets
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Securities Regulators are probing whether traders have intentionally exacerbated Volatility or unlawfully exploited the deeply fragmented Stock Markets, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said on Wednesday. A lack of Surveillance across the 50 some trading venues, and between the mostly electronic stock, futures and options markets was a clear focus at a Congressional Hearing into how to avoid a repeat of the May 6 "flash crash." Since the ...

Sanders Statement on Fed Disclosure
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on today's disclosure by the Federal Reserve that banks and other institutions received an estimated $3.3 Trillion in emergency loans and other assistance during the Financial Crisis: "After years of stonewalling by the Fed, the American People are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed's multi-trillion-dollar Bailout of Wall Street and Corporate America. Perhaps most surprising is the hu...

Who's Right? Obama or the 'Base'?
Yet, while devising legal rationalizations for not holding Bush and his aides accountable for Torture, aggressive war and other serious crimes, the Obama Administration has explored novel legal theories for indicting Wikileaks for releasing internal government documents revealing details about the brutality of Bush's wars and the often cynical U.S. Diplomacy that surrounded them. Progressives have found these double standards which put Obama in league with the likes of neoconservative Sen. Joe...

Miles J. Zaremski: Are You Kidding, Mr. President? The Public Option All Over Again?
In the President's hastily-arranged news conference the other day to explain (really, defend) the deal he made with the other side of the aisle on the Bush-era Tax Cuts, he stated, as if with anger and an air of chastisement in his voice, "This is the Public Option debate all over again" -- scolding part of his base that has become incensed for his giving away the kitchen sink to Republicans. First, that element of the base had it exactly correct. Though the President asserted he had to protec...

Spencer Bachus To Chair House Financial Services Committee
As Republicans take control of the House of Representatives, they'll get the opportunity to run the various committees that create Legislation and hold hearings. Over the next two years, a few of these will be particularly important. One standout is the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which will be chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and can be expected to make a lot of trouble for Democrats. But another truly vital committee will be the Financial Services. We learn today that i...

Bank of America settles, U.S. continues bond probe
By Joe Rauch and Diane Bartz CHARLOTTE, N.C./WASHINGTON, D.C. | Tue Dec 7, 2010 10:58pm EST CHARLOTTE, N.C./WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp will pay $137 million to settle a municipal bond bid-rigging Probe which is likely to result in more cases being filed in the coming weeks and months. The investigation centers on whether large U.S. banks decided in advance which investment house would win the auctions of guaranteed investment contracts that cities and counties buy with ...

Senate must press overvalued yuan (Politico)
The full meaning of the midterms will be debated for a long time. But one thing is clear: Voters want Democrats and Republicans to work together to create jobs for Americans. One way we can do that is to pass Legislation that cracks down on Chinese currency manipulation. Democratic and Republican senators joined in March to introduce the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. A similar measure passed the House in September with strong Bipartisan support, 348-79. Before Congress adjourns,...

Should Megabanks Be Broken Apart? (NYT Room For Debate)
“Creating the structures to allow for the orderly failure of a large Financial Institution starts with giving Regulators the authority to facilitate failures when they occur. Under such a system, a failed bank’s shareholders should lose their value; unsecured creditors should be at risk and, if necessary, wiped out. A regulator should be able to terminate management and boards and liquidate assets. Those who benefited from mismanaging risks or taking on inappropriate risk should feel...

40m bonuses at Allied Irish Banks
Allied Irish Banks sign on Grafton Street, Dublin. About 2,400 Bankers will cash in. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP Stricken Allied Irish Banks is preparing to hand out €40m (£34m) of bonuses next week - despite being on the brink of receiving another emergency Bailout from the Irish government. As many as 2,400 Bankers in its Dublin capital markets division are to receive the payments on 17 December under agreements struck with the bank in 2008. The bank, 19% owned by Irelan...

Spring Cleaning: Treasury Hopes to Unload AIG Shares by March
The U.S. government and hobbled insurer AIG have taken another step toward parting ways. The Treasury announced last night that following a transaction expected to complete on March 15 of next year, AIG will have paid back in full its Debt to the New York Federal Reserve and Treasury's preferred AIG stake will be converted into common stock in anticipation of a sale to the Private Sector. AIG also made an announcement regarding the transaction, but for the fun details, we turn to Reuters, who ...