Death Cab For Cutie shares a new, anti-Trump track
Death Cab For Cutie is no fan of Donald Trump. The group has released a new song, “Million Dollar Loan,” inspired by the candidate’s dubious claims of rising from the bottom on his own when he was...
Death Cab For Cutie is no fan of Donald Trump. The group has released a new song, “Million Dollar Loan,” inspired by the candidate’s dubious claims of rising from the bottom on his own when he was actually launched into the business world on the back of a million-dollar loan from his father. In a statement, Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard said that he wrote the song after being “disgusted” by how “flippant” Trump was in his assertions. He goes on to say Trump is “beneath us,” noting that “Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unworthy of the honor and responsibility of being President of the United States of America, and in no way, shape, or form represents what this country truly stands for.”
“Million Dollar Loan” is the first song from the “30 Days, 30 Songs” project, launched by the writer Dave Eggers. Imagined as a continuation of his 2012 “90 Days, 90 Reasons” project, “30 Days, 30 Songs” will, as its title suggests, launch a new, anti-Trump song into the world every day until the election. According to a press release, tracks will be a mixture of new material and unheard songs, and this week’s offerings will include original cuts from Aimee Mann, Jim James, Thao Nguyen, Bhi Bhiman, and Daveed Diggs’ group Clipping, as well as a never-before-heard-unless-you-were-there live song from R.E.M.
All of the tracks will be available on the 30 Days, 30 Songs website, as well as on both Spotify and Apple Music. You can also pick up the songs on iTunes, and all proceeds will be donated to the Center For Popular Democracy, a group that is working to ensure universal voter registration for all Americans.
By Marah Eakin
Source
States Expand Inquiry Into On-Call Scheduling
Eight states and the District of Columbia have expanded their probe into on-call scheduling at retail companies, asking a group of national chains to provide detailed information on their use of...
Eight states and the District of Columbia have expanded their probe into on-call scheduling at retail companies, asking a group of national chains to provide detailed information on their use of the controversial practice.
On-call shifts, where a worker must be available to work a shift that can be cancelled at the last minute without compensation, has become popular in retail. But the practice wreaks havoc on the lives of low-paid hourly workers trying to plan plan around child care, schooling, or second jobs, as a BuzzFeed News investigation found last year.
At the time, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent a letter to 14 chains (published below), inquiring about their use of on-call scheduling and warning it may be illegal. Since then, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Workers, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, and Gap have committed to ending the practice.
“On-call shifts are not a business necessity, as we see from the many retailers that no longer use this unjust method of scheduling work hours,” said Schneiderman in a statement.
A study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that the lowest income workers receive the most irregular schedules, with unpredictability leading to increased stress.
“It’s heartening to see more and more policymakers and regulators take action,” said Carrie Gleason, Director of the Fair Workweek Initiative at the Center for Popular Democracy, a liberal advocacy group.
On Tuesday, the offices of the Attorneys General in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Rhode Island sent a letter requesting employee handbooks, schedules, and payroll information.
In these states, the Attorneys General warn, the practice may be a violation of a law mandating a minimum of four hours of pay for employees who report for work.
The following retailers received the letter: Aéropostale, American Eagle, BCBG Max Azria, Carter’s Inc., Coach, DavidsTea Inc., Walt Disney Co., Forever 21 Inc., Ascena Retail Group Inc.’s Justice, Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Payless ShoeSource, Tilly’s Inc., Uniqlo, VF Corp.’s Vans, and Zumiez Inc.
Spokespeople from Uniqlo and Coach told the Wall Street Journal that the companies don’t use the practice. BuzzFeed News has reached out to the companies listed for comment and will update the post with responses.
UPDATE
A spokesperson for American Eagle Outfitters said in a statement, ““American Eagle Outfitters is committed to providing our associates with a positive working environment. We decided in November 2015 to cease the use of ‘on-call shifts’ and advised our stores. We are taking steps to reinforce and assure adherence to this policy across our store fleet.”
A spokesperson for Forever 21 said, “Contrary to published reports, Forever 21 does not permit on-call scheduling nor do we have a company policy around doing so.”
A spokesperson for Vans said the company does not use on-call scheduling and will comply with the request for information.
A spokesperson for Uniqlo said that Uniqlo has received the letter and that on-call scheduling is not a Uniqlo practice or policy.
A spokesperson for Payless ShoeSource says the company does not engage in on-call scheduling, has received the inquiry and will respond accordingly.
A spokesperson for Zumiez said, “It is our practice to cooperate with any request from the attorney general or other state agencies and we will do so in this case as well.” Apr. 14, 2016, at 10:21 a.m.
By Cora Lewis
Source
Paid Sick Days Advocates Applaud De Blasio & Mark-Viverito On Expansion Of Earned Sick Time
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 17, 2014
CONTACTS: See below
NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio and...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 17, 2014
CONTACTS: See below
NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio and newly elevated City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito jointly announced their intention to expand the Earned Sick Time law passed last year with support from the NY Paid Sick Days Coalition.
Specifically, their proposal will close the following loopholes in the Earned Sick Time Act:
Employers with 5-14 workers must now provide paid sick days to their workers. Employers with 15-19 workers must provide paid sick days immediately rather than waiting until 2015. Workers may now use their earned sick time to care for a sibling, grandchild or grandparent. Certain manufacturing employees previously left out will now be covered by the law. City agencies will now be able to proactively enforce the law rather than relying solely on worker complaints.The NY Paid Sick Days coalition includes over ninety organizational members, representing labor unions, public health organizations, educators and children’s advocates, women’s groups, economic justice groups, civil rights leaders, faith leaders, business owners and associations, research organizations, senior advocates, and immigrants’ rights groups.
QUOTES FROM COALITION MEMBERS
Center for Popular Democracy:
The following quote can be attributed to Amy Carroll, deputy director of the Center for Popular Democracy:
“We applaud Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito for championing and expanding the Earned Sick Time Act. It signals a new day for New York workers and their families that their needs will come first in this administration. We look forward to working with the administration and the council to create policy that will close the income gap and create a more affordable, inclusive city for everyone.” 32BJ SEIU:
The following quote can be attributed to Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union:
“We applaud Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito for making good on their campaign promises to expand the Paid Sick Act. Although our members can afford to get sick, many of their family members and their neighbors have been forced to choose between their health and their livelihoods. This bill is an important first step in the fight for real income equality in this city and we look forward to working with the administration to make sure this bill and others aimed at improving the quality of life for New York’s working families become law.”
A Better Balance:
The following quote can be attributed to Sherry Leiwant, co-president of A Better Balance:
“A Better Balance is thrilled that the Mayor is expanding the Earned Sick Time Act we helped negotiate last year to provide paid sick days to so many of the workers excluded under that law. Thank you to Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito for recognizing that New Yorkers should not be forced to choose between their jobs and their own or their family's health."
Community Service Society:
The following quote can be attributed to David R. Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society:
"Amending the paid sick leave law to cover more of New York City's smaller businesses is critical because employees of these businesses are the ones who most often now lack access to even one paid sick day. Our latest Unheard Third data shows that the original law effectively leaves out more than a third of the workers now without a single paid sick day -- and just gives them job protection in the form of unpaid leave. CSS applauds the mayor and speaker for their efforts to create a more stable and healthier workforce while ensuring that more low-wage workers receive a basic labor standard that most higher-income earners take for granted."
Make the Road New York:
Leonardo Fernando, member of Make the Road New York, is an immigrant worker originally from Mexico. He works at a car wash in Queens and he said: "I have lived and worked in this country for nine years, and I've never had paid sick days. The business where I work now, Fresh Pond Car Wash, would be covered under this new paid sick days law because it has thirteen employees. We work long shifts, in the heat and the cold, and we use hazardous chemicals. But I never take a day off, even when I'm sick, because I have four children to support and I can't afford to miss a day's pay or risk losing my job. I've gone to work with a fever and with the flu, and I'm so happy that I'll be able to take the day off when I'm too sick to work. I would like to thank Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council for expanding the paid sick days law and making this one of the new administration's first priorities."
New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO:
The following quote is attributable to Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO: "A healthy workforce is a more dedicated and focused workforce. I applaud Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Vivierito for taking this step in the right direction toward expanding the historic Earned Sick Time law that was passed last year, and making it a real priority to improve conditions for hundreds of thousands of our city's workers. The New York City labor movement is committed to continuing to work with the Mayor and the Speaker to ensure that our city's workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. "
New York Paid Leave Coalition:
The following quote can be attributed to Martha Baker, New York Paid Leave Coalition:
“The NYC Paid Sick Days Coalition applauds Mayor de Blasio for proposing amendments to the recently passed Earned Sick Time Act that will provide paid sick days on April 1, 2014 to hundreds of thousands of workers not covered by the original bill. We are delighted that the bill has been expanded and that the Mayor recognizes how important it is that New York City workers have access to paid sick days.”
Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York:
The following quote can be attributed to Daisy Chung, executive director of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York:
"We are pleased that Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito are moving quickly to give more workers the right to paid sick days. With these changes, many restaurant workers who work in the city's smaller restaurants will now have the right to paid sick days. We look forward to working with the Mayor and Speaker to strengthen the Earned Sick Time Act even further so it can be used as a model for the rest of the country."
Working Families Party:
The following quote can be attributed to Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party:
"This is the first sign of what the new administration could mean for New York. Mayor de Blasio has done what every sensible New Yorker knows he should, and he didn't waste any time. The expansion of paid sick days delivers on a basic tenet of fairness -- that no one should face a choice between their families, their jobs, or their health."
CONTACTS:
Meredith Kolodner, 32BJ SEIU: 917-881-3896
Sherry Leiwant, A Better Balance, 917-535-0075
TJ Helmstetter, Center for Popular Democracy: 973-464-9224
Jeff Maclin, Community Service Society: 212-614-5538
Hilary Klein, Make the Road New York: 347-423-8277
Cara Noel, NY Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO: 212.604.9552
Martha Baker, NY Paid Leave Coalition: 917-992-5300
Rahul Saksena, Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York: 203-561-2959
Khan Shoieb, Working Families Party: 347-596-6389
The fight to make bad jobs better
As of November 26, 2017, fast food companies in New York are required to post worker schedules 14 days in advance. If they change the schedule within that window, they will pay an extra fee to the...
As of November 26, 2017, fast food companies in New York are required to post worker schedules 14 days in advance. If they change the schedule within that window, they will pay an extra fee to the workers who are affected. And before they hire more people, they must offer the available hours to their existing part-time workers.
Read the full article here.
Chicago Group Pushing For $15 Minimum Wage
Huffington Post - May 28, 2014, by Joseph Erbentraut - A coalition of Chicago aldermen on Wednesday introduced an ordinance that would increase the minimum wage for many workers in the third-...
Huffington Post - May 28, 2014, by Joseph Erbentraut - A coalition of Chicago aldermen on Wednesday introduced an ordinance that would increase the minimum wage for many workers in the third-largest U.S. city to $15 an hour.
The ordinance calls for corporations with more than $50 million in annual sales to increase worker pay to at least $15 an hour with a year of the law's effective date. Smaller businesses would be allowed more than five years to raise pay. Twenty-one of the council's 50 members have signed on as cosponsors, Crain's Chicago Business reports.
The current minimum wage in Chicago is $8.25 an hour, a dollar more than the federal minimum wage.
Several aldermen joined low-wage workers at a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday, before the meeting where the ordinance was filed. Home care worker Darlene Pruitt, a 55-year-old mother of three and grandmother of 22, said she earns $10.65 an hour after five annual raises of a dime an hour working for the Help at Home agency. It's not enough, the West Side resident told The Huffington Post.
Pruitt said she has sometimes turned to a food pantry to make sure her family has enough to eat. "It's hard out there," Pruitt said. "The cost to live in Chicago and meet your basic needs -- rent, utilities, food, medication, clothes -- is high."
Pruitt said she is not afraid of retribution from her employer from speaking out because she is optimistic her efforts will help other workers like her who are in a similar position. If she earned more money, much of it would go right back into her community, she said.
The Center for Popular Democracy, in partnership with Raise Chicago, an advocacy group pushing for the higher wage, released a study Wednesday claiming the higher wage would decrease worker turnover and stimulate the local economy.
The study said the higher minimum wage would be responsible for $616 million in new economic activity and would help create 5,350 new jobs in its first phase. The higher wage also would add $45 million in sales tax revenues, but would raise consumer prices about 2 percent, according to the study.
Voters overwhelmingly backed the $15 minimum wage in a non-binding ballot question on about 5 percent of the city's ballots in the March primary election.
Business groups, however, have yet to be swayed.
Doug Whitley of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce told DNAinfo Chicago the proposed ordinance is "a ridiculously excessive reach on the part of a local government to try to instruct private-sector employers how to manage their businesses." The chamber said in a previous statement with other business groups that employers "cannot afford another minimum-wage increase" of any amount.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced his support of a higher minimum wage, but for less than $15 an hour. Emanuel last week trumpeted the creation of a minimum wage "working group" tasked with creating a plan for increasing worker wages in the city and previously said he backed President Barack Obama's push for a $10.10 federal minimum wage.
Source
Markets to Fed: See you next year
MARKETS TO FED: SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! — Asia followed Wall Street higher on hopes the Fed might take weak jobs data into account and wait until next year to hike rates. … Reuters: “...
MARKETS TO FED: SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! — Asia followed Wall Street higher on hopes the Fed might take weak jobs data into account and wait until next year to hike rates. … Reuters: “Fading expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year and a bounce in oil and commodity prices helped lift Asian stocks to two-week highs on Tuesday …
“‘One of the two big persistent concerns has faded, so investors are taking risks,’ said Masashi Oda, senior investment officer at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, referring to expectations of a near-term Fed hike. … Japanese shares garnered further momentum from speculation that the Bank of Japan might expand its massive stimulus program to support the flagging economy”http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-global-markets-idUSKCN0S001I20151006
M.M. SIDEBAR — Seems like wishful thinking. The FOMC is almost certain to hit the liftoff button by December unless jobs growth really falls off a cliff, which appears unlikely based on other data. It remains possible that both August and September jobs figures will get revised higher. And even a slightly sub-200K pace is enough to keep unemployment dropping to what the Fed generally considers full employment (though nobody actually knows exacly what full employment is). Of course a messy debt limit fight actually could push the Fed off into 2016 but it would likely take markets down with it.
“FED UP” PROTESTERS TO HIT PHILLY — POLITICO's Zachary Warmbrodt: “Activists lobbying against a Federal Reserve interest rate increase as part of the so-called ‘Fed Up’ campaign are planning to hold a protest targeting new Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president Patrick Harker on Tuesday afternoon. Around 15-20 people including workers, small business owners and clergy are expected to participate in the protest, which is aimed at pressuring Harker to meet with the coalition and take a tour of low-income neighborhoods …
“Kendra Brooks, who leads the local Fed Up coalition and is an organizer for Action United, is attending Harker's event but says she has been urging him to meet with more members of the community beyond the heads of non-profits and corporations … Brooks tried to get a commitment from Harker at the Fed's symposium in Jackson Hole, and their chat is on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h-GN7cHDAc
WILL HILLARY FLIP FLOP ON TPP? — POLITICO's Victoria Guida: “Hillary Clinton has presented herself as a skeptic of the biggest trade deal in history, saying this summer that ‘we should prepared to walk away’ from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership unless it boosts Americans' wages and national security. But with a deal announced Monday after months of backstage wrangling, Clinton will be under intense pressure to take a stance.
“The deal is one of the most ambitious items left on President Barack Obama's White House bucket list. But his former secretary of state owns it too, even though she has expressed increasing ambivalence about its details and could soon disown it outright, as some in her circle have suggested. … [R]eacting to the polarizing TPP deal is one of the most excruciating policy decisions of her campaign thus far - and far more politically perilous with Democratic primary voters than her backing of Obama's Iran deal.” http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/hillary-clinton-trade-dilemma-214456
BIGGEST TPP WINNER: JAPANESE AUTO MAKERS — Per Bloomberg’s list of winners under the trade deal: “Japanese car and auto-parts makers may be the biggest winners, as they get cheaper access to the U.S., the industry’s biggest export market” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-06/tpp-trade-deal-who-stands-to-benefit-suffer-in-asia-pacific
FIRST LOOK: “TAX HAVEN SEX MANSION” — Can't resist a headline like that, eh? Bloomberg Businessweek piece up at 7:00 a.m. by Zeke Faux “investigates how Abe Zeines and Muir Hurwitz, two sons of an ultra-religious Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn piloted a shady new kind of finance — ‘merchant cash advance’ — made a fortune, and then saw it all come to an end.” The two now live in a "tax-haven sex mansion in Puerto Rico.” As one does. https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AP5w7epl1Xo/zeke-faux
LITAN RESPONDS — Bob Litan writes in FORTUNE: “Sen. Warren clearly disagrees with our study, but rather than address its reasoning and facts, she claimed my disclosure was vague (which it was not) and that I was misusing my non-resident perch at Brookings by identifying that position in a footnote (a newly established Brookings rule of which I was unaware but promised Brookings I would not run afoul of again), though I never mentioned my Brookings affiliation at the hearing. …
“I can only speculate why Sen. Warren has been so interested in our research, but I suspect it is because, even with its disclosed sponsor, the study exposed two major weaknesses in Labor’s proposal — which the Department may correct when it issues its final rule. But if it does not, these two points, at least in my view, make the rule susceptible to being overturned by a court as being arbitrary and capricious (or failing a benefit-cost test) if it is legally challenged” http://fortune.com/2015/10/05/elizabeth-warren-robert-litan-u-s-department-of-labor/
Litan’s pithy email response to M.M. on the whole affair: “Life in the big city.”
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING — Crazy Monday Night Football game. The Lions had a surprising road victory over the Seahawks in their grasp only to have Kam Chancellor poke the ball out of Calvin Johnson’s hands at the goal line. The Seahawks then illegally batted the ball out of the end zone for the touchback but the refs missed it. Should have been Lions ball at the goal line. Crushing blow. Massive officiating mistake. Email me at bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter (like Kam Chancellor does!) @morningmoneyben.
THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES — Adam Behsudi on the TPP currency side deal that Congress might not like – [https://www.politicopro.com/financial-services/story/2015/10/pro-trade-tppcurrency-behsudi-056469] and to get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m.-- please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600or info@politicopro.com
** A message from Grant Thornton LLP: The tax code puts U.S. companies at a disadvantage. Congress can’t address the problem if it excludes pass-throughs from an innovation box or tax reform. Congress should lower the effective business tax rates equitably for all U.S. businesses. https://www.grantthornton.com/issues/library/articles/public-policy/2015/policy-issues/support-the-BER.aspx?utm_medium=ad-partnership&utm_campaign=public-policy-issues&utm_term=Public-policy&utm_content=article **
BLOOMBERG EVENT TODAY — The Bloomberg Markets Most Influential Summit takes place in New York, London and Hong Kong featuring Tom Steyer, Mike Bloomberg, Bill Ackman, Cliff Asness, Barry Diller, Blythe Masters and more https://www.bloomberglive.com/markets-most-influential/new-york/agenda/
SOFTBALL REPORT: FERC TAKES THINK TANK CROWN — Per AEI’s Michael Pratt: “FERC defeated the defending champs AEI 13-7 in the Think Tank Softball League Championships in a game under the lights in a field by Pentagon City. Congrats to the winning team - over 40 teams are part of the league.”
POSTCARD FROM THE NEW YORKER FESTIVAL — POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman reports: “Homeland” actor Damian Lewis told the New Yorker festival on Saturday that he's met with hedge fund managers like Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb to prepare for his upcoming new show about Wall Street called "Billions" (on which Andrew Ross Sorkin is an executive producer).
He asked the hedgies: "Give me your intellectual defense of being a hedge fund guy, of shorting companies and the one thing they could never really persuade me of, was that playing to a moral code that we might all conventionally understand, it wasn't possible for them to justify what they do. But if they just ever so slightly shifted the goal posts and created a new moral reality for themselves, which is essentially that as long as I don't break the law and as long as the game exists, I'm here to play the game and everything is fine."
BETTER MARKETS’ FUNDING QUESTIONED — National Review’s Brendan Bordelon goes long on hedge fund manager Michael Masters’ funding of pro-financial reform group Better Markets.” http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425063/elizabeth-warrens-wall-street-double-standard-brendan-bordelon
Better Markets’ Dennis Kelleher emails: “Wall Street has been trying to shut down, shut up or smear Better Markets since it was founded five years ago. Wall Street has little tolerance for anyone willing to stand up to them or who can’t be bought.
“Better Markets’ independence and effectiveness on the public’s behalf is what gets under Wall Street’s skin and why it has been shopping a fabricated story for months to anyone in the media who would listen. … [T]he story is so factually wrong it is laughable, as detailed here https://www.bettermarkets.com/blog/fact-sheet-better-markets%E2%80%99-response-wall-street%E2%80%99s-latest-attack”.
M.M. SIDEBAR — Anyone who knows Kelleher (agree or disagree with him on issues) knows he wouldn't be shilling for some hedge fund guy looking to tilt stock prices. But in an era when Bob Litan can get dumped from Bookings over a fully-disclosed source of research funding, everything seems to be fair game.
TOUGH ROAD FOR TPP IN CONGERSS — WP’s David Nakamura: “President Obama hailed the historic 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal … as an accord that ‘reflects America’s values,’ but within hours the administration had turned from the negotiating table to selling the agreement on Capitol Hill, a reflection of the harsh political climate the controversial pact is expected to face in Congress. Obama pledged that [TPP] … would open new markets for U.S. goods and services and establish rules of international commerce that give ‘our workers the fair shot at success they deserve.’
“But almost immediately there were signs of the tough fight ahead to win final ratification from Congress next year. Lawmakers from both parties criticized the pact as falling short in crucial areas, raising the prospect that the White House could lose the support of allies who had backed the president’s trade push earlier this year" http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/deal-reached-on-pacific-rim-trade-pact/2015/10/05/7c567f00-6b56-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.html
SHARP PRICE INCREASES DRIVE DRUG COMPANY REVENUES — WSJ’s Joseph Walker: “Demand for a drug called Avonex has declined every year for the past 10. Not a problem for its manufacturer. U.S. revenue from the drug has more than doubled in that time, to $2 billion last year. The key: repeated price increases. The multiple sclerosis drug’s maker, Biogen Inc., raised its price an average of 16 percent a year throughout the decade — 21 times in all.
“It is an example of drug companies’ unusual ability to boost prices beyond the inflation rate to drive their revenue, even when demand for the drugs doesn’t cooperate. A result of this pricing power is that across 30 top-selling drugs sold by pharmacies, U.S. revenue growth has far outpaced demand in the past five years … Revenue growth averaged 61 percent, three times the increase in prescriptions” http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-prescription-drug-makers-price-increases-drive-revenue-1444096750
BERNANKE ADMITS MISLEADING ON LEHMAN — NYT’s Andrew Ross Sorkin: “It is astonishing to hear a former Federal Reserve chairman acknowledge that he may have misled the public as part of an agreement with another senior government official about one of the most crucial moments in recent financial history — and that he now questions whether he should have “been more forthcoming.” But that is what Ben S. Bernanke says in his new memoir …
“That crucial moment? The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Mr. Bernanke, in perhaps the most candid explanation of Lehman’s 2008 collapse, writes that he and Henry M. Paulson, then the treasury secretary, purposely obfuscated when asked about Lehman’s demise early on, allowing a narrative to develop that the government had purposely let the firm fail
“In congressional testimony immediately after Lehman’s collapse, Paulson and I were deliberately quite vague when discussing whether we could have saved Lehman,’ Mr. Bernanke writes. ‘But we had agreed in advance to be vague because we were intensely concerned that acknowledging our inability to save Lehman would hurt market confidence and increase pressure on other vulnerable firms.’” https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/business/dealbook/in-ben-bernankes-memoir-a-candid-look-at-lehman-brothers-collapse.html?_r=0
GOOGLE BUYS INTO SYMPHONY — FT’s Joe Rennison and Richard Waters: “Alphabet, Google’s renamed parent company, is set to become the latest investor to back Symphony, joining a host of big banks in their attempt to dislodge Bloomberg’s dominant position in Wall Street messaging. Born out of the 2013 snooping scandal, where it came to light that Bloomberg News reporters had spied on bankers using its ubiquitous terminals, Symphony claims to offer a more secure way for people to communicate with each other.
“The service officially launched on September 15, unveiling tie-ups with McGraw Hill Financial, which will supply financial information from S&P Capital IQ, and News Corp’s Dow Jones unit, which will provide a live news feed to the platform. Symphony and Alphabet declined to comment. People familiar with the matter said the deal was yet to be finalised but one confirmed a WSJ.com report that the new funding round would value Symphony at about $650m.”https://www.ft.com/content/32dbcf1a-6ba1-11e5-aca9-d87542bf8673
ALSO FOR YOUR RADAR —
FIRST LOOK: MARANTIS JOINS VISA — Per release going out this morning: “Visa … day announced the appointment of former Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis as Senior Vice President, Global Government Relations. Marantis joins Visa from Square, where he led global policy, government, and regulatory affairs. Marantis will report directly to William Sheedy, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, M&A, and Government Relations at Visa Inc., and be responsible for all facets of Visa’s government relations activities
JOIN US — WOMEN RULE: TAKING RISKS AND TAKING CHARGE Women Rule live event series returns Wednesday morning at 8 am with “Women Rule: Taking Risks and Taking Charge,” a series of conversations with women who have braved the odds in their lives and careers. Vian Dakhil, Iraqi MP and voice of the Yazidi people being attacked by ISIS and her sister, Dr. Deelan Dakhil, the co-director of the Sinjar Foundation will headline the event. Featured speakers also include Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.); Sarah LaFleur, Founder and CEO, MM. LaFleur, and former White House NSA and EVP of MacAndrews and Forbes, Frances Fragos Townsend. RSVP: http://www.politico.com/events/2015/10/women-rule-taking-risks-and-taking-charge-213943
NOW AVAILABLE: POLITICO PRO LEGISLATIVE COMPASS — POLITICO Pro, POLITICO’s premium subscription service, has released a first-of-its kind legislative data analytics and decision-making tool that helps policy professionals manage and act on legislation. Leveraging features such as a personalized dashboard, virtual whip count, bill text comparison and 20 years of data, users will not only save time but benefit from customizing and cross-referencing information, enabling them to make smarter and faster decisions. Schedule your demo today.
** A message from Grant Thornton LLP: When Congress fails to act, businesses suffer. More than 50 popular tax provisions expired at the end of 2014, including the R&D credit. Congress’s indecision on these provisions is impeding business planning and stifling growth. According to a Grant Thornton survey of top financial executives, more than half of companies that use the provisions do all their planning under the assumption that the extension will not occur. That’s a huge blow to the effectiveness of the provisions and a barrier to growth. The R&D credit is a major driver of entrepreneurial activity and high-paying jobs. Congress needs to act soon to reinstate these provisions and to make the R&D credit permanent. Find out what else Congress could do to strengthen the R&D credit and view survey findings at http://gt-us.co/1iOXJW5
Source: Politico
Statement on McDonald’s Pay Increase
For Immediate Release: April 1, 2015
Contact: Ricardo A. Ramírez, rramirez@populardemocracy.org, 202-905-1738
Statement on...
For Immediate Release: April 1, 2015 Contact: Ricardo A. Ramírez, rramirez@populardemocracy.org, 202-905-1738
Statement on McDonald’s Pay Increase
Ana María Archila, Co-executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) released the following statement after McDonald’s announced a pay increase for some of its workers:
“McDonald’s move on salary is a testament to the power of organized workers at the grassroots level: When workers come together to denounce injustice, change happens. But this is not nearly enough – not by a longshot. With the new wages set to average only $9.90 and limited to company-owned stores, and only five days of paid leave, the change is small in both heft and scope.
“While we congratulate workers for moving the ball forward, at the Center for Popular Democracy we pledge to continue the vigorous fight alongside fast food workers for a $15 minimum wage and a fair workweek that gives them a chance at a balanced and dignified life.”
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NY Immigrant ID Program Declared Success
Immigrant activists on Thursday trumpeted the success of the city’s immigrant ID program and encouraged using it as a model for other localities.
The Center for Popular Democracy released a...
Immigrant activists on Thursday trumpeted the success of the city’s immigrant ID program and encouraged using it as a model for other localities.
The Center for Popular Democracy released a toolkit underlining the overall benefits of an accessible city identification card and how to implement the system into state policy and accept them as government issued cards.
“We hope this toolkit will be a resource and powerful tool that inspires advocates and community members everywhere to push for muni ID programs in their communities, showing what is possible when cities and localities take the lead,” said Shena Elrington, Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy.
The ID NYC program has proved a success in less than a year issuing free, government issued identification cards to over 350,000 New York residents since its start in January 2015, according to the Center of Popular Democracy. Other cities such as Newark, New Jersey and Hartford, Connecticut have followed New York’s lead and adopted the municipal ID program, said Elrington.
As stated in a press release, a municipal ID gives all New York residents access to medical benefits, opening bank accounts and registering children for school (to name a few) regardless of sexual orientation, immigration status and other factors that deter an individual from receiving a government issued ID. Other benefits include discounts to city venues and attractions.
Councilman Carlos Menchaca led the group in chants of, “Si, se puede!” (“Yes, we can!”) as he joined in celebration and encouraged them to continue to fight for their rights. The toolkit, he referred to as a “symbol of hope”, is only the beginning.
“You are changing the world for the entire United States,” he said to the crowd. “The ID is just the beginning, it is a gateway.”
Source: Brooklyn News Service
City to help immigrants seeking deportation reprieves
New York Times - July 17, 2013, by Kirk Semple - New York City plans to spend $18 million over the next two years to help young unauthorized immigrants qualify for a federal program that grants a...
New York Times - July 17, 2013, by Kirk Semple - New York City plans to spend $18 million over the next two years to help young unauthorized immigrants qualify for a federal program that grants a temporary reprieve from deportation, officials announced on Wednesday.
The money will add 16,000 seats to adult education classes throughout the city, and priority for those slots will be given to immigrants who might qualify for the reprieve.
While more than 20,500 immigrants in New York State have already been granted the reprieve, known as deferred action, city officials have estimated that about 16,000 others in New York City alone would satisfy all the conditions save for the requirement that they have a high school diploma or General Educational Development certificate, or be currently enrolled in school.
The project — the largest investment made by any municipality in the nation to help immigrants obtain the deferral, city officials said — is one of two new immigrant-assistance initiatives that will receive significant injections of public money in the current fiscal year, which began July 1.
The other budget allocation, which the city plans to announce formally on Friday, will pay for a pilot program that will create what immigrants’ advocates say will be the nation’s first public defender system for immigrants facing deportation.
Together, the two programs further cement New York’s reputation as one of the most immigrant-friendly cities in the nation. They also come at a time when a push for comprehensive immigration reform that would include a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants has met stiff resistance among Republicans in the House of Representatives.
In a news conference in City Hall on Wednesday, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, seemed to allude to sclerotic politics on Capitol Hill, saying the Council’s budget decisions send a message to the rest of the nation “that local government can take action while we wait for comprehensive immigration reform.”
The federal deportation reprieve was announced by the Obama administration in June 2012. To qualify, an applicant must have arrived in the United States before reaching his or her 16th birthday and been younger than 31 as of June 15, 2012, among other requirements. Recipients of the reprieve, which is subject to renewal after two years, are legally allowed to work and, in many states, obtain a driver’s license.
More than 400,500 people across the nation have been granted the deferral; for many others, the educational requirement has been a major hurdle.
For years, adult education programs in the city have been swamped by huge demand yet been hamstrung by financial shortfalls.
Of the $18 million allocation, $13.7 million will be provided to community-based organizations through the Youth and Community Development Department and used for outreach and the increase in seats. The remaining $4.3 million will help expand related education programs offered through the City University of New York, like English for Speakers of Other Languages and General Educational Development.
In recent days, immigrants’ advocates have also been celebrating the City Council’s decision to help pay for another initiative: the allocation of $500,000 in its current budget for a network of legal service providers to represent immigrants facing deportation.
Defendants in immigration court, unlike those in criminal court, have no constitutional right to a court-appointed lawyer. Hampered by language barriers, lack of money or ignorance, most end up trying to fight their deportation alone — almost always with poor outcomes.
According to a recent study, 60 percent of detained immigrants in the New York region did not have counsel at the time their cases were completed. Of those without counsel, only 3 percent won their cases, compared with 18 percent of those with counsel.
Proponents of the program, called the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, said it would cost about $8.7 million to provide legal representation for the 2,800 or so immigrants living in New York State who are detained and face deportation every year. The city allocation, however, will help cover the cost of a pilot program to represent just 135 immigrants. Advocates said that despite its limited reach, the pilot program would give them a chance to test their theories and demonstrate the potential impact of a broader plan.
The program will not only help keep families together, argued Andrew Friedman, executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, an advocacy group that helped to lobby for the financing, but will also create “an innovative model program” for other municipalities to replicate.
Source
Black Lives Matter Releases Policy Demands, Includes Reparations And Abolishing The Death Penalty
On Monday, more than 60 organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement released a series of policy demands, including free access to higher education, reparations, and an end to...
On Monday, more than 60 organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement released a series of policy demands, including free access to higher education, reparations, and an end to capital punishment.
According to the New York Times, these demands come on the heels of the second anniversary of Michael Brown’s death and after both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
“Our grievances and solutions extend beyond the police killing of our people; state violence includes failing schools that criminalize our children, dwindling earning opportunities, wars on our trans and queer family that deny them of their humanity, and so much more,” Montague Simmons of Organization for Black Struggle and the Movement for Black Lives Policy Table, said in a statement. “That’s why we united, with a renewed energy and purpose, to put forth a shared vision of the world we want to live in.”
The plan, titled “A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom and Justice,” offers up six core demands and 40 policy priorities, NBC News noted. They include:
Ending the War on Black People: This includes abolishing the death penalty, mass surveillance in communities of color, the privatization of police, violence against all Blacks (including Black trans, queer and gender nonconforming people) and using a past criminal history as a means to seek a job, housing, license and voting rights.
Reparations: To address the past and current harms that slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration have done to the Black community, BLM is seeking reparations for the wealth extracted from our communities, guaranteed livable income and free access and open admissions to public community colleges, universities, and technical schools, to name a few.
Invest-Divest: Instead of federal, state, and local monies being invested into prisons, police, surveillance, and exploitative corporations, BLM would rather see that invested into long-term safety strategies such as education, local restorative justice services, employment programs, and universal health care.
Economic Justice: This is calling for Black communities to have real collective ownership of wealth in the U.S. This could be achieved with restructuring tax codes, creating federal and state job programs that specifically target the most economically marginalized Black people, breaking up large banks and ensuring better protection for workers.
Community Control: This would include the end of the privatization of education and making sure communities have the power to hire and fire officers, determine disciplinary action, control budgets and policies, and subpoena relevant agency information when needed.
Political Power: To ensure that real democracy can be achieved for all Black people, BLM wants for all political prisoners to be released, eliminating Super Pacs that fund candidates, ensuring election protection, early registration at the age of 16, full access to technology and the internet, and increased funding to HBCU’s.
Marbre Stahly-Butts, who is part of the leadership team of the Movement for Black Lives Policy Table, told the Times that neither Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump have truly made strides to address these issues in their prospective campaigns.
“On both sides of aisle, the candidates have really failed to address the demands and the concerns of our people. So this was less about this specific political moment and this election, and more about how do we actually start to plant and cultivate the seeds of transformation of this country that go beyond individual candidates,” she said.
This plan also shows a sign of an evolution for the movement, which has been criticized in the past for not having a clear concise platform of how they want to usher in change. And now as the election continues, it’s about using these ideals to further hold the nation’s politicians accountable, Michaela Brown, communications director of Baltimore Bloc, stressed.
“We seek radical transformation, not reactionary reform. As the 2016 election continues, this platform provides us with a way to intervene with an agenda that resists state and corporate power, an opportunity to implement policies that truly value the safety and humanity of black lives, and an overall means to hold elected leaders accountable,” she said in statement.
We hope all these leaders are paying close attention.
By KELLEE TERRELL
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7 days ago
7 days ago