El año arranca con protesta de Dreamers
Con pancartas en mano un grupo de jóvenes inmigrantes y partidarios se reunieron este miércoles frente a la oficina de...
Con pancartas en mano un grupo de jóvenes inmigrantes y partidarios se reunieron este miércoles frente a la oficina de la senadora demócrata de California Dianne Feinstein en Los Ángeles para pedirle que luche por la aprobación del Dream Act.
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Charter School Foes Slam Corbett for $30 million Loss, Call for Moratorium
New Pittsburgh Courier - October 2, 2014, by Christian Morrow - Protestors from Action United, supported by the Service...
New Pittsburgh Courier - October 2, 2014, by Christian Morrow - Protestors from Action United, supported by the Service Employees International Union, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network rallied outside Gov. Tom Corbett’s Pittsburgh office this morning demanding a moratorium on charter school approvals and funding.
A companion rally was held in Philadelphia.
The call comes in the wake of a report compiled by Action United, Integrity in Education, and the Center for Popular Democracy that claims Pennsylvania charter schools have lost $30 million to fraud in the last 17 years.
“Pennsylvania children and families have been robbed by charter school operators to the tune of $30 million,” said Action United board member Ted Stones.
He urged Corbett to quit “expanding a broken system without the oversight and integrity our children deserve.”
The group then marched to the Urban Pathways charter school, which was selected because last November state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale asked the FBI to investigate allegations that the school misused thousands in funds on top-flight catering for board meetings, expensive restaurants, and board retreats to exclusive resorts.
The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Schools issued a statement supporting investigations of charter school fraud, but said Action United’s report leaps to “sweeping conclusions about the entire charter school sector based on only 11 incidents over the course of almost 20 years.”
It ignores, the statement read, actual fraud and fiscal mismanagement in (public school) districts over the same time period “which dwarf the charter school allegations in terms of misuse of taxpayer funds.”
The report’s recommendations for achieving more transparency and accountability should be applied to all schools, the coalition said, otherwise it “would just be an example of pursuing a political agenda.”
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There’s officially a Medicare for All caucus in Congress
House Democrats formally announced the formation of the Medicare for All caucus on Thursday, and were joined by...
House Democrats formally announced the formation of the Medicare for All caucus on Thursday, and were joined by representatives from various progressive groups — like National Nurses United, Social Security Works, and Center for Popular Democracy — who helped save Obamacare last summer and now demand more than the status quo. So far 66 members, or one-third of House Democrats, have joined the caucus led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (WA), Debbie Dingell (MI), and Keith Ellison (MN).
Read the full article here.
Dems to Fed: Increase your diversity
Democrats in Congress are pushing the Federal Reserve to emphasize diversity when filling top policymaking roles. In a...
Democrats in Congress are pushing the Federal Reserve to emphasize diversity when filling top policymaking roles.
In a new letter sent to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, the lawmakers noted that the overwhelming majority of top central bank positions are filled by white men, and they urged a rapid change.
“The importance of ensuring that such positions are filled by persons that reflect and represent the interests of our diverse country cannot be overstated,” they wrote. “When the voices of women, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, and representatives of consumers and labor are excluded from key discussions, their interests are too often neglected.”
The letter, spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), garnered signatures from 11 senators and 116 House Democrats. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential contender, signed the letter, as did every Democrat in the Congressional Black Caucus.
Hillary Clinton jumped into the fray as well, issuing a statement Thursday echoing that message and calling for reforms at the Fed to limit Wall Street input.
"Secretary Clinton believes that the Fed needs to be more representative of America as a whole as well as that commonsense reforms -- like getting bankers off the boards of regional Federal Reserve banks -- are long overdue," said a campaign spokesperson.
The members called for the Fed to consider a range of factors when filling upcoming vacancies, including a candidate's ethnicity, economic and professional background.
They note that while unemployment has fallen sharply over the last several months, minority groups still fall behind. White unemployment is 4.3 percent, Hispanic unemployment is 6.1 percent, and black unemployment is 8.8 percent.
The lawmakers noted that every member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets the nation’s interest rate policy, is white.
In response to the lawmaker critique, the Fed said it was committing to boosting diversity, and touted its recent efforts along those lines.
"We have focused considerable attention in recent years on recruiting directors with diverse backgrounds and experiences," said a Fed spokesperson. "By law, we consider the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers. We also are aiming to increase ethnic and gender diversity. "
Thursday’s letter is the latest in a growing leftward push to influence the Fed, as liberals view the central bank as disproportionately influenced by input from Wall Street. With the economy on the mend and the Fed eyeing upcoming interest rate increases, they argue that too many Americans lower on the economic scale are not yet feeling those economic gains and need more support from the central bank.
Yellen was previously asked about diversity at the Fed at a congressional hearing earlier this year, and she committed to look into the matter.
Did you know 67% of all job growth comes from small businesses? Read More
A top priority for the lawmakers is ensuring increased diversity at the 12 regional Fed banks scattered across the country. Those banks occupy five rotating seats on the FOMC. But their boards are mostly filled by commercial banks, which directly back each institution.
Democrats have said for years that the arrangement ensures that the financial sector enjoys a prime seat in communicating with the Fed. Thursday’s letter noted that no regional bank head is black or Latino, and no African-American has ever helmed a regional Fed bank in the organization's 100-year history.
By Peter Schroeder
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Blowback for SEC from whistleblower
BLOWBACK FOR SEC FROM WHISTLEBLOWER: A whistleblower is calling foul on the SEC. Our Patrick Temple-West writes: “A...
BLOWBACK FOR SEC FROM WHISTLEBLOWER: A whistleblower is calling foul on the SEC. Our Patrick Temple-West writes: “A whistleblower who said he is due an $8.25 million reward from the Securities and Exchange Commission said he is refusing the cash because of concerns that the agency failed to prosecute top executives at Deutsche Bank. … Ben-Artzi said he was fired after raising concerns with the way Deutsche was valuing its derivatives. In its settlement with Deutsche, the SEC alleged the company overvalued its derivatives holdings during the worst days of the 2008 financial crisis. … ‘Although I need the money now more than ever, I will not join the looting of the very people I was hired to protect,’” Ben-Artzi wrote in The Financial Times. A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment.
Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's current enforcement director: “We brought all of the charges supported by the evidence and the law, which were unanimously approved by the Commission.”
TGIF! — Happy Friday. You’ve almost made it through the week without the incomparable Morning Money Ben. The Pro Financial Services team will be filling in again for him next week, so please send tips to Financial Services editor Mark McQuillan: mmcquillan@politico.com. Follow me on Twitter @vtg2.
THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES – Patrick Temple-West on CFTC charges of swaps-reporting violations against Deutsche Bank -- and to get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m. -- please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.
FED UP GOING TO JACKSON — The Fed Up coalition will hold a series of events in Jackson, Wyo., next week, including an on-the-record meeting with Kansas City Fed President Esther George on Aug. 25, the coalition announced. Other Fed presidents and governors will also be attending the discussion. The docket includes a press conference and a demonstration, where members of the coalition (a marriage between unions and other community organizations) will “share their personal experiences seeking good-paying jobs in this economy and discuss the importance of diversity in Fed leadership for promoting high-quality governance and public policy.”
Don’t miss: Fed Up will also unveil a report outlining one of its central ideas: how to make the Fed a fully public institution. Its authors are Andrew Levin of Dartmouth and Valerie Wilson of the Economic Policy Institute.
Speaking of the Fed conference, three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday wrote to Fed Chair Janet Yellen, thanking her for the central bank’s focus on inequality and the impact of the economic recovery on neglected communities. “We are concerned, however, that some of your work may be undercut by the failure of all Federal Reserve entities to follow your lead,” they wrote, expressing worries that workers of color might have a harder time being heard at the Jackson Hole conference. Read the letter from Reps. John Conyers, Frederica Wilson and Marcy Kaptur here.
AIR FORCE ONE SCHEDULED FOR ASIA PIVOT — President Barack Obama is heading off to China early next month where he will participate in the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the White House announced Thursday. Obama will discuss the full gamut of international economic issues and hold “in-depth,” one-on-one meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hangzhou.
MM prediction: Foreign exchange rate policies, the U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty, cyber issues and treatment of U.S. businesses abroad are just some of the hot financial topics that might be broached in those bilateral meetings.
The stop in China will be followed by a trip to Laos for the U.S.-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit. The full trip, which comes amid efforts by the president to push the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal despite political headwinds from both sides of the aisle, will run from Sept. 2-9.
TRUMP A MERCER-NARY — From WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus: "Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s latest staff shakeup reflects the growing behind-the-scenes influence of a wealthy backer relatively new in the nominee’s orbit: billionaire hedge-fund manager Robert Mercer. … He and his daughter, Rebekah, had recommended both Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon and Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who already worked for the campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. The Mercers met privately with Mr. Trump at a fundraiser last weekend at the East Hampton, N.Y., home of New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, according to a person at the event. … Top Trump donors said the staff reshuffling showed the Mercers’ widening role in the campaign." The article is here.
END OF AN ERA — Citigroup will have no more dedicated proprietary traders once Anna Raytcheva leaves at the end of this month, the WSJ reports. Raytcheva and the rest of her kind have been rendered increasingly obsolete at Citi and other large banks because of the Volcker rule, which banned most types of trades made by banks on their own behalf. She will be opening her own hedge fund next year, the veteran trader told WSJ.
WSJ’s Christina Rexrode writes: “The firm’s trading roots go back to Salomon Brothers, whose 1980s trading exploits were featured in the book ‘Liar’s Poker.’ That firm was ultimately folded into Citigroup, whose billions of dollars in trading losses during the financial crisis prompted repeated taxpayer-led bailouts. … Citigroup and other large banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley had multiple desks dedicated to the lucrative but risky practice before the financial crisis. But … to comply with the [Volcker] rule, Citigroup sold or spun off businesses, including an emerging-markets hedge fund and a private-equity unit. It also closed down Citi Principal Strategies, its dedicated proprietary trading desk, in January 2012.” Check out the story here.
FANNIE AND FREDDIE ALL DRESSED UP WITH NOWHERE TO GO — Per Bloomberg’s Joe Light: “Earth-movers are laying the foundations of a shiny new headquarters for Fannie Mae, the bailed-out giant of American mortgages. But the sleek design, replete with glass sky bridges, belies a sober reality: Fannie Mae and its cousin, Freddie Mac, are once again headed for trouble. … On Jan. 1, 2018, the two government-sponsored enterprises will officially run out of capital under the current terms of their bailout. After that, any losses would be shouldered by taxpayers. Granted, few people are predicting a disaster like the one in 2008, when the GSEs had to be thrown a $187.5 billion federal lifeline. But eight years later, people still don’t agree on what to do with these wards of the state.” Click here to read more.
ITALIAN BANKERS FACING SCRUTINY — Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena is in the news once again, this time because its CEO Fabrizio Viola and former Chairman Alessandro Profumo are being investigated for alleged false accounting and market manipulation, Reuters reports. The investigation comes just a couple of weeks after MPS announced that, with the help of JPMorgan Chase and Mediobanca, it will repackage 27-billion-Euros-worth of bad debt into securities worth a total net amount of 9.2 billion Euros.
From Reuters’ Silvia Ognibene: “The investigation, which started in 2015 following complaints filed by small shareholders and consumer associations, comes as the Tuscan bank prepares to launch a 5 billion Euro ($6 billion) stock sale after emerging as the weakest bank in Europe in industry stress tests in July. A spokesman for Monte dei Paschi said the decision to investigate Viola and Profumo followed a proposal by two shareholders to seek damages from the two executives which was rejected by other shareholders at an April meeting. … Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not automatically lead to charges being laid.” More here.
A CLOSER LOOK AT LENDING CLUB — Bloomberg’s Max Chafkin on shady loans facilitated by Lending Club: “[Bryan] Sims decided to take a look at the hundreds of loans he’d invested in, arranging them in a spreadsheet … Two loans caught his eye. Both had been issued to individuals with the same employer in the same small town. So far, so coincidental. But looking deeper, Sims found that the salaries were nearly identical. Both borrowers had opened their first line of credit in the same month. This, Sims realized, is the same dude. It wasn’t a borrower who’d paid off one loan and happily returned for a second. It was one person with two active loans, and Lending Club was treating them as completely unrelated, charging wildly different interest rates. The borrower was paying about 15 percent interest on one loan of about $15,000; on the other, he was paying 9 percent on twice the principal. That meant the investors who held only the second loan were leaving money on the table. And Lending Club didn’t seem to be doing anything to help them.” Read the rest here.
‘LIKE’ IT OR NOT, FED’S ON FACEBOOK — Rounding out its social media presence, the Fed Board of Governors launched a Facebook page on Thursday. The central bank is already on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and — who knew — Flickr. Find its page here.
By VICTORIA GUIDA
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Open thread for night owls: 'Fearless Cities' push back against the rise of the right
Open thread for night owls: 'Fearless Cities' push back against the rise of the right
Jimmy Tobias at The Nation writes—These Cities Might Just Save the Country: Dispatches from the Urban Resistance, from...
Jimmy Tobias at The Nation writes—These Cities Might Just Save the Country: Dispatches from the Urban Resistance, from Atlantic City to Miami Beach: On the second weekend of June, hundreds of activists, NGO workers, mayors, city councilmembers, academics and others from Spain and around the world flocked to Barcelona to discuss progressive resistance to the the rise of the right wing wherever it exists...
Read the full article here.
Immigrants, unions march on May Day for rights, against Trump
NEW YORK — Immigrant and union groups will march in cities across the United States on Monday to mark May Day and...
NEW YORK — Immigrant and union groups will march in cities across the United States on Monday to mark May Day and protest against President Donald Trump's efforts to boost deportations.
Tens of thousands of immigrants and their allies are expected to rally in cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. Demonstrations also are planned for dozens of smaller cities from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to Portland, Oregon.
Read full article here.
A year after the election: Fighting for the freedom to thrive
A year after the election: Fighting for the freedom to thrive
This day last year we woke up to a national nightmare –one that has now evolved into a full-blown social, not to...
This day last year we woke up to a national nightmare –one that has now evolved into a full-blown social, not to mention constitutional, crisis.
Even as we remember November 8, 2016, we must acknowledge that today, many of us are waking up to the first clear sign that the wave of progressive activism that has successfully thwarted some the worst parts of this administration’s agenda, is also poised to have a real impact on electoral outcomes.
Wall Street Journal: Citigroup Pact Has Detailed Plan for $2.5 Billion in Relief to Consumers
Wall Street Journal - July 14, 2014, by Alan Zibel - Citigroup’s $7 billion settlement with the Justice Department over...
Wall Street Journal - July 14, 2014, by Alan Zibel - Citigroup’s $7 billion settlement with the Justice Department over the sale of flawed mortgage securities includes an agreement by the bank to provide $820 million worth of loan forgiveness and other assistance, plus nearly $300 million in refinancing. The money is also earmarked to help with down payments, donations to community groups and financing for rental housing.
These requirements, outlined in a 15-page appendix to the agreement, provide more specificity for consumer assistance than a $25 billion 2012 state/federal settlement with Citigroup and four other banks over mortgage-servicing problems. They also are more detailed than a November 2013 settlement with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. over similar flawed mortgage securities sold to investors.
At a press conference in Washington on Monday, Associate Attorney General Tony West said the department aimed to improve on previous settlements by establishing an “an innovative consumer relief menu—one that not only includes the principal reductions and loan modifications we’ve built into previous resolutions, but also new, consumer-friendly measures.”
The Citigroup settlement, unlike previous pacts, directs the bank to provide half of its loan assistance to particularly hard-hit parts of the country. It also mandates that borrowers whose loan balances are cut won’t remain “underwater” —or owe more on their homes than their properties are worth.
The J.P. Morgan settlement addresses similar issues, but in a less targeted way. It gave the bank a bonus for providing aid to hard-hit areas, but set no specific requirement. In addition, the J.P. Morgan settlement encourages loan write-downs but does not specify how much of a borrower’s debt must be forgiven. The Citigroup settlement contains $180 million in financing for affordable rental housing—a provision not included in other settlements.
“This settlement is far more nuanced than previous settlements with respect to consumer relief,” said Andrew Jakabovics, senior director for policy development and research Enterprise Community Partners, a large affordable-housing nonprofit group. The pact, he said, “reflects many of the best practices we’ve seen develop with respect to creating sustainable loan modifications.”
A Justice Department official said the consumer-assistance portion of the Citigroup settlement reflects refinements to the government’s thinking after previous settlements. In addition, the official said the smaller size of Citigroup’s mortgage-lending portfolio caused the government to consider additional avenues for relief because the bank had fewer loans to modify.
There has been tension between the Obama administration and liberal activist groups over efforts to resolve cases related to banks’ mortgage-crisis conduct.
Consumer groups have been unhappy with previous settlements of mortgage-related cases. For example, the 2012 mortgage-servicing settlement allowed banks to receive credit for short sales, in which a bank agrees to allow the sale of a property with a mortgage worth more than the home’s value, and for granting “deeds in lieu of foreclosure,” where a homeowner voluntary surrenders the home.
Some activists are still skeptical of the government’s settlements with the financial industry. Kevin Whelan, national campaign director for the Home Defenders League, an activist group representing homeowners, said there’s been no noticeable impact from last fall’s J.P. Morgan settlement.
“We haven’t seen any evidence that they’ve done anything at all,” Mr. Whelan said.
No statistics on the J.P. Morgan settlement have been released. A J.P. Morgan spokeswoman declined comment.
Joseph Smith, a former North Carolina banking regulator, is serving as the independent monitor overseeing the J.P. Morgan settlement and is expected to release a report on its progress in the coming weeks.
Thomas Perrelli, a former Justice Department official who helped broker the 2012 mortgage settlement, will serve as the monitor of the Citigroup agreement. Mr. Perrelli is now at the law firm Jenner & Block in Washington.
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Rate Hike Opponents Overwhelmed The Fed's Phone System
Left-leaning groups affiliated with the Fed Up campaign,...
Left-leaning groups affiliated with the Fed Up campaign, including CREDO Action, the Working Families Party and Daily Kos, estimate that over 400 of their members called the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ public comment hotline and the phone numbers of the Fed’s special economic advisers late last week and early this week to express opposition to an interest rate hike. The activists, along with many liberal economists, believe the Fed should wait for higher wage growth before raising rates.
Around 9 a.m. Monday, activists reported being unable to record additional messages on the public comment hotline because it apparently was full, according to Fed Up. This continued for another two to three hours.
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ communications office declined to confirm the account or otherwise comment on the calls.
The Fed Up campaign’s opposition to an interest rate hike is part of a broader goal of making the Fed more accountable to average workers and their concerns. Fed Up convened dozens of grassroots activists to make their case to Fed officials in person at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium in late August.
The Fed’s inability to receive more phone calls confirms it is "unused to actual public engagement," Fed Up campaign director Ady Barkan wrote in an email to The Huffington Post.
The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee is meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to decide whether to raise its benchmark interest rate, and plans to announce its decision Thursday afternoon. The Fed has indicated it may decide to raise the rate slightly above the near-zero level, where it has remained since December 2008.
Proponents of an interest rate hike note that the official unemployment rate is down to 5.1 percent and argue that although inflation is well under the Fed’s 2 percent target, it is better to raise rates gradually sooner to avoid having to take more dramatic action later.
Opponents of a rate hike, however, observe that the official unemployment rate does not account for people who have given up looking for work or are working part-time involuntarily. That is why they believe the declining unemployment has not been accompanied by more significant wage growth.
"Millions of working families know from their own experiences that the economy is still struggling," said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director of CREDO Action, in an email statement. "Intentionally slowing down the economy now would reduce job creation and prevent wage growth. It’s the last thing the Fed should be doing."
Source: Huffington Post
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