What Unites Congress? Scorn For Shkreli
Washington — A smirking Martin Shkreli briefly united Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill last week, as lawmakers took turns blasting the price-hiking former CEO who has become the new poster child for corporate greed. But the gridlocked state of Congress virtually assures federal efforts to lower drug prices will remain in limbo for years. And even then, experts warn that the options available to Congress would not stop...
Internet Service Tax Ban About to Be Permanent
Washington — Should state and local governments be able to collect taxes on your Internet service? For years, Congress has repeatedly banned the practice, but only for short spurts at a time. Now, a bill that’s soon set to become law will make that ban permanent — meaning Internet providers, and by extension, consumers, won’t have to fear that their subscription to fixed broadband will be subject to state and local taxes. Buried in a...
Industry Pushes GMO Label Halt
Washington — Food companies are mounting an aggressive year-end push to head off mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods. The food industry wants the labeling to be voluntary, and it hopes to get a provision in a massive spending bill that Republicans and Democrats want to wrap up this week. If that becomes law, states could not require companies to disclose whether their products contain genetically modified organisms, or...
Bernanke Says Prosecutions Should Have Followed Crisis
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke knows Americans have not forgiven him for the Wall Street bailout that saw greed in financial company executive suites go unpunished while regular people lost their homes, jobs and nest eggs in the financial crisis of 2008. “I can understand why they are angry,” he said. He says he is frustrated that he hasn’t been able to convince more Americans that his actions were necessary to avoid a...
Congress Returns to Unfinished Business
Washington — Congress returns on Tuesday with a critical need for a characteristic rarely evident through a contentious spring and summer: cooperation between Republicans and President Obama. Lawmakers face a weighty list of unfinished business and looming deadlines, including a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open beyond Sept. 30. The most intractable issues — a solution to a yearlong battle over agency budgets and a...
