Free Republic

Nineteen Democrats and one independent are calling on U.S. financial regulators to do more to address financial risks posed by the changing climate. The lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), wrote to leaders of the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Thursday to call for more action. “The United States’ lack of progress and innovation in establishing robust measures to address the financial and economic risks from climate change places us behind our international peers and is counterproductive to American interests,” they wrote,...

"Regulators seized control of First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the third financial institution taken under government control this year, then promptly accepted a bid from JPMorgan Chase for virtually all of the lender's assets. The state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) said it had taken over San Francisco-based First Republic and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. The DFPI also said the FDIC has "accepted a bid from JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio, to assume all deposits, including all uninsured deposits, and substantially all assets of First Republic Bank. **** First...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will say on Thursday that regulators may have to tighten banking rules in the wake of the banking crisis. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) obtained prepared remarks Yellen will deliver at the National Association for Business Economics, which will present her with an award in memory of former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker, who was famous for cracking down on inflation. Yellen served as a Federal Reserve chair and other top posts at the nation’s central bank. Yellen will use her remarks to implement more banking regulations that began in the wake of the 2008 financial...

It was a marquee title on its newly refreshed WeGame platform, soon to be a global online storefront and potential Steam competitor. But, days after launch, the Chinese government elected to halt the sale of Monster Hunter: World citing non-specific customer complaints. The Chinese government regularly requires games to be modified for its citizens. Most recently, when PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was picked up by Tencent, it was noted that the game would need to be retooled to align with “socialist core values.” Neither the developers at PUBG Corp. nor Tencent would elaborate on what that would entail. The Financial Times, citing...

... let's look at Morford assessment of Pruitt (bolds are mine throughout this post): Why the EPA director’s security now costs $2 million ... Behold, this banally evil, milquetoast, science-denying government administrator who now, due to an unprecedented, surprising-but-then-again-not-really number of death threats – the agency has already investigated 70 so far – demands a round-the-clock security detail, one totaling dozens of henchmen making six figures apiece and costing taxpayers more than $2 million a year, a ridiculous situation unheard of in the modern era. It is yours to ponder why. Here's a wild guess, Mark: The far-left has become...

Anti-free speech liberals have long sought to regulate and restrict Americans’ freedom of speech on the Internet. Now, their longtime champion, FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, has found her latest excuse to restrict American citizens’ free speech on their own websites, blogs, YouTube, and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Speaking about Russian meddling in the last election at a recent meeting of the FEC (at minute 10:55), Weintraub stated: If you’re interested I’m happy to talk about it but I’m not here proposing that we reopen the entire Internet rulemaking from 2006. I think that’s something we might want...

The United States could reduce Pentagon spending by over a trillion dollars in the next decade-spending $5.2 trillion rather than the currently planned $6.3 trillion- by adopting strategy of military restraint. That’s the bottom line of a study I produced along with several colleagues as part of “Developing Alternative Defense Strategies 2016,” an exercise organized by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, where groups from five think tanks used CSBA’s “Strategic Choices” software to reimagine the U.S. military budget.The others all increased military spending. The teams from the Center for New American Security and the Center for Strategic and...

One day in late spring in the early days of the George W. Bush administration, FDA inspectors visited the headquarters of Sargento cheese in Plymouth, Wisconsin—a routine visit as part of the federal government's efforts to ensure the safety of the food we eat. The inspectors took samples of cheese to test for bacteria. Sargento conducted tests on cheese from the same lot. A week later, the results from both sets of tests were in—the cheese was bacteria-free. Sargento, having gotten the all-clear from the government, shipped the cheese to stores across the country. Two months later, however, the FDA...

The report, "Stagnation Generation", calls for the social contract between young and old generations to be renewed, as millennials are at risk of becoming the first generation to earn less over their lifetime than earlier generations. According to the report, in the U.K. today's 27 year olds are earning the same amount as a 27 year old would have 25 years ago. "A typical millennial has actually earned £8,000 ($10,587) less during their twenties than those in the preceding generation – generation X," the report claims. ... Meanwhile, young people are failing to get onto the property ladder. The report...

U.S. prosecutors have abandoned their case against Angelo Mozilo, the over-tanned character at the center of the risky subprime mortgages that fueled the financial crisis, after a two-year quest to bring a civil suit against him. As Bloomberg reports, The Justice Department has decided not to sue Mozilo, according to people familiar with the matter, ending a decade-long hunt for someone, anyone to jail over what happened.

Sandra Miller was at work in January when her daughter called from their home here on Oakridge Drive with alarming news. The house was making loud noises, as if someone had jumped off the counter and landed with a bang. For seconds afterward, the house shook. A while later, it happened again, and again. Over the next several hours, terrifying bangs rattled the house. The next morning, Ms. Miller called Bill Neal, a structural engineer, who delivered the same stunning news to her that he has now told hundreds of homeowners: The concrete foundation was crumbling and, as a result,...

Americans in small counties are much less likely to start new businesses, a trend that jeopardizes the economic future of vast swaths of the country. ___ Americans in small towns and rural communities are dramatically less likely to start new businesses than they have been in the past, an unprecedented trend that jeopardizes the economic future of vast swaths of the country. The recovery from the Great Recession has seen a nationwide slowdown in the creation of new businesses, or start-ups. What growth has occurred has been largely confined to a handful of large and innovative areas, including Silicon Valley...

Are the rest of you as disgusted as I am with the current political process? This began over a year ago and has cost millions of dollars while no end is in sight. In fact we are no closer to having even a nominee for President. Wouldn't it be possible to host the debates on CSPAN as table discussions that could be run without the attacks and disputes that are fostered on the Media television channels? Wouldn't this be a more sensible way to present the candidates and their opinions? It could also eliminate the millions of dollars of fundraising....

Was talking to a recently-retired computer-science professor today; he said in the last few years he's been seeing students showing up in college who have literally Never. Used. A. Screwdriver. He has been teaching a higher-level class in automating control of a train setup. Part of the project is to assemble a train car from a kit. These kids have no idea how to do it.

Protesters threw Molotov cocktails at riot police and Greek's central bank building after a demonstration against austerity cuts turned violent today...Almost 25,000 people marched through the streets, as part of a 24 hour strike that has brought the capital to a standstill, to protest a new round of tax hikes and spending cuts. Flights were grounded, ships were docked, offices were empty and hospitals left with skeleton staff in the first major walkout in a year...Tsipras' left wing Syriza party, which leads the coalition government, has backed the strike but one protesting teacher said they have 'deprived every Greek of...

EPA claims that it’s simplifying regulations and making them easier to follow, but the fine print tells another story. Business owners around the country have joined with farmers and ranchers in speaking out on the Waters of the U.S. rule. More than 30 states also oppose the rule. Yet, even in the face of mounting opposition, the EPA still isn’t listening. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has unveiled her latest, campaign-style WOTUS spin, calling the effort the “Clean Water Rule” – as though a bumper-sticker approach to a complex regulation would change anything for people so profoundly affected by her agency’s...

NHTSA announced today that GM (Government Motors) would be required to perform new tests and certify the results of those tests. GM will be required to engineer, test and certify that all sub-prime market vehicles can withstand a bowling ball or small child being attached to the keychain will not turn off the vehicle or disable the safety features of the vehicle. NHTSA studies have indicated that an inordinate number of sales of these vehicles by GM to customers that are Common Core public school graduates or have been recently released from institutions and do not possess significant common sense...

With her children grown, Trisha Eck thought it would be fun to go from being a stay-at-home mom to a small entrepreneur—so she rented a room at a medical spa, where she started her own business, Tooth Fairies Teeth Whitening. She purchased equipment and supplies from a vendor she met at a trade show, including non-prescription strength teeth whitening gels. Customers could purchase her products as a take home kit or apply them to their own teeth while visiting the spa. Since she’s not a dentist, Eck says she never performed the treatments on customers but was there to offer...

Long before George Bailey wrestled with Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life," the public decried the pay of top executives in large financial institutions. Overpaid bank executives are the villains in regulatory morality tales and feed distorted public perceptions about bankers' pay. It is true that the very top bank executives make more in a year than most of us make in a lifetime, but compensation of this magnitude is rare. Most banks in this country are small businesses and pay employees modest salaries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average annual salary of a bank employee...

Ed Schultz was in seventh heaven, lionizing Elizabeth Warren [new first name 'Sheriff'] for the way she grilled financial regulators for failing to take big banks to trial. Just one teenie-weenie factoid Ed failed to mention: those two regulators he showed Warren scalding during his MSNBC show tonight were appointed by, yup, President Barack Obama. View the video here.