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@unusual_whales This is truly wild. Senator Thomas Carper bought up to $110k in Ranger Equity Bear Bear ETF, $HDGE, an active ETF that shorts US listed stocks. He sits on the Senate Finance Committee. And as a politician, he is actively shorting the US economy.

.....The Senate Finance Committee is weighing the idea of a tax on the sale of virgin plastic resin — the base materials used to make single-use plastics — as one potential way to pay for the mammoth spending bill, according to a document released earlier this month. But the proposal has garnered fierce opposition from the plastics division of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a trade group representing 28 companies including oil giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell as well as major chemical manufacturers such as DuPont and Dow Chemical.... ...“Plastic goes into a variety of applications, not just...

The Senate Finance Committee is probing the Obama administration’s 2015 decision to approve the sale of a U.S. company with insight into “military applications” to the Chinese government and an investment firm run by former Vice President Joe Biden’s youngest son, Hunter Biden. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the committee’s chairman, sent a letter to the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Thursday requesting documents relating to the sale of Henniges, a Michigan-based automotive company, to Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Bohai Harvest RST (BHR). The latter was formed in 2013 by a merger between a subsidiary of the Bank...

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is stepping down as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and stepping up to lead the Senate Finance Committee. Now: @ChuckGrassley announces he will opt to serve as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee next Congress, meaning @LindseyGrahamSC would be in line for chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. pic.twitter.com/69FASxl2rz— Todd Ruger (@ToddRuger) November 16, 2018 Grassley said he's switching committees to help steer the booming economy. “The economy is better than it’s been in years and there’s a sense of optimism about the future of our country that people haven’t felt in a long time...

Tax reform is apparently so treacherous for senators these days that they require the utmost protection from the public -- half a century's worth. The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee last month asked senators to submit written proposals detailing tax breaks they'd like to see preserved once the tax code is reformed and explain why. The point was to help inform committee leaders in their efforts to craft a tax reform bill. The request apparently wasn't embraced, and the committee has now promised skittish senators that their proposals will be kept secret for 50 years. A memo sent out...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) declined Friday afternoon to meet a Senate Finance Committee deadline for answering detailed questions about the origins of the IRS scandal. The questions had been submitted jointly nearly two weeks ago by Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT). In a joint statement to Breitbart News, Baucus and Hatch said: “It’s disappointing that the IRS failed to produce any of the documents requested by the Committee. "This is an agency that revolves around making the American taxpayer meet hard deadlines each and every year when they file their taxes, oftentimes penalizing those...

It was Edmund Burke who said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” If anyone has taken a look at America lately, they would find a nation of “do nothings”. Today, “Health Care Reform” as some call it, “Socialized Medicine” as others call it, got over its first major legislative hurdle when it was passed by the Senate Finance Committee. The road has been paved for the legislation to go the full Senate as early as the week of October 26.

Senators giving opening remarks, then scheduled to review bill section by section.

The Senate Finance Committee considers the option of taxing vices to pay for health care reform. Photo: Reuters If you make big bucks — or enjoy alcohol, cigarettes and Coke — the government might hit you up to pay for fixing the nation’s health care system. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee peeked into vending machines and liquor stores, company payrolls and health savings accounts, looking for a mix of tax increases and spending cuts as a way to pay for a health overhaul — which could cost more than $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Experts thought the big...

Charity charged with funneling funds to Iraq Columbia Islamic group, now defunct, is accused of sending $1.4 million during Hussein’s reign. By MARK MORRIS The Kansas City Star A defunct Columbia charity and five officers and associates have been charged with illegally sending more than $1.4 million to Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power. The 33-count federal indictment, unsealed Wednesday in Kansas City, is the latest assault on a charity that in 2004 was designated a supporter of global terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida and Hamas. At its core, the indictment alleges the Islamic American Relief Agency-USA solicited...

A nonprofit charity that solicits donations for the Statue of Liberty pays its executives excessively high salaries, has done a poor job overseeing the millions of dollars it collects and has tried to undermine the efforts of other organizations to raise money for the preservation and operation of the national monument, according to Congressional investigators. The Senate Finance Committee began examining the work of the charity, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, in April after news reports, including articles in The New York Times, raised questions about the organization's role in efforts to partially reopen the statue after it was...