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AKA Dodd-Frank financial regulations |
Conservative Blogger
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Trump begins rollback of Dodd-Frank financial regulations
President Trump signed an executive order Friday taking aim at the regulatory labyrinth created by Dodd-Frank, the massive 24,000-page law passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
“We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank,” Trump said, after morning meetings with business leaders.
The order directs the Treasury secretary to initiate a review and consult with regulatory agencies to identify changes to Dodd-Frank. It will not take effect immediately and awaits Senate confirmation of Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin.
Trump also signed a presidential memorandum that instructs the Labor Department to delay implementing an Obama-era rule that requires financial professionals who charge commissions to put their clients' best interests first when giving advice on retirement investments.
The rule was intended to prevent conflicts of interest by financial advisers and brokers. Opponents say it extends beyond the Labor Department’s authority.
While the financial oversight order won't have any immediate impact, the administration's intent is clear.
"The Dodd-Frank Act is a disastrous policy that's hindering our markets, reducing the availability of credit and crippling our economy's ability to grow and create jobs," said Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Trump pledged during the transition that rolling back regulations, particularly 2010 Dodd-Frank law, would be a priority of his administration.
White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn echoed the president in an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
Cohn argued regulations are “the biggest hindrance to job creation” and have a negative impact on banks’ lending practices.
“All banks have been under such regulatory scrutiny where they’ve been forced to literally build capital. Instead of lending capital ... to their clients and allowing them to grow their businesses and hire people and create jobs, they’ve been taking those reserves and taking that capital and hording it to meet the regulatory requirements and pay for additional regulations,” he said Friday morning.
The executive order is the “beginning of some of our executive actions to roll back regulations in the financial markets,” Cohn added.
Since its passage, there has been a surge in banking mergers and acquisitions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
They reported that U.S. bank mergers increased to about $18 billion in 2016, the highest recorded level since 2009.
“We appreciate the administration’s support for pro-growth policies so banks can go even further in helping communities and our economy thrive,” said Rob Nichols, president of the American Bankers Association, in a statement.
“A sensible and careful review of Dodd-Frank and other financial regulations can and should strengthen those goals while unleashing the power of the banking industry — from small towns and communities to our nation’s financial centers — to fuel the increase in economic prosperity that we all seek,” added Nichols.
In its regulatory rollback, the administration has a willing partner in the Republican-controlled Congress which got the ball rolling this week.
On Wednesday, the House voted 235-187 to repeal a controversial Dodd-Frank requirement that publicly traded companies disclose confidential information related to the negotiation of business contracts.
The rule was vacated in 2013 by a federal judge on the grounds it was too arbitrary.
The SEC re-issued the rule last summer. But in an early morning Friday session, the Senate voted 52-47 to OK the House-approved measure, which President Trump is expected to sign.
Describing it as an “anti-corruption rule,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, maintained repealing the regulation makes it easier for companies to hide their dealings with foreign governments, like Russia and China.
A source close to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling told Fox News the Texas Republican plans to reintroduce the Financial Choice Act in the coming weeks. The legislation is the only measure to date that proposes to repeal and replace Dodd-Frank.
The bill would repeal the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which was intended to help rescue failing large firms without relying on government bailouts. It also would replace the head of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a five-member panel and establish an office of inspector general.
BuzzFeed sued over publication of Trump dossier, report says
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| Ze Frank is an American online performance artist, composer, humorist and public speaker based in Los Angeles, California. He is currently the president of BuzzFeed Entertainment Group. |
Buzzfeed was sued by the Russia-tied tech firm named in the dossier that contained unsubstantiated allegations against President Trump for including “libelous, unverified” information about the company, McClatchy reported Friday, citing the lawsuits.
The defamation suits were brought by XBT Holdings. Company lawyers reportedly filed complaints against BuzzFeed and its editor Ben Smith. A former British spy and his company were also named in complaints.
The company seeks an “undetermined compensation for the damages.”
VIDEO: TUCKER CARLSON INTERVIEWS BUZZFEED EDITOR
A Buzzfeed spokeman told McClatchy that it redacted the name of the company’s owner and “apologize for including it.”
McClatchy reported that the dossier said XBT and affiliates “had been using botnets and porn traffic to transmit viruses, plant bugs, steal data and conduct “altering operations” against the Democratic Party leadership.”
The suit reportedly says Alekej Gubarev, XBT’s owner, is married with three children and “has found his personal and professional reputation in tatters.”
The network did not give details about the information, saying the charges had not been verified, but BuzzFeed soon published the 35-page dossier. Most reputable news organizations, following up the story, also did not report the details.
Trump and his team was quick to attack news organizations that spread unsubstantiated reports about a damaging dossier last month collected on him by Russia, an incident that illustrates how old rules of journalism are being tested in today's rapidly changing media world.
Trump called BuzzFeed "a pile of garbage" for publishing the allegations.
CNN reported that Trump had been briefed by intelligence officials about compromising personal and financial information that Russia had collected on him.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Vice President Pence sharply condemned those who spread the story. Spicer called BuzzFeed's decision "outrageous and highly irresponsible," while Pence said it was an effort by some in the media to delegitimize the election and discredit the incoming administration.
"The American people are sick and tired of it," Pence said.
Meanwhile, Trump credited The New York Times, a newspaper he's often been at odds with, for its decision not to publish what it could not independently verify.
Airlines reportedly told to board passengers otherwise banned under Trump's travel order after federal judge's ruling
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| U.S. District Judge James Robart (stupid ass) |
U.S. District Judge James Robart ruled that Washington state and Minnesota could challenge Trump's order to freeze the entire U.S. refugee program for four months and ban Syrians from entering as refugees indefinitely.
“What the judge announced today is nationwide—the president’s executive order does not apply,” Bob Ferguson, the attorney general from Washington state, said. It was his state that filed the suit.
Ferguson said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. The state's legal challenge was the way the president's order targeted Islam.
The New York Times reported Friday night that airlines have been told by the government to begin allowing these travelers on planes to the U.S. The Trump administration could block these travelers if it wins an emergency stay, but Reuters reported that the U.S. Justice Department will not be filing a stay tonight.
The State Department said it has been informed about the ruling “barring the U.S. government from enforcing provisions of Executive Order 13769.”
“We are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and our legal teams to determine how this affects our operations,” a spokesman from the department said to Fox News. “We will announce any changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available.”
The judge’s ruling, as The Wall Street Journal reported, adds a “fresh round of confusion” to several challenges to Trump’s order.
The judge ordered federal defendants "and their respective officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys and persons acting in concert or participation with them are hereby enjoined and restrained from" enforcing the executive order.
Robart wrote that he granted the restraining order partly because the plaintiffs were likely to win on a constitutional claim, and that halting the executive order would cause the plaintiffs “irreparable injury.”
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said in an interview that he believes the state may have an uphill climb because the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that the Constitution does not protect non-citizens.
Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, said in a statement that the Justice Department “intends to file an emergency stay of this outrageous order and defend the executive order of the president, which we believe is lawful and appropriate.”
The judge's ruling could be appealed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Journal reported that district judges seldom issue nationwide injunctions, but cited a few in recent years, including a 2010 ruling against “don’t ask, don’t tell” and, a similar ruling in 2015, where a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction blocking the Obama administration’s implementation granting some protection to children of illegal immigrants.
Trump's order last week sparked protests nationwide and confusion at airports as some travelers were detained. The White House has argued that it will make the country safer.
Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and suspends the U.S. refugee program.
Qatar Airways: US approved the boarding of refugees with valid visas, green cards after ruling
Qatar Airways announced on its website Saturday that it has been directed by the U.S. government to permit formerly banned passengers to board U.S.-bound flights after a federal judge’s ruling halted President Trump’s controversial refugee order.
The airline was directed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the “nationals of the seven affected countries” and “all refugees seeking admission with a valid U.S. visa of green card” will be allowed to travel to the U.S. and “processes accordingly upon arrival.
U.S. District Judge James Robart issued a ruling Friday that temporarily halts President Trump’s controversial executive order barring travelers and immigrants from seven predominately Muslim countries.
The New York Times first reported Friday night that airlines have been told by the government to begin allowing these travelers on planes to the U.S. The Trump administration could block these travelers if it wins an emergency stay, but Reuters reported that the U.S. Justice Department will not be filing a stay tonight.
The State Department said it has been informed about the ruling “barring the U.S. government from enforcing provisions of Executive Order 13769.”
“We are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and our legal teams to determine how this affects our operations,” a spokesman from the department said to Fox News. “We will announce any changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available.”
The Guardian reported that a duty manager at San Francisco’s international airport said his colleagues have not been instructed on how to proceed after the ruling.
“We’re just waiting to find out how the law’s changing and morphing,” he said. “People are just coming and going. We’re hoping it works out well for everyone.”
The State Department said it has been informed about the ruling “barring the U.S. government from enforcing provisions of Executive Order 13769.”
“We are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and our legal teams to determine how this affects our operations,” a spokesman from the department said to Fox News. “We will announce any changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available.”
Friday, February 3, 2017
At Border Patrol, Trump lifts morale that was at an all-time low
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| Border patrol agent reacts to wall executive order |
In SUVs or ATVs, Border Patrol agents with video surveillance equipment and binoculars spent hours, as they do every day, scanning the hilly and treacherous terrain that connects Tijuana, Mexico, to Southern California to try and prevent anyone trying to illegally cross the border.
By the next morning, the processing rooms at the U.S. Border Patrol Imperial Beach Station were filled with men. They included two men from Turkey who washed up onshore on surfboards and wearing wetsuits. Federal agents spent hours that morning questioning nearly a dozen detained men who were suspected of being from Pakistan.
It’s just a snapshot of what happens every day along the busy San Diego sector of the U.S. Border. Agents say they are doing all they can to protect the border, but for years have found themselves in a losing battle against a well-financed and sophisticated network of smugglers.
"We are undermanned and there are revisions and renovations that need to be made in the infrastructure along the border," says Chris Harris, a veteran Border Patrol agent and director of legislative and political affairs for the National Border Patrol Council.
Agents hope all that changes under President Donald Trump.
BORDER PATROL CHIEF, WHO ONCE BACKED IMMIGRATION REFORM, REMOVED FROM OFFICE
Harris said the unprecedented support the agency has received from Trump will reinvigorate an agency that has for years been hampered by inadequate funding, dismal resources and seesaw policy changes.
On January 25, Trump laid out a forceful yet controversial border security policy through a series of executive orders that included suspending “catch and release,” moving forward on building a border wall and pledging to hire 5,000 more federal agents.
The move drew outrage among immigration advocates across the country. But to the rank-and-file agents who have attempted to guard the border with a vague and contradictory mission for the past eight years – and saw morale plummet to historic levels – it was a welcome move they believe will make their agency more effective.
“When Trump was elected, there was an increase in optimism among the agents, but nothing like what we’ve seen in the past few days,” Shawn Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in reference to Trump’s executive orders.
Moran said he saw first-hand how morale plummeted under the Obama administration. Agents, he said, felt handcuffed by stringent policies that prevented them from doing their jobs. Under “catch and release,” they were releasing nearly 80 percent of the people they apprehended trying to enter the U.S. illegally, Moran said.
Moran said he is not totally surprised at the opposition Trump is receiving from sanctuary city mayors and the public, who he believes does not understand the implications of illegal immigration.
“I’m not surprised by the reaction,” Moran said, “people just don’t get it.”
DHS SECRETARY: BORDER WALL SHALL BE FINISHED IN TWO YEARS
But overhauling the agency will not be an easy task. Harris said it will entail a philosophical paradigm shift and will require agents to rethink how they approach their missions.
“Our skill sets have atrophied in this arena during the last eight or so years concurrent with the previous presidential administration,” said Harris. “It will take a complete paradigm shift in some of the ways we conduct business, and even in the way we think. Our operational mindset needs to be rethought and rechanneled.”
Despite Mexico’s pledge to stem the flow of Central American migrants entering its country from bordering Guatemala, the numbers have increased over the past year.
The number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the Southwest border jumped nearly 50 percent between fiscal years 2015-2016, from 39,970 to 59,692. In the first three months of this fiscal year (Oct. 1-Dec. 31), 21,321 have already been apprehended, according to Border Patrol stats.
But it is the number of family units apprehended that is staggering. Apprehensions jumped 95 percent between fiscal years 2015-2016, from 39,838 to 77,674. The numbers for the 2017 fiscal year have already surpassed the total for 2015, with 44,843 apprehended the past few months, according to Border Patrol.
Trump has made it his priority to stem the flow of migrants coming in through the porous border – saying it’s a matter of national security.
“The unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central America is harming both Mexico and the U.S. and I believe the steps we will take starting right now will improve the safety in both of our countries. It's going to be very, very good for Mexico,” Trump said when announcing the executive orders. "A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the U.S. gets back control of its borders, gets back its borders."
Vanity Fair pulls out of White House correspondents' dinner after-party
Vanity Fair, whose editor Graydon Carter has feuded with Donald Trump over the years, has decided to pull out of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after-party it has co-hosted with Bloomberg LP since 2009, according to a spokeswoman for the magazine.
The after-party will still go on, just hosted by Bloomberg alone, a person familiar with the situation said, but Carter and the Vanity Fair crew will stay home. The two companies had hosted the party together since the beginning of the Obama administration.
It is one of Washington’s high-profile affairs and follows the annual event when the president tells jokes before a crowd of journalists and celebrities.
There had been some doubt that the main event would be held at all, given the Trump administration’s battles with the White House press corps since taking office. Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, referred to the media in a recent New York Times article as an “opposition party,” that ought to “keep its mouth shut.”
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