Senate poised to ease Dodd-Frank rules for most banks

Ten years after a financial crisis rocked the nation's economy, the Senate is poised to pass legislation that would roll back some of the safeguards Congress put into place to prevent a relapse. The move to alter some key aspects of the Dodd-Frank law has overwhelming Republican support and enough Democratic backing that it's expected to gain the 60 votes necessary to clear the Senate.

UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 5

* Ultra Electronics: British defence contractor Ultra Electronics said it terminated the $234 million acquisition of Sparton Corp following an unfavourable anti-trust review outcome from the U.S. Department of Justice. * ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND: Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland could reach a multi billion-dollar settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its mis-selling of toxic mortgage-backed securities within weeks, Sky News reported on Friday, citing sources.

New analysis sees return of trillion-dollar budget deficits

Trillion-dollar budget deficits are returning next year, and $2 trillion-plus deficits are not far off in the wake of President Donald Trump's tax cuts and last month's big budget deal, a private group warned in a new analysis Friday. The analysis, by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, says that the separate tax and spending measures, along with increased borrowing costs, promise to add $6 trillion to the nation's already rapidly rising debt in the coming decade.

Tax cuts offer Republicans a Trump-free campaign option

As Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman spoke to small-business owners over the weekend in his home state of Ohio, he hammered on a major election-year theme for Republicans - that tax cuts are helping the little guy. What did not come up in his talk in Zanesville was the more complicated topic of Republican President Donald Trump, whose victory in Ohio in 2016 helped propel him to the White House.

Worcester forum focuses on preparing for, reacting to, immigration policy

Giovana Ortiz fought back sobs as she told the audience of the uncertainty she experienced as an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States when she was 2. She discussed being raised as an American but trying to take the PSATs and SATs without a Social Security number. She detailed how she spiraled into a deep depression as college seemed increasingly out of the question.

Democrats Have No Message for 2018: Far Left Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill Is Desperate

Normally this is a winning election for the party not in the White House but the Democrats have no message and are looking really sad - almost as sad as election night 2016. Democrats stand for higher taxes, open borders, DACA illegal aliens over Americans , and they did nothing to support the booming economy.

RBS swings to first profit in a decade but US settlement looms over 2018 results

Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a bottom-line profit for the first time in a decade, but warned that a pending settlement with the US Department of Justice could hit 2018 results. The lender swung out of the red to report a A 752 million profit for 2017, marking a major improvement on the A 6.95 billion loss which the lender reported a year ago - one of the biggest since its Government bailout in 2008.

Fixing Welfare Is Ultimately A Philosophical Problem

With the passage of the recent bipartisan budget agreement and its $300 billion assault on spending caps, coming on the heels of the GOP's Tax Cut and Reform Bill and its sweeping $1.5 trillion reduction in taxes, at some point Republicans must focus their attention to a side of the spending coin that has never sat well with America-welfare. According to Gary D. Alexander, Pennsylvania's former Secretary of Human Services, the federal government's $1 trillion-a-year "limitless war on poverty" has spawned a kraken of runaway spending that threatens America's economic survival.

UK banking titans poised to report finances in busy week for sector

Britain's biggest banks will reveal annual figures this week after another eventful year for the sector, clouded once more by mis-selling scandals and controversy over past misdeeds. The performance of state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, which reports on Friday, will hinge on whether the lender is hit by a pending settlement with the US Department of Justice over claims it mis-sold risky mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Governor, call a special session to fix teacher retirement system

The Texas Federation of Teachers held a protest rally in front of the Stafford office of Congressman Tom DeLay in 2003, wanting a bill granting teachers full Social Security spousal and family benefits in addition to their Texas Teachers' Retirement System benefits. That didn't come true and now rising insurance premiums are eating into their TRS benefits.

Are female-led companies the answer to sexual misconduct?

In this Jan. 15, 2014, file photo, Maria Contreras-Sweet, founder and board chairman of a Latino-owned community bank in Los Angeles, listens as President Barack Obama announces he will nominate her to head of the Small Business Administration in Washington. A group of investors led by a Contreras-Sweet offered to acquire Weinstein Co., rebrand it and install a female-led board of directors.

Trump’s high-spending budget reverses longtime GOP dogma

President Donald Trump unveiled a $4.4 trillion budget plan Monday that envisions steep cuts to America's social safety net but mounting spending on the military, formally retreating from last year's promises to balance the federal budget. The president's spending outline for the first time acknowledges that the Republican tax overhaul passed last year would add billions to the deficit and not "pay for itself" as Trump and his Republican allies asserted.

5 things to know about Trump’s $4.4 trillion budget

James Knable, left, and Jeffrey Freeland, right, help to unpack copies of the President's FY19 Budget after it arrived at the House Budget Committee office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. James Knable, left, and Jeffrey Freeland, right, help to unpack copies of the President's FY19 Budget after it arrived at the House Budget Committee office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018.

Trump’s $4.4 trillion budget moves deficit sharply higher

President Donald Trump unveiled a $4.4 trillion budget for next year that heralds an era of $1 trillion-plus federal deficits and - unlike the plan he released last year - never comes close to promising a balanced ledger even after 10 years. The growing deficits reflect, in great part, the impact of last year's tax overhaul, which is projected to cause federal tax revenue to drop.

President Trump’s $4 trillion budget helps move deficit sharply higher

President Donald Trump is proposing a $4 trillion-plus budget for next year that projects a $1 trillion or so federal deficit and - unlike the plan he released last year - never comes close to promising a balanced federal ledger even after 10 years. And that's before last week's $300 billion budget pact is added this year and next, showering both the Pentagon and domestic agencies with big increases.

Trump’s $4 trillion budget helps move deficit sharply higher

President Donald Trump is proposing a $4 trillion-plus budget for next year that projects a $1 trillion or so federal deficit and - unlike the plan he released last year - never comes close to promising a balanced federal ledger even after 10 years. And that's before last week's $300 billion budget pact is added this year and next, showering both the Pentagon and domestic agencies with big increases.