Category: US News

Marathon CEO Placed Steep Price Hikes on Drugs Before Emflaza

The CEO of the latest drugmaker to face criticism over a product’s high price has a history of steep hikes on other drugs and at past companies. Marathon Pharmaceuticals LLC Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Aronin, under fire for setting an $89,000 price on the company’s drug for a rare, deadly muscle disease, was questioned in a letter more than two years ago by Washington lawmakers about mark-ups on two heart drugs.

Meet the man who’ll dismantle net neutrality ‘with a smile’ – CNET

Ajit Pai, the newly christened chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, won’t let a little thing like a hurricane stop him from his obligations. When the rest of the East Coast was taking cover from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, then-FCC Commissioner Pai was sitting in his kitchen at his home in Northern Virginia delivering a keynote speech via video conference to attendees at the 4G World Trade show in Chicago.

ICE raids have day laborers on edge across Southern California

In between offering their services to motorists, Sadot Garnica and another man marveled at how few day laborers like themselves were soliciting work at a Home Depot parking lot in Van Nuys one recent morning. Garnica, a U.S. citizen who lives out of an old van, and Saul, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, agreed that some workers were probably staying away from the site after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 161 people in a Southern California operation earlier this month, sparking fear among many who do not have legal status.

Fed Has Limited View on Trump Policies Ahead of Yellen Testimony

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen goes to Congress on Tuesday for the first time since Republicans took control of the White House and both houses of the legislature with less clarity on the direction of U.S. economic policy than at any time of her three-year tenure. The details of President Donald Trump’s economic policies remain largely unknown.

Senate confirms Mnuchin as treasury secretary

Steven Mnuchin, Treasury secretary nominee for President Donald Trump, speaks during a Senate hearing in Washington on Jan. 19. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg The Senate confirmed Steven T. Mnuchin as Treasury secretary Monday evening, putting an end to a contentious and protracted debate while adding another former banker to President Trump’s roster of advisers. Mnuchin ran a bank, OneWest, that foreclosed on tens of thousands of Americans following the financial crisis, and Democrats argued that he would not represent the financial interests of ordinary Americans in office.

Bank CEOs Ask Lawmakers to Ease Capital Rules, Allow Higher Fees

Chief executives at the biggest U.S. regional banks are asking U.S. lawmakers to consider easing capital requirements and repeal part of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul that caps fees banks charge retailers on debit-card transactions. Regional banks don’t pose risks to the financial system that have caused concern among policymakers, executives of 18 banks said in a Feb. 13 letter to the top Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress.

U.S. Senate Expected to Confirm Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary

The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm former Goldman Sachs banker and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary on Monday, returning a Wall Street veteran to the top U.S. economic and financial job for the first time in eight years. Mnuchin’s appointment to Treasury signals the Trump administration’s trust in bankers and other senior business executives after Democrat Barack Obama launched his presidency with career regulator Timothy Geithner running Treasury and a mandate to rein in Wall Street for its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

Rational on regulation

The first weeks of the Trump administration have not exactly been characterized by an excess of regular order. So there’s special reason to applaud a document it released that helps to make sense of one of the president’s controversial actions – an unprecedented executive order limiting regulation.

The dubious cases against one med-tech tax and for a subsidy

The enduring adage that we detest taxes but obligingly accept public benefits those taxes support is playing out in Minnesota by one of the state’s largest and most prosperous interest groups. That’s hardly surprising, but eyebrows may wrinkle in this case, in which highly questionable “facts” are pushed to knock down a federal tax and, in St. Paul, to prop up a subsidy that some call a freebie handout to folks who often don’t need it.

New chairman quickly shakes up FCC

Ajit Pai, the new Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is quickly making his mark on the agency, shaking up its operations and rolling back Obama-era initiatives. His moves have drawn Republican praise, but also alarmed Democrats and consumer groups, and set the stage for the fights ahead.

Ex-solicitor general outlines the biggest question regarding…

A former US solicitor general said this week that what will be key to whether President Donald Trump is victorious defending his immigration moratorium in the court system is whether the executive order is interpreted solely based on the text of the document. Charles Fried, who served as solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan and is now a Harvard law professor, told Business Insider that things may not bode well for Trump if the court decides to consider statements he made along the campaign trail about banning Muslims from entering the country.

Net neutrality fix faces hard sell

Two key Senate Republicans say they are open to a bipartisan legislative compromise on net neutrality, but their effort faces skepticism from both parties. John Thune Net neutrality fix faces hard sell FCC faces doubleheader of Hill hearings GOP senators demand more answers on Yahoo hacks MORE Roger Wicker Net neutrality fix faces hard sell Lawmakers push FCC chief to boost rural broadband FCC chairman unveils plan to increase transparency MORE , the chairman of a Commerce subcommittee on the internet, have said they are willing to work on a measure that keeps the core of the controversial internet rules but also allows Congress to limit the Federal Communications Commission’s powers.

Ahab versus Moby Dick

There are many of us who sense intuitively that economic revitalization of the US economy under Trump policies, so long as it comes through peace and retention of our personal liberties and our national sovereignty, will be the sole criterion upon which Trump is judged by history. The rest of Trump’s ego will simply be ignored in a salvific attempt to retrieve some dignity of the Oval Office, … an idea that currently evokes laughter.

Appeals court to weigh rehearing of Trump travel ban

Feb 10 A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday asked the Justice Department and the state of Washington to submit briefs on whether a larger panel of judges should decide if President Donald Trump’s travel ban should remain on hold. A three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Thursday refused to reinstate the ban, which temporarily halts travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, while litigation over its constitutionality is proceeding.

New FCC chair closely guards his strategy to restructure net neutrality

WASHINGTON: The new chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission under President Donald Trump is keeping under wraps his strategy to revise or reverse the Obama administration’s “net neutrality” rules, but emphasized he is committed to ensuring an open internet. Ajit Pai, 44, a Republican lawyer who has served as a FCC commissioner since 2012, strongly opposed former Democratic President Barack Obama administration’s 2015 net neutrality rules that reclassified broadband providers and treated them like a public utility.

Carnival Corporation in 2017 — Risks vs. Potential Rewards

Here are some of the risks facing Carnival Cruise Lines, and also what opportunities it has for growth in the years ahead. While the DoJ’s ruling could continue to have an impact Carnival as it comes under more scrutiny and its year-over-year earnings growth is affected by the fine, this seems like an isolated incident and its impact seems already folded into Carnival’s stock price.

Equity Futures Edge Up After Wall St. Hits Record High

U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday, a day after Wall Street hit record high on President Donald Trump’s promise to unveil a tax reform plan in the coming weeks. Trump called the tax plan as “phenomenal”, but offered no specifics other than citing the need to lower tax burden on businesses.

Rpt: Trump Border ‘Wall’ to Cost $21.6B, Take 3.5 Years to Build

President Donald Trump’s “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than three years to construct, based on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security internal report seen by Reuters on Thursday. The report’s estimated price-tag is much higher than a $12-billion figure cited by Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15 billion from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

‘See You in Court’: Defiant Trump rails against appeals court…

“It’s a political decision and we’re going to see them in court … the security of our country is at stake,” he said to NBC News . Hillary Clinton, Trump’s former Democratic rival, offered a short note, tweeting “3-0,” referring to the 9th Circuit judges’ unanimous ruling: “We hold that the Government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay.”

Ohio drillers say 6 shale counties saw $43M tax bump

Oil-and-gas drillers in Ohio have paid $43 million in property taxes to local governments and schools in six shale counties since 2011, according to a report released Thursday. The finding by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and Energy In Depth Ohio, a natural-gas research and education group, comes as Republican Gov. John Kasich has renewed calls for a severance-tax increase on the industry.

Jeff Sessions Confirmed as U.S. Attorney General

The Senate confirmed Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General on Wednesday, bringing to a close what became one of the most contentious debates over President Trump’s cabinet picks so far. The Senate voted to confirm Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General on Wednesday, bringing to a close what became one of the most contentious debates over President Trump’s cabinet picks so far.

Dr. Alveda King: Sen. Warren Used the King Name to Stir Up Emotions

Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reacts to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife in the Senate. The Senate voted along party lines in favor of a rule that essentially silenced Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday night after she quoted from a letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, Coretta Scott King, during her criticism of Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for Attorney General.

Should You Buy Twitter Shares Because Of… Trump?

In the grand scheme of investment theses, this is probably among the more bizarre that I’ve seen. There’s been an awful lot of negativity surrounding Twitter BTIG Research analyst Rich Greenfield has just upgraded Twitter from neutral to buy and assigned a one-year price target of $25.

Energy Transfer to Get Dakota Access Pipeline Approval From U.S.

The controversial Dakota Access pipeline is set to gain the final go-ahead for completion after President Donald Trump asked for a speedy approval. The U.S. Army said it will grant Energy Transfer Partners LP the easement it needs to finish the line that will ship almost half a million barrels of crude a day from North Dakota’s shale fields to refineries across the Midwest and on to the Gulf Coast.

Republicans vote to silence Elizabeth Warren for reading…

Republicans voted to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Tuesday night, during a Senate floor debate over Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination as President Donald Trump’s attorney general. Warren, who is among the Democratic senators opposing Sessions’ appointment, attempted to read from a 1986 letter written by Coretta Scott King, the wife of civil-rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stopped Warren, alleging her recitation of the letter violated Senate rule 19, which forbids conduct “unbecoming” of a senator.

Lobbying world

Capitol Counsel hired Stacie Aman as a principal within its healthcare team. Aman comes from Golden Living, a provider of home health, hospice, rehabilitative therapy and assisted-living care services, where she served as the company’s top lobbyist and public affairs strategist.