In less than two weeks on the job, the 114th United States Congress has taken major steps towards undoing one of the most important pieces of financial legislation this decade. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is a member of the House Financial Services Committee. Last week, Rep. Fitzpatrick introduced a bill...
The crisis in Russia worsened Tuesday when Standard and Poor’s (S&P) placed the nation on negative credit watch. In a statement, S&P said that the move “stems from what we view as a rapid deterioration of Russia’s monetary flexibility and the impact of the weakening economy on its financial system.” The...
This week’s approval of H.R. 83, the $1.1 trillion ‘Cromnibus’ spending bill that will fund the federal government for 2015, did serious damage to the Dodd-Frank Act. Language in the bill re-permits trading in swaps and derivatives by FDIC-insured banks—a practice the Dodd-Frank Act eliminated when it was signed back...
Capitol Hill was rocked late last week by news that House Republicans were pursuing legal action against the Obama administration. The president’s use of executive authority pertaining to both healthcare and immigration was the motivation for the lawsuit, according to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “Time after time, the president has...
This morning, the Senate will hold a hearing on the topic of regulatory capture—a term used to describe the often-observed tendency of government officials to become a little too close to the institutions they’re supposed to be regulating. The impending case made yesterday’s announcement from the Federal Reserve all the...
As the Affordable Care Act—or Obamacare—enters its second period of open enrollment, many Americans are already disillusioned with President Obama’s initiative to reform the nation’s healthcare system. 56 percent of those surveyed say they disapprove of the program, the highest disapproval rating since such polling began in late 2012. Only...
One week ago, predictions on the outcome of Election Day were as numerous as the races themselves. Many pundits believed the Republican Party would seize control of both houses of Congress, while others thoughts the Democrats could maintain a slight majority. Still more predicted a race that was simply...