INTELLIGENCER / AP: … The number of certified nursing assistants at some Golden Living facilities was woefully inadequate to care for residents, many of whom are Medicaid enrollees paid for by taxpayers, Kane’s office said in the complaint. Basic care that was promised and paid for was never provided, the complaint said. “Defendants’ staffing practices […]
Richard Holbrooke’s decline and fall, as told in Hillary Clinton
POLITICO: …Holbrooke’s troubles within the administration began almost as soon as he was named Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in early 2009. According to numerous accounts, though he was nominally supposed to report to the president, Holbrooke was largely ignored and restrained by then-National Security Adviser James Jones and a coterie of close […]
Crowds count down, light up as Oregon legalizes recreational marijuana
ALJAZEERA: Crowds counted down to midnight and then lit up joints in the streets as recreational marijuana became legal in Oregon on Wednesday, further strengthening the legalization movement’s foothold in the U.S. West. Hundreds gathered in the middle of the night on the Burnside Bridge in downtown Portland and smoked under the glow of a […]
US payroll report tipped to show gain of 230,000
FINANCIAL TIMES: …The unemployment rate is tipped to edge down to 5.4 per cent from 5.5 per cent, according to analyst forecasts, pushing it closer to the Fed’s estimate of the longer-run rate of 5-5.2 per cent. That compares with a trough of 4.4 per cent back in 2006, on the eve of the financial […]
Justice Department Investigating Potential Airline Collusion
DAILY FINANCE /AP: ..The civil antitrust investigation by the Justice Department appears to focus on whether airlines illegally signaled to each other how quickly they would add new flights, routes and extra seats… Thanks to a series of mergers starting in 2008, American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and United (UAL) […]
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Works Globally to Fight Antismoking Measures
NEW YORK TIMES: ..From Ukraine to Uruguay, Moldova to the Philippines, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its foreign affiliates have become the hammer for the tobacco industry, engaging in a worldwide effort to fight antismoking laws of all kinds, according to interviews with government ministers, lobbyists, lawmakers and public health groups in Asia, Europe, […]
5 ways Puerto Rico’s debt crisis echoes Detroit
USA TODAY: The root causes of Puerto Rico’s debt crisis bear a striking resemblance to the financial collapse of Detroit, which filed for bankruptcy in 2013 to escape a crushing debt load amid a severely diminished tax base. But there’s one big difference between Puerto Rico and Detroit, aside from the obvious fact that one […]
Two pieces of good news for Lancaster County residents
We also tip our hat to the Steinman Family and LNP who have always taken a progressive approach to harm reduction efforts pertaining to drug policy.
Tsipras Signals Greek Willingness to Accept Bailout Terms
NEWSMAX: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday accepted creditors’ proposals as a basis for bailout compromise and sent an “amended” proposal to creditors in the hope of staving off financial ruin. In a letter to European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine […]
US and Cuba to open embassies
FINANCIAL TIMES: … The move to open embassies is one of the most important steps in establishing a different relationship with Cuba although it is likely to take much longer to end most aspects of the commercial embargo that remains in place. The negotiations between Washington and Havana surrounding the opening of embassies have focused […]
TSUKERMAN: Is Putin loved by Russians?
All were willing to endure hardship: to eat just potatoes for the whole year, not to go abroad for their vacations, only if their deprivations were not in vein. But only if the result of these depravations, Europe and the United States will wash in blood and crawl on their knees to beg forgiveness, as Putin promised.
It’s bond holders who want “free pass”, not governments
Access to Chapter 9 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code should be made available to all government entities and authorities. When that occurs, bond underwriters and their counsel will need to take into consideration re-payment ability rather than just mindlessly passing along junk on the supposition that tax payers can be made to pay.
What Greece’s crisis will mean for the world economy
WASHINGTON POST COLUMN: …First, Greece’s economy is tiny, about 1.8 percent of the entire euro zone (the 19 countries using the euro), according to Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute. This means that even if Greece’s economy sinks further — almost a certainty — the lost exports for other countries will be small. All U.S. exports to […]
President Obama overtime rule could raise wages for 5 million
POLITICO: …The proposed rule would more than double the salary level under which virtually all workers qualify for overtime pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in any given week. That threshold, now $23,660, would rise to $50,440 — a number that the administration believes would encompass many workers now classified as managers—and would […]