CEI Today: Dodd-Frank webcast, REINS Act mark up, and Congress takes up costly water policy

DODD-FRANK EVENT - JOHN BERLAU

Is Dodd-Frank's FSOC Harming Financial Stability and Transparency?

Tune into CEI's event today exploring serious questions about accountability and transparency of Dodd-Frank's Financial Stability Oversight Council - watch the live webcast that starts at noon. 

Featuring:

• Paul Atkins, Former Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission; Managing Director, Patomak Partners LLC
• Hans Bader, CEI Senior Attorney and Counsel for Special Projects
• Hester Peirce, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, co-editor, Dodd-Frank: What It Does and Why It's Flawed
• Moderated by John Berlau, CEI Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital

REINS ACT - WAYNE CREWS & RYAN YOUNG The full House Committee on the Judiciary today will markup H.R. 367, the REINS Act. The REINS Act, introduced this Congress in the House by Rep. Todd Young (R-IN9) and in the Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), would require any so-called “major regulation” (those deemed by OMB to have an economic impact of $100 million or more) to come before Congress for an up-or-down vote before it could be enacted.  The legislation passed the House in the same form last Congress, but never got a hearing in the Senate. > Read more about the REINS Act > See also: Even After Cuts, Regulation Pushes Up Cost Of Government > Interview Wayne Crews or Ryan Young

WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT - FRAN SMITH Costly Water Projects Bill Demands Scrutiny We write urging greater scrutiny of misguided and potentially costly provisions in S.601, the Water Resources Development Act of 2013. It is our understanding that the Senate may take up consideration of S. 601 soon. After rushed consideration in committee, and with the Senate’s attention elsewhere, we believe the Senate and taxpayers deserve a thorough vetting of this far reaching legislation. > View the coalition letter > Interview Fran Smith

More in the news... IMF’s Carbon Tax Shenanigans: Part II Who Profits From Alcohol Taxes? Alcohol Regulation Roundup: April 10, 2013 Obamacare Strangles Job Creation, Stifles Medical Innovation NOAA Proposes Tuna-Dolphin Regulations To Comply With WTO Ruling

CEI ANNUAL DINNER & GALA FEATURING THE HONORABLE RAND PAUL JUNE 20, 2013 cei.org/ceidinner

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

CEI Today: Illinois securities fraud?, Dodd-Frank rules eased, and Earth Hour harms the Earth

ILLINOIS SECURITIES FRAUD? - IVAN OSORIO

Daily Caller: SEC’s focus on Illinois pension shenanigans is welcome, but not enough

Illinois recently became only the second state in U.S. history to be charged with securities fraud by federal regulators (New Jersey was the first, in 2010). On March 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Illinois of deceiving investors regarding the health of its state employee pension funds, in a series of bond offerings from 2005 to 2009.

Illinois settled immediately, without either admitting or denying the charges. In exchange, the SEC did not require the state to pay a penalty. Considering the extent of Illinois’ pension funding shenanigans, that kid-glove treatment is surprising.  > Read more

> Interview Ivan Osorio

 

DODD-FRANK - JOHN BERLAU CEI.org: Main Street Wins As Dodd-Frank Rules Eased   Today, members of the House Agriculture Committee advanced seven bipartisan bills that would ease derivative rules of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law of 2010. Senior Fellow John Berlau said the move represented a "growing recognition by both parties" that Dodd-Frank, which was intended to reform Wall Street, has instead victimized Main Street. >Read more > Interview John Berlau

SATURDAY, MARCH 23 CELEBRATE EARTH HOUR HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT HOUR! On Saturday, March 23 at 8:30pm (local time), some people, businesses and governments around the world will choose to sit in the dark for one hour as a symbolic gesture to take action against climate change. Celebrate  Human Achievement Hour, instead - lights ON! RSVP on Facebook Earth Hour Harms the Earth

More in the news... Administration Notifies Congress That Trade Talks With EU Will Begin Windsorgate: Republicans take aim at another EPA administrator for use of private email account Sorry, Progressives, But The ASCE Infrastructure Grade Boost Wasn’t The Result Of Obama’s “Stimulus” Minnesota’s 300% Alcohol Tax Hike Will Hurt Consumers And Businesses Obamacare Harms Colleges And Their Employees What Cyprus (Initially) Got Right — Remembering The 2008 WaMu Capital “Run”

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

ALG's Daily Grind - How the government will steal your savings under Dodd-Frank

March 20, 2013

How the government will steal your savings under Dodd-Frank

We are all Cypriots now.

Cartoon: The Obama Wonka Crisis Factory

The White House bars students from access to America's most famous home.

Time for Back to Basics budget

While the Ryan budget is a gigantic step in the right direction, a proposal by the House Republican Study Committee that brings the budget into balance in four years is likely to be ignored by many in the media. It should not be.

Greenie lying bastards

Pathetic and desperate. There's no other way to describe the new "we hate-industry" movie, Greedy Lying Bastards. Producers spent nearly $2 million to complain about climate skeptic money.

CEI Today: Furlough select federal workers, Dodd-Frank lawsuit progresses, REINS Act attacks regulation, and more

UNION "OFFICIAL TIME" - MATT PATTERSON & TREY KOVACS

Washington Times: Cut spending: Permanently furlough ‘official time’ workers

As politicians of both parties ride through the country Paul Revere-like in their warning about the dire consequences of the looming automatic spending cuts coming with sequestration, a lot of Americans are worried that essential government services will see a dangerous reduction in their operating resources.

Yet there is a way to cut substantial amounts of federal spending that will have zero effect on public services. Simply get rid of federal employees who do no work for the federal government.

Yes, such creatures exist, thanks to a bizarre provision in federal labor law called “official time,” which allows a unionized federal worker to work for his union while on his taxpayer-funded duty. > Read the full commentary

> See also, Government Office, Government Pay...Union Duties?

> Interview the authors

DODD-FRANK LAWSUIT - SAM KAZMAN This week, the state and private plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Act, filed a legal response to the government.  "Rather than address the constitutional validity of this law, the federal government has, through its motion to dismiss, chosen to attack the standing of 11 states, two nonprofit groups, and one small but courageous community bank in Texas, as well as the ripeness of their claims," said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman, in a statement. "Dodd-Frank’s institutionalization of the “too big to fail” syndrome through its illegally-constituted Financial Stability Oversight Council; its provisions for split-second liquidations with practically no protection for creditors and practically no judicial review; and the unaccountable nature of its Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.   And Dodd-Frank continues to have a devastating impact on the economy." A copy of the state and private plaintiff filings, respectively, can be found at cei.org/doddfrank. > Interview Sam Kazman

REINS Act Introduced in Senate CEI Experts Applaud Regulatory Reform That Holds Administration and Congress Accountable This week, Sen. Rand Paul introduced the Senate version of the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. Rep. Todd Young (IN-9) introduced the House version in January with 121 co-sponsors. Experts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute applauded the bill for the much-needed reforms it would bring to the federal rulemaking process. Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews said REINS would “address rampant over-delegation of legislative power, restore Congressional accountability and drive agencies to ensure their rules meet plausible cost-benefit standards relative to one another, which are entirely lacking today."   > Read more > Interview Wayne Crews

More in the news... Green-Jobs Survey Dies as U.S. Readies Sequestration Cuts Hoover’s ‘austerity’ program The Real Dangers of Crying Wolf On BPA Chicken Little Lives Vicariously Through Federal Union Bosses Progressives Should Be Wary Of A Minimum Wage Increase Wells Fargo Economists: Sequestration Helps The Economy In The Long Run EPA Cuts 2012 Cellulosic Blending Target to Zero

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

CEI Today: 11 states challenge Dodd-Frank, Obama's Paycheck Fairness Act, and a new Transoceanic Trade Partnership?

Eight More States Join Constitutional Challenge to Dodd-Frank Act

In an attempt to protect their pension funds, taxpayers and financial stability, the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia today join a major lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

These states are asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to join the suit in order to challenge the validity of the Orderly Liquidation Authority, established under Title II of Dodd-Frank.  If permitted, these states would join the three states already in the lawsuit—Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Michigan — as well as three private plaintiffs: the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas; the 60 Plus Association; and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. > Read more

> Learn more about the lawsuit at cei.org/doddfrank

> Interview an expert

PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT - HANS BADER Openmarket.org: Obama Renews Call For Paycheck Fairness Act In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama renewed his call for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would make it harder for employers to rely on certain merit-based factors “other than [gender]” in setting employee pay. [But] two federal laws, the Equal Pay Act, and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, already ban gender-based pay discrimination. Appealing to low-information voters who may not be aware of these laws, Obama declared, “I ask this Congress to declare that women should earn a living equal to their efforts, and finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this year.” > View the full commentary > Interview Hans Bader

OBAMA'S TRANSOCEANIC TRADE PARTNERSHIPS - IAIN MURRAY CEI.org: Obama State of the Union - Will the Transoceanic Trade “Partnerships” be Free Trade Agreements? President Obama announced during his State of the Union address that the United States would pursue two major agreements – a Trans-Pacific Partnership already in the works and a Transatlantic Partnership. CEI's Iain Murray warned that if the agreements instead are weighted down with protections, they will represent a lost opportunity to bring the undoubted benefits of free trade to all Americans and to other trading partners. > Read the full analysis > Interview Iain Murray

More in the news... An Unconstitutional Gift To Labor Unions “King” Of Nowhere: UAW Chief Makes Noise, Not War Schools Trample On First Amendment

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.