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☆ Student-loan companies that don't do their jobs should be fired, Elizabeth Warren says. Her next target is one that manages 8 million borrowers.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-22 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

For nearly a decade, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been working to enforce oversight over Navient, a major student-loan company. Warren and some of her Democratic colleagues were concerned that the company was not properly managing student-loan borrowers' payment options, causing them to accumulate unaffordable student debt. However, it released an accountability framework in December that outlined enforcement actions it would take should servicers harm borrowers, including fining servicers and transferring borrowers to better-performing servicers. For example, MOHELA was the first servicer to be hit with a $7 million fine last October for failing to send on-time billing statements to over 2 million borrowers. Terminate MOHELA's contract and put loan services on notice: we will not tolerate your negligence and exploitation; we will not let you profiteer off vulnerable student borrowers."

Persons: Massachusetts Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Rohit Chopra, Warren, We've, Navient, Chopra, there's, Jim Clyburn, Miguel Cardona, MOHELA, fining, servicers, Ayanna Pressley, we've, who've Organizations: Service, Warren, Democratic, Consumer Financial Protection, Navient, Business, Education Department, BI, Sec, The Education Department Locations: Massachusetts, CFPB

☆ Think corporate greed is the leading cause of inflation? Think again
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Some progressives have frequently blamed corporate greed for fueling the high cost of living that Americans are fed up with. That’s corporate greed. That’s corporate greed. Although the paper did not directly mention corporate greed, shrinkflation or Biden, the research undercuts the argument that greedflation drove the early inflation. That report found corporate profits were to blame for 34% of inflation since the start of Covid-19.

Persons: Sen, Elizabeth Warren, ” Warren, “ That’s, It’s, —, ”, Joe Biden, ” Biden, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden, – we’re, shrinkflation, greedflation, Jeremy Edwards, ” Edwards, “, –, Greg Valliere, ” Valliere, Jerome Powell, Caroline Ciccone, profiteer Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Fed, SF Fed, ”, CNN, White, AGF Investments, Federal Reserve, Federal, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Locations: New York, America, Kansas

☆ Musk’s haphazard philanthropy is under scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

As CEO of Tesla, “I’ve done more for the environment than any single human on Earth,” he told the New York Times last year. But American tax law dangles some significant incentives for them to do so. Musk likely managed to shave a couple billion off his $11 billion tax bill in 2021, thanks to the $5.7 billion he donated to the Musk Foundation, according to the Times. In Musk’s case, according to the Times, that meant giving millions of dollars to Cameron County, Texas. “The way I see Elon Musk is that he’s really pushing the limits of the alternative approaches to philanthropy,” Pasic said.

Persons: CNN Business ’, New York CNN — Elon Musk, Tesla, ”, MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos, “, ’, ’ ” Musk, Musk, ” Amir Pasic, Indiana University Lilly, Elon, ” Pasic Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, New York Times, Musk, Times, Indiana University, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, SpaceX Locations: New York, Cameron County , Texas

☆ The Informant Turned Defendant Who Took Aim at the Bidens
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Kenneth P. Vogel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a decade, he played a double game, giving the F.B.I. In 2020, Mr. Smirnov told his F.B.I. handler what prosecutors say was a brazen lie — that the oligarch owner of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had arranged to pay $5 million bribes to both President Biden and his son Hunter. The explosive claim was leaked to Republicans, who made Mr. Smirnov’s allegations a centerpiece of their now-stalled effort to impeach President Biden, apparently without verifying the allegation. Last week, Mr. Smirnov, 43, was indicted on charges that he lied to investigators about the Bidens.

Persons: Alexander Smirnov, Smirnov, Burisma, Biden, Hunter Organizations: Soviet Locations: Soviet Union, Ukrainian

The war provoked by Hamas' attack on Israel has shaken American politics — and put the primary race in her wheelhouse. Iran has long supported Hamas, though U.S. officials say there's no conclusive evidence yet that Iranian agents were involved in the most recent attack. Ron DeSantis proposed state-level sanctions against Iran for its ongoing support of Hamas. Since before the war, Haley has gone after her rivals on issues such as U.S. support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion and how Washington deals with China. And, in keeping with how he treats rivals, Trump has given Haley a nickname, “Birdbrain."

Persons: CLIVE, — Nikki Haley, peppering, —, Haley, Donald Trump, ”, we’re, wouldn't, Israel, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy’s, “, ” Ramaswamy, ” Haley, DeSantis, ” DeSantis, Bill Strong, ” Strong, Nikki, doesn’t, Bruce Rauner, Rauner, She’s, Linda Marks, ” Marks, Thomas Beaumont, Elliot Spagat, ___ Meg Kinnard Organizations: Republican, United Nations, Department of Homeland Security, Israel, Saturday, Banking, Gov, Ukraine, Washington, GOP, Lockheed, Raytheon, Boeing, Trump, Disney, ” Former Illinois Gov, doer, Palestinian, Security, The Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Associated Press Locations: Iowa, China, Russia, Israel, U.S, America, Mexico, Iran, Tehran, South Carolina, Florida, Ukraine, Taiwan, ”, Texas, United States, Gaza, Des Moines, Windsor Heights , Iowa, Boone , Iowa, San Diego

☆ Wall Street investment firms are thirsty for the West's vanishing water
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lucy Kafanov | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

And it comes at a time when Arizona’s allocation of Colorado River water is being slashed amid a decadeslong megadrought. “In the face of record shortages on the Colorado River, we have voluntarily answered urgent and repeated calls to conserve water. Water Asset Management owns at least 3,000 acres in Western Colorado’s Grand Valley, where Mueller works to protect Colorado’s share of the river. “Water Asset Management has engaged in a number of different purchase methods to keep their transactions unknown to many of the local jurisdictions,” Mueller said. The Colorado River in Eagle County, Colorado.

☆ New York bans pet stores from selling cats, dogs, rabbits
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York on Thursday became the latest state to ban the sale of cats, dogs and rabbits in pet stores in an attempt to target commercial breeding operations decried by critics as “puppy mills.”The new law, which was signed by Gov. While that law requires pet stores to work with animal shelters or rescue operations, like New York is doing now, it does not regulate sales by private breeders. In 2020, Maryland banned the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores, triggering pushback from shop owners and breeders who challenged the measure in court. We’re not going to survive this,” said Ortiz, who considers the ban unfair to stores that work with responsible breeders. “One pet store near me, they get dogs from all over the Midwest and different large facilities, and you have no idea where they come from and who the breeder is.

☆ Netflix 'Christmas Carol' reboot 'Spirited' misses Elon Musk irony
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The Americanized “Spirited” is available on Apple TV+, while the British-based “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” debuted on Netflix on Friday. Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was that era’s equivalent of a bestseller, with 13 editions published in the first year of print alone. (“The Muppet’s Christmas Carol,” for example, cast perpetual hero Kermit T. Frog as Cratchit rather than Scrooge.) The animation is vibrant, capturing the feel of the old Claymation-style Christmas TV specials. It is a bizarre and somewhat grotesque rewriting of the story’s moral; it's “A Christmas Carol” seen through the lens of bothsiderism.

Polish Ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sados on Friday told reporters Poland had backed the EU deal, which included a mechanism to keep the oil price cap at least 5% below the market rate. A spokesperson for the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency and oversees EU countries' negotiations, said it had launched the written procedure for all 27 EU countries to formally greenlight the deal, following Poland's approval. The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than the price cap. The White House on Friday welcomed news that the EU was "coming together" on the oil price cap and said it should limit Russian revenues. The initial G7 proposal last week was for a price cap of $65-$70 per barrel with no adjustment mechanism.

☆ Europe agrees to cap the price of Russian oil at $60 a barrel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN Business —The European Union has reached a consensus on the price at which to cap Russian oil just days before its ban on most imports comes into force. Capping the price of Russian oil between $65 and $70 a barrel, a range previously under discussion, wouldn’t have caused much pain for the Kremlin. “Today’s oil price cap agreement is a step in right direction, but this is not enough,” Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu tweeted Friday. The price cap is designed to be enforced by companies that provide shipping, insurance and other services for Russian oil. Confusion about the impact of that measure, along with lingering questions about the price cap, have unsettled traders.

☆ Crypto exchanges enabled online child sex-abuse profiteer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +22 min

These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. “For those people looking to make money from child sexual abuse, crypto has lowered the barrier,” said Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer. The Dark Scandals website, owned by Michael Mohammad, instructs users to send tokens to a Dark Scandals digital wallet to purchase content. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

The U.S. Justice Department, in a report this September, said many crypto exchanges still "make little or no effort to comply" with know-your-customer requirements. These sites often included links for users to pay via crypto exchanges, the IWF told Reuters, declining to name companies. While banks and payment platforms demanded more details from online merchants, many crypto exchanges for years requested little or no information from clients. Asked at his trial for his opinion of crypto, Mohammad noted, "Privacy is something that a lot of users value." The IWF received more reports last year of websites selling child abuse imagery for crypto than any year prior.

☆ Walker's campaign tells Republicans to stop 'deceptive fundraising' in Georgia runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Walker’s campaign, which has trailed Warnock’s in fundraising throughout the election, is now asking fellow Republicans to stop their fundraising practices — or at least start sharing more with the candidate. "We need everyone focused on winning the Georgia Senate race, and deceptive fundraising tactics by teams that just won their races are siphoning money away from Georgia,” Walker campaign manager Scott Paradise told NBC News on Monday. After the 90:10 split was highlighted on Twitter, Trump’s committee changed the allocation to a 50:50 split. A Vance spokesman declined to comment, but subsequent fundraising emails for Walker have defaulted to a 50:50 split as well. Those new donors' emails and their money are then shared along with the cash raised in the joint fundraising endeavor.

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