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☆ Supreme Court Criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Many Republicans view the recent criticism as unhinged and damaging to American democracy. According to this view, the liberals criticizing the court are sore losers trying to subvert legitimate court decisions with which they disagree. Republicans and the judges they appointed have decided to use hardball tactics to shape the law, including the stonewalling of Obama’s last court nominee and the aggressive rulings of the current court. Roosevelt failed to pass his so-called court packing bill, but his criticism of the court — and his popularity — nonetheless seemed to influence the justices: They reversed course in his second term and stopped overruling major New Deal programs. But the harsh recent criticism is intended to be an early step in a long campaign to constrain the court.

☆ U.S. lawmakers want to bar automakers from eliminating AM radio in new vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday to bar automakers from eliminating AM broadcast radio in their new vehicles citing safety concerns. Democratic Senator Edward Markey, one of the sponsors of the bill, said at least eight automakers have removed AM broadcast radio from their electric vehicles including Tesla (TSLA.O) BMW (BMWG.DE), Ford (F.N) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE). The bill would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue regulations to mandate AM radio in new vehicles without additional charge. Lawmakers say losing AM radio undermines a federal system for delivering key public safety information to the public. Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Staff for a 95-year-old federal judge say she is "losing it, mentally" and talking to a dead colleague
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Judge Pauline Newman says her fellow appeals judges are trying to force her off the Federal Circuit. She claims she's been "hacked" when she can't find a file or email, the decision quoted staff saying. Her peers say Judge Newman has slowed downOver the years, Judge Newman has established a reputation as a prolific dissenter, frequently and openly disagreeing with her colleagues on issues of patent law. The typical federal judge last year was 68 years old. The judges investigating Newman said allegations about her interactions with staff weren't the only thing that needed to be evaluated.

☆ Senate Democrats are asking Biden to stop negotiating with Republicans on a debt ceiling solution and take a route that would get rid of the problem forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Senate Democrats are asking Biden to prepare to use the 14th amendment to solve the debt ceiling crisis. The 14th amendment would allow Biden to bypass Congress and declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional. On Wednesday, The Washington Post first reported that five Democratic senators have spearheaded an effort to urge Biden to invoke a clause in the 14th amendment to address the debt ceiling. Rep. Jamie Raskin, for example, told Insider in a Wednesday interview that the 14th amendment "provides the whole structure for resolving the conflict." He said that he doesn't think the 14th amendment "solves our problem now.

☆ Party City is planning to close over 30 stores across the country — here's the full list
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Party City says it's closing over 30 stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Cartersville: Cartersville Crossing, 451 East Main St.IowaWaterloo: Crossroads Commons Shopping Center, 1415 Flammang Dr.IllinoisBradley: Bradley Commons, 2060 N. State Rte. 20Felch Street Shopping Center, 3050 Beeline Rd., Ste. L12East Hills Shopping Center, 3702 Frederick Ave., Ste. K2Five Points Shopping Center, 4101 Hwy.

A group of mostly Democratic senators pressured Tesla CEO Elon Musk to end the company's use of forced arbitration clauses in employee and customer contracts, in a letter on Monday. Forced arbitration clauses in consumer contracts have similarly obscured important details about Tesla's vehicle safety and business practices from the public, the lawmakers wrote. They asked for the same details about sexual harassment complaints from Tesla workers. However, Tesla makes and sells its cars direct to consumers so its forced arbitration clauses cover more than the norm where auto sales are concerned. Tesla uses arbitration clauses as a tactic to shunt people into a forum that's pretty rigged for the corporation."

☆ Seven US senators raise concerns about Tesla use of forced arbitration clauses
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Tesla Inc FollowWASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - A group of seven U.S. senators on Monday questioned Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) use of forced arbitration clauses in employee and consumer contracts, arguing that they prevent bringing discrimination claims and consumer safety complaints to court. Tesla has said it does not tolerate workplace discrimination and takes worker complaints seriously. The senators cited an ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into reports of “phantom braking" in Tesla vehicles. The senators sought answers to detailed questions by June 8 about Tesla's use of forced arbitration. The senators said arbitration clauses may keep"potential safety flaws from the public eye and limited regulatory authorities’ ability to protect Tesla customers and employees and hold Tesla publicly accountable."

☆ Senators say new US Postal Service pay plan will cut rural worker compensation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - A group of six U.S. senators on Friday urged the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to delay implementation of a new compensation system that it says will reduce pay for tens of thousands of rural postal delivery workers. The senators -- Democrats Ron Wyden Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Ed Markey and John Fetterman and independent Bernie Sanders -- in a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the automated Rural Route Evaluated Compensation System should not be used "until the system’s serious flaws are rectified." They also asked how USPS "will reimburse rural carriers for lost earnings when the system makes an inaccurate determination about their routes." Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Some airlines effectively charge parents to sit with their kids. Biden is shaming the industry into changing that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Consumer groups and President Joe Biden are aghast that carriers have effectively charged families more to sit together. No airline explicitly imposes a "family seating fee," but consumer advocates have complained for years about how that's exactly what's happening. Airlines for America, an industry lobbying arm that counts the big four, America, Delta, Southwest, and United, among its members, previously pointed out that none of its members explicitly charge a family seating fee. This is a March 24, 2023 screenshot of the Department of Transportation's dashboard of airline family seating policies. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is working with a trio of other Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on separate legislation on just family seating.

☆ Meta opens up its Horizon Worlds VR app to teens for the first time, prompting outcries from US lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Meta is forging ahead with plans to let teenagers onto its virtual reality app, Horizon Worlds, despite objections from lawmakers and civil society groups that the technology could have possible unintended consequences for mental health. On Tuesday, the social media giant said children as young as 13 in Canada and the United States will gain access to Horizon Worlds for the first time in the coming weeks. Zuckerberg has pushed to spend billions developing VR hardware and software, even as Meta has scaled back significantly in other parts of its business. “Meta is despicably attempting to lure young teens to Horizon Worlds in an attempt to boost its failing platform,” said Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who last month, along with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, urged Zuckerberg to reconsider letting teens use the app. Lawmakers have previously raised alarms about the impact of some of Meta’s other products, including Instagram, on younger users.

Companies Tesla Inc FollowApril 14 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators have written to Elon Musk, Tesla Inc's chief executive, questioning him about the sharing by employees of sensitive images recorded by cameras in customers' vehicles. The recordings included a child struck by a Tesla vehicle while riding a bicycle and a man approaching a car completely naked, according to former Tesla employees. Reuters had reported that seven former Tesla employees had said they could view camera recordings' map locations — and potentially see where a Tesla owner lived. Following last week's Reuters report, a California Tesla owner filed a prospective class-action lawsuit in San Francisco, accusing the company of violating customers' privacy. It alleged that Tesla employees accessed customer data for "tasteless and tortious entertainment" and "the humiliation of those surreptitiously recorded."

☆ The US could lose up to 900 warplanes fighting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan but would emerge victorious, says think tank
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A think tank ran war game analyses for a conflict between the US and China over Taiwan. One of the analysts told Insider the US and Taiwan would likely succeed in beating back a Chinese invasion. The Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, conducted war games last year to imagine how such a conflict would play out. The war games are designed to help envision how conflicts would play out. China conducted military drills around Taiwan following Pelosi's visit and said that further "training and war preparation" would continue, The Guardian reported.

☆ Starbucks' Howard Schultz was the gold standard for good bosses everywhere. Then Gen Z worked for him.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks at the time, then appeared with Clinton on a panel to discuss corporate responsibility. Schultz discussed his 1987 decision to offer Starbucks employees stock options and what he said was better healthcare than rivals, among other benefits. Starbucks workers participate in November's Red Cup Rebellion, a nationwide strike. Starbucks's health insurance option for part-time workers originates in a 1986 contract for unionized Seattle Starbucks workers that Schultz fought against at the time. Markey said that by unionizing, Starbucks workers are "just looking to be someone who can protect themselves in the way your father could not."

☆ Starbucks union is using billboards, a brass band and a butter sculpture to pressure board members from Nike, Land O'Lakes and Lego
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Starbucks union organizers are stepping up pressure on individual members of the company's board. Leaders at Nike, Lego, and Land O' Lakes were targeted using billboards, a movie trailer, a brass band, and even a butter sculpture. The push comes a week after shareholders voted in favor of an investigation into Starbucks' labor practices. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles and online, a Lego Movie-styled trailer premiered with the aim of enlisting Lego President Jorgen Vig Knudstorp to join the side of Starbucks workers. And now, those tensions are spilling over to other companies as the union targets Starbucks' board of directors.

☆ Starbuck's ex-CEO started his Congressional testimony with an emotional story about his father. It was used against him.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told Congress about his father's work injury Wednesday. But Sen. Ed Markey used the anecdote to argue that Starbucks should respect unionizing workers. When Schultz was a child, his father slipped on ice and broke his foot while working as a driver, he said. Markey told the story of his own father, whom he said lost a finger in an accident at work. Starbucks told the Times that the remedies are "inappropriate."

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden would veto a Republican energy legislation package if it were to pass Congress, citing cost increases that the legislation could lead to, the White House said on Monday. 1 (Lower Energy Costs Act) would double the cost of energy efficiency upgrades that families need to reduce household bills and would repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will cut energy costs and boost economic development in rural and urban communities across the country," the White House said. Republicans plan to bring the legislation to the floor of the House of Representatives, where they hold a slim majority, for a vote this week, Representative Elise Stefanik, who chairs the House Republican Conference, said on Monday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the House bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. But many senators want more moderate permitting legislation to expand the electricity transmission system and rapid build out of renewable power.

☆ Sen. Elizabeth Warren announces re-election bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Megan Lebowitz | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced Monday that she would be seeking a third term in office. The announcement also featured appearances by Democratic allies from Massachusetts, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and fellow Sen. Ed Markey. “Elizabeth is my partner in the Senate, and I have seen this perpetual energy machine up close,” Markey said. President Joe Biden won Massachusetts by nearly 34 percentage points in 2020 and Warren won re-election in 2018 by 24 points. I’m running for Senate,” Warren said on Meet the Press in April 2022.

☆ Utah just passed a bill that will force children to get parental consent before joining social media platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Utah's governor Spencer Cox passed legislation restricting teenagers' access to social media. The new bill requires social media firms to obtain parental consent before children can open accounts. It also requires social media companies to establish a curfew for teens from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Republican Governor Spencer Cox passed the Social Media Regulation Act, which aims to force social media companies to verify the age of all Utah residents before they can sign up for or maintain a social media account. The Associated Press reported that social media companies will likely sue to stop the law going into effect.

☆ TikTok creators, some U.S. Democratic lawmakers oppose ban on app
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] TikTok creators hold a news conference to speak out against a possible ban of TikTok at the House Triangle at the United States Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - TikTok creators and three U.S. Democratic Party lawmakers on Wednesday said they opposed any potential ban on the Chinese-owned short video sharing app that is used by more than 150 million Americans. Critics fear that TikTok user data in the United States could be passed on to China's government. Pocan said a "xenophobic witch hunt" is motivating some in Congress to seek a TikTok ban. Democratic Senator Mark Warner said two additional senators backed his bipartisan legislation with Republican John Thune to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok.

☆ Elizabeth Warren demands Fed crackdown on large regional banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Senator Elizabeth Warren is cranking up the pressure on the Federal Reserve following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank fit into that asset threshold when they failed earlier this month. The bipartisan 2018 rollback of Dodd-Frank freed large regional banks in that range of assets from the toughest oversight. Notably, the letter was signed by Senator Angus King, the Maine independent who voted in favor of the 2018 rollback. Days after the bank failures, the Federal Reserve launched a review of the regulation and oversight of Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ Biden promised 'no more drilling on federal lands, period.' He just broke that pledge to approve a massive oil project in Alaska.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On the campaign trail in 2020, Biden promised to ban all new oil drilling on federal land. But he just broke a key campaign pledge to stop all new oil drilling on federal land in a major way. A Biden administration official insisted that the government's hands were tied by leases granted to ConocoPhillips by prior administrations. Despite these protections, the Willow project is expected to come with significant environmental costs, aside from contributing to planet-warming emissions. March 13, 2023: This story has been updated with comment from a Biden administration official.

Then came the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train on February 3, releasing toxic chemicals into the air and nearby water, and he fears crashing the value of his home. There are too many unknowns.”Stewart, 65, recently voiced his fury and sadness about what he lost to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on a February 22 Town Hall about the derailment on CNN. Homeowners are worried that in addition to any health risks from the chemical release, the derailment has greatly diminished the value of their homes. I think they’re going to be in the crosshairs of the accountants of Norfolk Southern saying ‘We’re not going to pay full compensation.’”Norfolk can afford to compensate homeownersPaying the homeowners and businesses wouldn’t necessarily be difficult for Norfolk Southern. Those values are only a fraction of the money that Norfolk Southern earns.

☆ US senators blast Treasury's 'lack of progress' on climate risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In a letter to Yellen viewed by Reuters, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and Edward Markey criticized the work done by John Morton, Yellen's first climate counselor. "Treasury has been central to delivering on the Biden Administration’s climate agenda," she said, when asked about the senators' letter. In their letter, the senators also faulted Treasury's leadership of climate work by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which identified climate change as an "emerging and increasing threat to U.S. financial stability" in October 2021. The second Treasury official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the independent agencies grouped under FSOC were taking action, but those steps followed prescribed processes. No Treasury climate counselor could speed up that work since the agencies were independent, the official said.

☆ US senators blast Treasury's failure to move faster on climate risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Three U.S. senators blasted the Treasury Department on Thursday for its failure to act more swiftly to counter climate risks, and urged Secretary Janet Yellen to appoint a new climate counselor to lead the effort. In a letter to Yellen viewed by Reuters, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and Edward Markey criticized the work done by John Morton, Yellen's first climate counselor. The second Treasury official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the independent agencies grouped under FSOC were taking action, but those steps followed prescribed processes. No Treasury climate counselor could speed up that work since the agencies were independent, the official said. They asked Yellen to respond to over a dozen questions on Treasury's efforts to mitigate risks to the U.S. economy posed by accelerating climate change.

☆ Sen. Markey on Norfolk Southern: You don't have a product till you've invested enough in safety
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSen. Markey on Norfolk Southern: You don't have a product till you've invested enough in safetyCNBC's Margaret Brennan with Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) join 'Closing Bell: Overtime' to discuss Norfolk Southern train derailments and what the company needs to do to improve safety.

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