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☆ House Republicans subpoena labor authorities in Starbucks union dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 22 (Reuters) - The House Education and Labor Committee on Wednesday issued a subpoena to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging officials of the labor body failed to conduct fair and impartial union elections at Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O). She has requested a regional NLRB official to provide documents to see if the federal labor board mishandled Starbucks Union elections. The NLRB was investigating a substantial number of additional allegations against Starbucks and working with the Congress, the spokesperson added. Starbucks did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment, while Starbucks Workers United declined to comment. Employees at more than 280 of Starbucks' roughly 9,000 company-operated U.S. locations have voted to join a labor union since 2021 seeking better pay and benefits, improved health and safety conditions and protection against unfair dismissal.

☆ House Republicans subpoena labor authorities in Starbucks union dispute - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The report added the House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked a regional NLRB official to provide documents as to whether the labor body improperly influenced at least one Starbucks election. The top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, Virginia Foxx, wrote that she believes the NLRB has communications and documents outlining alleged misconduct in Starbucks elections, the report said. Foxx is seeking documents on the matter and has requested that the NLRB official provide the documents to the committee on March 29, the Journal reported, citing the subpoena. Starbucks, NLRB, the Starbucks Workers United and GOP did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Starbucks workers have also filed more than 500 charges against the company with the NLRB, which has ordered the company to reinstate 22 fired employees including some union supporters.

☆ The prosecutor in the Trump case waded into treacherous political waters.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the Trump question came to dominate the Democratic primary as the race entered its final stretch in 2021. As the district attorney’s investigation against the former president began to heat up, Mr. Bragg and his opponents started to signal to prospective voters that they had the bona fides to lead a potential prosecution of Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg had some history to draw on. Still, as a candidate, Mr. Bragg was mostly focused elsewhere. When Mr. Bragg took office, and his prosecutors were presenting evidence about Mr. Trump and his businesses to a grand jury, the new district attorney stopped them, concerned that the case, which centered on whether Mr. Trump fraudulently inflated the value of his properties, was not strong enough to move forward.

☆ Chuck Schumer vows to fight the latest GOP attempt to block student-loan forgiveness in Congress 'with everything we have'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The GAO confirmed to the GOP lawmakers that the debt relief is a rule that can be subject to oversight. The Government Accountability Office confirmed to the GOP lawmakers that it considers Biden's debt relief plan a rule, and "no exception applies." Since Biden announced his debt relief, Republicans have criticized the policy and introduced legislation to block the president from implementing loan forgiveness. "We will continue to fight this cruel Republican attempt to end student debt relief with everything we have." Biden's debt relief plan is currently blocked due to two conservative-backed lawsuits that paused its implementation in November.

☆ 3 reasons student-loan borrowers could start taking on more debt once Biden's plan to lower monthly payments goes into effect
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Biden released a plan in August to reform income-driven repayment plans for student-loan borrowers. It also projected the more generous plan would lead to increased borrowing given the lower cost to take on debt. While Democratic lawmakers lauded the proposed improvements to IDR plans, Republican lawmakers criticized the proposal, along with its potential cost. Insider has previously reported that Biden's IDR reforms could keep borrowers in the same repayment cycle if it isn't implemented properly. "Under current IDR plans, most borrowers can expect to repay some or all their debt," the analysis said.

☆ A 'financial disaster for millions of Americans' could arise if the Supreme Court strikes down Biden's student-loan forgiveness, Elizabeth Warren details in a new report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The cases that challenged Biden's debt relief are headed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. "If the Supreme Court sides with the extremist judges, millions of Americans' monthly costs will rise significantly when student loan payments resume later this year," the report said. Still, Republican lawmakers have been adamant that canceling student debt broadly is unfair to those who already paid off their loans or did not borrow for college. Lawsuits are causing 'financial anxiety for vulnerable borrowers'Failing to implement debt relief would put a strain on younger and older borrowers alike. Now, all eyes turn to the Supreme Court, which is expected to hand down rulings in the two cases before the end of its term, typically in late June or early July.

☆ 12 million student-loan borrowers could benefit from Biden's debt cancellation in the districts of the House Republicans who urged the Supreme Court to strike the relief down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

128 House Republicans filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court opposing student-debt relief. New data found that nearly 12 million borrowers in their districts would benefit from the relief. On Friday, the department unveiled data showing the breakdown of student-loan borrowers who applied, and were deemed eligible, for President Joe Biden's up to $20,000 in debt relief by congressional district. Over the past few weeks, 128 House Republican lawmakers filed an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court ahead of oral arguments on February 28 urging it to strike down Biden's debt relief. As the Education Department has previously said, over 40 million borrowers in total would qualify for Biden's debt relief, and of the 26 million borrowers who applied for the relief before the online application closed in October, 16 million of them had been fully approved.

☆ 69 Republican lawmakers call for Biden's student-loan repayment and forgiveness proposals to be 'rescinded,' blasting them as 'blatantly illegal' and 'a smack in the face of taxpayers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

69 GOP lawmakers urged Biden to withdraw his student-loan forgiveness and repayment proposals. They said his proposal to reform income-driven repayment plans is "blatantly illegal." This proposal is reckless, fiscally irresponsible, and blatantly illegal and, as such, it should be rescinded." "Under current IDR plans, most borrowers can expect to repay some or all their debt," the analysis said. "This proposal is reckless, illegal, and will saddle hardworking Americans and future generations with unsustainable debt."

☆ An estimated $16 billion worth of bets will be placed on the Super Bowl
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —With more states legalizing gambling on sports, Super Bowl LVII will probably be the biggest event for the industry ever. But how will casino and online/mobile sports betting companies stand out in an increasingly crowded field? “We have prepared for this Super Bowl like never before,” Greenblatt said. That’s more than double the number of wagers on last year’s Super Bowl. That’s different from 2021 when customer growth was being rewarded.”That being said, both DraftKings and FanDuel still plan to advertise during this year’s Super Bowl.

☆ Actor Viola Davis achieves elite EGOT status with Grammy win
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Danielle Broadway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Actor Viola Davis on Sunday won a Grammy for her audio recording of her memoir "Finding Me," granting her entry into the elite ranks of EGOT winners with an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. Davis is the third Black woman to earn this title, and the 18th person in history, and was thrilled to celebrate the moment on stage. as she won a Grammy for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. "I wrote this book to honor the six-year-old Viola, to honor her, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything." Other EGOT winners include Jennifer Hudson, Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn and Whoopi Goldberg.

☆ Over half of the House GOP and nearly all Senate Republicans signed briefs urging the Supreme Court to block Biden's student-loan forgiveness
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On Friday, 128 of the 222 House Republicans signed onto an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to block student-debt relief. They both argued that Biden doesn't have the authority to cancel student debt using the HEROES Act of 2003. On Friday, 128 House Republicans signed onto an amicus curiae brief urging the nation's highest court to block Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers. That's just over half of the GOP composition in the House, with 222 Republicans holding a slim majority in that chamber. Both of the briefs argued that the HEROES Act does not allow for broad loan forgiveness, which a series of other conservative groups reiterated in their own briefs filed to the Supreme Court this week.

☆ Chicago Prosecutor Drops Sex Abuse Charges Against R. Kelly After Federal Convictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Talal Ansari | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

R. Kelly is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence and is awaiting sentencing in another trial. The Cook County, Ill., state’s attorney’s office said it will no longer pursue indictments against R&B singer R. Kelly after his convictions in other cases. Nearly four years ago, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said Mr. Kelly had been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were minors at the time.

☆ A top Republican lawmaker accuses the Education Department of 'blatantly lying' about how much its student-loan forgiveness costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An independent auditor found "weakness" in how the Education Department calculated student-debt relief costs. GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx accused the department of "blatantly lying" in its estimates. The auditor did not make that accusation, and a department spokesperson said the court challenges blocking the relief have led to limited data. "The Department is blatantly lying about how much taxpayer money it is giving away," Foxx said in a statement. In September, the department estimated that its broad student-debt relief plan would cost $30 billion annually over the next decade, and that 81% of borrowers would participate in the relief.

☆ House GOP's 'all-star' oversight panel features 13 election deniers, 10 impeach-Biden-world advocates, and 3 congressional subpoena dodgers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

House Republican leaders have stocked the oversight panel with partisan bomb-throwers. Many of the new panelists voted to overturn the 2020 election and defied Jan. 6 investigators. Retired Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who chaired the House Oversight Committee last session, asserted that this new cast of characters were getting into it for the wrong reasons. "The personal vendettas these committees pursue are not a legitimate use of the oversight power. "These are basically the people who own Kevin McCarthy at this point," Bardella told Insider at the Facts First event.

☆ A top Republican says Biden's proposals to make monthly student-loan payments cheaper are a 'backdoor' for his 'radical free college agenda'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration announced new regulations to improve income-driven repayment plans. The changes are meant to make payments cheaper, and "create faster pathways to forgiveness," according to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Foxx has been an outspoken opponent of Biden's broad student loan forgiveness and other pandemic-era debt-relief measures. Under IDR, borrowers are meant to make monthly payments based on their incomes, with eventual loan forgiveness after at least 20 years of payments. "These plans will significantly cut monthly loan payments and it's part of a real transformation of the student loan system."

☆ The House of Representatives will have more guys named 'Mike' than women chairing committees under the new Republican majority
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

House Republicans have announced a new slate of committee chairs for the new Congress. Six of the committees will be chaired by a man named Mike or Michael. On Monday, House Republicans sorted out a number of contested chairmanships, and House Majority Steve Scalise released a list of recommendations for chairmanships that were ratified by the conference on Tuesday. The result: men named "Mike" will outnumber women two-to-one among committee chairs. Under Democratic leadership in the previous Congress, 7 House committees were chaired by women.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" season 15 premieres January 6 on MTV at 8 p.m. How to watch 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 15You can watch "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 15 on MTV. Who is competing in 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 15? Is 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 15 on Paramount Plus? Season 15 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" is not expected to stream on Paramount Plus while the season is still airing on MTV.

☆ Meet a man with $47,000 in student debt who's been trapped in a student-loan repayment 'bureaucracy nightmare' for nearly 3 decades without the debt cancellation he was promised
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He was promised loan forgiveness after 25 years, but he's still repaying the debt with nearly a decade to go. "We are literally crushed by this debt," Harmon, 53, told Insider. NPR obtained internal documents indicating that three student-loan companies — PHEAA, CornerStone, and MOHELA — weren't tracking payments borrowers made over the past two decades for their income-driven repayment plans. 'The government is not fulfilling its obligation'US lawmakers are aware of failures with income-driven repayment plans. It found that the department had approved just 157 loans for full forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans, with 7,700 more loans "potentially eligible" for forgiveness.

☆ Top talkers: These 20 lawmakers spoke the most on the House and Senate floors during the 117th Congress, including Rep. Buddy Carter and Sen. Marsha Blackburn
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some lawmakers delivered dozens of floor speeches during the 117th Congress, C-SPAN's tracking showed. Most members don't usually hang out on the House or Senate floor to hear their colleagues' speeches. These House members spoke the most on the House floor during the 117th Congress. "It is my duty to use the House Floor as a vehicle to share their views, needs, and successes. That's because the Senate floor is typically where leaders make announcements to their members on legislation and nominations, among other topics.

☆ Biden's student-loan forgiveness plans are 'a Titanic heading straight for an iceberg,' a top Republican lawmaker says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Virginia Foxx criticized Biden's student-debt relief plans on the House floor on Tuesday. She said his plans to reform income-driven repayment plans would lead to "over-borrowing." Biden plans to lower monthly payments on income-based plans for implementation in the summer. "President Biden is turning the federal student loan program into a Titanic heading straight for an iceberg," Foxx said. But Biden's plans to reform income-driven repayment plans by lowering monthly payments for borrowers are not held up in court, and they're scheduled for implementation in the summer.

☆ Colleges should provide the true cost of attendance after report finds most schools don't give clear information
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Katie Lobosco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Congress should require colleges to give students an accurate price for the cost of attendance, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report that found that most colleges fail to provide all the financial information students need. Prospective college students usually receive a financial aid letter from schools once they are accepted. “Federal law doesn’t require colleges to include clear, standard information in all of their financial aid offers. The bill is one of many legislative efforts that aim to provide students and their families better information about the cost of college. In addition, last month, the Department of Justice released new guidance that aims to make it easier to have federal student loan debt discharged in bankruptcy – a particularly difficult legal process under the previous policy.

☆ Druski on staying 'that number one go-to guy for comedy,' and business advice from Drake
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( John Lynch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Like I just can't imagine falling off or having a short career, or just not being that number one go-to guy for comedy, you know? And yeah, he's ... bro, that dude has mastered ... [laugh], like, the art of everything, you know? And yeah, he's just such an inspiration, and it's great to have him as a friend. Oh yeah, definitely. So it's like, y'all can't no longer say it don't equivilate to real money, 'cause, hey, look at us know, you know I'm saying?

☆ A top GOP lawmaker staunchly opposed to Biden's student-loan forgiveness policies pledges to make 'oversight a priority' if selected to lead the House education committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx received a waiver to run for chair of the House education committee. She has been highly critical of Biden's student-debt relief and plans to bolster oversight over the reforms. "If I am selected to Chair the Committee, I will make oversight a priority and put the federal government in its place. Since Biden took office, Foxx has been highly critical of the higher education policies and reforms he has enacted, specifically related to student debt. Biden's administration is continuing to fight for it's student-debt relief plan, with the matter now sitting at the Supreme Court.

☆ Some students are graduating college with 'unmanageable' debt — but it's not their fault, a government watchdog finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Specifically, 91% of colleges are understating the net price, which can mislead students into taking on more debt. Current federal law does not require colleges to follow standards when presenting financial aid packages. Not counting student loans in the total cost could present a misleading picture of how expensive a degree would be, pushing students further into debt. "Colleges that estimate the net price by subtracting student loans from the cost of attendance do not present the full net price because students generally must repay their student loans eventually," the report said. "Additionally, subtracting student loans in the net price estimate presents loans as the default method for paying for college, potentially encouraging students to borrow more than they otherwise would."

☆ Meet a Republican who would have all $10,000 of his student loans canceled under Biden's plan but thinks it's an unfair policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He told Insider he wasn't surprised to see court challenges and worried for people who got refunds. Since Biden announced his plan at the end of August to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers, the plan has been fraught with legal challenges. I think many of the court challenges have tried to shine light on that," Matthew said. "My generation, the millennial, Gen Z generation, are facing a significant problem with student-loan debt," he said. "This radical scheme must be eviscerated entirely, and Republicans will continue to support legal challenges to achieve that end."

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