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☆ These 13 Democratic senators joined with Republicans to roll back banking regulations in 2018. Progressives say that contributed to Silicon Valley Bank's collapse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Progressives are blaming the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on a 2018 rollback of banking regulations. The bill was championed by Republicans — but it couldn't have passed without Democratic support. These 13 current members of the Senate Democratic caucus helped Republicans pass the law. Silicon Valley Bank reported $212 billion in assets in the final months of 2022, placing it just under the higher threshold. Here are the 13 members of the Senate Democratic caucus that supported the bill:

☆ Why buzzy weight-loss drugs are the next craze for healthcare startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Healthcare companies are launching programs left and right to prescribe trendy weight-loss drugs. And Ro, a startup that prescribes and sells products like Viagra and hair-loss pills to consumers, is going all in with a program it launched in January to prescribe the weight-loss drugs to patients online. Even startups like Noom, which quietly started a program prescribing GLP-1 medications, could stand to benefit from the drugs' popularity after a tumultuous year for the startup. The weight-loss market for GLP-1 drugs is relatively new, and not everyone is on board. But for some companies, stepping into prescribing these new weight-loss medications seems to simply be the natural next step for growth.

☆ US lawmakers met Fed, FDIC to discuss Silicon Valley Bank's collapse - Coindesk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers met with the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Friday to discuss the collapse of SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O), Coindesk reported on Saturday citing a source. Democratic U.S. Representative Maxine Waters held briefings with officials from the two regulators and the Treasury Department, hours after the startup-focused SVB's collapse, the report said. Separately, Representative Ro Khanna said in a tweet on Friday that he reached out to both the White House and the Treasury Department to discuss the situation with the bank. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday met with banking regulators on the collapse of SVB, as she and the White House expressed confidence in their abilities to respond to the bank failure. Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rep. Ro Khanna on the deficit: Productive deficit spending is actually good
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRep. Ro Khanna on the deficit: Productive deficit spending is actually goodRep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) joins Brian Sullivan and 'Last Call' to discuss deficit spending as President Biden prepares to deliver his budget to Congress tomorrow.

☆ Noom quietly started writing prescriptions for trendy new weight-loss drugs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The popular weight-loss app Noom quietly launched a new program that offers some users access to prescription anti-obesity medications. Called Noom Clinical, the program is meant to "build additional support" for app users, a company spokesperson said in a statement to Insider. Startups like Noom want to capitalize on a surge in demand for new weight-loss drugsSaeju Jeong, Co-founder & CEO, Noom Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images)Noom's foray into prescribing medication comes as demand for weight-loss drugs surges. NoomNoom, which introduced its weight loss app in 2017, is backed by venture firm Oak HC/FT and private-equity giant Silver Lake. According to the spokesperson, Noom began rolling out the new prescription-drug program to a small number of users in the fall.

☆ Analyst discusses 'the problem with Coupang as a stock'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAnalyst discusses 'the problem with Coupang as a stock'Seungjoo Ro of CLSA says e-commerce firm Coupang is "priced in as a growth stock, and we are wondering where that growth will come from."

☆ Senators unveil rail safety bill after Ohio train derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Liz Brown-Kaiser | Rose Horowitch | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation Wednesday aimed at preventing rail disasters after the devastating derailment in East Palestine last month. It would also require trained, two-person crews to work aboard every train carrying hazardous materials and levy heightened fines for rail carriers' wrongdoing. The Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride led to a spill of toxic chemicals. The bill will be introduced by Brown and his Republican counterpart, Sen. JD Vance, who represent the state where the Norfolk Southern derailment occurred. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday asked Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to participate in an upcoming hearing.

☆ Shipping industry grapples with ways to cut cargo fires at sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Global shipping companies are exploring ways to boost safety in transporting cargoes as risks grow from fires erupting inside containers or in cars at sea, officials said on Wednesday. Shipping transports around 90% of world trade onboard different vessels including container and Ro-Ro ships with trade routes getting busier. "The main root cause for cargo fires on container ships is the integrity of dangerous goods throughout the supply chain. Therefore it is a problem that can only be improved through industry wide solutions," Maersk's Aslak Ross said separately in a statement. Reporting by Jonathan Saul Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wall Street has purchased hundreds of thousands single-family homes since the Great Recession. Here's what that means for rental prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Carlos Waters | In Carloswaters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Institutional investors may control 40% of U.S. single-family rental homes by 2030, according to MetLife Investment Management. And a group of Washington, D.C., lawmakers believe that Wall Street needs to back away from the market. Khanna is the lead author of the Stop Wall Street Landlords Act of 2022. "What's outrageous is your tax dollars are helping Wall Street buy up single-family homes," he said in an interview with CNBC. Since the early 2010s, Tricon Residential, Progress Residential, American Homes 4 Rent, Invitation Homes have each bought thousands of homes.

☆ Taiwan is bolstering military exchanges with U.S., President Tsai says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Sarah Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), a member of the U.S. House China Select Committee, and other members of the U.S. delegation at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan, in this handout photo released February 21, 2023. TAIPEI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan is bolstering its military ties with the United States and will cooperate even more closely with it and other friendly nations to deal with "authoritarian expansionism", President Tsai Ing-wen told visiting U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. While the United States no longer maintains military bases in Taiwan, the two have a good military relationship that has become closer as China steps up pressure to try and force Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty. "Taiwan and the United States continue to bolster military exchanges, and going forward Taiwan will cooperate even more actively with the United States and other democratic partners to confront such global challenges as authoritarian expansionism and climate change," Tsai told the lawmakers at her office in Taipei. In August, China staged military exercises near Taiwan to express anger at then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei.

☆ Pentagon's top China official travels to Taiwan, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. Speaking earlier, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said he was "not very certain" about a report that the trip would take place. Chase would be the most senior U.S. defence official known to have visited the island since 2019. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly demanded that foreign officials not visit the democratically governed island. In 2020, a two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region made an unannounced visit to Taiwan.

☆ Dianne Feinstein won't run in 2024, opening up a California Senate seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California announced Tuesday that she will retire at the end of her current term, setting up a major Democratic competition for her coveted seat. "Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives," Feinstein said in a statement. The fight for the open Senate seat in the powerful, reliably blue state of California promises to be one of the most competitive — and expensive — races of the 2024 election cycle. While Feinstein's announcement officially puts her seat in play for the 2024 election cycle, multiple California Democrats had already launched Senate campaigns weeks earlier. More California Democrats, including Reps. Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, are expected to announce their Senate campaign plans soon.

☆ Morning Bid: Volatility stirs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

World markets end a rough week of confusing and competing narratives in distinctly edgy form, with peculiarly subdued volatility gauges flickering back to life. Both 10 and 30-year yields hit their highest levels in over a month early on Friday. Job shedding in the digital sector continued, with Yahoo's plans to lay off more than 20% of its total workforce. That said, the year-on-year oil price trend continues to be negative, as it's been all year and base effects from last year's price spike around the Ukraine invasion will only deepen that and weigh on headline inflation further. Goldman Sachs lowered its oil price forecasts for this year and next, cutting its Brent 2023 price forecast by $6 to $92 per barrel - still above current levels around $86.

☆ Rep. Ro Khanna: Hard to believe China's spy balloon just 'innocent balloons'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRep. Ro Khanna: Hard to believe China's spy balloon just 'innocent balloons'Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss why China decided to send a spy balloon over the United States, how often this has happened in the past, and more.

☆ House Democrats have already found something to love about Kevin McCarthy's Republican-led House
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The House just used an open process for amending legislation for the first time in 7 years. But in interviews with Insider this week, Democrats also expressed skepticism that the use of open rules would be more than a one-time thing; the open rules that the chamber utilized last week were provided for as part of the House GOP's rules package. "We'll see how long this lasts," said Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a long-time ally of Pelosi. Spanberger herself had fun with open amendments, submitting one that would exclude drilling from areas offshore because the GOP majority was "looking to destroy Virginia's beautiful coastline." said Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who said he generally favors an open process.

☆ Google's ex-CEO Eric Schmidt tapped for federal biotech commission that allows members to keep biotech investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

On Dec. 30, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees announced the selection of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and 11 others to serve on a new federal commission on biotechnology. The appointment, however, doesn't require commission members to divest their own personal biotech investments — even as they help shape U.S. policy overseeing the industry. The person didn't say when Schmidt made the decision to donate profits, adding that he hasn't yet named any recipient charities. The new federal commission will likely have a say in steering such investments over the two years of its lifetime. Schmidt's biotech investments are relatively recent.

But add a candidate representing the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, Ro Khanna, and a living legend who got her start with the Black Panthers and would become the only Black woman in the Senate, Barbara Lee — now you're talking about a California Senate race for the ages. Reaching voters isn’t easy in California, with a population approaching 40 million and a land mass bigger than that of many countries. But the race will affect the future of the Democratic Party, both in California and beyond. “An appointment would be a way to make sure that this country has the essential voice of a Black woman,” Allison said. And I don’t see and I don’t understand why it isn’t happening.”Meanwhile, as Lee watches Feinstein, Bernieworld is watching Lee.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Friday: Google job cuts, Netflix delivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Salesforce (CRM) downgraded to market perform from outperform (hold from buy) at Cowen, which also cut its price target to $160 per share from $175. Barclays upgrades Ralph Lauren (RL) to overweight from equal weight (buy from hold); increases its price target to $134 per share from $101. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

☆ New weight loss drugs trending with billionaires and celebrities are about to enter more American homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Barbara Collins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

GLP-1s also have been found to help with weight loss as they make individuals who use them feel fuller for a longer period of time. Using GLP-1s drug injections for weight loss has become one of the latest ways some big names in the market are shedding extra pounds. That's why his company has launched a program to offer GLP-1 drugs and corresponding medical care to individuals struggling with obesity or weight loss issues. Pairing personalized coaching with GLP-1s is the key to effective weight loss treatment, Reitano said, and helping patients maximize their results. A new real-time approach to weight managementReitano said it should not be an either/or scenario involving diabetes management of weight loss and that will change over the next decade.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), said she has personally spoken to Jeffries and recommended that Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., should be the ranking member. “The Republicans made it very clear that the committee is primarily focused on … counter intelligence and economic espionage issues which have been the focus of my own work, especially on the Intelligence Committee,” Krishnamoorthi said in an interview. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst who is eyeing a possible Senate bid in 2024, has also expressed interest in the top role on the China panel. But while CAPAC is divided, its members agree that the ranking member of the new panel should be Asian American. Think about that," said one CAPAC member.

☆ Most armies ignore autistic people. Israel is calling them up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

He signed up to serve through Ro'im Rachok, a first-of-its-kind program that places autistic people in the military to utilize their valuable skills. Ro'im Rachok, however, allows them to sign up as volunteers. Ro'im Rachok students sit in a circle during a class at Ono Academic College. Israel Defense Forces/ InsiderIt's November, and students of the Ro'im Rachok electronics course are approaching the final month of their training. But because Ro'im Rachok enlistees are volunteers, they can drop out after a year.

☆ Rep. Katie Porter’s Senate campaign conundrum
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Lincoln Mitchell | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The GOP is likely to have a better chance in Porter's district with her out of the picture. Enter Katie Porter, the first candidate to announce her intention to run for Feinstein’s seat. Her Senate run has a potential downside for national Democrats that should be clear. The problem Porter’s campaign raises for the Democrats has nothing to do with her chances of winning or what she would do in the Senate. If they decide to seek the Senate seat, there will be no cost to House Democrats because their replacements are almost sure to be Democrats as well.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., told members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday that she plans to run for Senate in 2024, adding her name to the list of contenders who want to fill the seat held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Asked about her remarks, Lee told reporters: "What I said was that I’m very sensitive and honoring Senator Feinstein. Lee, 76, has served in the House since 1998 and previously served in both California's state Senate and state Assembly. A spokesperson for Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times last month that she "has no plans to step down and will announce her plans for 2024 at the appropriate time." Schiff is also reportedly interested in the Senate seat, though he has not disclosed his plans yet.

☆ Katie Porter Launches 2024 California Senate Bid, Isn't Waiting on Feinstein
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Katie Porter of California on Tuesday officially announced a 2024 Senate bid. Sen. Feinstein is up for reelection in 2024, but hasn't yet announced whether she'll run for another term. "In times like these, California needs a warrior in Washington," she said in her official campaign announcement on Tuesday. In entering the race, Porter is staking out a lane as an lawmaker who would usher in a different sort of governance. In November, Porter won a tough reelection race, edging out former California assemblyman Scott Baugh by four points (52%-48%).

☆ House Republicans voted to gut the House Ethics Committee, and George Santos said it was 'fantastic'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

House Republicans voted on Monday to hobble the Office of Congressional Ethics. George Santos, facing multiple investigations and ethics complaints, called the changes "fantastic." The Office of Congressional Ethics, first established in 2008, is a quasi-independent body tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct against members of Congress. It then makes a determination as to whether those allegations are worth investigating further, at which point it makes a referral to the House Ethics Committee, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. In 2017, House Republicans voted in conference to subsume the office under the House Ethics Committee, effectively neutering it.

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