Tell Lawmakers To Support Small Business Financing
It's incredibly hard for small business owners to get great ideas off the ground without access to bank loans at fair rates. We've got until September 13 to tell the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) how important it is to support small businesses and their employees and protect them from predatory lenders.
SCOTUS Temporarily Enacts Muslim Ban
Justice Kennedy’s Order Temporarily Leaves in Place Trump Travel Ban on Refugees. NYT: "Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Monday issued a temporary order allowing the Trump administration to exclude most refugees from entering the United States while the Supreme Court considers challenges to its revised travel ban. The so-called administrative stay will probably be in place for only a short time, and the court is likely to issue a more considered ruling in a matter of days. Had the Supreme Court not acted, an appeals court ruling lifting the ban on refugees would have gone into effect on Tuesday."
GOP Tax Agenda Stalled
GOP lawmakers jittery over lack of tax reform details. Politico: "Congressional Republicans came back to Washington ready and eager to work on tax reform, but they’re still missing one important thing: a plan. That’s triggered frustration among rank and file lawmakers who feel pressure from President Donald Trump to pass a tax reform bill but have seen no details and worry they’ll be backed into a corner on legislation they haven’t even seen, much like they were with the failed Obamacare repeal earlier this summer... A member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak freely said, 'It is frustrating and concerning that we don’t have the details and yet we’re going to be asked in 60 days to vote on something.'"
Congress Rejects Trump Proposal to Cut Health Research Funds
Lawmakers refuse Trump call to defund NIH. NYT: "When President Trump released the first draft of his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, he asked lawmakers for deep cuts to one of their favorite institutions, the National Institutes of Health -- part of a broad reordering of priorities, away from science and social spending, toward defense and border security. Six months later, Congress has not only rejected the president's N.I.H. proposal; lawmakers from both parties have joined forces to increase spending on biomedical research - and have bragged about it. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bipartisan bill last week providing $36.1 billion for the health institutes in the fiscal year that starts next month."
Mexico Rescinds Offer of Disaster Help to US After Quake Snub
Mexico pulls back offer of disaster aid to US after Trump snub. Reuters: "Mexico's government offered to send food, beds, generators, mobile kitchens as well as doctors after torrential rains from Harvey flooded vast parts of Houston. But the earthquake that struck southern Mexico on Thursday killed at least 96 people and left some 2.5 million people in need of aid. Hurricane Katia also hit the Gulf state of Veracruz this weekend and heavy rains have stretched emergency services... U.S.-Mexican relations have been strained by U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to curtail trade with Latin America's No. 2 economy as well as his demand that Mexico pay for a border wall to keep out immigrants and drug traffickers. The ministry noted that the U.S. embassy had taken nine days to respond to Mexico's formal offer of aid on Aug. 28, and said that "only certain logistical aid" was accepted. The U.S. embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While government aid never arrived, Mexico's volunteer Red Cross rushed food and supplies to storm refugees."
Equifax Executives Sold Stock Before Revealing Data Breach
Equifax managers sold stock before revealing data breach. Bloomberg: "Three Equifax Inc. senior executives sold shares worth almost $1.8 million in the days after the company discovered a security breach that may have compromised information on about 143 million U.S. consumers. The trio had not yet been informed of the incident, the company said late Thursday. The credit-reporting service said earlier in a statement that it discovered the intrusion on July 29. Regulatory filings show that on Aug. 1, Chief Financial Officer John Gamble sold shares worth $946,374 and Joseph Loughran, president of U.S. information solutions, exercised options to dispose of stock worth $584,099. Rodolfo Ploder, president of workforce solutions, sold $250,458 of stock on Aug. 2. None of the filings lists the transactions as being part of 10b5-1 scheduled trading plans."
