House weakens Dodd-Frank twice in one month amid lobbying blitz

By Dan Brooks in corporatocracy 0 Comment
Former Mass. Sen. Scott Brown now works for Peabody Nixon in "business and government affairs."

Former Mass. Sen. Scott Brown now works for Peabody Nixon in “business and government affairs.”

The Dodd-Frank Act is not quite five years old, but it has already become an intolerable obstacle to the American economy finance industry. Don’t worry: the finance, insurance and real estate industry spent $74 million on 704 registered lobbyists in the first three quarters of 2014. That’s a 2.5 percent increase in a year where every other industry’s lobbying expenditures went down. It was money well spent. Since mid-December, the House has voted to impose stricter cost-benefit analyses and judicial reviews on all enforcement agencies; today, it is expected to postpone enforcement of Dodd-Frank provisions and weaken related regulations on financial services. You didn’t think the finance industry would invest $74 million unwisely. I mean, what is this, 2008?

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In victory for Big Envelope, feds will mail Social Security statements

By Dan Brooks in Politics versus Government, Uncategorized 3 Comments
A message from Consumers for Paper Options

A message from Consumers for Paper Options in which the sky is made of paper

The Social Security Administration has saved $72 million a year since it stopped mailing paper earnings statements, but it’s about to start mailing again. Under pressure from Consumers for Paper Options, Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) inserted a line in last month’s budget deal to resume paper statements. A lobbying group dedicated to “closing the digital divide” for the elderly and those without internet access, Consumers for Paper Options just happens to be funded by the Envelope Manufacturers Association. Props to Jacek for the link.

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Medical device lobbyists sway Senate with relaxing truth massage

By Dan Brooks in Politics versus Government 3 Comments
Artificial hip

Artificial hip

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act included a 2.3% tax on medical devices, designed to offset the cost of subsidizing health care for low-income families. Last week, the Senate voted 79-20 to repeal that tax in response to heavy lobbying by the medical device industry. Weirdly, 34 Democrats voted for repeal—many of the same senators who voted for the original tax. What a difference 30 months, several dozens lobbyists and one false cost estimate make. According to Bloomberg, the “reasonable assumptions” that the trade group AdvaMed used to estimate the cost of the tax “conflict with economic research, overstate companies’ incentives to move jobs offshore, and ignore the positive effect of new demand created by the law.”

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Judge in Obamacare ruling agrees with own lobbying firm

By Dan Brooks in Uncategorized 1 Comment

Surprise, cockbags!

Yesterday, a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia ruled that the individual coverage mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional. That is not as big a deal as it sounds. Judge Henry Hudson declined the plaintiff’s request to suspend implementation of health care reform pending appeal, so Obamacare will roll out as scheduled. Even if Hudson had ruled the requirement that most Americans carry health coverage was, in the words of John Jay, “just constitutional as shit,” the mandate wouldn’t take effect until 2012 anyway. By that time, this discussion will have reached the Supreme Court, and Judge Henry Hudson will be a literal footnote to history. Don’t worry: everything is cool with Obamacare. The independent judiciary is fucked, though.

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