House approves 'fiscal cliff' deal, rescinding broad tax hike Los Angeles Times ...It blocked income tax hikes for roughly 99% of households, but allowed rates to rise for those with incomes above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. It also renewed tax credits aimed at low-income households and college students, extended unemployment benefits, delayed automatic spending cuts in defense and other government programs for two months...
Eight corporate subsidies in the fiscal cliff bill, from Goldman Sachs to Disney to NASCAR naked capitalism ...Sec. 306 provides tax credits to certain railroads for maintaining their tracks. It’s unclear why private businesses should be compensated for their costs of doing business...
Congress Averts 'Dairy Cliff' Wall Street Journal ...The fiscal-cliff bill that cleared Congress Tuesday includes a measure to avert the "dairy cliff," a sharp rise in consumer prices for milk that could have been triggered by the expiration of the 2008 farm bill...
House pulls plug on Sandy aid bill Reuters ...Absent a change of heart, the upshot now is that the Senate bill will die with this Congress on Thursday at noon. And the whole affair is sure to bring back memories of the famous Daily News headline in 1975—“Ford to City: Drop Dead...”
Minimum Wage Gap Grows Wider Between States Associated Press ...Automatic increases designed to compensate for inflation have steadily pushed up wages in some states, even through the recession, expanding the pay gap between areas that make annual adjustments and those that don't...
Lake-water infusion to delay Mississippi closing Chicago Tribune ...The drought-hit Mississippi River will stay open to commerce a few days longer than expected following the release of water from a lake in southern Illinois, a group of shippers said Friday...
Major banks close to big settlement on home loans Reuters ...U.S. regulators are close to securing another multibillion-dollar settlement with the largest banks to resolve allegations that they unlawfully cut corners when foreclosing on delinquent borrowers...
Why did a Train Carrying Biofuel Cross the Border 24 Times and Never Unload? Oil Price ...The cargo of the train was owned by Bioversal Trading Inc., or its US partner Verdero, depending on what stage of the trip it was at. The companies “made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.”...
Right to Work panned Blackburn News ...A labour studies professor at the University of Windsor fears Ontario may be next to contemplate Right to Work legislation. Michigan became the 24th U.S. state to pass Right to Work legislation earlier this month, and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives have publicly said they think it would be a good step forward for Ontario...
Court: Hutterites Must Pay Workers' Compensation Associated Press ...A sharply divided Montana Supreme Court has ruled that forcing a Hutterite religious colony to pay workers' compensation insurance for jobs outside the commune is not an unconstitutional intrusion into religion...
Scott Walker still hasn't issued a pardon Wisconsin State Journal ...Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said Walker is shirking his duties. "Maintaining an effective and fair pardon process is an important fail-safe to an imperfect judicial system..."
Nonprofit Pays Top Executive $1.2 Million Miami Herald ...A nonprofit company that holds two dozen state contracts to care for troubled juveniles in Florida pays its chief executive more than $1.2 million a year in salary and benefits, most of it courtesy of taxpayers...
