LA Times
By Marc Lifsher and David Sarno

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris is joining the U.S. Department of Justice in an antitrust suit opposing the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, sources close to the case confirmed.

(more…)

In These Times
By Miles Kampf-Lassin

Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 415-846-7758 (cell)

Plan to Save Homes, Stabilize Housing Market Is Essential, Greenlining Institute Argues

WASHINGTON – Policy experts at The Greenlining Institute applauded key elements of President Obama’s jobs speech this evening, but expressed doubt about others and urged Congress and the president to address the ongoing foreclosure crisis as an essential element to any jobs plan.

(more…)

Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell)

Economy Can’t Be Fixed Without Plan to Keep People in Their Homes, Stabilize Housing Market, Greenlining Institute Argues

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s much-anticipated jobs speech will be incomplete if the president fails to include a plan to grapple with the ongoing foreclosure crisis and stabilize the housing market, policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said today.

(more…)

The Cleburne News
by Wayne Ruple

U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers told diners in Jack’s Restaurant in Heflin last week that a lack of jobs is America’s biggest problem coupled with consumer confidence.

And to help remedy the problem Rogers said he is supporting a bill dealing with manufacturing which he hopes, if passed, will bring many factories back to America.
(more…)

Housing Wire
By Liz Enochs

President Obama Thursday outlined a plan to stimulate the U.S. economy and revitalize the job market through a combination of spending and tax cuts.

The proposal, which various news reports calculated could cost anywhere from $300 billion to $447 billion, would slash payroll taxes for small businesses, fund infrastructure improvements at 35,000 public schools, and extend unemployment benefits.

(more…)

Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 415-846-7758 (cell)

With Hearing Set For Today, Advocates Renew Call for Strong Consumer Protection

WASHINGTON – The Greenlining Institute, the organization that warned federal officials of the subprime meltdown years before it happened, today called on the Senate to swiftly approve Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Greenlining backed Cordray in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee, which is scheduled to hold a hearing on the nomination this afternoon.

(more…)

Yesterday The United States Department of Justice moved to block the AT&T-T-Mobile merger. The US DOJ stated that “Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced, and consumers will suffer.” To read the full statement CLICK HERE

(more…)

Multichannel News
By John Eggerton

Reaction Pours in Over Government Move to Block $39B Deal

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the stronger congressional critics of the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile merger, lauded the Justice Department’s move Wednesday to block it, just one of many voices that were weighing in on the announced antitrust suit.
(more…)

Mercury News
By Steve Johnson and Paul Rogers

Nearly one year after a PG&E pipeline exploded in San Bruno, killing eight people and shattering a neighborhood, are we any safer?

Thanks to the increased scrutiny of PG&E by state regulators and changes the company has made, the answer would seem to be yes, at least marginally. But thousands of pages of internal documents PG&E has turned over to the California Public Utilities Commission and federal investigators since the accident suggest that many threats remain. Describing such things as decades of substandard welds and PG&E’s admission that it can’t find its own pipeline paperwork, the records reveal a company in seeming disarray.

(more…)