Business

New requirement to win is good rating for protection in rollovers

ARLINGTON, VA — Nineteen cars and 8 SUVs earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award for 2010 For the first time, good performance in a roof strength test to measure protection in a rollover is required to win. Top Safety Pick recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rear, and now rollover crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests.

Winners also must have electronic stability control, which research shows significantly reduces crash risk. This is the second time the Institute has tightened criteria since announcing the first recipients in 2005.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., introduced legislation today that would provide flexible loans to small businesses suffering from a lack of credit due to poor economic conditions or changes in the financial market.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- "Mr. President, I introduce today the Small Business Intermediary Lending Pilot Program Act of 2010.

As a member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee I have been concerned about access to affordable financing for small businesses.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009) – Ten state Attorneys General are backing legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to repeal the health insurance and medical malpractice insurance industries’ exemption from federal antitrust laws.

In a letter dated November 13, Attorneys General from Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Oregon, Arizona, Iowa, Montana, Florida and Wyoming urge Congress to end the decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws, which are designed to encourage competition and protect consumers. Dating back to the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, health insurers and medical malpractice insurers have been exempt from these laws. Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on the exemption in October.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Nov. 16, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged four individuals and two companies involved in perpetrating a $30 million Ponzi scheme in which they persuaded more than 300 investors nationwide to participate in purported environmentally-friendly investment opportunities.

The SEC alleges that Wayde and Donna McKelvy, who were previously married and living in the Denver area, particularly targeted elderly investors or those approaching retirement age to finance such "green" initiatives of Pennsylvania-based Mantria Corporation as a supposed "carbon negative" housing community in rural Tennessee and a "biochar" charcoal substitute made from organic waste.    » read more »

Unprecedented Response in Voluntary Tax Disclosure Program

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden released the following statement regarding the announcement today by the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue (IRS) regarding the results arising from previous settlements of civil and criminal cases against Swiss banking giant UBS AG.

The Justice Department and IRS announced that over 14,700 taxpayers have come forward to report previously-undisclosed foreign bank accounts under the voluntary disclosure program the IRS implemented following the settlement. This figure represents almost double the initial numbers the IRS announced in October and dwarfs the number of voluntary disclosures received in 2008.    » read more »

National Mobilization Continues to Demand End to Multi-Billion Dollar Bonuses at Bailed Out Banks and the Too Big To Fail Doctrine

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C.--Today, hundreds of workers, clergy members, community leaders, and other taxpayers converged on the Washington, D.C. headquarters of Goldman Sachs to demand the bank put an end to multi-billion dollar bonuses, reject the Too Big To Fail Doctrine, and use their anticipated $23 billion bonus pool to help families facing foreclosure.

Taxpayers also called on Congress to take immediate action on real financial reform.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- DUBAI, U.A.E -- Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue welcomed three economic development announcements made today from the Dubai Airshow that continue to strengthen Georgia’s reputation as a global center for the aviation industry.

“Each of these three announcements illustrate a key aspect of our economic development strategy – location of a new U.S. headquarters in Georgia, an existing company expanding its current workforce and an Atlanta-based business selling its products to overseas customers,” Governor Perdue said. “    » read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says drug companies practicing "bait and switch"

November 16, 2009 -- Congresswoman Chellie Pingree expressed outrage today over published reports that the nation’s pharmaceutical companies raised prices last year more than any year since 1992.

“The drug companies promised us they would deliver $8 billion in savings into the health care system,” Pingree said. “What they failed to tell us was that they apparently planned to jack up prices by $10 billion first. It sounds like classic bait and switch scheme to me.”

According to today’s New York Times, the wholesale price of brand name prescription drugs went up 9% last year, a year in which overall consumer prices actually fell 1.3%.    » read more »

Condemns Big Business for 'Manufacturing' Reports against Health Reform

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - The attempt to influence the national debate on health care reform with false and misleading information is a "dishonest and manipulative attempt to derail needed reforms, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. said on Monday following the disclosure of evidence showing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce used biased information claiming job losses would result from the health reform plans in Congress.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, General Motors announced that it plans to start repaying its government loans more than five years ahead of schedule and that it generated $3.3 billion in cash in the third quarter. Although the automaker did not post a profit, it exceeded expectations and increased revenue by 21 percent from the second quarter.

As Co-Chair of the Congressional Automotive Caucus and a native of Flint, MI, the birthplace of G.M., Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) has worked tirelessly to return the company to productivity and profitability and welcomed this encouraging news. Congressman Kildee released the following statement:    » read more »

Veteran Congressman Asks: Why Are Republicans Rooting for GM To Fail?

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following remarks after General Motors (GM) announced the company would repay the United States more than $1 billion dollars next month, years earlier than required.

“Today, General Motors has come forth with good news. The company is on its way to fulfilling its promise to America’s taxpayers – much sooner than expected or required. The new GM has a healthier balance sheet, reduced inventories and a competitive cost structure, putting it on a path towards repaying its debts and rebuilding the company’s value. The company is better situated to deal with economic hardship.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Recently, the Small Business Administration (SBA) proposed a series of changes to existing regulations concerning the 8(a) Business Development program. The 8(a) Program provides participating small businesses with training, technical assistance, and contracting opportunities in the form of set-asides and sole-source awards. Small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals are eligible for the program.

“This rulemaking -in the first year of the Obama Administration- is proof positive that Administrator Mills is writing a new chapter in SBA history,” stated Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke.    » read more »

Russ Carnahan Is Co-Sponsor of Bipartisan Bill to Enact Closer Monitoring of TARP Program

November 16, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, DC) - Congressman Russ Carnahan (MO-03) today urged the U.S. House of Representatives to pass bipartisan legislation that will create strong new accountability measures to monitor the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

Carnahan is a co-sponsor of the legislation, which amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act with stricter accountability and monitoring measures to ensure that financial institutions are effectively utilizing funds provided under TARP.    » read more »

ExpressJet to Operate 22 Aircraft as Replacement Flying for United Express

November 16, 2009 -- CHICAGO, Nov. 16, 2009 – UAL Corporation (NASDAQ: UAUA), the holding company whose primary subsidiary is United Airlines, today announced that ExpressJet Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of ExpressJet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: XJT) will operate 22 ERJ-145 aircraft under the United Express brand.

This new flying, which will begin on May 1, 2010, will replace flying previously done by other United Express partner carriers whose contracts have expired and is consistent with the 2010 capacity outlook United provided in its third quarter earnings conference call.    » read more »