Update 749 — Accelerating a Virtuous Cycle:CFPB Aims to Cut Predatory Overdraft Fees Traditionally, overdraft fees charged by banks have been treated as privileged service charges by financial institutions under the Fed’s rules implementing the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). In the decades since the loophole was created, overdraft fees became profit centers for many …
Update 748 — Weekly Econ. Policy Roundup:FY24 CR Extended; Consumer Sentiment Surges The good news: Congress yesterday passed an extension of the current FY24 continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until early March, without any extreme policy riders or provisions. The President signed the bill today, averting a partial government shutdown. The bad: as …
Update 747 — The Week in Retreat:Reversals on Budget, Inflation, Crypto The week opened with one step forward, as Hill leaders finally agreed on FY24 budget targets totaling $1.59 trillion on Sunday, only for House GOP hardliners to demand a renegotiation of the deal on Thursday, leaving Speaker Johnson with no clear route forward and …
Update 746 — FY24 Top-Line Agreement:Speaker’s Fraught Sell to Freedom Caucus Congressional leaders announced an agreement Sunday on top-line domestic and defense budget target levels of $704 and $886 billion respectively for fiscal year 2024. The figures ratify targets set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed last June by wide margins to avert a debt …
Update 745 — Hope for Tax Package Amid Unresolved FY24 Budget Issues The congressional budget-making process for fiscal year 2024 (FY24), now in its fourth month with no plan in place, seems to have two gears: slow and reverse. This week, …
Update 744 — January Preview, Part II:Supplemental, FY24 Crowd Hill Agenda Congress confronts a full agenda of must-pass-quickly items upon returning from recess in January. Members will have to complete work on the long-delayed national security supplemental package before seeking to resolve months-long impasses in the FY24 appropriations process. Watch out for a full-year CR, …
Update 743 — January Preview, Part I:What SCOTUS, Regulators Will Return To The Senate remains in session, having abandoned until January negotiations on the foreign assistance supplemental requests and having extended the Federal Aviation Authorization for three months. What remains is a possible override vote on the President’s veto of a resolution passed by Congress …
What SCOTUS, Regulators Will Return To In January Read More »
Update 742 — NDAA Passed, Sent to Biden;House Out; Senate Stays for Supplemental The 2023 legislative year is all but done, with Congress reaching agreement on an $886 billion defense authorization bill (NDAA) yesterday, which the President is expected to sign forthwith. The whole of Congress will not be in session until January 8, but …
NDAA Passed, Sent to Biden; House Out; Senate Stays for Supplemental Read More »
The Fed’s almost two year campaign of high interest rates, painful medicine to fight the worst bout of inflation in 40 years, is proving out, impelling the Fed to hold interest rates at its current 5.25-5.50 percent range. Price increases fell again in November, led by moderation in the key energy sector — where the …
Update 741 — Fed Holds Rates; CPI 3.1%: (When) Can Fed Pivot from Long Pause? Read More »
From the Middle East to Eastern Europe, Asia, and Central America, the world awaits Congressional action on the administration’s emergency supplemental request submitted two months ago. This week, an unanticipated set of GOP demands on comprehensive immigration reform and a separate one on conditions regarding aid to Israel have forced a legislative recalibration and another …
Update 740 — A Supplemental Surprise: Political Timelines vs. Actual Emergencies Read More »
