A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law. [Reposted from Politico | Michael Grunwald | July 1, 2015] POLITICO has obtained a draft copy of TPP’s intellectual property chapter as it stood on…
Bill Maher isn’t pleased about the current state of American corporate regulation. [Reposted from the Huffington Post | Lily Karlin | June 27, 2015] On “Real Time with Bill Maher” Friday night, the host skewered the “Republican-led House” for voting to end the requirement that meat labels include information about the origin of the product.…
BEIJING — At a ceremony imbued with quiet triumph at the Great Hall of the People, China’s president, Xi Jinping, hosted 56 member countries on Monday for the founding of a China-led infrastructure bank for Asia, including major American allies from Asia and Europe that Washington had counseled not to join the bank. [by…
WASHINGTON — On the evening of June 15, President Obama joined a conference call with the two men who had done more than anyone in six years to disrupt, derail or defeat his agenda in Congress. Now they were asking for something that was in short supply: trust. [Reposted from The New York Times | …
At midday Thursday, there was a gathering in Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s members’ lounge off Statuary Hall to toast House passage of Trade Adjustment Assistance, the last piece of a legislative package giving Trade Promotion Authority to President Barack Obama. [Reposted from Roll Call | Emma Dumain | June 26, 2015] But among the select group of…
From rat meat masquerading as lamb to tainted milk to exploding watermelons, Chinese consumers have become inured to stomach-churning food scandals. But on Tuesday, countless people were forced to ponder the benefits of vegetarianism after news reports emerged that unscrupulous meat traders had been peddling tons of beef, pork and chicken wings that in some…
WASHINGTON — A year ago, an entrepreneur from California came before the House Financial Services Committee, a Purple Heart pinned to his lapel from his Marine Corps service in Vietnam, to plead for the Export-Import Bank — and by extension his livelihood. [by Jonathan Weisman | June 25, 2015 | NY Times] The committee’s…
When it was all but over, and the trade legislation that President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans spent many agonizing months brokering was on the brink of law, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was left to lament that she and her party had been shut out by the president she helped elect. [Reposted from Politico …
Sen. Marco Rubio has a new headache from the right: His support for President Obama’s Pacific trade deal [Reposted from the Miami Herald | Alex Leary | June 24, 2015] “Marco Rubio Casts Deciding Vote For Obamatrade Without Even Reading It,” screamed a headline in Breitbart News, which last rode the Florida Republican on immigration. Deciding vote is…
The US Steel industry has long said that a wave of cheap and illegally subsidized imports is crushing its ability to compete. [by Jeff Yoders | June 26, 2015 | Metal Miner] While not turning a blind eye to the situation, Washington has not been as responsive to the situation as many in the…