After
a White House meeting with the business executives on Friday, Mr. Trump
signed a directive calling for a rewriting of major provisions of the
Dodd-Frank Act, crafted by the Obama administration and passed by
Congress in response to the 2008 meltdown, the White House said. A
second directive he signed is expected to halt and possibly require an
overhaul of an Obama-era Labor Department rule that requires brokers to
act in a client’s best interest, rather than seek the highest profits
for themselves, when providing retirement advice.
Taken
together, the actions constitute a broad effort to loosen regulations
on banks and other major financial companies, put into motion by a
president who campaigned as a champion of working Americans and a harsh
critic of global elites. Those elites include Wall Street companies like
Goldman Sachs, whose alumni now populate his Cabinet and economic
advisory teams.
“We
expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank because frankly, I have so
many people, friends of mine that had nice businesses, they can’t
borrow money,” Mr. Trump said in the State Dining Room during his
meeting with business leaders.
Over 100,000 visas have been revoked as a result of President Trump’s
ban on travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, an attorney
for the government revealed in Alexandria federal court Friday.
The
number came out during a hearing in a lawsuit filed by attorneys for
two Yemeni brothers who arrived at Dulles International Airport last
Saturday. They were coerced into giving up their legal resident visas,
they argue, and quickly put on a return flight to Ethiopia….
The government attorney, Erez Reuveni from the Justice Department’s
Office of Immigration Litigation, could not say how many people with
visas were sent back to their home countries from Dulles in response to
the travel ban. However, he did say that all people with green cards who
came through the airport have been let into the United States. …
Councilman Jose Huizar told reporters it was “a sign to this Trump administration that we will not abide by his fear, his vilification, his scapegoating of immigrants.” (Currently, street vending is a misdemeanor, and people have been asking for it to be decriminalized for ages. But in light of the high numbers of immigrants who work as street vendors and Trump’s attitude toward “any excuse to deport,” it finally lit a fire under their butts.) 1/31/17
ACLU North Carolina just reported that the NC state senate has introduced legislation to repeal HB2, the transphobic “bathroom law.”
Representative Jason Chaffetz has officially withdrawn HR 621, which would have sold federal lands to private buyers, directly as a response to public outcry, according to his official Instagram.
jasoninthehouse I am withdrawing HR 621. I’m a proud gun owner, hunter and love our public lands. The bill would have disposed of small parcels of lands Pres. Clinton identified as serving no public purpose but groups I support and care about fear it sends the wrong message. The bill was originally introduced several years ago. I look forward to working with you. I hear you and HR 621 dies tomorrow. #keepitpublic#tbt
Big money moves slow, but people are starting to pull their money away from Dakota Access Pipeline investors in a big way.
ABN AMRO, the Dutch bank, today announced that it will end its financing for Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) if the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) will be constructed without the consent of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, or if further violence will be used. The Dutch Fair Finance Guide, Greenpeace Netherlands and BankTrack welcome the decision of ABN AMRO, and call on other banks, including ING in the Netherlands, to follow this example and end all outstanding finance to the pipeline and the companies behind it if no agreement is reached with the Sioux Tribe about the pipeline.
Big-name American corporations are coming out against the Muslim ban, including Ford and Budweiser (in a way).
And for your funnybone, here are some people giving ol’ Trumperdink the middle finger. (Which is also useful as a resistance tactic, as it turns out, seeing as #45 is a sensitive, spoiled child who can’t stand being made fun of or overshadowed.)
I’m going to start trying to do these regularly, so if you see something you think belongs in a Good News Roundup, ping me or inbox me or send me the link via tumblr IM.
Remember: In every moment there is the possibility of a brighter future. Find it, cling to it, believe in it, work toward it. Feed the right wolf.
February 2, 2017 SEATTLE — Civil and immigrant rights groups asked a federal court Wednesday night to lift the unconstitutional ban blocking Muslim immigrants lawfully living in the United States from becoming U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and asylees, among other things.
The class action lawsuit challenges provisions of President Trump’s January 27 executive order suspending the issuance of visas and other immigration statuses to nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, all of which are majority Muslim countries.
The case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and its affiliates in Southern California and Washington State, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, the National Lawyers Guild, the Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin, and Perkins Coie LLP.
Immigration attorneys have learned from leaked documents that the order is being applied to immigrants already lawfully residing within the U.S. who have pending applications for asylum, lawful permanent residence, and other immigration benefits, affecting tens of thousands of immigrants residing legally in the U.S.
The Trump
administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government program
designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on
Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The
program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, would be changed to
“Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic
Extremism,” the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as
white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in
the United States.
Hearseeno 