OVERNIGHT FINANCE: Senate passes $1T spending bill with Syria aid
TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: Shutdown averted. From The Hill’s Rebecca Shabad and Ramsey Cox: “The Senate on Thursday easily approved a $1 trillion government-funding bill that gives President Obama new authority to battle the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Lawmakers voted 78-22 in favor of the bill, with 9 Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) as well as 12 Republicans voting no…
“The legislation, which has now been approved by both chambers of Congress, now heads to the White House for Obama’s signature.
“While the stopgap bill will prevent a government shutdown on Oct. 1, the vote will be remembered for a controversial provision that allows Obama to start a new training program for rebel fighters in Syria.” http://bit.ly/1o74hLL
BREAKING: HOME DEPOT BREACH BIGGER THAN TARGET. Home Depot officials announced tonight that their recent data breach impacted 56 million consumers between April and September. That’s 16 million more consumers than Target’s recent data breach, which impacted 40 million consumers. Will this restart the regulatory fight on data breaches?
— ICYMI: HECK PREDICTS NO DECEMBER DRAMA. From my conversation on the regulatory landscape facing credit unions, Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.): “The question you asked was whether we’re going to have a come apart in December.
“The answer is, ‘No.’ I think those who thought it was a good idea to drive the car over the cliff — to mix my metaphors, put their hand on the stove. They got burned. And I don’t think they want to go there again.” Video: http://goo.gl/aM32Rb.
A drama-free December? We’ll see…
THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@thehill.com; and subscribe:http://thehill.com/signup/48.
QUOTABLE: Warren Buffett on MSNBC earlier today: “People say that Burger King is doing this to avoid federal taxes. The highest amount of federal tax that Burger King has paid in any of the last three years, the highest amount, has been $30 million. They are paying $11.8 billion for the acquisition. Now, if anybody would be paying $11.8 billion to save $30 million in federal income tax, they did not go to the math course that I went to.” Bernie Becker recaps: http://goo.gl/oZKbUq.
NOTABLE: IRS CAN’T DO ITS JOB, Becker reports: “Current law is hurting the IRS’s ability to effectively audit large financial services companies and other firms, according to a new federal report.” http://goo.gl/bdwxbi.
THE EX-IM SUPER-PAC, via me: “Gregory Sandler, president of Massachusetts-based Think Global Inc., filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission to create the ‘Americans for the Ex-Im Bank’ super-PAC, according to the FEC disclosure.” http://ow.ly/BF10Y.
— SANDLER TELLS OVERNIGHT: “Americans for the Ex-Im Bank is freshly minted. Our fundraising initiative is just getting started. We hope to raise at least a million dollars in the near-term in order to make a dent on the 2014 mid-terms, and to facilitate a steady drumbeat throughout 2015.”
BEARS REPEATING? JANET YELLEN: The Fed chairwoman said in videotaped remarks to a business conference earlier today that many Americans remain “extraordinarily vulnerable” to economic shocks — particularly the lower-middle class. “The effects of the recession are still being felt by many families, particularly those that had very little in savings and other assets beforehand,” Yellen said. Pete Schroeder has more for The Hill: http://goo.gl/0gn51m.
– – > QUICK Q: Lower-middle class is still hurting because they didn’t save enough? What about the savings they lost as a result of the market or housing collapse?
Moving on…
THE HILL TALKS WITH ALAN GREENSPAN. For the full interview click here: http://bit.ly/1uWMmvq.
—ON EX-IM: “As an economist, no [I don’t support it]. But if I were a politician running for office, I suspect I might… The Export-Import Bank is fundamentally a subsidy for American exporters. But the other question you have to ask is, ‘Does international competition and global economic activity do better if no country subsidizes its exports?’ My answer is yes… In the end, it’s a zero-sum game. To be sure, in the short run, those offered export subsidies gain an advantage until foreign competitors counter the subsidy.”
—ARE WE IN A BUBBLE? “You’ve got to be careful in how a bubble is defined… Are there bubble indications? Yes and no. Stock prices overall are on the edge, but equity premiums are not that far out of line… Given the huge rise in stocks since early 2009, some adjustment is on the horizon… I don’t foresee it as a collapse in prices… We are not in a period of ‘irrational exuberance.’ It’s a period of extreme uncertainty.”
—ON DODD-FRANK: “The difficulty with Dodd-Frank is that its underlying implicit conceptual structure is faulty. This is reflected in the fact that, four years after its official signing, much, if not most, has not been effectively implemented… The one area where Dodd-Frank moves in the right direction is in its raising of capital requirements… On the contrary, despite Dodd-Frank’s mandate, we have not eliminated ‘Too Big To Fail.’ …It will be difficult to significantly alter Dodd-Frank because we now have so many constituencies that have been built up in support of the act’s provisions.”
ON-TAP FOR NEXT WEEK: TRADE TALKS, via Vicki Needham: The next round of trade talks with the European Union are set for later this month, U.S. trade officials announced Thursday. Meanwhile, U.S. officials will discuss trade talks with Asia, too. http://goo.gl/bGPmkx.
CONNECT WITH THE HILL’s FINANCE TEAM – Write us with tips, suggestions and news: vneedham@thehill.com; pschroeder@thehill.com; bbecker@thehill.com; rshabad@thehill.com; kcirilli@thehill.com.
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