The conservative-majority US Supreme Court is hearing a case that could pose an existential threat to the leading consumer protections agency, potentially leaving thousands of Mainers vulnerable to unfair and abusive financial practices, including scams, junk fees and predatory lending. On Tuesday, the court began hearing oral arguments in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) v.…
Maine Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins both supported former President Donald Trump’s rollback of Obama-era banking rules that some Democrats say led to recent bank failures that new reporting shows could spread. Collins, a Republican, and King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, have yet to indicate whether they will support a bill drafted…
I am a scientist and at 78 years old am definitely well into my final, third act. For my generation, our first act was opposing the war in Vietnam, marching for Civil Rights, boycotting non-union grapes and boycotting companies who did business with apartheid South Africa. Our second act was raising a family and finding…
An official from the administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills joined Maine’s largest business lobby to testify against a proposal that would close loopholes allowing corporations to stash profits in offshore tax havens. “An Act To Prevent Tax Haven Abuse,” introduced on Thursday by state Rep. Denise Tepler (D-Topsham) to the legislature’s Taxation Committee, would…
Activists with Community Water Justice and concerned residents from across the region gathered in Fryeburg on Saturday to protest Nestlé’s planned sale of its bottled water business to private equity firm One Rock Capital. At an estimated $4 billion, opponents say the sale represents the largest private transfer of water rights for bottlers in U.S.…
Stephen Schwarzman, founder and CEO of private equity and investment firm The Blackstone Group, donated $1.5 million this year to a Political Action Committee (PAC) solely dedicated to Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection. Schwarzman is among the richest individuals in the world and is a major donor to the Republican Party. He briefly chaired President Donald…
In a series of memos and decisions this summer, the National Labor Relations Board has chipped away at workers’ rights to bargain over workplace safety in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, inaction and deregulatory policies implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor have left workers on the front-lines of the…
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released new regulations on payday lenders. Instead of reigning in the notoriously greedy industry, the bureau eliminated common sense requirements that would protect consumers. In doing so, the bureau has turned its back on the very consumers it is meant to protect, leaving Maine families exposed to…
For a week, shipbuilders at Bath Iron Works have been on the picket line, fighting for a contract that doesn’t expand non-union subcontracting, attack seniority provisions or raise their healthcare costs. While workers say they have been asked to take concessions on these issues in recent negotiations, BIW parent company General Dynamics, the nation’s fifth-largest…
Maine humorist Tim Sample, known for his “Postcards from Maine” segments on CBS News and popular recordings such as “How to Talk Yankee,” is featured in a new political ad highlighting Senator Susan Collins’ votes to give tax breaks to Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry. “We Maine-ahs tend to elect folks that are not…