Senate to Vote on Health Care Repeal as Experts Eye Supreme Court
In a “largely symbolic roll call,” the Senate will vote Wednesday on legislation to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul, The Los Angeles Times reports. The amendment, which is attached to an aviation bill, will “put pressure on centrist Democrats facing reelection in 2012, some of whom are expected to back repeal.” Senate Democratic leaders have reportedly been working around the clock to “stop Republicans from getting a symbolic 51-vote majority for the repeal amendment.”
Even as the senate is scheduled to vote on repeal, many Democratic and Republican lawmakers predict the ultimate riling will come from the Supreme Court, The Hill explains. “Depending on how fast other circuit courts act, the case could reach the Supreme Court at the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012, according to legal experts.”
Federal Reserve Abandons Plan to Scrap Predatory Lending Remedy
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors scrapped their plans to “eliminate rescission, a critical component of a consumer-protection law that strips banks of the right to make money on illegal loans,” The Huffington Post reports. As currently written, if a rescission case is brought to court and the borrower wins, “the bank loses the right to foreclose on the home and forfeits all income from the loan’s fees and interest.” While borrowers still must repay their loan under the rule, they do not risk foreclosure and, thus, may pay over time. Consumer rights advocates, among others, vehemently opposed the rule change. But “under the controversial Fed proposal, however, the borrower would have been required to pay off the full principal balance before the bank lost its right to foreclose.”
Canadian Prime Minister Harper, Obama Eye Changes to Canada-US Border
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama “will meet on Friday to set in motion the most sweeping changes to the Canada-U.S. border since the 1988 free-trade agreement,” reports The Globe and Mail. The changes call for intelligence sharing, trade regulation, the creation of “a bilateral agency to oversee the building and upgrading of bridges, roads and other border infrastructure.” While the ultimate agreement would mean easier passage of goods and people between the borders, “the move will raise fears over personal privacy and national sovereignty.”
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