Author: Justin Lane

Dodd-Frank has a problem regulating market making and the risks to which banks can expose their clients. The Volcker rule is set to be enacted and takes aim at dangerous investment practices and compensation arrangements that encourage risky trading, seeking to close up one of Dodd-Frank’s regulatory gaps. “Wall Street and the banks can’t be left to their own devices to do what is in the best interest of their clients,” commented Peter Mougey, a shareholder with the Levin, Papantonio law firm and managing attorney of the firm’s business torts and securities departments. “If the mortgage-backed securities scandals have...

Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Video Rewind Just to Clarify, Limbaugh, Palin & Napolitano, Pape Francis is not a Marxist @Joshual33 Pope Francis has been making waves since his ascension to the Papacy. Referred to by many as the internet’s darling, his increased social cache and ability to garner audiences is causing him to draw fire. Interestingly enough, the fire is coming from a few right-wing talking heads who fear that the pope may be taking a turn for liberalism. … Read more. Just to Clarify, Free Speech Isn’t Guaranteed on T.V. @Joshual33 Unfortunately for...

Republicans have been consistently chipping away at the availability of food stamps and government services for those in need but a new interactive map from TIME shows that their constituents are more likely to require government assistance. The irony of the situation is that in September, all but 15 House Republicans voted to cut $40 billion from the federal food-stamp program. Just two months prior to the introduction of the $40 billion cut, Republicans had proposed to cut $20.5 billion from the program. It seems there are few things that the Right dislikes more than their own constituents. How...

Charles Monnett was a scientist working in the Arctic region. Young and idealistic, Monnet was excited about the prospects of doing work that could positively influence discussions about the region. “As a young person fresh out of graduate school, I was idealistic, and I thought that it would all be about the truth,” Monnett said to NPR. Monnett soon found that outside forces would influence the trajectory of his career. In 2004, he reported that he had witnessed drowned polar bears while flying in the Arctic to observe whales. His report of the drowned polar bears became a central...

CVS Caremark, one of the largest pharmaceutical chains in the United States, will pay $4.25 million to settle allegations that it knowingly failed to reimburse Medicaid for prescription costs paid for Medicaid recipients. The lawsuit was originally filed by Janaki Ramadoss, a former quality assurance representative with Caremark, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the federal False Claims Act. “It is vitally important that cash-strapped Medicaid programs receive reimbursement for costs they incur that should have been paid for by other insurers,” assistant Attorney General, Stuart F. Delery, said in a statement. “We will take actions against...