SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
December, 09 2010, 02:05pm EDT
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
* Haiti Elections * Nobel Peace Prize Corrupted?
WASHINGTON
ALEX MAIN, via Dan Beeton
Policy analyst with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Main is just back from Haiti. See the Center's blog on Haiti
The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Friday. Author of the new book The Nobel Peace Prize: What Nobel Really Wanted, Heffermehl argues that the Nobel committee has violated the terms of Alfred Nobel's will, which established the prize. He states that for decades, the parties in the Norwegian parliament have misused the Nobel committee seats to reward party veterans lacking insight in the peace ideas that Nobel wished to support. Heffermehl writes that over half of the awards since 1946 have not conformed with the intention of Nobel, who wished to change the international system in order to end wars and armaments.
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
LATEST NEWS
House Democrats Who Want Stock Trading Ban 'Disappointed' by GOP Proposal
"Any bill that still allows members of Congress to own and trade stocks falls far short of what the American people want and deserve," said Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Seth Magaziner, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jan 12, 2026
A trio of Democrats in the US House of Representatives leading the fight for a congressional stock trading ban ripped Republican leadership's proposal as an inadequate replacement in a Monday statement released ahead of a scheduled committee markup.
Politico reported last month that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) briefed GOP lawmakers on their plan for a bill that would ban members of Congress from buying new stocks but let them keep what they already have.
Steil introduced the Stop Insider Trading Act on Monday and announced a Wednesday markup. Backed by Johnson and other GOP leaders, the legislation would also apply to lawmakers' spouses and dependent children, and require public notice a week before any of them sell stock.
However, Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) argued in a joint statement that "any bill that still allows members of Congress to own and trade stocks falls far short of what the American people want and deserve."
"We are disappointed that the bill introduced by Republican leadership today fails to deliver the reform that is needed and instead protects the wealthiest members of Congress by allowing them to continue to hold and sell stock," said the original co-sponsors of the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act.
House Republicans’ new legislation on Congressional stock trading falls far short of what the American people want and deserve. The House must move forward on our bipartisan consensus bill, the Restore Trust in Congress Act.My full statement with @magaziner.house.gov and @ocasio-cortez.house.gov:
[image or embed]
— Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (@jayapal.house.gov) January 12, 2026 at 12:23 PM
The Democrats stressed that "while this bill prohibits members from buying new stocks, it does nothing to remove the conflict of interest that arises from owning or selling existing stocks. Members can still act on legislation, investigations, and briefings that directly influence the value of their stocks for personal benefit."
"The American public deserves to know that members of Congress are making decisions in the public interest, not in the interest of their own pocketbooks. The only way to restore Americans' trust is to ban members of Congress from owning and trading stocks," the trio continued.
"We hope that Speaker Johnson will find the courage to move the Restore Trust in Congress Act, a bipartisan consensus bill that has wide support from members of both parties and will end the practice of members of Congress owning and trading stocks once and for all," they concluded.
The Restore Trust in Congress Act would ban members of Congress, plus spouses and children, from trading individual stocks. It would give them 180 days to sell anything they hold and require divestment before newly elected lawmakers are sworn in.
When that bill was introduced in September, Jamie Neikrie, legislative director at the political reform group Issue One, said that "members of Congress have a responsibility to hold themselves to the highest ethical standards, and passing the Restore Trust in Congress Act is how Congress shows it's serious about restoring trust and integrity in government."
As Politico detailed Monday:
Johnson and GOP leaders have been searching for a legislative compromise to appease Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and other rank-and-file House Republicans, who have for months been threatening to launch a discharge petition effort to circumvent leadership and force a floor vote on a full congressional stock trading ban.
Luna, in a promising sign for Johnson, said in an interview last week she supports the current legislation pending before the House Administration Committee because it would force a "disgorgement" period.
However, even if the new bill is able to get through the Republican-controlled House, it would face a GOP Senate majority so narrow that at least some Democratic support is required to advance most legislation to a final vote.
Last July, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) voted with all Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to advance another bill that would bar federal politicians from holding or trading stocks. To win over Hawley, Democrats had to agree to a carveout for President Donald Trump. As Business Insider noted Monday, "It has yet to receive a floor vote."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Backlash Builds Against Trump DOJ's 'Unprecedented' Investigation of US Federal Reserve Chairman
"If the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer."
Jan 12, 2026
The US Department of Justice's decision to open a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has ignited a major backlash that even has some Republican senators drawing a line in the sand.
Shortly after Powell released a video on Sunday accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) of waging an "intimidation" campaign against him on behalf of President Donald Trump, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blasted the administration, accusing them of trying to compromise the independence of America's central bank.
“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” said Tillis, who further vowed to "oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed—including the upcoming Fed chair vacancy—until this legal matter is fully resolved."
On Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) backed up Tillis' pledge to oppose any nominees for the Federal Reserve until the criminal probe of Powell, whose term as Fed chair is due to end in May, has been resolved.
Murkowski also revealed that she spoke with Powell and determined that "it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion" aimed at affecting his decisions on US monetary policy.
"The stakes are too high to look the other way," Murkowski emphasized. "If the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer."
Trump can only afford to lose the support of four Republican senators in a vote for a new Fed chair, which means Tillis and Murkowski's vows not to support any nominee until the case against Powell is resolved carry significant weight.
A bipartisan group of economists who have served under US presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan—including former Federal Reserve Chairs Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and Janet Yellin—released a joint statement on Monday denouncing what they described as an effort to strong-arm the Federal Reserve into doing the president's bidding.
"The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine... independence," they wrote. "This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly. It has no place in the United States, whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success."
Trump, who nominated Powell to be Federal Reserve chairman in 2017, has been openly pressuring Powell for months to more aggressively cut interest rates in the face of a faltering jobs market.
Powell, however, has continued to take a more cautious approach, and has cited the price instability caused by Trump's tariffs as a reason to hold off on more aggressive rate cuts.
Keep ReadingShow Less
EU Leader Warns of 'End of NATO' as Trump Ramps Up Threats to Take Over Greenland
"Among people it will be also very, very negative," said EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius.
Jan 12, 2026
The European Union's defense commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, said Monday that Europe must build up its military capabilities as President Donald Trump threatens to rip up the central agreement that's underpinned the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for more than 75 years with his escalating demand that the US should be able to take control of Greenland—a semiautonomous territory of NATO founding member Denmark.
Kubilius said he agreed with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's recent assessment that a US takeover of Greenland, home to about 56,000 people, "will be the end of NATO."
"But also among people it will be also very, very negative," Kubilius told Reuters at a security conference in Sweden.
Trump first expressed a desire to take control of Greenland during his first term. The vast island is in a geopolitically strategic location as countries begin to use the Arctic Ocean for shipping routes, and has stores of rare earth minerals.
The president has intensified his threats against the territory following his invasion of Venezuela and the US military's abduction of President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, with White House officials saying Trump has the right to take control of any country he wants to in order to control their resources.
On Air Force One on Sunday, Trump told reporters that he has not yet proposed a deal to Denmark and said "Greenland should make the deal." He added that he does not care whether a takeover of Greenland "affects NATO."
"They need us more than we need them," said the president.
“If it affects NATO, it affects NATO. They need us more than we need them.”
Trump says Greenland should take a deal he admits he hasn’t offered, makes it clear he does not care if attacking Greenland ends NATO.
Again: ending NATO is a Putin goal. That is no coincidence. pic.twitter.com/9jTfHedgFJ
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 12, 2026
Trump also said in the Oval Office Sunday that owning Greenland is “psychologically important for me.”
"Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document, that you can have a base," said Trump.
The US already owns a military base in Greenland, but Trump has claimed military presence in the territory is not enough to fend off what he claims are imminent threats from China and Russia.
Kubilius said that should NATO fall apart due to a US operation aimed at taking Greenland by force from its longtime ally, "it will be a very big challenge to be ready to defend Europe, being independent, being without the United States."
"The question would be how we can use in that case NATO structures, how they can be, you know, become a basis for European pillar of NATO," he said. "But NATO such as it is now definitely will not exist anymore."
Greenland's govermment on Monday issued a statement reiterating its previous warnings that it is "part of the kingdom of Denmark."
“As part of the Danish Commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and the defense of Greenland must therefore be [done] through NATO," reads the statement.
Considering that six NATO member states in Europe have expressed firm opposition to Trump's plan, the government said, "Greenland will increase its efforts to ensure that the defense of Greenland takes place under the auspices of NATO."
"The government coalition in Greenland will therefore work with Denmark to ensure that the dialogue on and development of the defense in Greenland takes place within the framework of NATO cooperation," officials added.
In addition to the NATO agreement, Kublius said, Article 42.7 of the European Union Treaty obligates member states to come to Denmark's defense if Greenland is attacked.
"It will depend very much on Denmark, how they will react, what will be their position, but definitely there is such an obligation of member states to come for mutual assistance if another member state is facing military aggression," he said.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday also expressed concern that a military attack on Greenland would mean the US was at war "with Europe, with England, with France."
Chris Murphy: "Let's talk about what's at stake here. The president is spending every single day thinking about invading Greenland, managing the Venezuelan economy, building a ballroom. He's not thinking about the American people at all." pic.twitter.com/LVorATNTuZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 11, 2026
"An attempt to 'annex' Greenland would be the functional end of NATO," said Murphy. "And final evidence that Trump is permanently distracted by things that have nothing to do with the American people—like Venezuela, his new White House ballroom, and now Greenland."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular