U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Archives

Analysis: Federal Fiscal Burden Consumes 93 Percent of America’s Wealth

August 2, 2024August 2, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Based on data from a U.S. Treasury report, the federal government has amassed $142 trillion in debts, liabilities, and unfunded obligations. This staggering figure equals 93% of all the wealth Americans have accumulated since the nation’s founding, estimated by the Federal Reserve to be $152 trillion.

Unlike other measures of federal red ink that cover an arbitrary period, extend into the infinite future, or ignore government resources, the figure of $142 trillion applies strictly to Americans who are alive right now and includes the government’s commercial assets. Thus, it quantifies the financial burden that today’s Americans are leaving to their children and future generations.

Virginia A.G. Miyares Celebrates Victory as SEC Halts Biden Climate Change Mandate

April 8, 2024 Tom Pappert

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares celebrated a victory on Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) halted the enforcement of its new climate changes rules for publicly traded businesses that were imposed by the Biden administration.

The coalition of 25 attorneys general originally sued the Biden administration to block SEC rule changes that require publicly listed businesses report what the government considers climate change risks. A press release from the attorney general notes companies would be forced to “release a plan to adapt to climate agenda recommendations” under the proposed rules.

Commentary: The Financialization of Nature

March 14, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Financialization: “A pattern of accumulation in which profit making occurs increasingly through financial channels rather than through trade and commodity production.”
– Greta Krippner, Economic Sociologist, University of Michigan

There are plenty of examples of how America’s economy shifted from a production-based economy to a financially-based economy over the past forty years. Starting around 1980, with the economies of post-World War II Europe and Japan fully rebuilt and roaring, and emerging Asian economies turning into powerhouses of manufacturing as well, America chose financialization as an alternative to rising up to meet the competition.

SEC Rules Tech Company Can’t Block Free Speech Resolution

January 5, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declined on Tuesday Apple’s request to block votes for a “free speech” shareholder resolution.

The resolution, submitted by the American Family Association (AFA), would have Apple investigate how it curates content and issue a report to address concerns that company policies enable restricting speech based on viewpoint. The SEC shot down Apple’s bid to exclude the resolution from the ballot at its upcoming 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, ensuring a vote on the resolution in the spring, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

For Years, Feds Received Waves of Warnings About Hunter Biden but Delivered No Consequences

September 11, 2023 Just the News

From 2015 until present, several federal agencies were alerted to suspicious activity and potential criminal activities by Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. Each time, the allegations did not result in any consequences for the first son.

Consumer Goods Giant 3M Fined More than $6.5 Million for Wooing Chinese Government Officials with Overseas Trips

August 29, 2023 Just the News

The consumer goods company 3M agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after its China-based subsidiary took Chinese government officials on overseas trips in an attempt to convince them to purchase 3M products, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.

JPMorgan Accused of Deleting Millions of Emails in the Midst of Ongoing Investigations

June 25, 2023 Just the News

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials earlier this week fined JPMorgan Chase $4 million after the company allegedly deleted roughly 47 million emails while in the midst of security investigations.

The settlement order states that the messages were allegedly deleted from about 8,700 mailboxes that belonged to about 7,500 employees who had regular contact with Chase customers.

Commentary: U.S. Farmers Grab the Lobbying Pitchforks as Greens Sow Costly New Reporting Mandates

September 22, 2022September 21, 2022 RealClearWire

Echoing conflicts from Sri Lanka to Canada to the Netherlands, tensions between farmers and green-minded government policymakers are building in the United States, where producers are squaring off against a costly proposed federal mandate for greenhouse-gas reporting from corporate supply chains.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March proposed requiring large corporations, including agribusinesses and food companies, to report greenhouse gas emissions down to the lowest rungs of their supply chains as a means of combatting climate change, which environmental campaigners contend imperils the planet and life on it.