SEC: Oil rule doesn't violate First Amendment
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyers are bashing oil industry claims that SEC mandates to disclose payments to foreign governments violate companies’ First Amendment rights. “Such mandatory disclosures of purely factual information have never been understood to compel ‘speech’ in violation of the First Amendment,” states the SEC brief filed Wednesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The SEC is defending the new rules against an array of legal claims by the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups. [The Hill]
Business, anti-deficit groups say 'fiscal cliff' deal falls short
Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the deal "does not even begin to address the serious fiscal challenges we face."“The new Congress and the administration must begin work immediately to slow runaway spending through structural entitlement reforms," Donohue said Wednesday. He said policymakers needed to spur economic growth by overhauling the tax code and increasing U.S. energy production. [Los Angeles Times]