NATIONAL STORIES:
CNNMoney: 76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck
Roughly three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little to no emergency savings, according to a survey released by Bankrate.com Monday. Fewer than one in four Americans have enough money in their savings account to cover at least six months of expenses, enough to help cushion the blow of a job loss, medical emergency or some other unexpected event, according to the survey of 1,000 adults. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed have less than a three-month cushion and 27% had no savings at all. "It's disappointing," said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst. "Nothing helps you sleep better at night than knowing you have money tucked away for unplanned expenses." Even more disappointing; The savings rates have barely changed over the past three years, even though a larger percentage of consumers report an increase in job security, a higher net worth and an overall better financial situation.
USA Today: Government begins education blitz for uninsured
A week after a Government Accountability Office report said new health insurance exchanges may not be fully ready to launch in October, the government Monday began a 100-day public education blitz by releasing a new website, call center and publicity campaign. The campaign is designed to educate those who do not have insurance about how the marketplaces will work and how to obtain health insurance. Most Americans who do not have insurance now will need to purchase insurance to avoid paying a fine. The health exchanges, or marketplaces, are meant to provide less expensive, but better, insurance options that are easy to understand. Consumers will go to either a state or federal website, compare and contrast plans from several insurers based on benefits and costs, and purchase insurance. Those making less than 400% of the federal poverty level will receive financial help with the insurance, which will automatically be applied when they sign up online.
ALSO SEE: CNNMoney: The marketing of Obamacare exchanges begins
CNN: The Zimmerman trial: What you need to know
A neighborhood watch captain accused of killing an unarmed teen goes on trial Monday, in a case that sparked fresh debate about race relations and gun laws. George Zimmerman is accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. Martin was black, and Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder. He says he shot the unarmed teen in self-defense. Opening statements begin Monday and is expected to last several hours. A jury of six women will decide Zimmerman's fate, which has already drawn some scrutiny from the public about whether he will get a fair trial. Martin's parents will be in the courtroom, and are expected to deliver a statement before the proceedings begin.
CBS: Designer makes bulletproof clothing for kids
The school year is coming to a close, but when students return in a couple months, there may be something new in at least a few classrooms. Some believe it's a necessary layer of security in an age scarred by school shootings. Miguel Caballero conducted one of the most unusual product demonstrations ever: He shot someone at close range. Caballero is known for making "the 'Armani' of bulletproof clothing. His high-style protective gear is worn by high-profile clients from South America to the Persian Gulf. But after the Sandy Hook school shooting, the Colombian businessman said he was flooded with calls from American parents. So he created a new line: MC Kids.
WHITE HOUSE:
WSJ: Obama's Climate Plans Face Yearslong Fight
When President Barack Obama lays out plans to tackle climate change in a speech Tuesday, including the first effort to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants, he will unleash a yearslong battle that has little assurance of being resolved during his time in office. The president has called climate change a "legacy issue," and his speech may head off a backlash from environmentalists should his administration approve the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. But the address is unlikely to blunt criticism of Mr. Obama's approach from the left or the right. He is set to propose a host of measures to help lower emissions of gases that climate scientists say contribute to climate change. These include ways to boost energy efficiency, promote cleaner energy and rein in emissions from the existing fleet of power plants, according to people briefed on the speech.
ALSO SEE: Politico: Obama climate plan may ricochet on EPA pick
USA Today: Both Obama and Bush head to Africa
President Obama isn't the only prominent American traveling to Africa in the days ahead. Former president George W. Bush, who made the fight against AIDS in Africa a major part of his administration, will soon be heading to Zambia and Tanzania. In Zambia, Bush and former first lady Laura Bush will help open a clinic to combat cervical cancer. Mrs. Bush will host an African First Ladies Summit in Tanzania on July 2-3, a project of the George W. Bush Institute. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama leave Wednesday for diplomatic trips to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania; they are scheduled to return to the White House on July 3.
CAPITOL HILL:
CNN: With amendment killed, Rand Paul won’t support immigration bill
Sen. Rand Paul says he’ll vote “no” on the Senate’s bipartisan immigration reform bill, since it doesn’t include his amendment that would grant Congress power to determine whether the U.S. southern border is secure, The Kentucky Republican had previously been open to supporting the measure, which includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants that’s contingent on bolstering border security. Paul introduced an amendment that would have required Congress to vote on whether the border was properly secure, but it failed to gain approval this week. Without that inclusion, Paul said definitively on CNN’s “State of the Union” he would be a “no” vote.
Politico: GOP conservatives make last stand on immigration
They represent conservatives’ last stand in the Senate. To a small band of Republican senators, the problems with the Senate’s immigration reform bill could fill an encyclopedia. To them, the bill is too long, it hasn’t been read, it’s been negotiated in secret, it’s filled with loopholes, it doesn’t do what Gang of Eight talking points promised and Republicans haven’t been given the chance to substantively alter it. They’ve compared it to Obamacare, warning that a “cornhusker kickback” is buried somewhere deep inside the border security language. Senate enemies of immigration reform are rapidly dwindling after Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee struck a border security deal last week that may well push the overall bill over the finish line in the upper chamber. But they are still making a lot of noise, as well as coordinating with outside groups opposing the proposed reform to warn the American people that they are getting a bad deal.
ALSO SEE: WaPo: GOP’s divide on immigration best explained by two senators named Jeff
Roll Call: House GOP Focuses on Female Recruits for 2014
House Republicans are putting the first touches on what they hope will be a formal program to recruit more female candidates for the 2014 midterm elections. Faced with few women in their ranks — and an image among much of the electorate that they don’t pay enough attention to women’s issues — GOP leaders have some explaining to do. The heightened effort to put more GOP women on the campaign trail comes one cycle after Democrats dominated with female voters, in no small part because incendiary comments by male candidates on rape and abortion allowed Democrats to paint Republicans as hostile to women. Female members of the House GOP said the new recruiting effort, still in its infancy, will likely include a listening tour of women and women’s groups across the country. The current crop of 19 women in the House GOP would play a key role by talking to prospective candidates. The program will also feature a more streamlined and packaged message about why Republican policies are beneficial to women as a whole. However, House GOP aides declined to give specifics on the nascent program.
POLITICAL:
CNN: Chamber of Commerce uses opponents' language to push immigration reform
As the Senate prepares for a crucial week in the immigration debate and a possible final vote on the comprehensive reform bill, the Chamber of Commerce is using some of the opponents' language in a seven-figure ad campaign to instead push for its passage. In a new national television ad as well as in radio commercials, the chamber is emphasizing how some leading conservatives are supporting the bill, which includes enhanced border security and an eventual path to citizenship for those already in the country illegally if they meet certain conditions. Opponents call that amnesty. The new ad uses clips of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, one of the architects of the Senate bill and a leading conservative voice in the Republican Party. In it, Rubio argues that allowing the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants to just stay and not deal with the problem is in itself amnesty.
USA Today/Pew Poll: Poll shows Americans conflicted over immigration debate
As the immigration debate heads into a crucial period on Capitol Hill, Americans have been convinced. By both sides. In a new USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll, three of four people agree with big arguments made by proponents of legislation that would allow millions of undocumented workers to stay in the United States legally: that deporting them isn't realistic, that granting them legal status would boost the U.S. economy, that most are hardworking and deserve an opportunity to stay. At the same time, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed also agree with big arguments made by opponents: that granting undocumented workers legal status would drain government services and that doing so would encourage more foreigners to come to the U.S. illegally.
Boston Globe: Gabriel Gomez, Edward Markey going all out
With less than 48 hours left before polls open in the Senate race, Republican Gabriel E. Gomez and Democrat Edward J. Markey scrambled to scoop up last-minute votes as they campaigned across the state on Sunday. Gomez urged supporters to stay positive despite polls showing him lagging and predicted he would ride a wave of bipartisan support to victory. Upbeat and high-energy, the former Navy SEAL assured about three dozen supporters in Springfield that “the good guy is going to win.” Markey, meanwhile, exhorted volunteers not to become complacent. He said the results on Election Day were contingent upon the final stretch of the campaign. “We will have an excellent result on Tuesday night if we do the work for the final three days,” Markey said in Lynn. “We just have to make sure that we do it.” A win is possible only, he said, if his voters go vote on Tuesday, when sunny weather and scorching temperatures may make an already distracted electorate even less inclined to cast a ballot.
ALSO SEE: CNN: Gomez: If I lose Tuesday, 'I shall return'
NATIONAL SECURITY:
CNN: Snowden, US engaged in intercontinental game of cat-and-mouse
The United States is caught up in an intercontinental game of cat-and-mouse with Edward Snowden, the computer contractor who exposed details of secret U.S. surveillance programs. As Snowden tries to hop from country to country, with help from the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, the United States resorted to issuing stern words calling for his return. Hong Kong, where Snowden had been holed up for weeks, allowed him to leave for Moscow on Sunday, despite a U.S. extradition request. Next, he plans to travel to Ecuador to seek asylum, according to WikiLeaks, which is helping him stay out of Washington's reach. At the same time, the U.S. government is attempting to block his path, calling on the countries involved to hand him over. But its clout appears limited, with Snowden expected to travel through a series of nations that have little reason to heed its request.
ALSO SEE: CNN: Lawmakers say tenuous ties shaken further as Snowden lands in Russia
Reuters: Snowden's lawyer says convinced Beijing told him to flee
A lawyer for Edward Snowden said on Monday the former U.S. spy agency employee was told to flee Hong Kong by a middleman claiming to represent the government of the China-controlled territory, but who was probably acting on behalf of Beijing. In Washington, the White House said it had registered strong objections to authorities in Hong Kong and in China at the decision to let Snowden flee. The ex-National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, wanted for exposing secret U.S. government surveillance programmes, has flown to Moscow and sought asylum in Ecuador. Lawyer Albert Ho, who is also a Hong Kong legislator critical of China, told reporters he was approached by Snowden several days ago, and that the American had sought assurances from the Hong Kong government whether he could leave the city freely if he chose to do so.
ALSO SEE: NYT: China Said to Have Made Call to Let Leaker Depart
WaPo: Kerry arrives in New Delhi for U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue
Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived here Sunday for a two-day visit designed to solidify his commitment to what President Obama has called one of the “defining partnerships” of the 21st century, and to keep the growth of trade and foreign policy cooperation on an upward trajectory. The trip to India is Kerry’s first as secretary, and he is heading a high-level delegation that includes the new energy secretary, Ernest Moniz; Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, head of the Pacific Command; and senior homeland security, science and international development officials. The occasion is the fourth U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue — although trade, economic and climate issues are likely to take precedence. Despite smooth relations between the two countries, economic tensions lurk beneath the surface. U.S. business leaders, backed by sympathetic lawmakers, have expressed increasing concern over intellectual property rights and what they see as Indian protectionism.
ALSO SEE: CNN: Kerry Prods India to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
WSJ: U.S. Hastens to Fix its Ties with Kabul
U.S. officials rushed to repair relations with Kabul after the Taliban opened an office last week in the Gulf emirate of Qatar, touching off a diplomatic firestorm that has threatened to ruin prospective peace negotiations. James Dobbins, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is expected to meet Monday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai as part of a planned visit to discuss the opening last week of a Taliban office here. The opening of that office was supposed to mark an important step toward a negotiated settlement to end a conflict that has dragged on for over a decade. Instead, it incensed Mr. Karzai, who suspended talks with the U.S. about a long-term American military presence and pulled envoys from planned peace negotiations. A Western official with knowledge of the talks conceded Afghan outrage about the unexpectedly high-profile opening of the Taliban office. "The first thing that we did was engage the Afghans to say, 'We didn't know about this, we're going to try to fix it.'"
ALSO SEE: CNN: Kerry casts doubt on U.S.-Taliban talks
TRANSPORTATION, REGULATION and JUSTICE:
CNN: Another 787 Dreamliner diverted for mechanical problem
A United Airlines 787 Dreamliner was diverted early Sunday due to a mechanical problem, the second such incident for the plane in a week. United flight 94 was on its way to Denver when it was forced to fly back to the place from where it left: Houston, United Airlines said. The plane landed without incident and with no passenger injuries, said Boeing, which makes the Dreamliner. On Tuesday, another United Airlines Dreamliner flight made an unscheduled landing. That flight was on its way from Denver to Tokyo, when it was diverted to Seattle because of a problem with its oil filter.
CNN: High court poised for a week of high-stakes rulings
Inside the marble walls at the Supreme Court, the last days of June are called the "flood season," a frantic push to finish its work for the summer. The stakes are especially high this term, with four major rulings left to be announced. What the justices decide in the next week or so could fundamentally change lives and legacies on a range of politically explosive issues. The court will meet in at least two more public sessions to release opinions in its remaining 11 cases, among them: - Same-sex marriage: A pair of appeals testing whether gays and lesbian couples have a fundamental constitutional right to wed. - Affirmative action: May race continue to be used as a factor in college admissions, to achieve classroom diversity? - Voting rights: The future of the Voting Rights Act, and continued federal oversight of elections in states with a past history of discrimination. "It's almost unimaginable the number of things that the Supreme Court is going to decide that will affect all Americans," said Thomas Goldstein, a top Washington attorney and publisher of SCOTUSblog.com.
USA Today: President-Congress showdown reaches high court
Still wrestling with the weightiest decisions of its current session, the Supreme Court is likely to accept Monday what could be the most important case of its next one: a colossal power struggle between the White House and Congress over government appointments. President Obama and Senate Republicans set the stage for the showdown during the past 2½ years as they fought over Obama's proposed nominations to a little-known federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board. That battle is a microcosm of the broader war over the nomination and confirmation process — one that dates back over several presidencies. The story line is simple: Obama's nominees were blocked by Republicans, just as many of President George W. Bush's choices were blocked by Democrats. So in January 2012 — with the Senate meeting every three days in pro-forma sessions but not conducting any business — Obama used the Constitution's "recess appointments" clause to install them without Senate approval. Or so he thought. He was taken to court — and thus far, he's losing. But the battle isn't over until the Supreme Court sings.
WSJ: Supreme Court Comes to Defense of Business
The Supreme Court strengthened the hand of business in the session that comes to a close this week, making it easier for companies to defend themselves from the kinds of big lawsuits that have bedeviled them for decades. While the Roberts Court has long been viewed as friendly to business, the court set several notable precedents involving class-action lawsuits where plaintiffs try to pool their claims into one big case. "This term was a near bloodbath for class-action plaintiffs' lawyers," said Deepak Gupta of Gupta Beck PLLC, who specializes in Supreme Court litigation for plaintiffs. "The court is so hostile to class-actions that any victory for plaintiffs, no matter how straightforward, is a surprise." The court is set to wrap up its 2012-13 session with closely followed rulings on gay marriage and affirmative action. For business, most of the major verdicts are already in, with the winners including Comcast Corp., CMCSA +2.21% American Express Co. AXP +0.53% and Standard Fire Insurance Co.
WSJ: Student-Aid Scams Targeted by Schools, Government
Federal officials are cracking down on fraud in student-aid programs, responding to evidence that a growing number of recipients—acting alone or as part of organized crime rings—are pocketing federal loans and grants without any intent of going to school. The Education Department in January began using a database to flag applicants for federal Pell grants who have an "unusual enrollment history"—having received aid for three or more schools within a year, primarily. The department sends the names to colleges and universities, which then ask applicants to provide prior transcripts and other documents. A school can deny a grant or loan if it deems the applicant's responses to be unsatisfactory. Since January, the agency said it has flagged 126,000 applicants, about 1% of all those seeking aid for the 2013-2014 school year.
WaPo: Deadline for rearview cameras pushed to 2015
The Obama administration is again delaying regulations that could require new cars and trucks to come equipped with rearview cameras to protect against drivers backing over people in blind spots behind their vehicles, a victory for automakers who say the cameras are too costly. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday in letters to three members of Congress that more research is needed. He set a new deadline of January 2015 for the regulations. An average of 228 people are killed and 17,000 injured each year because of back-over accidents. Many of the accidents occur in driveways and parking lots. Nearly half the deaths involve children under age 10. The elderly are also frequently victims.
REGIONAL HEADLINES:
Des Moines Register: Trump's Iowa trip sparks speculation on presidential bid
Two-time-almost-but-not-quite presidential candidate Donald Trump will make his very first trip to Iowa in August to speak to religious conservative activists sizing up a lineup of possible 2016 candidates. Trump accepted an invitation to the Family Leader’s second-annual leadership summit, an event the organizer says he hopes will help Iowa conservatives coalesce early on in the next presidential nominating cycle. Speakers will be asked to talk about threats facing the country and families.
Dallas Morning News: Bill to restrict abortions after 20 weeks nearing House passage
The House was poised late Sunday to endorse broad new restrictions on abortion, including a ban on the procedure after 20 weeks and standards for clinics that threaten to close most abortion facilities in Texas. The debate stretched late into the night, as Democrats used procedural tactics to eat up time in hopes that the clock would run out on the Senate, where the bill must win final approval before the Legislature’s special session ends Tuesday. It drew an unusual public response, with hundreds of witnesses streaming to the Capitol, wearing orange “Stand With Texas Women” shirts to identify them as opponents of the bill. They drowned out a smaller contingent of abortion opponents, some of whom were wearing blue with red strips of tape marked “LIFE.” A line of people waiting to get in snaked out the door and down the hall. Republicans said the measure was designed to ensure the safety and health of women seeking abortions. Democrats scoffed at that.
INTERNATIONAL:
CNN: Nelson Mandela in critical condition as anxious nation waits
News crews and a few well-wishers huddled early Monday on the cold streets outside the Pretoria hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is now in critical condition. An anxious nation stood in vigil as well. Over the weekend, Mandela's health took a turn for the worse, with the South African president's office saying Sunday that Mandgela was in critical condition. He has been hospitalized in Pretoria since June 8 for a recurring lung infection. Previously, authorities had described his condition as serious but stable.
WATCH: VIDEO – In an exclusive interview, Nelson Mandela's daughter Makaziwe tells of her family's prayers for her critically ill dad.
CNN: Another Canadian city braces for flooding, evacuates 10,000
As waters receded in some parts of southern Alberta, yet another city evacuated residents and lined up sandbags, waiting for a river to burst its banks. The city of Medicine Hat cast a wary eye on the South Saskatchewan River, which authorities predict will reach its peak on Monday morning and flood at record levels. City Hall was lined with sandbags. Officials told residents they should plan for the Trans-Canada Highway bridge to close Sunday night. The move will essentially split the city in half, allowing no public access between the northern and southern sections. Nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated in Medicine Hat, and almost everyone has complied with evacuation orders, the city's mayor, Norm Boucher, said. City spokeswoman Brandy Calvert said officials expect the flood to eclipse one in 1995, the city's biggest on record.
CNN: Up to 1,000 feared dead in India floods, landslides
Indian authorities scrambled to rescue thousands of people trapped after floods and landslides ravaged the Himalayan region, leaving up to 1,000 feared dead. The exact number of those killed will not be clear until the muddy waters are cleaned up and the bodies recovered, said Vijay Bahuguna, the chief minister of Uttarakhand state, which is the worst-hit. Flood washes cars away in India "Certainly, the number of the dead is much higher than 550 ... and it could be around 1,000 as figures coming in suggest," he said Saturday. Emergency operations include the military and all forms of transportation, including trains moving people for free. About 70,000 have been evacuated since the floods hit this month.
BBC: Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng arrives in Taiwan
Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has arrived in Taiwan for an 18-day trip that is likely to anger Beijing. Mr Chen, who arrived on Sunday, is expected to meet opposition lawmakers and discuss human rights in China. The self-taught lawyer, who is blind, sparked a diplomatic row last year when he escaped house arrest and sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing. He was eventually allowed to travel to the US to pursue further studies. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, although the island has been separately governed since 1949.
The Guardian: MI5 feared GCHQ went 'too far' over phone and internet monitoring
Senior figures inside British intelligence have been alarmed by GCHQ's secret decision to tap into transatlantic cables in order to engage in the bulk interception of phone calls and internet traffic. According to one source who has been directly involved in GCHQ operations, concerns were expressed when the project was being discussed internally in 2008: "We felt we were starting to overstep the mark with some of it. People from MI5 were complaining that they were going too far from a civil liberties perspective … We all had reservations about it, because we all thought: 'If this was used against us, we wouldn't stand a chance'." The Guardian revealed on Friday that GCHQ has placed more than 200 probes on transatlantic cables and is processing 600m "telephone events" a day as well as up to 39m gigabytes of internet traffic. Using a programme codenamed Tempora, it can store and analyse voice recordings, the content of emails, entries on Facebook, the use of websites as well as the "metadata" which records who has contacted who. The programme is shared with GCHQ's American partner, the National Security Agency.
Reuters: Erdogan defends riot police tactics in Turkey protests
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan piled ridicule on activists behind weeks of protests against his government during a rally on Sunday and defended riot police who fired water cannon at crowds in Istanbul a day earlier. Looking out of over a sea of Turkish flags waved by his AK Party faithful in the eastern city of Erzurum, Erdogan praised his supporters and the general public for opposing what he called a plot against his country. "The people saw this game from the start and frustrated it. They (the protesters) thought the people would say nothing. They said we will burn and destroy and do what we want but the people will do nothing," he said. Sunday's mass rally was the fifth which Erdogan has called since protests began in Istanbul in an unprecedented challenge to his 10-year rule.
BBC: Israel hits back after Gaza rockets
Israeli warplanes have attacked targets in the Gaza Strip after missiles were fired into southern Israel late on Sunday night. At least six rockets were fired from northern Gaza, but no damage or injury was reported. Hours later, Israeli aircraft hit three areas, a BBC reporter said. The reason for the flare-up is unclear but sources blame tension in Gaza after an Islamic Jihad leader was killed by Hamas police on Saturday. Raed Qassim Jundeyeih, 32, died after he was shot during a gun battle involving police and members of his family. Unconfirmed reports said he was a commander of the militant group's military wing, the Al-Quds brigades. Islamic Jihad were believed to have been behind Sunday night's rocket attack on Israel, which came after a period of relative calm.
CNN: 12 Lebanese troops killed in clashes with Sunni radicals
Twelve Lebanese soldiers have been killed in the southern city of Sidon since Sunday, in fighting with armed followers of Lebanese Sunni hardline cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, according to the Lebanese state news agency. Al- Asir is a vocal supporter of the Syrian rebels who has been calling for a jihad against Hezbollah and the Assad regime. The violence from the ongoing civil war in Syria have frequently spilled over into Lebanon in recent months.
CNN: Gunmen kill 11 at base camp in Pakistan
Gunman opened fire at the base of one of Pakistan's highest peaks, killing 11 people, including 10 tourists and a local guide, the country's foreign ministry said Monday. The attack took place at the base of Nanga Parbat between midnight and 1 a.m. on Sunday, according to senior police official Ali Sher. Among the victims were tourists from China, Ukraine and Slovakia, who had come to Pakistan to climb, he said. …A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan said an affiliated group carried out the attack. The Pakistan Taliban targeted the foreigners because the international community supports drone strikes, said spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan.
BUSINESS:
Bloomberg: Washington Races Colorado for Billions in Pot-Tax Revenue
In Washington and Colorado, legalization of marijuana may draw as much as $2.1 billion in revenue for the states from new taxes in five years. The states, whose voters in November became the first to legalize the drug for adult use, may not claim those windfalls if U.S. authorities, which still label pot an illegal substance, decide to step in. “The projections are really premature because we don’t know what the federal government is going to do,” said Jeffrey Miron, who teaches economics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “All that uncertainty and that legal risk means the industry is likely to stay somewhat still in the shadows.” Colorado and Washington are designing frameworks for regulating the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana. The drug has the potential to provide some much-needed cash to states emerging from the recession, a revenue stream that may not emerge if the feds block recreational pot sales.
Financial Times: Average pay of top bankers drops 10%
Average pay of top bankers in the US and Europe including JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and Royal Bank of Scotland's Stephen Hester dropped by a 10th last year after banks bowed to investor and regulatory pressure, Financial Times research shows. The fall comes after a wave of high-profile shareholder revolts last year and a number of legal scandals and fines that have forced banks' boards on both sides of the Atlantic to rethink executive pay. The analysis of total pay awarded to the heads of 15 banks, exclusively compiled for the FT by Equilar, a US pay research group, shows that they took home $11.5m on average in 2012, 10 per cent less than in the previous year. This marked the first pay cut for bank chiefs in three years, a period in which their profit growth and investor payouts have underperformed many other sectors.
