DEMOCRATS FILIBUSTER PICKERING.
Republicans failed by six votes Oct. 30 to stop a Democratic
filibuster of the nomination of U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering to
the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals.
The 54 to 43 vote was . . .
HOUSE, SENATE PANELS FOCUS ON OVERHAULING PENSION PLAN
RULES.
Congress focused last week on overhauling pension plan rules. The
House Committee on Education and the Workforce opened hearings on a
permanent, long-term solution to the current pension . . .
REPUBLICANS WORKING WITH BREAUX ON CLASS ACTION
COMPROMISE.
Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) is working with Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist (R-TN) and Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-SD) to craft a
compromise class action bill that could pass the Senate . . .
LIFE INSURERS LOST $24.3 BILLION IN STOCK & BOND
MARKETS.
The life insurance industry lost $24.3 billion in the stock and
bond markets in 2001 and 2002, Moody's Investors Service reported
last week.
The credit losses totaled $15.4 billion in 2002 and . . .
AIG'S 3RD QUARTER NET INCOME ROSE 26.9 PERCENT DUE TO P/C
GAINS.
American International Group reported Oct. 23 its net income rose
from $1.84 billion at the end of the third quarter in 2002 to $2.34
billion at the same time in 2003, an increase of 26.9 percent.
. . .
FEDERAL JUDGE FINES TOBACCO FIRM OVER WITHHELD FILES.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler of the District of Columbia has
ordered British American Tobacco PLC to pay a fine of $25,000 a day
until it complies with her order to turn over documents from . . .
SENATE JUDICIARY BEGINS BATTLE OVER ANOTHER JUDICIAL
NOMINEE.
California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown came under
sharp attack from Democrats Oct. 22 in her hearing before the Senate
Judiciary Committee over her nomination to the U.S. Court of . . .
SENATE FINANCE RECONSIDERS CORPORATE-OWNED LIFE INSURANCE
TAX.
The Senate Finance Committee held a special hearing Oct. 23 to
re-examine whether companies should be required to pay tax on
corporate-owned life insurance benefits.
The hearing was scheduled . . .
SENATE COMMERCE REVISITS FEDERAL REGULATION OF INSURANCE.
Taking one more dig at the insurance industry before he retires at
the end of the 108th Congress, Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings
(D-SC) got the Senate Commerce Committee to consider his bill to . . .
41 SENATORS ASK BUSH TO INTERVENE IN MEDICARE CONFERENCE.
The tactics being used by Medicare conference chairman Bill Thomas
(R-CA) to push through final legislation that gives preference to
contentious provisions in the House-passed Medicare prescription . . .
CLOTURE ON CLASS ACTION BILL FAILS BY ONE VOTE IN SENATE.
Backers of federal class action legislation came within one vote
Oct. 22 of the 60 they needed to shut off debate on the measure, a major
goal of business groups in this session of Congress.
. . .
CONNECTICUT DIOCESE ENTERS $21 MILLION ABUSE SETTLEMENT.
The Roman Catholic diocese of Bridgeport, CT, announced a $21
million settlement with 40 plaintiffs who said they were molested by 16
diocesan priests when they were children.
The agreement . . .
CALIFORNIA CASE TESTS WORKERS' CLAIMS OF CHEMICAL
EXPOSURE.
Trial opened Oct. 14 in Santa Clara County (CA) Superior Court in
lawsuits testing whether workers at IBM computer-parts plants can
recover on claims their exposure to chemicals on the job led to . . .
COUNCIL OF AGENTS & BROKERS ELECTS DE GROSZ CHAIRMAN.
The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers has elected Frederick
J. de Grosz, president and CEO of ABD Insurance and Financial Services,
Redwood City, CA, as its 2004 chairman, succeeding William R. . . .
LIFE INSURERS WARNED AGAINST COMPLACENCY ON ETHICS.
The life insurance industry has improved its ethical behavior
considerably since the scandals of the early 1990s but shouldn't
become complacent, Brian Atchinson, executive director of the . . .
CATASTROPHE LOSSES IN THIRD QUARTER: $2.9 BILLION.
Insured property losses in the third quarter are expected to reach
$2.9 billion in the third quarter of the year as the result of seven
catastrophic events, the Insurance Services Office's . . .
REPORTERS TOLD TO NAME SOURCES IN PRIVACY SUIT.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has ordered reporters
for four news organizations to disclose who in the government might have
given derogatory information to them about Wen Ho Lee, a . . .
NHTSA FINDS LOWER VEHICLE WEIGHTS INCREASE RISK OF DEATH.
An examination of fatality rates among vehicle types indicates the
highest level was among small four-door cars, mid-sized SUVs and compact
pickup trucks, the National Highway Transportation Safety . . .
TREASURY DELAYS CASH-BALANCE PENSION RULES UNTIL CONGRESS
ACTS.
The Treasury Department has decided to delay issuing contentious
regulations on cash-balance pension plans until Congress passes
legislation on them.
The decision came weeks after the House voted . . .
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORP. DEFICIT RISES TO $8.8
BILLION.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging was warned Oct. 14 the
deficit of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency which
insures defined benefit pension plans, had risen to $8.8 billion . . .
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