Fuel Economy Standards to Go to 55 Miles Per Gallon By 2025

Amidst the debate over the debt ceiling and the market crash, you may have heard that the Obama Administration struck a deal with the major auto manufacturers to take average vehicle fuel economy standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2025. That's about double where we are today. You can read all about it at this webpage. (Fuel economy standards in the the EU and Japan now are nearly where the U.S. will be in 2025.)

Rob Blackwell Predicts that the CFPB Will be Leaderless for Years

Here (behind the American Banker's paywall, unfortunately).  He thinks a compromise between the administration and the Republicans is unlikely; a recess appointment would mean a lengthy court battle during which the Bureau would operate under a cloud; and that the administration might prefer to be able to paint the Republicans as anti-consumer obstructionists in 2012.  It's a depressing but worthwhile read.

Causes of the Bad Economy

Read this piece by Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. He begins by explaining why the economy is not recovering:

Because we never really fixed underlying structural problems in the U.S. and global economies that had been building for decades and caused the financial and economic crisis in 2008.Those problems included a U.S. economy that was living well beyond its means, consuming more than it produced. They included an Asian economic boom that relied on intentionally undervalued currencies that led to massive buildup of dollar reserves and a massive credit bubble in the United States. And they included a new European system with a single currency and a single monetary policy but not the single economy that is needed to go along with it.

Here's one idea to spur recovery:

Over the next decade, the federal government is slated to spend hundreds of billions of dollars building roads, schools, airports, trolley lines and airport terminals, modernizing the air traffic control system, replacing computer systems and buying planes, ships, tanks, trucks and cars. Moving up some of that spending from years 8, 9 and 10 to years 1,2 and 3 won’t cost any more in the long run, or increase the long-term deficit any more, but could sure help put a floor under the economy in the short run.

So, what's the chance that will happen given what we've just seen in Congress?

 

Ballard Spahr Blog on CFPB: CFPB Monitor

by Jeff Sovern

I have been remiss in not drawing readers' attention to the very interesting and informative Ballard Spahr blog on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB Monitor,  which started up last month.  Among the posts that especially caught my eye: Alan Kaplinsky's observation that Comptroller of the Currency-nominee Thomas Curry's Senate testimony  "gave the impression that he is a strong advocate of the national bank charter and that he is unlikely to make any changes regarding preemption," and his post about whether the Bureau will bar the use of arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts.  CFPB Monitor looks like a valuable addition to consumer law blogs.



Elizabeth Warren Says Goodbye to the CFPB Staff

The American Banker publishes Elizabeth Warren's goodbye email to the CFPB staff.

Banks Emboldened by Concepcion

The Wall Street Journal reports that small and regional banks, encouraged by Concepcion, are increasingly adopting arbitration clauses.

WaPo Portrait of Cordray

Here.  The Times had earlier assessed Cordray: "Mr. Cordray has the credentials and skills for the job."

Façonnable Decision Adopting Weak Standard for Subpoenas to Identify Anonymous Speakers Is Vacated

by Paul Alan Levy

In early June, I described a recent decision by a United States Magistrate Judge in Colorado who had been persuaded to adopt a weaker than normal standard to decide whether anonymous Internet posters should be identified when a plaintiff seeks to sue them becauce their speech allegedly violates the plaintiff’s rights.  That decision has now been vacated under the Munsingwear doctrine.

As previously reported, the ruling was stayed shortly after we entered the case to represent Skybeam and filed objections with the District Judge.  Façonnable promptly sought and, with our consent, was granted a lengthy extension of time to respond to our objections.  The day before its response was finally due, Façonnable offered the Doe a face-saving settlement — no apology, no payment of money, and no admission that the sued-on statements were false (in fact, as our objections pointed out, there was actually serious reason to think that the statements may have been true).  All that was required was a representation from counsel for the Doe that the poster was not one of Façonnable’s competitors.  Once that representation was provided, Façonnable dismissed its libel action with prejudice.

We then moved to vacate the order against Skybeam (including its supporting opinion), contending that Façonnable’s unilateral dismissal of its action had unfairly deprived Skybeam of the opportunity to have its objections to the ruling against it considered.  Interestingly, we were unable to find a single reported decision, or even an unreported but reasoned decision, addressing the application of United States v. Munsingwear, 340 U.S. 36 (1950), to a subpoena to a media or Internet host seeking to identify an anonymous sources or user.  Now there is such a case:  Judge Arguello ruled that Munsingwear applied; the decision appears at 2011 WL 3203125.

The sequence of events served to confirm the need for a strong standard for the identification of anonymous speakers.  It is apparent that, as soon as Façonnable was confronted with evidence supporting the truth of those statements, it was ready to drop the case.  In other words, Façonnable never had a winnable case.  Why, then, should the anonymity of its speaker be compromised?  Only by requiring evidence instead of mere allegations can we be confident that baseless claims that seek to identify critics for improper purposes will be sidetracked.

Arthur Alan Wolk Sues the Lawyers Whose Arguments Got His Libel Suit Dismissed As Untimely

by Paul Alan Levy

About a year ago, the blogosphere was alight  with discussion of an important statute of limitations decision from the federal court in Philadelphia, rejecting a libel suit brought by Arthur Alan Wolk, a well-known trial lawyer specializing in aviation accidents, against Walter Olson, a conservative blogger whose Overlawyered blog focuses on cases and lawyers that illustrate his support for the cause of tort deform and, indeed, his broad opposition to various forms of social legislation.  Not content to pursue his arguments against that ruling on appeal, Wolk has filed a new lawsuit naming not only the original defendants but their lawyers and several other individuals and organizations.

Jon Stewart on the Fate of Dodd-Frank . . . so far

The Daily Show - Dodd-Frank Update
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