MPR: US Senate rejects end to sugar industry aid
The U.S. Senate defeated an amendment to the farm bill that would have ended government protections for the domestic sugar industry, including Minnesota sugar beet growers.
Star Tribune: SEC should adopt Franken plan on credit ratings agencies
A sensible, bipartisan solution to the conflicts of interest that too often arise between credit ratings agencies and the firms that hire them to judge their products should be adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mankato Free Press: Our View: SEC should act on ratings conflicts
Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker — the first a Democrat, the second a Republican — are pushing the Securities and Exchange Commission to act on the myriad conflicts of interest in the ratings process. Specifically, they want the SEC to create a commission that would name the agencies that rate such investments as mortgage-backed securities.