Government Heads Toward Shutdown [WSJ]
The nation braced for a partial shutdown of the federal government, as time for Congress to pass a budget before a Monday midnight deadline grew perilously short and lawmakers gave no signs Sunday they were moving toward a resolution. Leaders of both parties said they wanted to avoid the first federal closure since 1996, but their public appearances seemed aimed more at affixing blame for the impasse. House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) urged Senate leaders to pass legislation that the Republican-controlled House had approved early Sunday morning, which would fund the government through mid-December. But that prospect was remote, as the House legislation included a one-year delay of the new federal health law that Democrats have vowed to reject, as well as a repeal of the new law's tax on medical devices. Democrats say Mr. Boehner himself could end the stalemate quickly by asking the House to pass the Senate plan for extending federal funding, which includes no provisions aimed at the health law. Such a move would anger conservatives in Mr. Boehner's ranks and likely materialize only at the last minute, after keeping up the fight against the health law to the end. But it would bring relief to the many Republicans who fear that the public would hand their party the largest share of blame for a shutdown.
A US government shutdown could hamstring the SEC and CFTC—and slow IPOs like Twitter’s [Quartz]
A US government shutdown is looming and politicians are hardly closer to averting it. If the shutdown went into effect, dozens of government agencies would be affected. But some of the most public-facing and time-sensitive agencies are the two financial market regulators—the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission—that make the wheels of US markets spin. If it’s anything like the shutdown that happened in 1995 to 1996, those agency would close their doors potentially for weeks, slamming the breaks on non-urgent government matters like processing IPO filings, investigating most financial crimes and passing the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.
JPMorgan Audit Director Laban Jackson: 'We Actually Are Guilty' [Reuters]
The head of JPMorgan Chase & Co's audit committee acknowledged on Thursday that the bank had made mistakes and said it has tried to learn from them. "We've got these things that we actually are guilty of and we've got to fix them," said Laban Jackson, the head of the audit committee of JPMorgan's board of directors. "It's embarrassing for the board," he added. Jackson spoke at a conference at a downtown Chicago hotel on Thursday.
S.E.C. Again Takes On Mark Cuban in Insider Case [DealBook]
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s insider trading trial against Mr. Cuban opens in a federal courtroom in Dallas on Monday, the culmination of a five-year battle. […] Mr. Cuban’s star power, coupled with the S.E.C.’s renewed ambition for taking cases to court, underpins the importance of this trial. After enduring its share of losses at trial and a public lashing for missing signs of the financial crisis, the agency is fresh off its most significant courtroom victory in recent memory with a win over Fabrice Tourre, a former Goldman Sachs trader at the center of a toxic mortgage deal. A victory in Mr. Cuban’s case might further embolden the S.E.C. as it seeks to hold individuals accountable at trial, a policy championed by its new chairwoman, Mary Jo White.
Star Wars lightsabers finally invented [Guardian]
FINALLY.
Credits to Spur Renewable Energy Sources Seen Set to End [Bloomberg]
Failure to extend the 16 tax credits could stymie the development of wind power and the other renewables by undercutting incentives to invest in them, Bloomberg BNA reported. Neither of the tax-writing committees in the House and Senate have yet to mark up a legislative package to extend the provisions, with time running short before they expire Dec. 31, energy analyst Kevin Book said. “It’s pretty telling” that “there is still no draft, no amendment has come up for a vote” on the extension, said Book, the managing director of research for ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based consulting firm. “A better than average probability” exists that the expiring tax credits will be allowed to lapse, Book said, though he predicted they would be retroactively reinstated at some point in 2014.
Deloitte Acquires TMA Construction Consultants [Deloitte]
This one "strengthens Deloitte's Infrastructure and Capital Projects (I&CP) expertise."
Breaking Bad's Tax Problems [Forbes]
No spoilers. Promise. You should be ashamed of being so far behind anyway.
'Breaking Bad' tax habits [DMWT]
This one has lots of spoilers but is a more thorough analysis. Choose wisely.
Man Barks at K-9 Officer at DUI Checkpoint, Gets Arrested [Gawker]
26-year-old James Paul Andrews of Cranberry Township in Pennsylvania began "barking, hissing and growling" at a K-9 police officer after being stopped at a drunken-driving checkpoint. The incident, which happened at 2:40 a.m. on September 15, ended with Andrews in handcuffs, facing serious charges. Along with drunken driving, Andrews was charged with "inciting Chaos," a real charge, and also the name of the K-9 unit. That's right — the dog is named Chaos. And inciting the K-9 officer is a felony charge which carries a possible charge of up to seven years in prison.
Herz Leaving Marks Boon for Banks [