Verizon is among several telecom giants launching a new advocacy group purported to be a lobby for sports fans — pressing lawmakers on issues such as game blackouts, high ticket prices and lack of college football playoff broadcasts. But some believe the new Sports Fans Coalition may really be entering the lobbying fray between cable and satellite providers over the right to carry regional sports games, reports The Hill .

Harpers : If you want to understand why Congress seems completely incapable of checking the power of Wall Street, look back to a hearing on the Hill last October 7, and the subsequent events surrounding it. On that day, the House Financial Services Committee hosted a panel on reform of the market for derivatives, the financial instrument which played such a notable role in the country’s economic meltdown. Read the whole story: Harpers

Nissan has announced a US national tour of their new pure EV, Leaf, beginning with a first American public showing on November 13th in Los Angeles. Though not yet officially announced, the first public sighting of Leaf at a major auto show will be at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show which runs from December 4th through 13th.

Democrats and Republicans ripped into Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner during a Congressional hearing Thursday , as Geithner defended an administration plan to address “too big to fail” financial firms. Legislators argued that the plan institutionalized “too big to fail” by requiring perpetual government assistance — bailouts — for failed firms deemed to be systemically important; that the plan’s fund — to be used in the event of a firm’s failure — should be prepaid by these firms, as opposed to being paid after the fact by the survivors; and that the proposal specified that a list of designated firms would be kept secret, which was neither realistic nor helpful. Federal bank regulators echoed that last point

It’s a chilly fall night at Hollywood’s Roosevelt hotel as the 140 conference parties (three total!) go full swing poolside under the stars. Guests mingle and chit-chat as out of town revelers see familiar faces and catch up.

Bloomberg : In Washington and on Main Street, politicians and voters are railing against Wall Street’s multi- million-dollar pay packages. In the financial world, most executives expect their bonuses to match or exceed last year’s, with 1 in 10 predicting their best-ever payout. Read the whole story: Bloomberg