Bernanke Says Stabilization is the Word of the Day

March 15, 2009

Asked if recession will end this year, Bernanke says: “In the sense that this decline will begin to moderate and we’ll begin to see leveling off. We won’t be back to full employment. But we will see I hope the end of these declines that have been so strong in the last couple quarters.”

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Post-Chas Freeman Debacle, Intel Chief Dennis Blair Under Pressure

March 15, 2009

Another of Intel Chief’s Dennis Blair’s picks getting bipartisan questions: John Deutch, an ex-CIA director accused of major security lapses, pardoned on Clinton’s last day in office, is now an appointee to a top secret panel. Deutch was the guy who kept tons of classified material on his unsecured home PC despite repeated warnings.

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AIG Folds to Political Pressure, Publishes Counterparties List

March 15, 2009

After weeks of complaints from Capitol Hill, AIG released a partial list of financial counterparties who benefited from its $160 billion bailout, a list which unsurprisingly includes some of the largest banks in Europe. Disclosures were a condition for getting more money, so you can see the motivation here.

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Actor Ron Silver Succumbs to Cancer

March 15, 2009

Blunt, scrappy character actor known for in-your-face roles, Silver was co-founder of the liberal Creative Coalition in 1989, but after 9/11 made prominent NatSec-inspired switch to the GOP, and was a speaker at the Republican convention in New York in 2004. Can we get a “Because his father is the District Attorney” shoutout?

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Selection Sunday's Five Biggest Seeding Flubs

March 15, 2009

On the whole, the selection committee does an excellent job filling, seeding and matching up the teams in the NCAA tournament. With all the rules protecting the top four seeds from excessive travel, ensuring that teams from the same conference won’t play until the Elite Eight and various other considerations, planning the tournament is a […]

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Poor Timing Dept: China Lost Billions by Choosing Global Diversification

March 15, 2009

China has lost tens of billions of dollars of its foreign exchange reserves through a poorly timed diversification into global equities just before world markets collapsed last year. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the opaque manager of nearly $2,000bn (€1,547bn, £1,429bn) of reserves, started making huge bets on global stocks early in 2007 and […]

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The Biggest Race of 2009: McAuliffe Rolls in the Cash

March 15, 2009

Terry McAuliffe, king fundraiser of the Democratic Party, dominates the Democratic primary fundraising in Virginia, leaning a wide variety of national contacts. McAuliffe will attempt to keep Virginia blue, and prove the Obama win was a permanent realignment of the state beating Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

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Post-Rush, the New White House Attack Strategy

March 15, 2009

For being the dominant majority party in Washington, President Obama and his team are taking no chances. Having “exhausted the use of Rush as an attention-getter,” the White House plans to leverage the 10 million donors, supporters and volunteers from 2008 to attack the GOP as “reflexively political.” Irony is fun.

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Rep. Wolf: Freeman Orchestrated His Own Fall

March 14, 2009

I am one of a number of members of Congress who challenged the selection of former ambassador Charles Freeman for chairman of the National Intelligence Council. This sensitive, high-profile position is responsible for overseeing the nation’s intelligence evaluations.

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Barone: Obama's Lost Focus

March 14, 2009

We’ve been hearing a lot of criticism of Barack Obama in recent days from pro-Obama corners — from celebrity investor Warren Buffett, from moderate conservative columnist David Brooks, from one of the Democratic Party’s deepest thinkers, William Galston — all along the same lines. Put aside your plans, announced in your budget, for national health […]

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