For Banks, $80B Gift was Massive Overpayment

February 6, 2009

In efforts to stabilize troubled banks, the Treasury Department overpaid those institutions by nearly $80 billion, the head of a bailout oversight panel told lawmakers Thursday. Elizabeth Warren, who chairs the congressional panel overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said Treasury officials chose not to risk-adjust the government’s investments in troubled banks, instead paying “a […]

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UK: Drumbeat for National Emergency Government

February 6, 2009

Not even his greatest admirer would claim that Sir Patrick Cormack is one of the big beasts of the political jungle. But the pompous and long-serving Conservative backbencher is neither a fool nor lobby fodder. On occasions he says something that speaks to the mood of the moment in a way that eludes more calculating […]

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Krauthammer: The Fierce Urgency of Pork

February 6, 2009

Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared “we have chosen hope over fear.” Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.

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Employers Slash 598k Jobs, Unemployment 7.6 Percent

February 6, 2009

Recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974, and catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. The grim figures were further proof that the nation’s job climate is deteriorating at an alarming clip with no end in sight.

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Partisan Lovefest

February 6, 2009

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A fired-up Barack Obama ditched his TelePrompter to rally House Democrats and rip Republican opponents of his recovery package Thursday night – at one point openly mocking the GOP for failing to follow through on promises of bipartisanship.

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Swiss Re Turns to Buffett

February 6, 2009

The world’s biggest reinsurer Swiss Re turned to Wall Street sage Warren Buffett for fresh funds Thursday after massive losses while Zurich Financial earnings plunged due to the global financial crisis .

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NY Times Acknowledges Tax Increases Can Be Bad

February 6, 2009

It’s true. An editorial today on the parlous condition of the Broadway theater, one of the city’s chief tourist draws.

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Labor Plans Counteroffensive Over Solis

February 6, 2009

The country’s largest labor and Hispanic groups are ratcheting up the confirmation fight over Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis, preparing a full-out political and media blitz to get the California Democrat approved and into the Obama cabinet.

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Obama Angers Key Supporters, Keeps Bush Faith-Based Hiring Policy in Place

February 6, 2009

Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington — It seemed like a firm campaign promise. Barack Obama pledged to continue President Bush’s faith-based office in the White House, but with a key change: Groups receiving federal money would no longer be allowed to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion. On Thursday, however, as President […]

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Ferguson: Keynes Can't Help Us Now

February 6, 2009

It began as a subprime surprise, became a credit crunch and then a global financial crisis. At last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russia and China blamed America, everyone blamed the bankers, and the bankers blamed you and me. From where I sat, the majority of the attendees were stuck in the Great […]

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