Archives: December 2008

As Treasury Bails Out GMAC, Is It Overdrawing Federal Bailout Funds?

Posted by: Theo Francis on December 29, Categories:

Maybe it's not quite as bad as it looks. Tonight, the Treasury said it would funnel $6 billion of the federal bailout funds to GMAC, the big auto-financing company. This...

Will the SEC and CFTC Merge?

Posted by: Theo Francis on December 18, Categories:

Years before getting President-Elect Barack Obama's nod to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro did stints on both the SEC and its sometime rival, the Commodity Futures Trading...

Obama Rounds Out His Financial Team

Posted by: Jane Sasseen on December 18, Categories:

In a morning press conference, President Barack Obama rounded out the team that will play a big hand in revamping financial services regulation over the next several years. As expected,...

Report: Ron Kirk to be Obama Trade Representative

Posted by: Steve LeVine on December 18, Categories: Obama

The betting is that former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk will be appointed as U.S. trade representative by President-elect Barack Obama tomorrow. The position is highly important because the representative --...

Obama to Pick Schapiro for SEC: From Industry's Regulator to Government's

Posted by: Theo Francis on December 17, Categories:

By tapping Mary Schapiro, who runs the financial industry's own regulatory agency, to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, President-Elect Barack Obama may be sending a carefully modulated message to...

Madoff beneficiaries included senators and lobbyists

Posted by: Keith Epstein on December 16, Categories: Scandals

Not every investment dollar accepted by apparent $50 billion Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff went to pay dividends to other investors. The man who has shaken up Palm Beach, Jewish...

Obama Education Pick Bridges Unions, Reformers

Posted by: Steve LeVine on December 15, Categories:

Arne Duncan won out as President-elect Barack Obama's designate as education secretary by neatly skirting the battle lines among groups seeking to influence future national policy. In addition, it didn't...

Makeup of Obama Energy Team Signals Break with Bush

Posted by: Steve LeVine on December 15, Categories: Policy

In announcing his energy team, President-elect Barack Obama seemed to take a not-very-subtle swipe at the Bush administration. Obama did so in introducing Steven Chu, his designate for energy secretary,...

Will Blagojevich Taint Obama?

Posted by: John Carey on December 09, Categories: Scandals

In the wake of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's arrest, many in the conservative community are hoping for a scandal that reaches all the way to Obama. The Bush Administration Justice...

Obama's Coming Energy and Environment Team

Posted by: John Carey on December 09, Categories: Policy

Coming soon are President-Elect Obama’s picks to head up crucial energy and environment posts. The Environmental Protection Agency will undergo a rousing revival after years of being quashed by the...

Do Mortgage Modifications Stick?

Posted by: Theo Francis on December 08, Categories:

As Washington policymakers bat around proposals to tackle the housing crisis more directly, a forthcoming report from federal banking regulators will offer some sobering statistics: Many mortgages modified by lenders...

Obama Said To Pick Xavier Becerra for US Trade Rep

Posted by: Jane Sasseen on December 03, Categories:

Is another key economic post about to be filled by President-Elect Barack Obama? Even as he called a Chicago press conference to announce the expected nomination of New Mexico Governor...

GAO to Treasury: Your TARP Needs a Little Mending

Posted by: Theo Francis on December 02, Categories:

The first outside look into the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program is out, and it's not exactly glowing. Granted, the Government Accountability Office acknowledges that the bill creating the program,...

Paulson Stays the Course on Financial Rescue Plan

Posted by: Theo Francis on December 01, Categories:

In remarks to executives gathered for the Fortune 500 Forum in Washington, D.C., Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson broke no news, but he did give more hints about what is --...