Last night, at a fundraiser in Florida, President Obama demonstrated just how hard he plans to take it to the banks in the coming months. He compared bank lobbyists to flesh-eating fish. No joke. Now, it’s no surprise that the financial institutions that profit from the status quo have sent hordes of lobbyists to kill [...]
Charles Krauthammer’s reflexive neoconservative wingnuttery can be hilariously petty sometimes–this week, for example, as he slags off on the President’s nuclear summit. Krauthammer is dismissive of the effort–he mocks the Canadian decision to send its spent highly enriched uranium to us for disposal. But what about Ukraine’s decision to do the same? One of the [...]
From Catherine Mayer, TIME’s London Bureau Chief: On one topic at least there was a perfect consensus when the leaders of Britain’s three largest political parties faced each other in a 90-minute televised debate this evening, ahead of elections on May 6. This was the first ever such contest, and everyone – the protagonists Prime [...]
Okay, so the president didn’t go all Buzz Lightyear in his NASA speech today, but he might want to consider it next time. Instead, Obama soberly announced his goals for “revitalizing” the U.S. space program, including a manned spaceflight to Mars by the year 2030. To get an idea of how challenging it will be [...]
I am not in the business of giving investment advice, but I do, like many of you, spend way too much time watching cable television. So I know all about “Gold”–that “time tested currency,” that you can “hold in your hand,” blah, blah, blah. Ads for gold brokers, some of whom charge spreads of 30 [...]
As Tea Party groups mark Tax Day by staging protests across the U.S., it’s worth taking a look at yesterday’s New York Times/CBS News poll, which paints a vivid picture of the movement. Journalists — and many others who aren’t among the 18% of Americans who consider themselves Tea Party backers, according to the poll [...]
Our colleague Stephen Gandel over at the Curious Capitalist has a phenomenal post on taxes. The headline is sure to entice you Swampland folks: Could the Tea Party be Right About Taxes? Enjoy.
American Banker has a Q&A with FDIC Chair Sheila Bair today in which she largely echoes the sentiments of Senator Corker. Do you see any way left for the government to bail out a financial institution? BAIR: No, and that’s the whole idea. It was too easy for institutions to come and ask for help. [...]
The AFL-CIO has been emailing around a new campaign ad attacking Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln for taking money from Wall Street, just days after Lincoln defied union fears and sided against Wall Street on derivatives regulations. Lincoln, meanwhile, is not exactly letting up in her attacks on Halter. Her latest ad, “Dollar Bill Halter,” after [...]
