Posts by Laura McGann

A GM bankruptcy would be unprecedented, and probably controversial, because the company owns physical assets worth about $160 billion, directly employs 90,000 Americans and is an integral part of the U.S. economy. While the White House has signaled that it may come to the rescue in the short term, the pain of downsizing the auto giant would have a ripple effect across the economy.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that amid news that a bid to extend a lifeline to the Big Three automakers failed in the Senate last night, the White House is considering allowing some of the $700 billion allocated for the Wall Street bailout to save the industry. A spokesman for the White House called [...]

After news broke in October that the Republican National Committee had spent some $150,000 on clothes and accessories for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the former GOP vice presidential nominee claimed in early November that she had gone back to wearing her own clothes,
It turns out that in the weeks leading up to her announcement, Palin’s [...]

This morning’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting story on how the government’s $4 billion neighborhood stabilization program isn’t nearly enough to address the problems faced by communities with thousands of homes in foreclosure.
But wait, haven’t I read this story before?

To much fanfare, Fannie and Freddie Mac recently announced that they would put a moratorium on foreclosures through the holiday season. But for some 765,000 homeowners already in foreclosure, like Julio Angulo of suburban Virginia, even temporary relief isn’t necessarily coming.
TWI economics reporter Mary Kane attended Angulo’s eviction on Monday morning with video producer Garland [...]

TWI’s publisher, the non-profit Center for Independent Media is looking for two news editors to shape the editorial direction of a network of sites across the country. The jobs are based in Washington, in the same offices as TWI.
Full job description and instructions on how to apply after the jump.

Now that Sen. Ted Stevens is out of the Senate, nixing a chance for a special election in Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin might be eyeing another potential seat — Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska), Politico reports.
Murkowski, appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father when he took office as governor of Alaska, is up for [...]

Is Gov. Sarah Palin the best thing going for the GOP these days?
A local TV network in Georgia reports that Palin attracted fans from as far away as New Mexico to hear her stump for Sen. Saxby Chambliss in today’s run-off election, even though they can’t vote in Georgia.

It looks like Sen. Ted Stevens, convicted of seven federal felony counts of bribery-related charges, has opened the door to asking for a presidential pardon, according to Politico:
Asked Nov. 18 if [Stevens] would seek a pardon from President George W. Bush, Stevens told reporters at the Capitol, “No, no, no.” But later that day, he [...]

President-elect Barack Obama took a question on his “team of rivals” at a press conference in Chicago this morning, where, as Matt DeLong notes, Obama officially tapped Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Sec. of Defense Robert Gates to join his Cabinet.
As I noted in a piece this morning, many progressives have been critical of [...]