The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged Bailout

Reid: Maybe More ACORN Amendments Would End the Unemployment Extension Slog

By | 11.04.09 | 11:27 am

As the Senate idles awaiting a procedural vote on unemployment legislation — a vote that’s held up activity on all other pending legislation and nominations — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this morning offered a solution that might speed things up: “Maybe [Republicans] needed another ACORN amendment,” More…

More Dems Attack Geithner on Proposed Finance Reforms

By | 11.02.09 | 2:03 pm

It’s no mystery that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is the ultimate Wall Street insider. But it seems that more and more Democrats are losing their patience with what they perceive as his protectionism of the finance industry at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. The latest More…

Band of Dems Blasts Geithner Plan

By | 10.30.09 | 6:00 am

Appearing before a House panel on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner made his best pitch for legislation granting the White House broad new powers to seize Wall Street firms when their collapse might torpedo others in the industry.

It didn’t go so well.

[Congress1]A number of Democrats on the House More…

Geithner, Summers Endorsed Dubious Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Deal

By | 10.20.09 | 12:18 pm

Bush administration officials have been under fire for effectively forcing a merger last December between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch without informing BoA shareholders of the financial dire straights Merrill was in at the time.

But yesterday the Obama administration was pulled more deeply into More…

There’s More to Answer for in the Wells Fargo Subprime Suits

By | 09.21.09 | 10:51 am

Now that commentator and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley has severed his ties to Wells Fargo & Co., what about the bank itself? As Smiley noted in his decision to cut business ties with Wells, the bank is facing several lawsuits charging that it engaged in illegal More…

Romney Slams Bailouts That He Used to Support

By | 09.19.09 | 12:07 pm

Mitt Romney at the Values Voter Summit this morning:

When government is trying to take over health care, buying car companies, bailing out banks, and giving half the White House staff the title of czar – we have every good reason to be alarmed and to speak our mind!

More…

A Warning to Wall Street; A Plea to Congress

By | 09.14.09 | 2:49 pm

Appearing on Wall Street today, President Obama accused some of the nation’s financial institutions of “misreading” the economy’s nascent recovery, and urged Congress to pass strict new banking regulations to prevent the industry’s “reckless behavior” from spurring another economic collapse.

We will not go back to the days

More…

Attacking Banks on Overdraft Fees

By | 08.20.09 | 10:34 am

Even as some of Congress’ recently enacted credit card reforms go into effect today, a New York Times editorial reminds Washington that the banks are still cheating customers with overdraft fees charged to debit card users. These fees, which average $27 a More…

Banking PACs’ Erratic Campaign Giving Signals Uncertainty

By | 08.03.09 | 6:00 am

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Even as Congress moves to put more curbs on Wall Street excesses, the nation’s top banks are writing fewer of the campaign checks that once won them lawmakers’ attention – a sign of uncertainty in the financial industry over how large a role it should play in politics in More…

Wall Street Payouts and Pitchfork Populism

By | 07.23.09 | 10:36 am

I know it’s not helpful to have knee-jerk reactions to Wall Street pay, given that compensation is often more complicated than portrayed, but there’s no subtlety here: Bailed-out financial firms are on track to pay their employees as much, or more, than they were rewarded with during the pre-crisis days, More…