obama administration

This case has dropped a off the radar screen lately, but Bob Egelko at the San Francisco Chronicle today reminds us that the Obama administration is still fighting on three different fronts release of information that would likely show that U.S. officials tortured British former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed.
Mohamed is one of the plaintiffs in [...]

Is the Obama administration planning a major shift in strategy for slowing the foreclosure rate? Reuters reported Tuesday that officials are mulling policies to let delinquent owners rent their homes back. On Monday, Reuters said the administration also was considering letting unemployed borrowers defer, delay or skip mortgage payments so they can stay in their [...]

In another black mark on the Obama administration’s promised transparency, former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed has launched an urgent legal fight to prevent photos he claims prove he was tortured from being destroyed. Mohamed, who was seized in Pakistan in 2002 and later transferred to Morocco and Guantanamo Bay, was released in February and returned [...]

What is it with Paul Krugman, anyway? The Nobel economist with the dour outlook is becoming the most unlikely of pop icons. First, there was, “Hey Paul Krugman,” a ditty praising his virtues, especially compared with those of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, that flew around the blogosophere. Now, via Calculated Risk, comes “The Krugman Blues,” [...]

From Politico’s Mike Allen today comes the shocking tale of lobbyists and corporate insiders invited by The Washington Post to meet in intimate, off-the-record pow-wows, not only with Obama administration officials, but also with Post reporters and editors — all facilitated by the newspaper, and all for the bargain basement price of $25,000 – $250,000.
The [...]

Well, this should come as no surprise: Financial industry groups already are gearing up to fend off a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would regulate mortgages, credit cards, and other kinds of consumer lending. The idea was a key part of the financial system overhaul that President Obama outlined on Wednesday.
Although Obama called for [...]

At The Wall Street Journal, Gerald Seib lays out President Obama’s biggest problem as he unveils his proposals for regulatory overhaul today — the “Goldilocks” dilemma. The plan is likely to draw fire from both Obama’s right and left, Seib says.
The Federal Reserve will get more powers to oversee big financial institutions, large firms will [...]

Here’s something to keep in mind as President Obama unveils his financial regulatory overhaul plan today. Baseline Scenario helpfully offers a list of questions that the administration will either address or avoid as it rolls out its proposals. How Obama frames the debate will play a big part in how successfully the plan goes forward, [...]

One of the ideas for financial regulatory reform that President Barack Obama will outline today is the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, modeled after a proposal from Troubled Asset Relief Program watchdog Elizabeth Warren for a Financial Products Safety Comission. As The Washington Post explains, this would be a new federal agency [...]

What’s up with the Obama administration’s much-vaunted plans for financial regulatory reform? First, The Washington Post reports that an ambitious proposal for a systemic risk regulator — a single agency to regulate and monitor banking and  intervene if threats to the financial system emerge — is getting bogged down by all kinds of opposition. Smaller [...]