senate budget committee

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) — the notorious budget hawk who almost became President Obama’s Commerce Secretary — has accepted a spot on the powerful Banking Committee just as discussions are heating up over legislation (not yet unveiled) to reform the finance industry. The seat was vacated by former Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who retired last [...]

When the news broke that they’d received special deals on loans furnished by Countrywide Financial Corp., Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) both denied wrongdoing, saying they had no idea they’d gotten preferential treatment. Today, The Associated Press reports a different version of the tale, citing statements from a Countrywide employee claiming that [...]

Democratic leaders in the House are holding a press conference shortly on their sweeping $1.2 trillion proposal to revamp the nation’s health care system. As Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) might say: They have some ’splainin’ to do.
That’s because of damning testimony given yesterday by Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, which is charged [...]

President Obama made headlines last month when he announced a budget wishlist eliminating a number of budget gimmicks used by Washington policymakers to, in effect, purposefully lie to the country about how much the government will collect and spend.
Breaking from previous administrations, Obama’s budget acknowledged that fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will actually [...]

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) isn’t Washington’s biggest fan of President Obama, as his withdrawal from consideration for commerce secretary last month demonstrated. But nor does he want Obama to fail.

Give this to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.): He wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t a good fit in President Obama’s cabinet.
Gregg, of course, withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary in a storm of media attention last month. The senator, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, cited concerns that his spending philosophy was [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opened up about his feelings regarding the continuing bailout of insurance giant AIG — and he is all kinds of mad. Answering a question today at a Senate Budget Committee hearing, Bernanke said the rescue of AIG has upset him more than any other episode in the financial crisis, Bloomberg [...]

Want to lower your taxes and maybe get a bailout?
Incorporate.
The Government Accountability Office released a report today indicating that 83 of the 100 largest U.S. corporations — including many that are benefiting from Washington’s many taxpayer-funded bailouts — operate subsidiaries in countries known to be tax havens. Additionally, 63 of the 100 largest publicly-traded federal [...]