The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged treasury department

Warren, Head of TARP Oversight Panel, Criticizes Bailout of ‘Frankenstein’ AIG

By | 05.26.10 | 11:50 am

Today, the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, headed by Elizabeth Warren, is holding a set of hearings on failed insurer AIG. Warren takes AIG to task for its blatant disregard for sound practices. “The company was a corporate Frankenstein, a conglomeration of banking and More…

April HAMP Report Card Shows Modifications Rising

By | 05.17.10 | 3:40 pm

Today, the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development Departments released April data on the Home Affordable Modification Program, the Obama administration’s effort to modify mortgages in order to stem the tide of foreclosures and keep families in their homes. Modifications increased 13 percent month-to-month, to 300,000.

“As the number More…

Oversight Panel Slams Obama’s Small Business Lending Efforts

By | 05.13.10 | 3:24 pm

Today, the Congressional Oversight Panel — the independent watchdog that oversees the Obama administration’s Troubled Asset Relief Program — issued a report slamming TARP’s progress in aiding small businesses. The report notes that despite the administration’s efforts to encourage banks to lend to small businesses, “it is not clear More…

Audit the Fed Politicking Heats Up, as Reid Indicates His Yes Vote

By | 05.06.10 | 2:01 pm

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) tells Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post that he is leaning toward voting for two controversial amendments: one provision by Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to break up big banks and create hard asset and leverage caps, and More…

Paulson and Geithner Testify on Regulation and Housing

By | 05.06.10 | 10:31 am

Today, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission continues its fourth round of hearings on the origins of the recession, with the current and former Treasury secretaries, Timothy Geithner and Henry Paulson, speaking on the shadow banking system — comprising financial companies like Goldman Sachs that are technically not banks because they More…

Citigroup Posts $4.4 Billion Profit

By | 04.19.10 | 9:10 am

It’s earnings week on Wall Street, and analysts had estimated that megabank Citigroup would break even in the first quarter. This morning, it announced a $4.4 billion profit — meaning the bank made around $49 million a day in the first three months of the year. Sure, markets More…

Panel Cites Problems in Mortgage Modification Program

By | 04.14.10 | 5:49 pm

Today, a report from the Congressional Oversight Panel faults the Treasury Department’s efforts to stem the tide of foreclosures:

Treasury’s response continues to lag well behind the pace of the crisis. As of February 2010, only 168,708 homeowners have received final, five-year loan modifications — a small fraction of

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Banks Reduced Lending in January Even as They Promised More Loans

By | 03.16.10 | 12:38 pm

A new report from the Treasury Department — the last of its kind — shows that despite all the regulation-avoiding PR campaigns, new loans at the nine largest banks that still owe bailout funds to the government dropped by 35 percent in January.

The nine banks

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China Attacks U.S. Currency Manipulation; Economists’ Heads Explode

By | 03.15.10 | 12:15 pm

China, where, as a matter of policy, the yuan is deliberately undervalued in order to keep Chinese exports cheap, is now attacking the U.S. for its weak currency. Is there a translation for “the pot calling the kettle black?” In better news, at least the Chinese finally acknowledged More…

Democrats Demand More Relief for Troubled Housing Market

By | 02.26.10 | 6:00 am

One year after the Obama administration launched its $75 billion anti-foreclosure program, the housing market remains volatile, loan modifications have been scant, foreclosures are still sky-high — and more and more lawmakers are wondering why the White House hasn’t More…