A federal appeals court issued a stay in a legal fight over subpoenas issued to former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, meaning the issue will not be decided until after President Bush finished his term. More...
Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld made it clear to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Monday afternoon that he did not ease into retirement when his bank declared bankruptcy last month.
“I got no golden parachute. I had no contract,” Fuld said. “I never sold my shares…because I believed in this company. I could have sold that stock, but I did not, because I firmly believed we were going to get back on the road [to solvency].” More...
Republican Rep. John Mica couldn’t resist getting in a little dig at Richard Fuld Monday, even as the Lehman Brothers CEO took fire over the collapse of his bank.
Mica pulled Fuld’s personal and company campaign contributions and noted one curious decision.
“You probably bet a little too much on Hillary,” Mica said. More...
Republican Rep. Chris Shays called for hearings on the role of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the financial crisis Monday, accusing the two mortgage companies of “wretched manipulation” of Congress.
“We are not confronting the 800 pound gorilla in room…the role of Fannie and Freddie in this debacle,” said Shays at a congressional hearing on the financial crisis.
Shays wondered why Democrats will target Wall Street firms during their planned set of hearings, but not Fannie and Freddie, who he said offered the type of subprime loans that helped trigger the crisis.
“Congress stood idly by as Fannie and Freddie played with trillions of dollars under a different set of rules,” Shays said.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said his staff is already reviewing documents provided by Fannie and Freddie and may hold hearings on the topic in the future. More...
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman got right to the point Monday in grilling Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld.
Waxman asked Fuld if it was true he made between $400 and $500 million running the company since 2000, referencing Fuld’s vacation homes in Florida and his impressive art collection. More...
John McCain's heroism and courage as a Vietnam-era pilot has never been challenged, but his decision-making in the cockpit was questioned by his superiors, according to records obtained by the Los Angeles Times. More...
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has signed on to the progressive Health Care for America Now campaign’s principles – a move that bolsters the clout of the nascent organization and could provide him with artillery support as he starts to pound the health-care issue on the presidential campaign trail.
With the $700-billion economic recovery bill now law, Obama has turned his sights on health care. This weekend, he delivered a health-care reform speech in Virginia and launched an ad critical of McCain’s health reform plan. Health Care for America’s announcement adds more amps to an emerging campaign theme.
Obama’s endorsement of the group’s principles is not altogether surprising. They closely mirror Obama’s health-reform platform. Health Care for America’s principles were based on the proposal of University of California at Berkeley political scenic professor Jacob Hacker, who’s also advised Obama.
"Ensuring Americans in Illinois and across the country have access to affordable, comprehensive health-care coverage is one of my top priorities," Obama said in a statement released by the group. "We must do everything we can to expand healthcare access, lower drug costs, and improve quality of care for working families, seniors, and children. I am proud to join HCAN's efforts to tackle the tough challenges we face in reforming our nation's healthcare system."
Including Obama, the coalition of more than 275 organizations has collected the signatures of about 75 lawmakers for guaranteed, affordable care that would insurance company regulations.
"Health Care for America Now's goal this year is to get the next president and a majority of Congress committed to the principles of quality, affordable health care for all and opposed to policies that would tax our benefits at work and leave us on our own with the unregulated, bureaucratic private insurance industry," said the group’s campaign manager Richard Kirsch in a statement. More...
Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) expressed outrage Monday at the allegation that Lehman Brothers was trying to give bonuses to executives, even as the struggling bank was preparing to ask the federal government for a bailout.
“The people on my block in Baltimore, if they perform poorly, they get fired,” Cummings said. “They certainly don’t get a bonus.”
Cummings spoke at a hearing on the bank’s collapse in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld is expected to testify later in the day, where he will likely get a hostile reception from Cummings and other Democrats.
“I wonder how he sleeps at night,” Cummings said of Fuld. More...
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, buoyed by polls showing challenger Kay Hagan gaining in North Carolina, is walloping Sen. Elizabeth Dole for coming back to DC for a fundraiser tonight. More...
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman kicked off the first of a series of hearings on the financial meltdown with a panel on the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank last month.
As expected, the chairman came out swinging Monday morning, accusing former CEO Richard Fuld of “taking no responsibility” for Lehman’s collapse. Waxman said Lehman was "a company in which there was no accountability for failure."
Fuld is expected to testify later in the day, in what will be his first public appearance since the bank’s collapse. More...
Minority Leader John Boehner made a special point of thanking Nevada Rep. Jon Porter, who's fighting for his political life, for voting yes twice this week. More...
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) said that a single conversation caused her to change her mind. She spoke Thursday with California state treasurer Bill Lockyer who told her that if the state’s fiscal situation continued on its current path, California would be unable to pay teachers, firefighters, healthcare workers, cops and other essential employees after October 27. Short term credit had become unavailable, he told her, and needed to be loosened up.
Woolsey said she asked him if he could assure her that if the bailout passed that the situation would improve. “He could not say absolutely it would make things better, but he said what was absolutely certain was that if it failed things would get worse,” said Woolsey. “He painted a very dire picture.”
Stuck between two bad choices, she said, she decided to take Lockyer’s advice knowing it will hurt her in her district. “I know I will [pay a price], but I would have either way,” she said. “We weren’t sent here to do the easy thing.”
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who also switched from no to yes, spoke Thursday with Lockyer as well. “It was a good conversation,” said Lee, adding that she reached out to Lockyer, whom she called a “great friend,” after getting his letter. Lockyer is a former state legislator and, said Dressler, also very good friends with no-voters Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), also former state legislators. Schiff and Thompson also switched from no to yes.
Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) said that there wasn’t one single cause of his vote switch. “I just woke up this morning, after a lot of prayer, thinking that yes was the right vote,” he said, noting that the vast majority of his district still opposes.
Conaway said meetings he had with constituents helped convince him to switch his vote. Back home, he met with a group of high school seniors. One kid in the back row asked if the tightening credit might meant that he might not be able to get a student loan. “I said, ‘You hit the nail on the head. That’s one of the ramifications,’” he told him.
He also did two townhall meetings, he said. “Upon arrival, I was cheered and hugged and kissed and patted on the back for my ‘no’ vote. And as I walked them through the concerns I had with what was going on, the mood became somber and less assured of their support for a ‘no’ vote. And as I was leaving, the one comment was, “Well, we’re glad you have to make the decision and not me,’” Conaway said.
Conaway, like Woolsey, is expecting political retribution, though he’s not in danger of losing his seat this cycle. The problem, he said, is that the bill is preventing harm rather than doing positive good. Much like the efforts to prevent a disaster around Y2K, said Conaway, this effort will go unnoticed if it does what it’s intended to do.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) had a more colorful way to make the same point, quoting LBJ: “It’s like wearing dark pants and p---ing down your leg,” he said before the vote. “It gives you a warm feeling, but no one knows you did it.” More...
With victory in hand on the bailout vote, Democratic House leaders are rushing to give Barack Obama credit for helping wavering Democrats get behind the bill in today's historic vote. More...
Here's the list of 33 Democrats who switched from "no" on Monday to "yes" on Friday. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) went from "yes" to "no," giving a net of 32 Democratic votes More...
A Politico count of floor statements, public declarations and press accounts indicates there are at least 22 "no" votes have now agreed to support the revised bill. The measure failed by 12 on Monday. More...
A top GOP aide says, "We feel confident. [Minority Whip Roy] Blunt and [Majority Leader Steny] Hoyer have spoken. Both sides are encouraged with the increase in numbers, and Hoyer is ready to move forward." More...
Wall Street Ends Wild Ride Down 370 Points
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