After a series of depressing announcements, Barack Obama will finally turn to an economic adviser who wasn’t directly responsible for the current crisis or mentored by someone who was. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the president-elect wants former Fed Chair Paul Volcker to lead a new presidential advisory board focused on saving America from financial ruin. Update
The mortgage market got a lift following Tuesday’s announcement that the Federal Reserve was throwing in with a $600 billion resuscitation bid, but as Fortune’s Colin Barr points out, history offers at least two examples that the road ahead could be rocky.
Multiple news outlets, from ABC to Fox, now confirm that Robert Gates will retain his post as secretary of defense for at least the first year of the Obama administration. The president-elect will roll out Gates and his other hawks during a national security team unveiling next week.
Barack Obama’s economy-oriented speaking spree continued on Tuesday, with a third speech planned for Wednesday. Tuesday’s talk focused on eliminating federal budget waste and introducing new additions to his economic team.
David Axelrod is not Karl Rove, so what’s he doing in his office? Barack Obama was elected to bring change to Washington, but like his predecessor, he’s bringing his top political strategist into the White House. The Boston Globe questions whether that’s the best idea.
A Yemeni freighter has become the 39th vessel seized by Somali pirates this year. Such hijackings have become a common occurrence off the coast of Somalia. Ship owners have called on the U.N. to police the affected waters.
The Associated Press delivered the sobering but inescapable news on Monday that the election of the nation’s first black president didn’t completely eradicate racism in America. Thanks, AP!
The Movimento Sociale-Fiamma Tricolore party in Italy has offered to pay $1,940 to parents who name their children after Benito Mussolini or his wife Rachele. The “purely casual” name game is meant to address low birthrates and not fascist nostalgia, according to the far-right party. Sure.
George W. Bush pardoned 14 criminals Monday, including a convicted violator of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Of the 14, 12 were from states that voted for the president in 2004. Most had been convicted of drug-related crimes.
Judging by the new additions to Barack Obama’s economic squad, the president-elect appears to be borrowing heavily from Robert Rubin’s ranks, but here’s an argument as to why Obama’s approach will differ from Rubin’s (but consider the source here).
To fix the ailing economy, Barack Obama has turned to two men who helped break it. On Monday, the president-elect announced Timothy Geithner as his choice for treasury secretary, and Giethner’s former mentor in the Clinton Treasury Department, Lawrence Summers, as his pick to head the White House Economic Council.
It’s that time again. Felons seeking pardons and commutations had best get in line, as the president already has a backlog of applications, including convicted congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham and junk bonder Michael Milken. So far Ted Stevens and “Scooter” Libby haven’t asked.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has survived an electoral challenge with flying colors. His party swept 17 of 22 state elections, although the opposition was victorious in several key skirmishes, including the capital state, the mayoralty of Caracas and even Venezuela’s biggest slum, traditionally a Chavez stronghold.
What’s a hundred billion dollars between capitalists? The Fed and the Treasury are once again throwing good cash after bad business. This time the culprit is Citigroup, which could get bailed out—courtesy of you—to the tune of $100 billion. And with that, we’d like to announce that Truthdig is officially too big to fail. Update: Done deal.
Congress is planning to give Barack Obama some serious motivation to jump right into the job on Inauguration Day, with two key lawmakers saying they plan to have a major economic stimulus package waiting for him on Jan. 20.
It’s not entirely clear whether this represents cause for encouragement or alarm, but there are some from the right and even far-right reaches of the U.S. political scene who applaud Barack Obama’s rumored choice of Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state.
Friday brought more news from purportedly reliable sources close to Barack Obama, this time suggesting that the president-elect was zeroing in on Timothy Geithner as his pick for treasury secretary and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for commerce secretary.
In yet another decision that chips away at the Bush administration’s withering theory of executive dominance, a federal judge ruled Thursday that the evidence presented against five Algerians—who have been in U.S. custody since 2001—was insufficient, freeing the detainees from the bowels of the prison at Guantanamo.
Maybe it was the past eight years, or maybe it was the past three months, but a new report by the U.S. intelligence community estimates that American global power is on the decline, and will be for the next two decades as upcoming powers like China and India gain greater international standing.
Nothing says “go home” like 10,000 people yelling at you in a language you don’t quite understand. And nothing says “go home” with more irony than an effigy of your president hanging at the very spot where a statue of Saddam was famously toppled after the fall of Baghdad in 2003.
A source from within President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team said Thursday that Obama is “on track” to tap Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state after Thanksgiving, according to the Associated Press.
House Democrats are serious about going green. To prove it, they just ousted auto hawk John Dingell from his perch as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California liberal and occasional Dingell foe, supplied the boot.
Minnesota’s ballot showdown is underway as Al Franken and Norm Coleman’s contest for the U.S. Senate comes down to a recount and voter intent. Minnesota Public Radio has decided not to let the campaigns have all the fun of chucking (or un-chucking) ballots. Now you can, too!
Starting on Nov. 26, mortgage finance mega-firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will take a time out from foreclosures and evictions until Jan. 9—a welcome holiday break for struggling homeowners that hopefully will catch on among other corporate players in the mortgage market.
In a little over two weeks, the Dow has tumbled more than 2,000 points as bad economic news continues to pile up. Word on Thursday that jobless claims hit a 16-year high, combined with a dreary outlook for Detroit and a lack of confidence in major financial institutions, helped drive the DJIA down to 7,552.29.
Chevron in the White House
