Fun With Bailout Hearings: Know Your Treasury Chumps

Staff / Truthdig Nov 16, 2008 It's clear from this monologue by Rep. Elijah Cummings that, when he wonders aloud if Neel Kashkari is a "chump" for enabling companies like AIG to hand out huge executive bonuses while seeking federal bailout money, Cummings already knows the answer. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

N.Y. Attorney General Goes After AIG

Staff / Truthdig Oct 17, 2008 It would seem imprudent, given the government's recent and unprecedented bailout of companies such as insurance giant AIG, for the likes of AIG to even entertain the idea of hefty executive payouts. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Finding a Way Out After the Bailout

Titus Levi / Truthdig Oct 16, 2008 Wall Street has yet to recover after the economic shocks of recent weeks. Why? Two problems. One we already know: The “plan,” even with revisions, is deeply flawed. The second problem has not been mentioned all that much because it’s pretty scary: Put simply, we have no idea what we’re doing. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

AIG Execs Enjoy Sun and Fun on Your Dime

Staff / Truthdig Oct 8, 2008 What's $85 billion if you don't get to spend it? Just days after taxpayers saved AIG from ruin, executives of the insurance giant spent $440,000 pampering themselves at the exclusive St. Regis resort in Monarch Beach, Calif. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Democracy Now!’: Sen. Sanders, Scheer on the Bailout Boondoggle

Staff / Truthdig Sep 23, 2008 On Monday morning, as the aftershocks from Wall Street's worst week in decades continued to rock the national and global economy and the Bush administration scrambled to contain the fallout with a bailout plan that could cost American taxpayers over a trillion dollars, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Robert Scheer and Dean Baker joined "Democracy Now!" host Amy Goodman (above) to sort through the rubble and speculate about what might come next. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: Wall Street on the Rocks

Staff / Truthdig Sep 20, 2008 What to make of the bailouts and sellouts that dominated the past week's financial headlines? Well, "Left, Right & Center" commentators Matt Miller, Robert Scheer and Tony Blankley (Arianna Huffington was away) have some ideas about what caused the nightmare on Wall Street and what the future holds. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Makes Cameo Appearance at White House

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 President Bush had been laying low over recent days, but it seems his inner circle considered it prudent to trot him out for a brief appearance at the White House. He surfaced on Thursday to speak vaguely about the snowballing economic crisis on Wall Street before disappearing once again. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Daily Show’: Economic Meltdowns Have Their Upsides

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 Hey, now that Jon Stewart mentions it, that whole government bailout thing starts to sound a lot better: We, the taxpayers, just bought a really, really big insurance company. That's like having two hotels each on Boardwalk and Park Place in Monopoly, right? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Daily Show’: The Notorious A.I.G.

Staff / Truthdig Sep 17, 2008 Whither Lehman Brothers? Et tu, Merrill Lynch? What's going on on Wall Street? Jon Stewart breaks down the financial meltdown on Tuesday night's edition of "The Daily Show" -- complete with '80s monster movie allusions. Sweet! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Socialism for the Super-Rich

Staff / Truthdig Sep 17, 2008 Here we go again: The Federal Reserve is bailing out another tanking financial institution -- the insurance behemoth American International Group -- by sinking $85 billion into AIG in return for a stake in the company. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a Wall Street investigation following this latest startling agreement between big government and big business. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Markets Brace for More Turbulence After Monday’s Drops

Staff / Truthdig Sep 16, 2008 President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. attempted to head off mounting market woes and investor freak-outs at the pass on Monday as Wall Street suffered its worst losses since right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )