Obama’s Financial Plan Fails to Impress

Staff / Truthdig Jun 18, 2009 President Obama compares his "sweeping overhaul of the financial regulatory system" to FDR's crackdown on Wall Street, but New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera isn't buying it. "Everywhere you look in the plan, you see the same thing," he writes. "Additional regulation on the margin, but nothing that amounts to a true overhaul." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Enough With This ‘100 Days’ Nonsense

Stanley Kutler / Truthdig Apr 28, 2009 On what basis have the cable channels decided that President Obama's first hundred days are the most important thing to happen in the history of the world? As in the case of FDR before him, much has happened in the beginning of the president's first term -- and there is much more to come. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

British PM: We Need ‘Global New Deal’

Staff / Truthdig Feb 24, 2009 It's time for teamwork, according to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who made a call for unity -- and a "global New Deal" -- during a meeting about the worldwide economic crisis with other European heads of state over the weekend. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

John McCain in the Echo Chamber

Gore Vidal / Truthdig Oct 28, 2008 October proved to be the cruelest month, for that was the time that Sen. McCain, he of the round, blank, Little Orphan Annie eyes, chose to try out a number of weird lies about Barack Obama ostensibly in the interest of a Republican Party long overdue for burial. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

The Hoover-Palin Ticket

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Oct 15, 2008 And the winner is … Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Remember him—the great Democratic president who saved capitalism from the capitalists by reining in their exorbitant greed? Forget the Reagan Revolution heralding a new era of small government, which turned out to be nothing more than a fig leaf for legalized corporate crime. The hero of the hour is FDR. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama’s New Deal

Staff / Truthdig Oct 14, 2008 Barack Obama unveiled his $60-billion economic rescue plan on Monday and urged Washington not to wait for a new president to take up his proposals. The Obama plan includes tax breaks for companies that hire new workers, a short moratorium on foreclosures and, with an eye on job creation, federal financing for public works and infrastructure projects. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Boston Tea Party, 2008

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Oct 1, 2008 How dare you throw that tea into Boston Harbor! Such is the anti-democratic arrogance of the fear-mongering pundits and politicians who tell us if we taxpayers don’t instantly give the Wall Street banking bandits a $700-billion bailout, we are destroying America. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Economic Meltdown: Don’t Say We Weren’t Forewarned

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 Has the war on terrorism become the modern equivalent of the Roman Circus, drawing the people’s attention away from the failures of those who rule them? Corporate America is a shambles because deregulation, the mantra of our president and his party, has proved to be a license to steal. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

No Time for a Minimalist

David Sirota / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 Barack Obama isn't going to win any arguments about the economy if he keeps winking at the robber barons who helped wreck Wall Street. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Bailout Time for Fannie and Freddie

Staff / Truthdig Jul 29, 2008 Congress to the rescue! Mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being propped up in their time of dire need, thanks to a bill passed Saturday that will lift the world's two largest financial institutions out of immediate danger and help some homeowners handle mortgage crises. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Early Estimates of Bailout Range to $100 Billion

Staff / Truthdig Jul 23, 2008 The independent Congressional Budget Office has announced the expected federal taxpayer bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will appear as a $25 billion budget expense, but that the real bill could be anywhere from zero to $100 billion. This, even though the once-governmental agencies were formally privatized in 1968. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Did Bush Put a Hit Out on Fannie, Freddy?

Staff / Truthdig Jul 22, 2008 From madcap marketeer Jim Cramer to wired alt-blogger Scott Thill, there are more than a few braniacs who believe the Bush White House did not just watch the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac but actually engineered it as yet another sortie in the long GOP war against the New Deal. Never fear, though, as The Onion has already written a satirical report on efforts to build a better bubble. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )