We Told You So

David Sirota / Truthdig Dec 12, 2008 With the release of three new reports, there’s no debate anymore about who was correct and who wasn’t concerning the economic collapse and the Wall Street bailout. The studies prove that progressive critics were right and the Washington ideologues and the pundits were wrong. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

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 )

Some Blame Must Follow the Financial Collapse

William Pfaff / Truthdig Nov 12, 2008 "What am I going to tell the public," one French official asked, "when there are 3 million people marching in the streets of Paris? That 'we all made mistakes'? That no one was really responsible?" Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Surprise! Paulson Sneaked $150B Bank ‘Windfall’ Into Bailout

Staff / Truthdig Nov 11, 2008 Perhaps we should be more surprised than we are by the news that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his DOT crew managed to sneak a handful of sentences into the approved bailout bill that amounted to a $150-billion "quiet windfall" for American banks, as The Washington Post put it. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Military Spending ‘Not Sustainable’

Staff / Truthdig Nov 11, 2008 The Defense Business Board, an official oversight body appointed by the secretary of defense, has warned the president-elect that the Pentagon's bloated budget ($512 billion this year, not including war costs) is "not sustainable." An unprecedented spending spree since 9/11 has run head-on into a financial meltdown, and Barack Obama is now stuck in the middle. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Greenspan Admits Ideological Flaw

Staff / Truthdig Oct 23, 2008 The former Fed chair told angry lawmakers on Thursday that after 40 years of buying into free-market ideology he had "found a flaw." Rep. Henry Waxman told Greenspan "our whole economy is paying the price" because he ignored advice and resisted regulation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Report: NSA Listened In on Americans’ Phone Sex

Staff / Truthdig Oct 10, 2008 Just what kind of interpretation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would allow U.S. National Security Agency linguists to eavesdrop on Americans', er, pillow talk? That's the charge being leveled by more than one such NSA interpreter who worked at an NSA listening station at Fort Gordon, Ga. Dig deeper ( 1 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 )

Lehman Bros. Paid Execs Millions as Company Tanked

Staff / Truthdig Oct 6, 2008 On Monday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee took a look into the collapse of Lehman Brothers as part of a larger review of the factors leading to the current economic crisis, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Judging by the committee's account, leaders at Lehman Bros. disregarded key warnings of impending trouble and cut hefty checks for their fellow executives even as the firm teetered on the brink of disaster. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Saying ‘No Deal’ to This New Deal

David Sirota / Truthdig Oct 3, 2008 The marriage of American capitalism and democracy has always been a Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee affair -- stormy and erratic since its hasty wedding. But during the debate over a Wall Street bailout this week, we watched that matrimonial knot unwind into a tangled tale of terror. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Welcome Pause Before the Bailing Starts

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Oct 3, 2008 We all owe a debt of thanks to the skeptics who refused to be steamrollered by the Bush administration's $700-billion financial bailout plan until we at least had some understanding of what we were doing and why. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Pelosi: ‘The Party Is Over’

Staff / Truthdig Sep 30, 2008 Did Nancy Pelosi's speech just before the House vote on the proposed bailout on Monday lead to the bill's demise? Let's hope our legislators aren't so susceptible that an 11th-hour speech would reverse their positions vis-à-vis a $700-billion measure. Here's a clip of the House speaker's comments on the floor. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )