House Dems are using a recent Congressional Budget Office analysis that says both public and private insurance options can work to boost support for their health care bill. (Reuters) In what promises to be the world’s most awkward meeting, President Obama will meet with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and the Cambridge police officer who …
Andrew Stecker
Posts by Andrew Stecker
Blue Dogs hold up health care
A small group of fiscally conservative Democrats, led by Jim Cooper from Tennessee, continue to resist health reform. (WSJ) SEIU President Andrew Stern throws the support of the nation’s largest union behind Obama’s health care legislation, but top supporters of the plan say the Blue Dogs won’t make a difference when it comes up to …
Reid dismisses Obama’s August health care deadline
Senate majority leader Harry Reid says there’ll be no movement on health care legislation until after the summer break, missing Obama’s August deadline. (NYT) Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke proposes new consumer protection laws for those with mortgage and home-equity loans. (WSJ) Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is hoping to win back the public’s favor by …
Hormats exposed by Financial Times, Matt Taibbi
Our report on Obama’s State Department nominee Bob Hormats is starting to get some press. As a Goldman Sachs exec, Hormats had some dubious ties to the genocidal regime in Sudan through a Chinese oil deal. In the name of accountability, we published a report exposing his background and listed questions we wanted lawmakers to …
President rallies public support for health reform
In an address last night, President Obama vows to protect the middle class as he taxes those who earn over $1 million a year to pay for his health care bill. (Reuters) Director of Obama’s budget office Peter Orszag says overhauling the health care system could be the key to boosting the economy. (NYT) FDIC …
Obama must defend health care plan to nation tonight
In an address tonight, President Obama will have to live up to his reputation to explain complicated topics in a simple way, as he rallies citizen support for his health care plan. (NYT) SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro counters Obama’s call for the Fed to tighten its grip on financial industries, saying it’s a job for …
CIT Group gets bailout from bondholders
CIT Group, refused a government bailout, scraped together money from bondholders to stay above water. (NYT) As taxing the rich to pay for health care becomes a heated issue, Republicans get angry, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele accuses Obama of “conducting a reckless experiment with our economy.” (WSJ) Director of the NEC Larry Summers encourages …
Goldman Sachs’ White House ties run deep
While Goldman Sachs‘ managing partners prepare their lists for Fifth Avenue shopping sprees on bonus day, the firm’s public relations department is grappling with an image problem that has some staying power. Goldman’s record profiteering at a time of chronic unemployment and systemic crisis along with Matt Taibbi’s superb article on Goldman’s role in market …
Health care confessional: Peter Orszag
Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag delivers a health care confessional on “Fox News Sunday,” revealing that legislation may not be completed by August, as promised. (NYT) He also did not deny claims that under the new bill, federal money would not be used to pay for abortions. (NYT) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius …
AMA backs House health care legislation
The American Medical Association has announced it supports the House’s health care bill. (Reuters) But just as everything appears to be going smoothly, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf says Democrats failed to include cost-cutting measures in their health care bill. (WSJ) Bank of America joins the ranks of financial institutions continuing to post profits …
JPMorgan posts giant profit, despite recession
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon joins Goldman Sachs as its profits jump, despite the recession. (Bloomberg) Senator Chris Dodd declares this health care bill tailor-made for for those without coverage as the legislation passes through the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions with an expected bipartisan split. (WSJ) Small business lender CIT Group was …
House health care bill is complete, but may face opposition in Senate
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed a health care bill that expands coverage, increases taxes on the rich and imposes fees on businesses that don’t provide benefits for their employees. (NYT) Obama’s chief political officer David Axelrod says bipartisan support in the Senate for a health care bill may not be possible. (Bloomberg) The government may …