Obama cabinet member who touted fracking has joined the board of a company that funded climate change denial, fought the Clean Power Plan, and emits more carbon dioxide than all but two companies.
Tag: obama
Libertarian Elites to “Dethrone” Obama’s New Corporate BFF
Not many people know that General Electric has been a huge beneficiary of recent bank bailouts via its financial subsidiary GE Capital, which would be America’s eighth largest bank measured by total assets. Regulators changed banking rules to guarantee $340 billion in GE Capital debt, and the bank received $16 billion in cheap emergency loans …
The Foreclosure Fraud Scandal Just Got Harder to Ignore
The Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a major decision against the banks on the issue of foreclosure fraud earlier today. In US Trust vs. Ibanez, the court ruled that the banks in the case did not have standing to foreclose when they failed to assign the mortgage prior to foreclosure. The case carries significant implications, as …
Obama Considering Chamber of Commerce Insider for Top White House Post
The US Chamber of Commerce has done battle with the Obama administration over the course of the past two years on some significant issues, and has been described by one observer as “one of the most determined and well-funded foes of Obama’s agenda.” So the news that Obama may be tapping a Chamber insider as his …
Obama Packs Debt Commission with Social Security Looters
LittleSis is expanding its investigation into the networks of money and influence behind efforts to gut Social Security. Join the Social Security Looters research group if you want to get involved. The most generous bank bailout in history has amplified Wall Street’s considerable political influence, and the economic implications of this democratic calamity go well …
Hoping to be Liked: A Radically Condensed History of the Obama Presidency
When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces. The man who’d introduced them didn’t much like either of them, though he acted as if he did, anxious …
Obama shares Wall Street’s delusions
Via Bloomberg, we learned yesterday that President Obama buys in to the Wall Street delusion that bankers actually deserve really high salaries. Speaking about JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman’s Lloyd Blankfein, he said this: The president, speaking in an interview, said in response to a question that while $17 million is “an extraordinary amount …
Project update: over 100 White House visitors profiled
Last Thursday, inspired by the release of White House visitor logs, we launched a new project to compile information on visitors to the Obama White House. In less than a week, analysts Priscilla, sundin, ellenp, and destructor have built and updated profiles for over 100 individuals who have met with the president or one of …
New project: Tracking Obama insiders
It’s been almost one year since Obama’s inauguration — and one year since LittleSis launched. At this time last year we were scrambling to add up-to-date data about the past two presidential administrations, and the incoming one, in preparation for launch. We built lists like this, this, and this (with lots of help from our …
The White House’s Google Calendar
The White House’s most recent monthly release of visitor records was extraordinary in that it included a comprehensive dump of records for the second half of September 2009. Previous releases were limited to records for names specifically requested by reporters and other watchdogs; this one includes every single visitor record. Kudos to the White House …
Obama insiders teamed up with Chamber of Commerce to fight financial reform
The Chamber of Commerce has led the fight against the financial reform bill making its way through Congress. The business lobby opposes the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, enhanced oversight of derivatives, and other key parts of the reform package, and it won many concessions on the bill recently passed by the House …
Melissa Bean’s backers are key Obama associates
A group of “New Democrats” led by Representative Melissa Bean has reportedly won major concessions in the financial reform fight: The compromise reached late Wednesday between pro-reform House Democrats and the banker-friendly wing of the party could significantly weaken consumer protection in states where lawmakers support tougher rules against tactics such as predatory lending and …