Jack Lew’s Questionable Stint at Citigroup
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on January 21st, 2013 12:08 am by HL
Jack Lew’s Questionable Stint at Citigroup
Paul Roderick Gregory, Forbes
Barack Obama vilifies both “Wall Street speculators “who pay themselves big bonuses when times are bad” and the greedy top Two Percenters who do not pay “their fair share” by exploiting tax loopholes. With such strongly articulated views, his nominee for Secretary of Treasury, Jack Lew, and his current Secretary of Treasury, Timothy Geithner, appear to be unlikely choices for such a sensitive cabinet position.Jack Lew collected over two million dollars for his short stint at the collapsing Citigroup. Tim Geithner, whose…
Quiet Ceremonies, Oath-Taking for Obama
Alexis Simendinger, RCP
Plenty of Americans could miss the moments when President Obama and Vice President Biden are sworn in Sunday, a full day before the pomp and the parade. The Constitution's instructions to begin governing on Jan. 20 must be honored, but the party will wait till the 21st.Before most revelers in the nation's capital get their coffee Sunday morning, Biden will have taken his oath at the Naval Observatory at 8:15 a.m. and motored to Arlington National Cemetery to be with the president for a wreath-laying ceremony.Obama is to return to the White House to recite the oath of office at 11:55…
How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times
IT is a prevailing myth in Washington: big bailouts are over for good. Never again, the line goes, could giant financial institutions imperil the nation's economy. This is nonsense, of course. Whatever regulators and lawmakers say, the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul lacks any guarantee that taxpayers won't have to come to the rescue again.So it was refreshing to hear a member of the Federal Reserve Board debunk the bailouts-are-gone theory last week.
Sonia Sotomayor’s Disappointing Memoir
Damon Root, Reason
In May 2009, shortly after Justice David Souter announced his retirement from the Supreme Court but before President Barack Obama got around to announcing his replacement, The New Republic published an article entitled “The Case Against Sotomayor.” Written by legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen, the piece quoted several unnamed legal officials, including federal prosecutors and law clerks, who had worked directly with Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's presumed favorite to replace Souter. They were not impressed with her qualifications.”They expressed questions about her temperament,…
The Frightening Math for Republicans
Charlie Cook, National Journal
It was Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is preparing a push for an immigration-reform proposal that promises to be the first real test of whether Republicans have learned a lesson from the Nov. 6 election results. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans won the white vote by numbers normally seen in landslide victories, and they also won independents by 5 and 7 percentage points, respectively. But Romney lost the election nationally by almost 4 points, and the GOP lost the overall popular vote for the House of Representatives. Although winning big among white voters and…