US banks take hit to clear home loan books
Big US banks are turning to a new tactic to clear their books of troubled mortgage loans: ‘short sales’, in which homeowners settle their debts by selling their properties for less than the mortgage value
Washington Post Hires Cheneyite Marc Thiessen
Just over a week ago, former Bush speechwriter and torture-enthusiast Marc Thiessen took to the pages of Foreign Policy to say that President Barack Obama…
Michael J.W. Stickings: Public Option Comeback? Four Democrats We Can Believe In
CBS News: Four Democratic senators, including two facing potentially challenging election campaigns this year, are asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use reconciliation, a…
Homebuilding begins year on bright note
Home construction in the US showed a rebound last month as renewed government support for the housing market stimulated demand
Toyota hit by multiple lawsuits
Toyota is facing dozens of class-action lawsuits in the US that could cost it billions of dollars in damages as the Japanese company struggles to contain the fall-out from its mass recall of faulty cars
Lloyd’s to abide by any Iran sanctions
Lloyd’s of London, the insurance market, will cut its coverage for refined oil shipments to Iran if the US passes wide-ranging sanctions legislation
Bob Franken: American Politics: Generations of Failure
We have changed. The old “Do Nothing Congress” has deteriorated into “PLEASE Do Nothing” the best we can hope for is gridlock. The Olympic…
The eurozone: Athenian arrangers
The eurozone: Amid anxiety about the finances of nations such as Greece, the role of big investment banks in massaging debt data is under scrutiny
BP deals blow to Obama fight on climate
The Obama administration’s efforts to pass climate change legislation suffered another blow when BP and ConocoPhillips pulled out of the group lobbying for curbs on US greenhouse gas emissions
Obama in nuclear energy push
President Barack Obama redoubled his efforts to promote nuclear power as a clean energy source on Tuesday, saying that $8bn in loan guarantees for the first nuclear power plant to be built in three decades was ‘only the beginning’
