The New Republic

It's a story of southern political intrigue worth of Robert Penn Warren: A few weeks ago the Tennessee House of Representatives, with 50 Republicans and 49 Democrats, was set to seat its first GOP speaker in 40 years. The Republican caucus had secured an informal promise from all its members to support a GOP candidate, presumably the leadership's favorite, Jason Mumpower. This was a problem for the Dems, since Mumpower, bucking tradition, was refusing to divide the committee chairmanships proportionately, claiming instead a winner-take-all mandate. READ MORE >>

I come not to praise Tim Geithner, but ... It's still too early to say he's changed the tone of the D.C.-Wall Street relationship. However--a few days ago Citigroup announced that, despite its multiple bailouts from the federal government, it was going ahead with plans to buy a $50 million corporate jet. That's a lot of coin, even for a corporate jet, and it was a clear challenge to Geithner's Treasury. Former Secretary Paulson and his staff would have waited to read the public response; if the media had splashed the news on Page 1, they might have acted. READ MORE >>

Why is it that in almost every scandal around someone rich and powerful getting too big for their britches, there's a commode involved? And why is it that every time said commode comes into the picture, multiple media outlets have to remind us that, in fact, the commode in question is not a toilet, but a rarified cabinet? READ MORE >>

Bloomberg reports this morning that both Caterpillar and GE--two titans of the American manufacturing sector--are among the companies lobbying the Obama Administration not to place "buy American" provisions in its planned surplus package. Both companies are truly multinational--GE gets half of its profits overseas, while Cat gets 60 percent--and both would suffer if such provisions sparked a trade war. READ MORE >>

Now that Obama is in office, the conversation about what we should do with all the ailing banks is quickly shifting to what we should do with all the soon-to-be-failing banks. TARP, as we've known for months, is a bust. Meanwhile, the banking sector is still falling apart, largely because no one has a plan for writing down and off-loading all the toxic assets sitting on their books. READ MORE >>

Early last fall a friend was telling me about his tentative plans to leave the government, where he promoted financial education, for the private sector, where he planned to consult with banks on how to promote financial literacy among their clientele. He was worried, though--financial education had never been high on the banking sector's to-do list. READ MORE >>

The strikes against Financial Industry Regulatory Authority head Mary Schapiro, Obama's nominee to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, are piling up. READ MORE >>

Anne Applebaum has a typically good column today on the lack of a unified European energy policy, particularly vis-a-vis Russia. "Instead of sending in crisis negotiators [to the Ukraine] every Jan. 1," she writes, "Europe's leaders could focus on this problem and solve it. I would love to describe this past week's events as a 'wake-up call,' but there have been so many 'wake-up calls' already. When will Europe heed them?" READ MORE >>

I'm a little tardy in acknowledging this, but only hours after my article calling on Obama to bring Sheila Bair into the White House fold, he did, not only asking her to stick around at the FDIC but telling CNBC, "The FDIC and Sheila Bair have had the sense of urgency about the problem [regarding foreclosures] that I want to see.'' Obviously, the transition folks got wind READ MORE >>

In late November, the media cheered and the market swooned, for a few days at least, as President-elect Barack Obama rolled out his economic team. It certainly checked a lot of boxes: Wall Street favorite? Tim Geithner. Monetary policy eminence grise? Paul Volcker. Respected academic? Berkeley's Christina Romer. All-around genius? Larry Summers. READ MORE >>