Posts Tagged ‘president obama’

President Obama Writes Op-Ed for Newspapers Around the World

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

A time for global action
By Barack Obama
Monday, March 23, 2009

WASHINGTON: We are living through a time of global economic challenges that cannot be met by half measures or the isolated efforts of any nation. Now, the leaders of the Group of 20 have a responsibility to take bold, comprehensive and coordinated action that not only jump-starts recovery, but also launches a new era of economic engagement to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.

No one can deny the urgency of action. A crisis in credit and confidence has swept across borders, with consequences for every corner of the world. For the first time in a generation, the global economy is contracting and trade is shrinking.

Trillions of dollars have been lost, banks have stopped lending, and tens of millions will lose their jobs across the globe. The prosperity of every nation has been endangered, along with the stability of governments and the survival of people in the most vulnerable parts of the world.

Read the Full Op-Ed Here

Treasury Department Releases Details on Public Private Partnership Investment Program

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

From the Department of Treausury:
The Financial Stability Plan – Progress So Far: Over the past six weeks, the Treasury Department has implemented a series of initiatives as part of its Financial Stability Plan that – alongside the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – lay the foundations for economic recovery:

  • Efforts to Improve Affordability for Responsible Homeowners: Treasury has implemented programs to allow families to save on their mortgage payments by refinancing, assist responsible homeowners in avoiding foreclosure through a loan modification plan, and, alongside the Federal Reserve, help bring mortgage interest rates down to near historic lows. This past month, the 30% increase in mortgage refinancing demonstrated that working families are benefiting from the savings due to these lower rates.
  • Consumer and Business Lending Initiative to Unlock Frozen Credit Markets: Treasury and the Federal Reserve are expanding the TALF in conjunction with the Federal Reserve to jumpstart the secondary markets that support consumer and business lending. Last week, Treasury announced its plans to purchase up to $15 billion in securities backed by Small Business Administration loans.
  • Capital Assistance Program: Treasury has also launched a new capital program, including a forward-looking capital assessment undertaken by bank supervisors to ensure that banks have the capital they need in the event of a worse-than-expected recession. If banks are confident that they will have sufficient capital to weather a severe economic storm, they are more likely to lend now – making it less likely that a more serious downturn will occur.

Read From the Department of Treasury

Obama to Geithner: Stop AIG Bonus Pay

Monday, March 16th, 2009

President Barack Obama, trying to contain a political firestorm, instructed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner “pursue every legal avenue” to block $165 million in bonuses to AIG executives who were in part responsible for the company’s near collapse.

“This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed,” Mr. Obama said ahead of announcing a plan to rescue small businesses through a raft of new lending options. “Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?”

Full Article at Wall Street Journal

Obama’s Economy Team Lacks Top Aides as Senate Delays

Friday, March 6th, 2009

March 2 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s economic advisers are increasingly concerned about the U.S. Senate’s delay in confirming the nominations of Austan Goolsbee and Cecilia Rouse to the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Without Senate confirmation, the two economists are barred from advising the president as the administration tackles the worst financial crisis in 70 years and tries to advance the spending plan Obama submitted to Congress last week.

More Here

Is Obama Responsible for Wall Street’s Meltdown? Where Populist Rage is Heading

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Robert Reich:
Is Obama responsible for the meltdown of the Dow? The consistently wrong-headed Wall Street Journal’s editorial page says so, as does Republican Fox News, CNN’s reliably demagogic Lou Dobbs, and now CNBC (where, full disclosure, I frequently appear as a token liberal). CNBC’s Jim Cramer, who bloviates nightly about stock picks, says Obama is pushing a “radical agenda” that’s destroying investor’s wealth. My friend Larry Kudlow, who rants nightly about nearly everything, says Obama is destroying capitalism. CNBC reporter Joe Santelli’s ballistic nonsense about Obama’s mortgage plan made him a pop-populist icon for a week or so.

The argument that Obama is somehow responsible for the collapse of Wall Street is absurd. First, every major policy that led to this collapse occurred under George W’s watch (or, more accurately, his failure to watch). The housing and financial bubbles were created under Bush and exploded under Bush. The stock market began to collapse under Bush.

Full Article Here

Why Don’t We Know Who We’re Giving Our Money To?

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

The Obama administration and the Federal Reserve have been trying to “unwind” AIG slowly to get more value from it’s various business segments as the market returns for those units, and to increase market stabilization during the financial crisis. We’ve been told that AIG holds assets in too many large financial firms to allow AIG to fail – which I grudgingly agree with.

However, AIG isn’t really getting the money. It is the counterparties AIG has financial contracts with that are getting taxpayer dollars. Obviously, Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke, knows exactly who these third-parties are. But, why don’t we know who these counterparties are?

Links:
Pressure to reveal major AIG counterparties grows

Dem Senator Condemns Veil of Secrecy Shrouding AIG Counterparties

Response to President Obama’s Speech to Congress

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Obama agenda is a starter pistol for K Street – The Hill

The Obama Synthesis – Marc Ambinder

A clever speech by Obama – The Economist

Obama: ‘Day of Reckoning’ for U.S. Economy – ABC News

Obama Outlines Priorities

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Washington Post:
Obama demanded quick action on several fronts. On finance, he asked Congress to move with dispatch to “reform our outdated regulatory system.” On health care, he said “reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.” And on education, Obama said his budget would speed the pace of reform and “expand our commitment to charter schools.”

Full Article Here