Looks like the Dems are going to have to fight the largest physician’s organization in the world.
Yikes.
From NY Times:
[...] in comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to [...]

Even after reading this article I think it’s an open question, but I wasn’t aware that we were paid dividends on the preferred shares.
From McClatchy:
In addition to returning the $68 billion, the 10 banks paid the government $1.8 billion in dividends on the preferred shares of stock the government owned. That translates to an [...]

That’s out of the nearly $230B given out over the past 9 months.
In other words, nearly 30% of the money that we would NEVER see again is being paid back. And the government could actually make a profit if they choose to exercise stock options, but there’s word they won’t do that.
Here’s more from Wash [...]

So let’s get this straight…
$87 billion of the $787 billion has already been spent in the past 3.5 months, and the monthly unemployment claims were cut in half last month (when compared to the previous 6 months) and the stimulus isn’t working?
This is in response to Republican lawmakers, specifically Sarah Palin, continuing to push the [...]

Today, Congress sent President Obama the much talked-about bill setting in place new rules for the credit card industry.
The new restrictions will protect debt-ridden consumers from many of the surprise charges common in the industry, like over-the-limit fees and a charge to pay the bill by phone. People under 21 also will find it difficult [...]

I shared news about the increasingly irrelevant Steele a couple weeks ago and it looks like he’s fighting back.
And hey, good for him for fighting back, but my guess is that many want him out because they think he’s too moderate and too mouthy.
I mean, when you say that Romney’s mormonism was one of [...]

This is pretty significant because the one thing that has always gotten in the way of universal health care is the massive cost. But if the health insurance providers are willing to look for ways to tighten their belts, it’ll make it much more fiscally realistic.
From USA Today:
WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce today that [...]

With health care reform coming down the tracks, the private sector is left with two choices. Fight back against change or “join in” with the government’s efforts in an attempt to mitigate the damage. As of now, the private sector seems ready to play along.
President Obama will announce Monday that he has secured the [...]

I don’t think think this comes as a huge surprise, and it’s certainly disheartening.
From Wash Post:
The government signaled yesterday that its financial rescue efforts may have reached their high-water mark, announcing that the much-anticipated “stress tests” of 19 large banks showed that only one, GMAC, was likely to need additional taxpayer aid and that it [...]

This comes as no surprise to those of us who’ve been following the floundering Steele, and it speaks to just how rudderless the GOP is right now.
From Washington Times:
Capitulating to critics on the Republican National Committee, embattled Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele has signed a secret pact agreeing to controls and restraints on how [...]

First we heard about $100 million in cuts and now add another $17 billion to that total.
The drops in the bucket are getting bigger.
From Miami Herald:
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to unveil Thursday a fiscal 2010 budget full of details on his plans to save as much as $17 billion by cutting [...]

It’s almost been two months since Geithner announced the details of how the stress tests would go down, and now the government is set to announce the results for a bunch of banks.
Still, the focus is certainly on the top two.
From Financial Times:
Citigroup and Bank of America are working on plans to raise more than [...]

As I inferred when I first heard about the budget cuts, it’s a good start. And that’s all it is. A start. Because ultimately $100M is not a lot of money, but when you keep trimming and finding savings, it all begins to add up.
Still, it is a rather small number when compared the budget [...]

“The Federal Reserve has been hobbled by at least two major shortcomings that were primarily responsible for the current and several previous credit crises. Its failure to spot the importance of changing financial markets and its commitment to laisser faire economics were big mistakes and justify a fundamental overhaul of the Fed.”
- Henry Kaufman in [...]

Yet another way we could save billions every year and get them back into the hands of those who need them most.
From AP:
Obama wants to end the decades-old, dual system the federal government uses to advance loans to students to pay for college. Under that system, students at some colleges borrow directly from the government, [...]

I’ve already seen many scoff at Obama’s pledge to go line by line through the budget, but aren’t those the same people who are calling for less government spending?
It would be heartening to see the following moves applauded instead of ridiculed, especially since all we hear from the right wing these days is how [...]

Apparently there’s something wrong with the dye they used to print them.
Go ahead and just click on the video below. I had to resize it in order for it to fit so it’s cutting off some controls at the bottom.

Thankfully, I never carry cash.

Between Wells Fargo and this news, doesn’t anybody think that this may put a slight damper on those Tea Parties on Wednesday?
From MarketWatch:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Monday it swung to a profit in the first-quarter compared to the prior period, and announced it has commenced a public offering of $5 billion of its [...]

That’s the word out today and it sounds fairly damning for Jackson because how would folks come to Blago and promise this if it wasn’t backed up by Jesse Jr.?
From Chicago Sun Times:
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s camp was told last year that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) would raise up to $5 million in [...]

And that’s just what’s projected for the first six months.
From MarketWatch:
The deficit is well on its way to the $1.75 trillion — or 12.3% of gross domestic product — that the White House has estimated for the full fiscal year, which ends in September.
The deficit through the first six months is more than three times [...]