Category: Financial Reform | Main

Senators Expand Home Buyer Tax Credit, Extend Unemployment Benefits

ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports: Senators 98-0 voted tonight to extend unemployment benefits by 20 weeks in states hardest hit by the economic downturn and by 14 weeks everywhere else. They also extended an $8,000 first-time home buyers tax credit...

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November 4, 2009 in Congress, Financial Reform | Permalink | User Comments (14)

House Panel Issues Countrywide Subpoena

ABCNews' Matthew Jaffe reports: The chairman of the House Oversight Committee today announced that he will issue a subpoena for documents connected to Countrywide Financial’s VIP program to determine if the collapsed lender gave sweetheart deals to federal government officials...

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October 23, 2009 in Congress, Financial Reform | Permalink | User Comments (9)

Reforming Health Care, Wall Street and Afghanistan Takes Time, But Are Americans Losing Patience?

ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: As more blood is shed in Afghanistan, as incomes hit an 18-year-low, and as Congress wrestles over whether to include the public option in health care reform, Americans are looking to President Obama for decisions that have been slow-in-coming, prompting critics from both sides to wonder, “Is Obama tough enough to make the hard decisions?”

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October 19, 2009 in Afghanistan, Financial Reform, Obama Agenda, President Obama | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Ownership Society: What happened to health care’s new momentum?

Here's the thing about the return to a campaign-style push: The campaign was supposed to be over, and President Obama already won.

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September 14, 2009 in Congress, Democratic party, Financial Reform, GOP, Health Care, John McCain, Obama Agenda | Permalink | User Comments (50)

Trigger Happy: Will those who’ve dug in be able to walk back?

The summer has had the impact of moving the two sides farther apart, not closer together. The floating of possible compromises has prompted those on the left and the right to sink in their feet.

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September 4, 2009 in Democratic party, Environment, Financial Reform, GOP, Health Care, Iraq, Obama Agenda, President Obama, The Note | Permalink | User Comments (29)

Loan Officer: Sens. Dodd and Conrad Knew About Their "VIP" Loans

ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: According to excerpts from a deposition obtained by ABC News, democratic Senators Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad knew they were receiving preferential treatment on loans from Countrywide Financial, the nation’s formerly-largest home lender. Mr. Robert Feinberg, a former loan officer for Countrywide, testified to a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigator that Dodd and Conrad knew they were getting special “VIP” discounts on personal mortgages, in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The “VIP” processing unit offered preferential treatment to VIPs or FOAs – “Friends of Angelo’s.” Angelo Mozilo was Countrywide’s then-CEO. In the deposition, conducted last month, Feinberg referred to the unit under its code name, “850.”

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July 27, 2009 in Financial Reform | Permalink | User Comments (13)

The Note: Verdicts & Visits -- Agenda delayed, Obama seeks to grab back narrative

When an administration that asked to be judged starts doing judgment-worthy things, there's no shortage of people who stand ready to serve as judges.

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July 10, 2009 in Environment, Financial Reform, GOP, Gov. Mark Sanford, Gov. Sarah Palin, Health Care, Obama Agenda, Sen. John Ensign, The Note | Permalink | User Comments (15)

The Note: Job One -- Pressure on Obama to Show Stimulus Results

It’s a job-numbers day in Washington, and that means fresh scrutiny on the stimulus, as the White House argues that jobs are being saved and created even as more Americans are losing their jobs, ABC News senior political reporter Rick Klein writes Thursday in The Note. And Gov. Mark Sanford loses more allies by the hour -- as the Republican Party continues to reel.

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July 2, 2009 in Financial Reform, Obama Agenda, The Note | Permalink | User Comments (90)

The Note, 6/19/2009: Price Tags: Health care costs rise -- for the president, too

The hard part has certainly begun. Surprise: Health care is expensive. The ways to pay for it are unpopular. The nation is essentially broke. People tend to like their health insurance. Congressional action is achingly slow.

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June 19, 2009 in Congress, Financial Reform, Health Care, Iran, John McCain, Obama Agenda, President Obama | Permalink | User Comments (35)

Dem breaks with Obama on financial reform

ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports: As President Obama and his economic team prepare to unveil a wholesale update of how the financial sector is regulated, their ideas are running into opposition from at least one Democrat. In a speech on...

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June 17, 2009 in Congress, Financial Reform, Senate | Permalink | User Comments (3)