| Free Market Ends as Washington and Wall Street Merge |
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09/23/2008
Following a string of guarantees, buy-outs, and bailouts for various financial firms, Congress is now rushing to authorize the Treasury Secretary to spend $700 billion to bail out the rest of Wall Street. Since its role in the sale of investment bank Bear Stearns to rival J.P. Morgan in March, the federal government has intervened three times in the nation's financial markets by using taxpayer dollars to prop up the value of various private banking and mortgage entities. While taxpayers ought to be concerned about the sums of money involved in these transactions, a more fundamental problem exists: the bottom-line cost is anybody's guess.
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| Commentary: On Bailouts, Congress Should Move with Great Care |
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 09/23/2008
The pace at which Congress is considering the largest intervention into financial markets in the history of the United States, if not the world, is shocking. Over the weekend, the Bush administration proposed legislation that would grant it the authority to buy up toxic financial assets in an amount equal to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The magnitude of the funds requisitioned is matched only by the administration's requested level of unchecked power and opacity in how it would execute this historic market intervention. Congress has responded with uncharacteristic haste, setting the stage for passage of monumentally flawed legislation that purports to fix a yet-undiagnosed problem in roughly one week.
Image by Flicker user stewartcutler used under a Creative Commons license
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Senate Clears Contracting Reforms after Resolving Earmark Dispute |
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09/23/2008
The Senate passed important contracting reforms Sept. 17 when it approved the FY 2009 Defense Authorization Act (S. 3001) by an 88-8 vote. Among other measures, the legislation included a provision to create a national contractor misconduct database.
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| Key Tax Policy Items Remain Unresolved |
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09/23/2008
Congress is scheduled to adjourn for the election season on Sept. 26, but a set of what many consider must-pass tax cut bills have yet to be sent to the president's desk. As differences between the House and Senate remain over offsets, and as a massive Wall Street bailout bill has grabbed the spotlight, final congressional approval of these measures before adjournment remains less than certain.
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