I thought it humorous at first and then downright sad as I witnessed the foolishness and uselessness of our elected officials in dealing with the economic crises they have inflicted on our country. The latest is the AIG debacle, as they purport to attempt retrieval of $165 million in bonuses they knew about months ago that are protected under wording of the amendment they passed for the bailout. ...more

March 21, 2009

The Internal Revenue Service issued guidelines Tuesday that will allow relief and refunds for some Bernard Madoff victims who were taxed for investment earnings that turned out to be nonexistent. ...more

March 17, 2009

A plan to let bankruptcy judges alter the terms of home loans so owners can avoid foreclosure moved one step closer to reality this week. ...more

January 10, 2009

A Minnesota board has certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, but a legal challenge probably will keep the race in limbo. ...more

January 5, 2009

I saw a feature writer column in today's (Jan. 1) paper titled "2008 Democracy Recession." I thought our present recession was caused by the hatred of the Democrats for George W. Bush. Bush told Congress in 2002 that the lack of regulatory restraint on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was a potential problem that would cause strong repercussions in the financial markets. Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Charles Schumer brushed him off and paid no heed. Then in 2005, Alan Greenspan told Congress to enable these institutions to increase in size, "Would place the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk." Even Sen. McCain, in 2005, said on the Senate floor that these institutions needed to be reformed. However the Democrats' bias toward Bush resulted in no action. ...more

January 3, 2009

Urgently shifting course, the Bush administration is abandoning the centerpiece of its massive $700 billion economic rescue plan and exploring new ways to shore up not only banks but also credit-card, auto-loan and other huge nonbank businesses. "The facts changed and the situation worsened," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said at a news briefing, explaining the administration's switch from its original plan to help financial institutions by buying up troubled assets, primarily securities backed by bad home loans. ...more

November 13, 2008

WASHINGTON — Once again, the government has offered another plan to help troubled homeowners. Once again, critics say it doesn't go far enough. ...more

November 11, 2008

First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets. ...more

October 26, 2008

With a timely endorsement from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, there's new life to the idea of Congress returning to Washington next month to pass a second round of measures aimed at injecting life into the economy. ...more

October 21, 2008

The federal government will not pay the ousted chief executives of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to $24 million in exit packages. ...more

September 16, 2008