Every lawsuit filed or even threatened under a California law aimed at electing more minorities to local offices - and all of the roughly $4.3 million from settlements so far - can be traced to just two people: a pair of attorneys who worked together writing the statute, The Associated Press has found. ...more

November 15, 2009

"Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World," by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press, $33) ...more

January 25, 2009

Barack Obama has succeeded where Hillary Clinton failed. She hoped to win a third Clinton term, but it is her vanquisher who is reconstituting the Clinton administration. Obama's just-named nominee for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, served under Clinton Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. Summers is Obama's choice to head the National Economic Council. Both are part of Rubin's circle, known for its brains and its relative moderation. ...more

November 29, 2008

Don't think tax rates matter to business decisions? Ask H. Wayne Huizenga, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, who declared earlier this week that he intends to sell up to half his ownership in the NFL franchise before next year. ...more

November 1, 2008

The next president's choice of a treasury secretary may well be the most important appointment he'll make - someone to grab the reins of a trillion-dollar-plus program to shore up the world's largest economy, probably in the middle of a severe recession, and at the right hand of a chief executive who'll be a rookie himself. ...more

October 20, 2008

This past Thursday we were once again blessed with the wisdom of Frances Earl in which she asked the question: "What Planet is McCain Living On?" To which I ask her: What planet are you living on Ms. Earl? ...more

September 20, 2008

Most of the time, Barack Obama seems like he's boxing in the wrong weight class. But last Monday in Fort Dodge, Iowa, he delivered an unscripted jab that was a beaut. ...more

November 26, 2007