Fed Might Delay Dodd-Frank 'Stress-Test' Rule for Banks
Medium-sized banks may get a temporary reprieve from new "stress test" requirements called for under the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul, the Federal Reserve announced Monday.
View ArticleBusiness Groups Pressing For Russia Trade Bill During Lame Duck
The departure of Congress until after the elections removes one barrier to normalizing trade relations with Russia, but that also raises a new hurdle for backers of legislation that's heavily favored...
View ArticleExperts Expect Talk, No Action on Limiting Bigger Banks
Some lawmakers are saying it's time to look again at breaking up the country's biggest banks, but political observers say the odds of action just two years after overhauling the financial regulatory...
View ArticleWill Congress Punt on the 'Fiscal Cliff'?
A revitalized President Barack Obama is already clashing with a still-solid GOP House majority in a lame-duck session that looks to be configured for the same gridlock that has tied up Washington,...
View ArticleDemocrats Seek to Set Sharp Lines in Measuring GOP 'Fiscal Cliff' Proposals
Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer drew a sharp line today in negotiations with Republicans on the looming "fiscal cliff" of tax and spending issues, saying any GOP proposals on revenue should be measured...
View ArticleObama Set to Meet Business Leaders
President Barack Obama appears unlikely to find broad backing in the business community for his effort to make upper-income Americans pay higher taxes.
View ArticleCliff Walk: Now the Three-Way Dance Begins
President Barack Obama's pitch for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue from the wealthy has Republican leaders demanding major entitlement cuts even as they face the potential for a revolt among...
View ArticleDemocrats Try to Band Together on Entitlements Ahead of Fiscal Cliff Talks
Senate Democrats are keeping their proposals for curbing the cost of social programs under wraps in order to avoid a split in their ranks as talks on the fiscal cliff begin Friday.
View ArticleRealtors, Builders Get Busy on Fiscal Cliff
As fiscal cliff talks home in on raising revenue through the tax code, the housing industry is sounding the alarm to the consumer market that the mortgage interest deduction may be in the cross hairs.
View ArticleDemocrats Push Hard on Fiscal Deal
Democratic leaders emboldened by this year's electoral victories are driving a hard bargain on a potential deficit reduction package, pushing to raise taxes significantly in a short time period, while...
View ArticleNo Sale on Housing Refinance Plans in Congress
When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke spoke recently of headwinds facing the U.S. economy, the top item on his list was housing.
View ArticleBernanke to Credit for Low Rates
The push by President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages is based on a simple premise: Interest rates are at historic lows. That means...
View ArticleObama Unilateral Action on Debt Limit Would Risk Political, Legal Battle
If President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans are unable to agree to lift the debt ceiling, Obama could take extraordinary measures that would avoid a crippling government default but would...
View ArticleRepublicans Press, Then Drop, Bid for Senate Vote on Debt Limit Plan
The Senate on Thursday took up and then abruptly dropped a test of President Barack Obama's bid to take the sting out of the debt limit, providing a brief public showdown over an issue linked to fiscal...
View ArticleDemocrats Don't Expect Offsets, Debt Talks to Delay Aid
Democrats aren't expecting ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations or the threat of spending offsets to derail their push this month to pass a multibillion- dollar superstorm Sandy aid package.
View ArticleGOP, Democrats Continue Public Standoff
With the White House and congressional Republicans publicly deadlocked -- but privately negotiating -- to steer clear of the fiscal cliff, top lawmakers were left with little to do on Sunday's talk...
View ArticleLawmakers Eye Policy Actions on Debt Limit
With the fight over fiscal cliff issues only just resolved, the battle lines already are being drawn and important policy and economic implications measured for a coming showdown on the federal debt...
View ArticleThough He Lacks the Classic Resume, Lew Will Likely Be Popular Choice to Head...
Although White House Chief of Staff Jacob J. Lew has relatively little experience dealing with the financial industry, that may not matter all that much if, as widely reported, President Barack Obama...
View ArticleSenate Democrats Tell Obama He May Need to Hike Debt Limit on His Own
Senate Democratic leaders urged President Barack Obama on Friday to be prepared to lift the debt ceiling "without congressional approval" if Republicans block legislation and default is imminent.
View ArticleObama Nominates White to SEC, Cordray to CFPB
President Barack Obama is making a case for strengthening oversight of the financial industry with his nominations of former prosecutor Mary Jo White to be chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange...
View ArticleRepublicans Call for NLRB to Shut Down in Wake of Court Ruling on Appointees
Senate Republicans won an important victory over President Barack Obama on Friday, when a federal appeals court ruled that his appointments to the National Labor Relations Board a year ago were...
View ArticleSenate GOP Again Lines Up Against Consumer Agency Nominee
Senate Republicans say they once again have the votes to block President Barack Obama's pick to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
View ArticleLew Faces No Blockade to Treasury Approval
Barring an unexpected revelation or major slipup, Jacob J. Lew almost certainly will secure a relatively smooth path to approval as Treasury secretary after a confirmation hearing Wednesday that...
View ArticleTreasury Nominee Lew Looks on Track for Confirmation After Hearing
Jacob J. Lew emerged relatively unscathed from his nomination hearing to serve as Treasury secretary, putting the administration's choice to replace Timothy F. Geithner on a likely easy path to...
View ArticleFinance Panel Sets Lew Confirmation Vote for Tuesday
The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a vote for Tuesday on Jacob J. Lew's nomination to succeed Timothy F. Geithner as Treasury secretary.
View ArticleWhite House Is Taking the Fight to Avoid Sequester Beyond the Beltway
The White House is aiming its latest warnings about the dire consequences of deep across-the-board spending cuts at an audience beyond the Beltway, issuing a new report Sunday that breaks down the...
View ArticleBernanke Hardly Dovish Before Senate, Sees Sequester as Risk to Economy
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke strongly defended the Fed's monetary stimulus before a Senate panel on Tuesday, saying Congress itself is placing a "significant" burden on the economy with the...
View Article'Gang of Eight' Forecasts Immigration Bill Next Week
A day after labor and business groups struck a deal on a new guest-worker program, key senators said they are within reach of finalizing an immigration overhaul proposal.
View ArticleWhite House Nominates Rep. Watt to Housing Agency; GOP Opposition Likely
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would nominate Rep. Melvin Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the initial...
View ArticleBen Bernanke Collection Shows Fed Chairman's Train of Thought
It looks increasingly likely that we won't have Ben S. Bernanke to kick around much longer.
View ArticleOverheard: Jeb Hensarling Swallows Hard
Not the first time that Ive swallowed hard in my congressional career.
View ArticleHouse Eyes Terror Insurance Vote as Negotiators Near Agreement
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the House will vote next week on a plan to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act ahead of a year-end deadline, as congressional sources reported significant...
View ArticleHensarling Looks to Claim New Role: Deal-Maker
Long derided by critics as an inflexible ideologue, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling is about to reach a major compromise to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, potentially...
View ArticleHousing Actions Shored Up by Stronger Finances
The improving financial health of the Federal Housing Administration, partly the result of a recovering housing market, is giving the Obama administration room to take executive actions on affordable...
View ArticleRepublicans Pressed to Block Obama Housing Actions
Add affordable housing to President Barack Obamas list of unilateral actions on which hes flexing his muscles at an unfriendly Congress.
View ArticleWham! Bam! Comic Book Ads Target SEC Chairwoman
The comic book-like frames show hideous monsters oozing through Washington and attacking the White House.
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