News Headline

huffingtonpost.com — Goldman Sachs was the "most aggressive" financial firm to demand cash from AIG on what it viewed as souring deals during the financial crisis, the head of a federal investigative panel said Wednesday. Goldman Sachs Group, the most profitable firm on Wall Street, was the "first in the door" in demanding collateral from the disgraced insurer — once one of the world's most successful and creditworthy companies — on its derivatives deals, said Phil Angelides, chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Goldman comprised 27 percent of AIG's derivatives portfolio at the end of 2007, yet held 89 percent of collateral that AIG posted to all of its counterparties, Angelides said, citing AIG documents. Wall Street's most successful firm was "way ahead of everyone else" on demanding collateral from the giant insurer, Angelides said. And Goldman was "much more aggressive" about marking down the value of those securities, he added.

Read Full Article »

washingtonpost.com — They did not always feel this way about Maloney. The 64-year-old Democratic representative hasn't faced a serious challenge to her seat since she was first elected in 1992. For nearly two decades, they have viewed her as a solid, if unremarkable, member of Congress. But to the dismay of her ultra-rich constituents -- among them more than a few Wall Street billionaires -- Maloney has become one of the Capitol's leading advocates for tough new restrictions on the banking and credit card industries. The way the people at the cocktail party see it, Maloney betrayed them. And they want her fired.

Read Full Article »

bloomberg.com — A lobbyist for community banks privately urged his industry not to oppose the U.S. regulatory overhaul, warning that smaller lenders are being used by Wall Street to derail the legislation.

In an e-mail sent in late June to state bank trade association executives, Camden Fine, head of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said his group wouldn’t publicly take a position on the bill. Still, he said small bankers would lose important exclusions they fought for and “are turning the gun on themselves” if they work to defeat the legislation ahead of a final Senate vote this month.

Read Full Article »

thehill.com — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) offered a hint that he may support the financial reform bill when it comes to a final vote later this month.

“I’m going to be making a decision soon, but I’m liking what I see,” Brown told WHDH television station in Plymouth, Mass., on Sunday.

Democrats were forced to delay a final vote on the sweeping regulatory overhaul after Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) died and Brown would not commit to backing the bill before the July 4 recess, leavign them short of the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Authors of the legislation had made a last-minute change to remove a $19 billion bank tax last week after Brown objected.

Read Full Article »

politico.com — That compromise hasn’t stopped the financial community from singling out Lincoln for scorn.

"She told us she knew Congress had to be sensible in its approach to dealing with derivatives, and then she went and hit us with her amendment,” a financial executive said. “It was pretty amazing.”

Lincoln says she’s not worried, despite facing a difficult reelection fight this fall.

Read Full Article »

washingtonpost.com — The drop in support comes from many of the same bankers, hedge fund executives and financial services chief executives who are most upset about the financial regulatory reform bill that House Democrats passed last week with almost no Republican support. The Senate expects to take up the measure this month.

Read Full Article »

blogs.abcnews.com — Senate Democrats took a big step towards passing the Wall Street reform bill tonight as Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, announced that she will vote for the measure.

Cantwell had opposed the bill when it first passed the Senate in May, but she now will support the version that emerged from the conference committee.

Read Full Article »

truthdig.com — A devastating report in The New York Times documents how Timothy Geithner’s New York Fed worked tirelessly to make sure that AIG was forced to pay banks such as Goldman Sachs 100 percent on dubious contracts that might otherwise have been slashed or subjected to lawsuits. For his efforts, Geithner was promoted to run the rest of the nation’s economy. The article is full of revelations that would be mind-numbing if we weren’t so used to reading about how taxpayers have been fleeced in the meltdown.

Read Full Article »

wonkroom.thinkprogress.org — If someone does a word cloud of today’s opening statements in the Kagan hearing, the word “activism” will dominate the screen. And this is nothing new. Conservative senators figured out a long time ago that if they label anyone to the left of Samuel Alito a “judicial activist” then their more progressive colleagues will put their tail between their legs and cower.

Read Full Article »

huffingtonpost.com — As the Senate begins hearings for Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination, Republicans are returning to a critique that separates Kagan from every sitting Justice. She has no judicial experience.

Unlike aspersions about Kagan’s personal life, or her military recruitment policy at Harvard, playing the rookie card is not just empty political theater. It has a whiff of legitimacy. After all, most judges are promoted from the bench and judged by their record judging others. Yet in Kagan’s case, the attack may backfire on the GOP.

Read Full Article »