by Marshall Cohen | Mar 12, 2013 | Business, Politics
The Senate Banking Committee held two confirmations today: Mary Jo White, right, for chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Richard Cordray, left, for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Audrey Cheng/Medill)Republicans blocked...
by Marshall Cohen | Mar 5, 2013 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON — Jack Lew has accumulated a few gray hairs after four decades in Washington. Now that he’s Treasury secretary, he’s in store to grow a few more. Lew enjoyed a surprisingly smooth nomination process and the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed him last week to...
by Taylor Hiegel | Mar 5, 2013 | Business
WASHINGTON — Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman called on Congress to reignite the debate about “too-big-to-fail” banks, saying that the system gives unfair advantages to large financial institutions. “I think this issue is going someplace because it is based...
by Summer Delaney | Mar 5, 2013 | Business
WASHINGTON—The Gross Domestic Product will shrink by 0.5 percent this year due to the sequester of federal funds, Treasury Undersecretary of International Affairs Lael Brainard said Tuesday. In light of the fiscal climate, Brainard urged legislators and leading...
by Audrey Cheng | Feb 27, 2013 | Business
WASHINGTON — It turns out there is a growing group on Capitol Hill joining the millions of Americans struggling to pay off their college loans: that’s right, congressmen have debt issues of their own. With 46 lawmakers still carrying student debt, financial aid...
by Fritz T. Burgher | Feb 27, 2013 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON — Jack Lew was confirmed Wednesday as the nation’s next Secretary of the Treasury.in a bipartisan 71-26 vote. Lew, President Barack Obama’s chief of staff and a budget director in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, has years of experience in...
by Fritz T. Burgher | Feb 27, 2013 | Business
WASHINGTON — With $85 billion in mandated budget cuts only two days away unless Congress acts, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday suggested swapping the sequestration, as the cuts are called, for a long-term economic policy. “I think a good policy...
by Marshall Cohen | Feb 27, 2013 | Business, Politics
Most states follow the federal minimum wage, but some states have taken matters into their own hands and raised the pay limit. Graphic by Marshall Cohen/MedillWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama caught the political world off guard when he proposed raising the minimum...
by Taylor Hiegel | Feb 26, 2013 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday approved President Barack Obama’s choice of Jack Lew to be the next Treasury secretary, moving the nomination to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote that could come as soon as Wednesday. The former...
by Summer Delaney | Feb 26, 2013 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged the Senate Tuesday to make gradual cuts in the federal budget and avoid the sweeping, automatic reductions promised by the impending sequester. Bernanke’s appearance before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban...
by Rachel Janik | Feb 20, 2013 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his wife Sandra Jackson pleaded guilty on Wednesday to felony charges involving misuse of more than $750,000 in campaign money on personal spending. When District Judge Robert Wilkins questioned Jackson on...
by Summer Delaney | Feb 20, 2013 | Business, Politics
Fix the Debt: It’s Full of Baloney from Medill Washington on Vimeo. Video by Catherine Reid. Text by Summer Delaney. WASHINGTON—National labor groups and other activists demonstrated and briefly blocked an intersection in the nation’s capital Tuesday to protest...
