Economy & Budget

Republicans

Count out Senate Banking Committee Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) for commerce secretary.

Reed, the senior senator from Rhode Island and a friend of President-elect Barack Obama, ruled himself out for the open position in Obama's administration following a press conference he held Friday to promote Obama's economic stimulus plan.

A 1971 West Point graduate, Reed traveled overseas with Obama last summer and therefore became the subject of some speculation regarding a potential vice presidential nomination.

"Oh no," Reed said when asked about the position. "Absolutely not."

Obama has been without a prospective commerce secretary since his previous nominee New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) withdrew from consideration last weekend.

-J. Taylor Rushing

The Democratic governors of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and Wisconsin said Friday that they want $250 billion in federal aid for schools in the 50 states, reports Politicker.

The governors said the money is needed for public schools at all levels -- from kindergarten to colleges.

"Our country risks halting or reversing the progress that we've made on education," said Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass.).

The money would be part of a federal stimulus. The governors on the conference call, which included David Paterson (N.Y.), Jon Corzine (N.J.), Ted Strickland (Ohio) and Jim Doyle (Wis.), are also pushing for money for infrastructure projects, Medicaid and other social welfare programs.

The money for schools would be used over a two-year period, and funding levels for the states' schools would return to their current levels afterward.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning's vote against the auto industry bailout bill has erased the goodwill he generated by winning 118 games, including a no-hitter, as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, at least among some in the Motor City, according to a report in The Detroit News (via Deadspin).

Bunning, a Hall of Famer, had an autograph-signing gig booked at the Gibraltar Trade Center in Taylor, Mich., but the owner yanked away the welcome mat right after Thursday's vote.

Here's The Detroit News

"Being a business owner in Michigan for over 30 years, I simply cannot support anyone who, in my opinion, votes against the economic well being of our great state," said trade center owner James Koester.

And here's Deadspin's take:

I guessing letting auto workers lose their jobs and then charging their kids $45 a pop for souvenir balls isn't the savviest political move of his career.

The Detroit newspaper couldn't get a comment from the senator. But in a statement issued by his office, Bunning blamed labor unions for scuttling the bill.

"Unfortunately, the United Auto Workers were unwilling to make any significant concessions. Republicans were serious about finding a real solution, but the union and the Democrats walked away unwilling to give any ground," Bunning said in the statement.

The vote against the auto bailout is consistent with Bunning's posture on other bailout bills. During a July CNN appearance, Bunning labeled the financial bailout bill "socialism," adding, "And if you want to go to socialism, let's go to France."

In his 17-year baseball career, the right-handed Bunning racked up a 224-184 win-loss record, a no-hitter and a perfect game pitching for the Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers.

-Jeffrey Young

President-elect Barack Obama said that bank executives can show responsibility by giving up their holiday bonuses.

Obama, in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, also suggested that auto executives were "a little tone-deaf" when they took private planes to Washington to ask lawmakers for a $25 billion bailout.

Read Obama talk about executives in the ABC interview below:

WALTERS: How did you feel when you read about the three heads of the auto companies taking private planes to Washington?

B. OBAMA: Well, I thought maybe they're a little tone-deaf to what's happening in America right now. And this has been a chronic problem, not just for the auto industry -- I mean, when people are pulling down $100 million bonuses on Wall Street and taking enormous risks with other people's money, that indicates a sense that you don't have any perspective on what's happening to ordinary Americans.

WALTERS: Should bank executives -- it's almost Christmastime -- forego their bonuses?

B. OBAMA: I think they should. That's an example of taking responsibility. I think that if you are already worth tens of millions of dollars and you are having to lay off workers, the least you can do is say, "I'm willing to make some sacrifice as well, because I recognize that there are people who are less well-off who are going through some pretty tough times."

AMERICAblog's Chris in Paris already supports the idea of getting workers to give up bonuses at a time when Americans are losing jobs. There's no word yet from Obama's more business-friendly conservative critics.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) today offered praise for a new $200 billion Treasury plan to support consumer and small business loans.

"The arteries of the financial system are still clogged and as a result, too much of the economic activity on Main Street is slowing to a crawl," Schumer said. "This new focus by Treasury and the Fed should help inject some much needed economic life into Main Street and couldn

President-elect Barack Obama announced his Treasury Secretary and other key members of his economic team during a news conference in Chicago on Monday.

Timothy Geithner, the chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, will head the Treasury Department. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers will serve as director of the National Economic Council. Christina Romer, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, will become the director of the Council of Economic Advisers. And Melody Barnes, a former aide to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), will be director of the Domestic Policy Council.

During remarks at the news conference, Obama said that news of more troubles for Citigroup makes it clear that "we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions." He called for an economic plan for "creating and saving" 2.5 million jobs.

Read his prepared remarks after the jump.

Read more...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pressing the administration to do more to help homeowners facing foreclosure, including supporting a foreclosure mitigation proposal by FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair.

Pelosi released the following statement after a meeting Monday with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke:

House Democratic leaders today made it clear to Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke that they must take immediate action and do everything they can to help hardworking Americans stay in their homes.

The solutions to the problem at the root of our economic crisis

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), next in line in seniority for the chairman slot on the Senate Banking Committee, would be

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and several Democrats on the committee are