Economy & Budget

John McCain's call for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Chris Cox is "dishonest," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said Monday.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) told CBS's "The Early Show" this morning that she predicted Wall Street's current crisis 18 months ago.

"I talked about this for 18 months," Clinton told CBS. "I said, 'This is coming. We've got a big problem. We've got to figure out what to do about these mortgages. We have to rein in the banks, we need new regulation."

Home loans and the subprime crisis were a main focus of Clinton's Democratic primary campaign, as she pushed for mortgage reforms in economic stump speeches since 2007. Clinton told CBS she had warned of a Wall Street collapse resulting from bad mortgages, but that the Bush administration refused to listen to her. Read more...

The Bush administration's $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan would protect investment bankers' personal riches while leaving taxpayers to saddle the burden, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said today.

Waxman, whose committee is examining the recent wave of financial buyouts by the Treasury Department, says he has "serious reservations" about the Bush administration's plan.

"The Administration Read more...

President Bush this morning urged congressional leaders not to add "unrelated provisions" to the financial rescue bill that he and lawmakers worked to hammer out over the weekend.

"Obviously, there will be differences over some details, and we will have to work through them.

The House of Representatives will stay in session to consider reforms to U.S. financial regulations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters today--if, that is, there are any reforms to consider.

The House plans to adjourn later this month, as it traditionally does in election years, so representives can return to their districts and campaign for reelection. But with recent turmoil on Wall Street, conservatives have alleged that adjourning would be irresponsible, and Pelosi has faced mounting calls to stay in session and address what some have dubbed a Wall Street crisis.

"If we need to be in session, we will be in session. Read more...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced an agreement Tuesday over a long-stalled package of tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

"I think there is an agreement between the Republican leader and me," Reid said on the floor Tuesday morning. "That's a great pattern for what we need to do here."

The business community has long pushed for the package of tax breaks, but it has been stalled over a dispute over whether the loss in revenue from the tax breaks should be offset by new tax increases.

Details on the deal have not yet been released.

-Manu Raju

Support for more offshore oil drilling has risen according to a new poll from Rasmussen, which reveals that Read more...

Sorting through Saturday's 72-13 vote on the Senate housing bill, one finds a curious split between the chamber's two top Republicans: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted for the bill, while Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona opposed it.

The likely, unsurprising answer: Politics. McConnell is facing a somewhat challenging re-election this fall from Democratic businessman Bruce Lunsford, while Kyl doesn't face voters again in the Grand Canyon State until 2012. Kyl was also joined by 12 other senators, all Republicans, in opposing the bill.

Still, McConnell and Kyl are usually in lockstep on most major votes, and their staffs take pains to emphasize that the two leaders work in harmony.

Speaking publicly on Tuesday, McConnell said "most of my members share [the] view that we need to wrap this up. It's been going on for a while, and it's time to -- time to finish it."

Kyl issued a statement that blamed his opposing vote on the bill's cost and ineffectiveness.

"In Arizona and across the nation, homeowners are having a hard time making their mortgage payments, but the legislation Congress approved today is not aimed at helping them," Kyl said. "Rather, it is designed to bail out mortgage lenders and the two big government enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In fact, the bill will place an immense financial burden on every American taxpayer, including those who are struggling to make their mortgage payments, and waste billions of dollars in misguided efforts to help lenders deemed 'too big to fail.'"

-J. Taylor Rushing

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-Nev.) blamed Republicans for holding up the housing bill and causing a delay that is hurting homeowners.

"The Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for causing the pain and suffering to the American people that they have," Reid said Friday at a news conference.

Reid and Democrats are pressing Republicans to allow passage of the bill, which would provide relief for homeowners facing foreclosure and for embattled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The legislation, which the House has passed and the president has said he would sign, would also strengthen oversight of the two government-sponsored mortgage companies and increase access to home loans in high-cost areas.

Reid said Friday that this week's reports of slower home sales and increased foreclosure filings show the import of the bill. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Saturday.

"The stalling that has taken place for 18 months is evident in this housing bill as much as in any other one thing they've done," he said. "Six of their almost 90 filibusters have been on this one bill. And during this period of time, hundreds of thousands of people have received foreclosure notices, and thousands and thousands have had their homes foreclosed upon. It's damaged neighborhoods. It's devastated local governments and state governments with the tax revenues. And it's made the banking industry very, very shaky."

The national minimum wage went up 70 cents today, kicking in as part of three-step gradual increase mandated by Congress last year.

The minimum wage rose from $5.85 an hour to $6.55, as outlined in the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007, which was signed by a reluctant President Bush on May 25 of that year.

Before that legislation, America's lowest-paid workers earned $5.15 an hour. Their pay rose 70 cents two months after the bill was enacted, and it will leap up again to $7.25 a year from today. In all, the bill raised the minimum wage $2.10, at three 70-cent increases over three years.

The minimum wage increase was the first item congressional Democrats enacted from their much-promoted "100 hours agenda," forwarded when they first took a the majority in Congress in 2006.