The debate over Bush-era tax cuts took an existential turn on Thursday when White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said a bill does not have to exist for it to be taken hostage. 

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Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), was appointed Thursday to the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which oversees the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). 

Kaufman, tapped by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), fills the open position held by Elizabeth Warren, who left to become interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 


The panel will expire April 3, 2001, six months after the $700 billion TARP ends on Oct. 3, and is expected to produce six more reports on on the financial industry's bailout program. 

Kaufman, who is leaving Congress, will serve until his successor is sworn in Nov. 15. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said today the final cost of TARP is expected to come in below $50 billion. 

Mortgage rates for 30-year loans hit their lowest level in nearly 40 years while 15-year loans fell to their lowest point in 20 years. 

The average rate for 30-year fixed loans dropped to 4.32 percent from 4.37 the previous week, the lowest point dating back to 1971, when records were first kept, according to data released Thursday by mortgage giant Freddie Mac. 

The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.75 percent, from 3.82 percent last week,  the lowest since Freddie Mac began keeping records in 1991. 

Economic growth slowed to a 1.7 percent annual rate in the spring, up slightly from the last estimate, bolstered by an increase in consumer spending. 

The pace of growth was still much slower from April through June than the 3.7 percent recorded during the first three months of the year, according to a Commerce Department report Thursday.

Although the revised estimate is slightly better than the 1.6 percent the government reported about a month ago, it represents a slowing economy that is struggling to build a head of steam. 

Economists aren't expecting the economy to pick up pace during the third quarter, with estimates ranging between 1.5 and 2 percent. 

Third-quarter estimates are expected Oct. 29. 

A staffer for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday took a humorous jab at White House senior adviser David Axelrod, who earlier in the day wrote an e-mail condemning Republicans for blocking an extension of Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class.

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week for the third time in four weeks, a signal that employers are letting go of workers at a slower pace as the economy recovers. 

Claims decreased by 16,000 up to 453,000 from last week's revised 469,000 for the week ended Sept. 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday. 

The figures have hovered around 450,000 for most of the year. 

The four-week moving average, which smoothes out the volatility of the weekly number and provides a better gauge of the employment situation, fell for the fifth straight week, falling by 6,250 to 458,000, down from last week's revised level of 464,250.

Findings by the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative show that without significant tax hikes or spending cuts, the federal debt will climb to the unprecedented level of 132 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP), or $54 trillion, by 2035. 

Its study, "No Silver Bullet: Paths for Reducing the Federal Debt," was released Thursday and highlights the difficult task awaiting lawmakers that seek to rid the government of its debt. 

Anne Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox Corp., said Thursday she is "not a good fit" to replace Larry Summers as President Obama's top economic adviser.

Mulcahy on CNBC dismissed speculation that she would be named to replace Summers, who will leave the Obama administration by the end of the year.

"I think that's not a good fit for me," Mulcahy said. "I think I have a role right now. My plate's pretty full."

White House senior adviser David Axelrod on Thursday joined the protracted fight over extending the Bush-era tax cuts by blaming Republicans for creating the situation when they chose to make the tax cuts temporary. 

"Ten years ago, Congress passed broad income tax cuts," he wrote in an e-mail. "But in a cynical accounting trick designed to mask their long-term impact, they scheduled these cuts to expire next January. Now we are approaching that cliff, and millions of Americans are facing thousands of dollars in higher taxes on January 1."