With 700 Billion Dollars at Stake, What's the Rush?
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Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson got a Senate grilling today on President Bush's $700 federal bailout of the financial system. The President says the whole world is watching to see if Congress will buy the massive bailout. Also, President Bush made his last address to the UN General Assembly today and Governor Sarah Palin met her first heads of state.
Banner image: Secretary Henry Paulson
Making News
Senate Grills Paulson on Bailout Plan ()
The Senate Banking Committee today heard an urgent plea from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Bail out Wall Street or see the US economy go down the tubes. They got the kinds of questions being asked by ordinary Americans. Carefully watching today's proceedings is Kevin Hall, national economics correspondent for the McClatchy Newspapers.
Guests:
- Kevin Hall: National Economics Correspondent, McClatchy Newspapers, @KevinGHall
Links:
Main Topic
Prospects for a Federal Bailout of the Financial System ()
The architects of the Bush Administration's financial bailout got a public grilling today from the Senate Banking Committee. Senators wanted to know why they're getting less than a week to give up $700 billion in taxpayers' money. Would reckless investors get off lightly?
Would Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have too much power? What about Congressional oversight? Why couldn't the crisis have been foreseen and prevented, and is there any assurance that the massive bailout will really work? We hear more about the questions and the answers.
Guests:
- Vikas Bajaj: Business Reporter for the New York Times
- Michael Mandel: Chief Economist, BusinessWeek
- Tom Donlan: Editorial Page Editor, Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly, @barronsonline
- Christian Weller: Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Links:
- Bajaj's article on financiers' lobbying for wider aid
- Mandel's 'Rational Exuberance: Silencing the Enemies of Growth and Why the Future Is Better than You Think'
- Donlan's article on bailout, 'Bernanke's blunder'
- Donlan's 'A World of Wealth: How Capitalism Turns Profit into Progress'
- Weller's (Washington Times) article on dealing with failing financial institutions
Reporter's Notebook
Economic Crisis Overshadows Bush's Final Address to UN ()
With the world focused on America's financial crisis, President Bush today made his last address to the United Nations General Assembly. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Assembly that the "global financial crisis is endangering" the UN's efforts to combat poverty and deal with global warming. At the same time, the McCain campaign ran into trouble from political reporters over coverage of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's meetings with heads of state.
Guests:
- Elizabeth Holmes: Political Reporter, Wall Street Journal
- Colum Lynch: UN Correspondent, Washington Post, @columlynch
Links:
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