Congressional Reporter, Dow Jones Newswires and Wall Street Journal
Congressional reporter for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal; former reporter for Congressional Quarterly
PROFILE
Patrick Yoest
Guest
FROM Patrick Yoest
To the Point
Former WaMu CEO and Executives Testify before Congress Former executives of Seattle-based Washington Mutual are talking to Congress for the first time since the bank collapsed because of the housing crisis. Today, they responded to a Senate Subcommittee’s findings that WaMu crated a "mortgage time bomb" with subprime loans they knew would go bad but which they packaged into Wall Street securities. Patrick Yoest reports for Down Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal .
Which Way, L.A.?
Is America Ready for the Next Disaster? Around the county, disaster planners at the state level are roasting the Department of Homeland Security . Since Katrina, they say, Washington has been trying to minimize its own exposure and blame the states for not being prepared. Despite past promises, they say, the states have not been allowed to help draw up what’s called the National Response Framework .
To the Point
Is America Ready for the Next Disaster? At a hearing last week in Washington, the president of the National Association of State Emergency Planners , told Congress that, when it comes to disaster planning, he has "never experienced a more polarized environment between the states and the federal government." Oklahoma's Albert Ashwood said the legacy of Katrina for Washington is to minimize federal exposure while blaming states for not being prepared. As an example, he cited the National Response Plan , now revised as the National Response Framework--a formerly secret document leaked to Congressional Quarterly . State leaders say it's not a plan, and they don't understand it. A high-level veteran of FEMA during the Clinton years says federal agencies no longer know what they're supposed to do either. What are the implications for homeland security?
Recommended
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.