To the Point
Will the Outgoing Administration Be Called to Account by the New One?
Last week a unanimous bipartisan Senate report accused high Bush Administration officials of approving abusive interrogations. Now Vice President Cheney confirms that he was on board. Will Barack Obama investigate or leave the recent past to future historians? Also, Obama's cabinet continues to take shape. On Reporter's Notebook, does the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate still matter?
By Warren Olney • • 1h 0m ListenLast week a unanimous bipartisan Senate report accused high Bush Administration officials of approving abusive interrogations. Now Vice President Cheney confirms that he was on board. Will Barack Obama investigate or leave the recent past to future historians? Also, Obama's cabinet continues to take shape, and the interest rate falls toward zero, but other actions by the Federal Reserve could be much more important.
Banner image: President George W. Bush (R) meets with the Iraq Study Group, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (L) and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on June 14, 2006 in Washigton, DC. Photo: Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images
In this episode
3 storiesObama Announces More Cabinet Picks
Barack Obama's cabinet continues to take shape, well before he's sworn in to office. Today, he appointed as Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan , head of public schools in Chicago since 2001. David Mark is senior editor at Politico.com and author of Going Dirty : The Art of Negative Campaigning.
Read the story6 minNew Reports Raise Questions About Bush's Iraq Legacy
With a month left in office, the Bush Administration is getting reviews and voicing its own assessments of the past eight years. An unpublished official history of the Iraq reconstruction says it was crippled before it began and bungled in execution.
Read the story35 minFed Lowers Interest Rate to Historic Lows
When Barack Obama held his news conference today, the Federal Reserve was expected to lower the benchmark interest rate to 0.5%, the seventh rate change this year. Instead, it dropped the rate to between zero and 0.25%, the lowest level in more than 50 years. Even Ben Bernanke acknowledges it won't do much good.
Read the story8 min
