Cyra Master

Conor and Slate's Christopher Beam discuss the politics behind the stimulus and Conor explains why he finds some of Obama's rhetoric annoying. More »

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announces that an agreement has been reached on the two versions of the stimulus package. More »

House-Senate negotiators were putting the final touches on a $790 billion economic stimulus package late Wednesday, readying the measure for final passage before the Presidents Day recess as pushed by President Obama. "I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track," Obama said in a statement. Many priorities for both… More »

Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis testifies before the House Financial Committee, saying the bank will make regular public reports on business in 10 areas. More »

During the past few months, as the severity of the recession has become clearer, drawing parallels with the Depression of the 1930s has been a staple of economic commentary. Rightly so: This may yet turn out to be the worst economic setback for 70 years, and the Great Depression says something about how bad things can get if governments fail to respond quickly and about the need to learn from history. Speaking of that, remember Smoot-Hawley? One can overstate its… More »

Banking firms are making a pitch to stimulus conferees to ditch at least three different Senate amendments that would constrain pay packages at firms that participate in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, arguing that it could lead to a brain drain to foreign institutions. The Senate measure contains three amendments that tighten executive pay for those who participate in TARP, as lawmakers respond to outrage over a report that securities firms paid their Wall… More »

Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner says "critical parts of our financial system are damaged" and outlines what brought us to our current economic crisis before outlining the new plan for economic recovery. More »

Megan and Brian Beutler debate the benefits and shortfalls of the proposed stimulus package. More »

In his first prime-time press conference, Pres. Obama outlines the steps to economic recovery, saying he's happy to get input from both sides of the aisle but won't return to the "failed theories of the past eight years that got us into this fix in the first place." More »

During his first primetime press conference, Pres. Obama advocated for passage of his stimulus package as a means to "stop the downward spiral" engulfing the nation's economy, warning that inaction will prompt dire results. And despite the trouble he has encountered enlisting Republican support for his plan, he resisted suggestions that Washington's bipartisan nature cannot be changed. "Old habits are hard to break," Obama said during the hourlong event, held in… More »

In Elkhart, Ind., Pres. Obama tries to sell the stimulus package, touting tax cuts for working families and explaining why we need to lend more to banks. More »

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on "Face the Nation" says he can't support the stimulus package because it has policy changes which are "fundamentally bad for America." More »

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle debate the stimulus on Sunday's "Meet the Press." More »

Pushing for the stimulus package at the House Democrats' retreat, Pres. Obama says the American people called for a change of direction and "we owe it to them to deliver." More »

In Part 3 of their conversation, Megan and Brian Beutler debate the benefits of transfer payments versus infrastructure projects. More »

A Senate panel was told [Thursday] that the Treasury Department has overpaid $78 billion for bank stocks and warrants it took in firms participating in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, providing further ammunition to congressional critics who could thwart efforts by the Obama administration to ask for more financial sector aid. Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the TARP congressional oversight board, told Senate Banking Committee members [Thursday] that her group… More »

The top Senate proponent of "Buy American" requirements in the stimulus package said today he is willing to rework the provision, following concerns expressed Tuesday by President Obama. "I have said all along that I am not interested in starting a trade war, and the Buy American provisions in the economic recovery bill would not do that," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said in a statement. "I am working with the White House and other Senate colleagues to ensure… More »

Nancy Pelosi's January claim that "every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs" has been getting a lot of attention from conservative blogs recently. The US has a population of 303 million, so either she meant 500,000 or there are a few states no one knows about. More »

Megan and Brian Beutler continue their discussion, with Megan defending the stimulus skeptics More »

In testimony that could have been scripted by a thriller-movie screenwriter, the investigator who first blew the whistle on Bernard Madoff said today that drug dealers and Russian mobsters might have pumped some money into Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Harry Markopolos, a former Boston hedge-fund manager who has spent the last nine years tracking Madoff's financial machinations, told the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee that he… More »