U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms  —  Goal Is to Limit Risk to Broader Economy  —  The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers …

MUST READ  —  There's an eye-opening, perhaps eye-popping, article in tomorrow's Journal ("Obama Dials Down Wall Street Criticism"), the gist of which is that over the last three months Obama and his team have learned that they've got to start respecting Wall Street and the big banks if they want to get anything done.

Go back into hiding, GOP begs Dick Cheney  —  Congressional Republicans are telling Dick Cheney to go back to his undisclosed location and leave them alone to rebuild the Republican Party without his input.  —  Displeased with the former vice-president's recent media appearances …

Poll of change: Obama's job approval slipping to ‘50-50’  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  The honeymoon is over, a national poll will signal tomorrow as President Obama's job approval stumbles to about 50 percent over the lack of improvement with the crippled economy.

China calls for new reserve currency  —  China's central bank on Monday proposed replacing the US dollar as the international reserve currency with a new global system controlled by the International Monetary Fund.  —  In an essay posted on the People's Bank of China's website, Zhou Xiaochuan …

Congress isn't feeling much heat from Obama's ‘army’  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's army of canvassers fanned out across the nation over the weekend to drum up support for his $3.55 trillion budget, but they had no noticeable impact on members of Congress, who on Monday said they were largely unaware of the effort.

Obama seeks filter-free news  —  At a time when his Washington honeymoon is turning into a hazing, President Barack Obama and his team are launched on a strategy to sail above the traditional White House press corps by reaching out to liberal commentators, local reporters and ethnic media.

HOW WOULD HE PRONOUNCE “CASSIOPEIA”?  —  Everyone knows that Barack Obama is lost without his teleprompter, but his latest blunder, courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, via the Corner, suggests that the teleprompter may not be enough unless it includes phonetic spellings.

UPDATED:  —  President Barack Obama on Tuesday published an editorial in 31 newspapers around the world, from Riyadh to Hong Kong to New Delhi to Chicago, attempting to stake out a strong leadership position at next month's global economic summit in London.  —  “The United States is ready to lead …

AIG, Congress, Geithner Target of Bonus Backlash  —  No consensus on best way to recover bonus money  — USA - Credit Crisis - Financial Services - Government and Politics - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — For the most part, the central players in the AIG bonus controversy …

Will Obama Listen to Iran's Bloggers?  —  Barack Obama extended the olive branch to Iran's leaders last Friday in a videotaped message praising a “great civilization” for “accomplishments” that “have earned the respect of the United States and the world.”  The death of Iranian blogger Omid-Reza Mirsayafi …

Cuomo Says Most Huge A.I.G. Bonuses Were Returned  —  Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced late Monday afternoon that 9 of the top 10 bonus recipients at the American International Group were giving back their bonuses.  —  He also said 15 of the largest 20 bonus recipients …

O'Reilly Attacks Me As A ‘Villain’ For Highlighting His Rape Comments  —  As promised, tonight, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly aired his segment alleging that ThinkProgress caused “pain and suffering” to rape victims.  Our unspeakable offense was contained in a March 1 blog post …

Bank of America's Bernstein Says Sell Bank Stocks After Rally  —  Investors should sell bank stocks after they rallied 12 percent today because the Treasury Department's plan to buy toxic assets won't stop profits from dropping, Bank of America Corp.'s Richard Bernstein said.