Obama's bank plan could rob the taxpayer  —  The Geithner-Summers plan, officially called the public/private investment programme, is a thinly veiled attempt to transfer up to hundreds of billions of dollars of US taxpayer funds to the commercial banks, by buying toxic assets from the banks at far above their market value.

GOP gloves off for budget brawl  —  House Republicans have begun unveiling detailed alternatives to President Barack Obama's policies — a concerted effort to push back against Democratic efforts to label them “the Party of No.”  —  On Wednesday, it was a housing plan.

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant  —  Short Freddie Mac stay made him at least $320,000  —  Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up …

Geithner to Propose Vast Expansion Of U.S. Oversight of Financial System  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to propose today a sweeping expansion of federal authority over the financial system, breaking from an era in which the government stood back from financial markets …

Palin in Anchorage  —  Peter Hamby picks up a candid Sarah Palin speech to the Alaska GOP last week, in which she expressed her unhappiness with the media and her alienation from the McCain campaign: … The rest of the speech is here.  —  Also, Palin's PAC says it wasn't polling Iowa …

Steele On Rush Flap: “It's All Strategic”  —  Michael Steele just doesn't know how to stop.  —  Steele appeared on CNN this afternoon, and was asked by host Don Lemon whether he's ever considered running for president, and right off the bat he managed to give the sensible, correct answer …

Bold claims of stimulus jobs can't be measured  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - If space exploration were conducted like the job forecasts under the government's new stimulus law, man surely would have missed the moon.  But this isn't rocket science.

Threats to AIG: “We Will Get Your Children”  —  The anger in the threats against AIG executives is palpable.  —  “Get the bonus, we will get your children,” someone identified only as “Jacob the Killer” hauntingly writes in an e-mail.  —  His is one of dozens of threats against AIG …

AIG Fights a Fire at Its Paris Unit  —  Executives' Resignations Put Billions in Contracts at Risk of Default  —  Amid the flap over bonuses at American International Group Inc. two of the company's top managers in Paris have resigned.  Their moves have left the giant insurer …

Cities Deal With a Surge in Shanty Towns  —  FRESNO, Calif. — As the operations manager of a outreach center for the homeless here, Paul Stack is used to seeing people down on their luck.  What he had never seen before was people living in tents and lean-tos on the railroad lot across from the center.

Is the Bonus Tax Unconstitutional?  —  The Supreme Court defers too much to Congress.  —  Bills now winding their way through Congress would tax between 70% and 90% of bonuses paid to any executive earning in excess of $250,000, if he or she is employed by a business that received more than $5 billion from U.S. bailout funds.

Senate race is a broken record  —  The old record was set by the 1962 governor's election between DFLer Karl Rolvaag and incumbent Republican Elmer L. Andersen.  —  Minnesota's U.S. Senate race set a record Wednesday for delay.  No election for statewide office in Minnesota has dragged …

Death before this honor  —  Why have Iraq and Afghanistan produced only 5 Medal of Honor recipients, none living?  —  The number of Medal of Honor recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be counted on one hand.  —  Each of the five acted spontaneously and heroically to save the lives of comrades.

Why I Called Justice Scalia A Homophobe  —  While responding to questions from journalists about my characterization of Justice Antonin Scalia as a homophobe, I realized that the fact that I made that comment in conjunction with a potential lawsuit about the Defense of Marriage Act created …

Dems warn against first lady bill  —  House Republicans are pressing for a change in federal law that could force Michelle Obama and future first ladies to do more of their policy work in public.  But Democrats warn President Obama may take the attempt personally “as an attack on his wife.”

Slain Man Had Been Contractor for CIA  —  A Loudoun County man slain while out for an early morning walk with his wife worked as a contractor at the Central Intelligence Agency for several years until 2000, the CIA confirmed yesterday, and investigators said they want to meet with agency officials …

The Fierce Urgency of Peace  —  Pressure on President Obama to recast the failed American approach to Israel-Palestine is building from former senior officials whose counsel he respects.  —  Following up on a letter dated Nov. 6, 2008, that was handed to Obama late last year by Paul Volcker …

Obama defends strategy of tackling many issues  —  President Barack Obama defended his strategy of tackling multiple challenges instead of focusing solely on fixing the U.S. economy in a return on Wednesday to the political fund-raising that helped elect him.

Cutting Deficit Will Require Tax Increases  —  The debate on the budget is phony, the howling on deficits a charade.  Few politicians want to acknowledge that if you really are concerned about long-term deficits, you have to support tax increases.  —  That's why the most significant moment …

Obama plans tough line with carmakers  —  The White House plans to take a tough line with U.S. carmakers, forcing painful restructuring before releasing more bailout funds, according to industry sources.  —  The Obama administration has repeatedly said the auto industry needs a …

Bloomberg backs gay marriage in NYS  —  Mayor Bloomberg said Wednesday night he stands ready to ask the Legislature to allow gay marriage in New York State, but doesn't know when the time will be right.  —  “We see that the tide is turning, that support is mounting,” Bloomberg told …

Fargo Works to Hold Back Rapidly Rising River  —  FARGO, N.D. — Just as city officials here thought that they had built a wall of sand high enough to hold back the swiftly rising Red River, weather forecasters on Wednesday delivered a worrisome forecast: The river was rising higher than predicted …

Budget battle rife with contradictions  —  The White House rushed Wednesday to blur the lines between President Barack Obama and Democratic spending plans taking shape in Congress.  They're not twins but still kin, as budget director Peter Orszag put it.  —  But like many families …

Modeling an FDIC Robbery.  —  I want to explain the Geithner Put for those without a finance background who want to understand how FDIC is going to get looted.  (Warning: Will contain graphs, and be long and boring even by normal standards here.)  Recap: Banks have “toxic waste” assets, which they want to sell.