Commentary

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Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of more than 250 national and state organizations working together for strong Wall Street reform, is opposed to efforts to “weaken” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Let’s see what the AFR

We have just celebrated the national holiday that is George Washington's birthday.  On most calendars it is called Presidents’ Day, looking to cover both President Washington's birthday (February 22) and President Lincoln's birthday (February 1

A veteran, politically astute Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) president correctly wrote his stockholders that GSE reform will be a major topic for the 112th Congress.  He underscored that "any reform efforts not have unintended consequences that ne

In his lengthy and well-received speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on February 7, President Obama didn't specifically refer to the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform legislation.  He did accord three sentences at the end of his speech to

It's still like clockwork.  No, I’m not referring to the breakdown of the electric power supply to D.C.’s northern suburbs after snow storms that would be routine in New England or in our nation's great heartland.  I am talking about the pre

Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States requires the President to "from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the union and to recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessar

The 112th Congress has convened, with two years to leave its historical mark.  It is a divided Congress.  The Senate remains under tenuous Democratic control while the House of Representatives is solidly under Republican control.  The previous

It wasn't expected and that was what made it so special.  The lame duck session of the Congress came back into town, pulled up it socks and, with the passage of the Bush tax cut extensions, completed a significant burst of legislative activity. 

On Thursday evening the House of Representatives, in a strong 277-148 vote, adopted the legislation temporarily extending the Bush tax cuts that had passed the Senate on Wednesday.  President Obama lobbied hard to overcome a revolt of liberal Hou

Much has been written about the inevitable trials and tribulations of congressional lame duck sessions.  And the drama surrounding this final session of the 111th Congress is heightened by a major shift of political power, with the Republicans ha

UPDATE--In the early evening of Monday, December 6, President Obama announced that a deal had been struck with the Republican leadership. The deal's centerpiece is a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts.  Congressional enactment with bipartisa

The pivotal lame duck session of the 111th Congress is back with essential legislative work to be done.  It remains to be seen whether this work will be given higher priority than political fun and games.  There are inescapable realities for the

On November 15, the day the 111th Congress returned for its lame duck session, The Wall Street Journal's headline read, "Fresh Attack on Fed Move — GOP Economists, Lawmakers Call for Abandoning $600 Billion Bond Purchase."  The Journal's story

On November 15, the badly battered and bruised 111th Congress will return for its closing lame duck session.  This is not the new Congress—this is the old Congress that has substantial Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate.  The m

"My career is over.  But I hope that we can get the word out that TARP, number one, did save the world from a financial meltdown and, number two, did so in a manner that I believe won't cost the taxpayer anything."  The New York Times ran this q

UPDATE:  The Senate leadership decided that the partisan divide was too great to address tax issues, including the ticking estate tax time bomb, until after the November elections.  Shame on them.  Rational and careful estate planning by the na

Fall is in the Washington air after a very long, hot summer.  But also—and more significantly—so is a major realignment of political power.  It is certain that the Democrats will lose their decisive control of both the House of Representativ

The summer doldrums have hit Washington, the nation’s capitol, big time this summer. President Obama has taken the politically mandatory swim at one of the lovely Gulf of Mexico beaches and then retreated to Martha’s Vineyard. Congress is long

The regulatory world of the American financial system changed on July 21, 2010, when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law. The haphazard financial regulatory structure that had been laboriously construc