Lawmakers Invested in Bailed-Out Firms --Conflict-of-Interest Questions Arise - 11 Jun 2009
Top House lawmakers had considerable holdings in major financial institutions that took billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts at the end of last year, according to annual financial disclosure reports released yesterday. From stock holdings to retirement funds to mortgages, more than 20 House leaders and members of the House Financial Services Committee had large personal stakes in the Wall Street powerhouses whose collapse last year led to an unprecedented government intervention in the marketplace.
May foreclosures third highest on record - 11 Jun 2009
U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday. Foreclosure filings dipped 6 percent in the month but increased 18 percent from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record.
Schwarzenegger threatens to shut down state government - 11 Jun 2009
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Installed) vowed Wednesday to let California government come to a "grinding halt" rather than agree to a high-interest loan to keep the state afloat if he and the Legislature do not close the yawning budget gap in coming weeks. At the same time, the governor reversed himself on a proposal to end health insurance for families of police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty.
Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry - 11 Jun 2009
Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry, which has donated millions of dollars to lawmakers in the past several campaign cycles. Over the course of his nearly quarter-century Senate career, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-Nutjob], who hails from the tobacco-rich state of Kentucky, has received $419,025 from the tobacco industry, more than any other member of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that analyzes the influence of money on politics and policy.
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