Glass-Steagall Resurrected?
Cross-posted with Mother Jones Is the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era law that blocked commercial banks from participating in riskier investment banking, set for a revival? That’s what a new piece of legislation, introduced yesterday by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), would do, forcing major changes to financial titans like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America. But first, here’s McCain on the new legislation on CNBC: Reestablishing... Read More
Dispatch from Foreclosureland
Cross-posted with Mother Jones In August, I wrote about the Obama administration’s flawed $75 billion homeowner rescue effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program, and therein introduced readers to Florida homeowner Kristina Page. Page’s mortgage company, Saxon Mortgage Services, first told her it hadn’t heard of HAMP. Then, when Saxon finally admitted Page into the program, it lost her paperwork and told her multiple times to send more copies of the same... Read More
A New Lease on Life for Detroit’s Auto Dealers?
Cross-posted with Mother Jones Buried way down in the fine print of the Congress’ $1.1 trillion spending bill, passed Thursday by the House, is a lifeline for an endangered species—the American car dealer. A clause inside the the 1,088-page bill would give thousands of General Motors and Chrysler dealerships that have been put on the chopping block the chance to challenge their closure though arbitration. The measure’s supporters say it will put the brakes on the... Read More
