The Government Accountability Office has issued a ruling on the Obama Administration’s offer of waivers on the welfare program, which Republicans have falsely claimed would “end the work requirement for welfare.” The GAO ruling could lead to a Congressional up-or-down vote on the rule change, and may even force President Obama into an uncomfortable position [...]

The Government Accountability Office has issued a damning report about the foreclosure review process undertaken by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve. OCC and the Fed, through a consent order with 14 mortgage servicers, sought third-party reviews of all foreclosures in 2009 and 2010. But they did so by [...]

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is far more admired by national Republicans wanting a tough guy to yell at liberals than by his own constituents in his state. And a new report goes a long way to explaining why. Because Christie is the latest in a long line of conservative liars who will tailor their [...]

Along with Dean Baker and a few others, I’ve been fighting a lonely crusade against those who insist that TARP “made money.” First of all, TARP wasn’t even the bailout, it represented about 2% of all emergency programs provided to banks. Second, the banks paying the money back they got at 0% interest and could [...]

Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke acknowledged yesterday that the central bank may need to do a better job dealing with asset bubbles. I think I just heard Dean Baker’s head explode. Specifically, Bernanke said that he would move to use interest rate policy and not just regulatory tools to head off bubbles. “In the decades [...]

The Government Accountability Office released a report requested by several Democratic members of Congress about documentation problems in mortgage foreclosures. If you’re just coming to the question of foreclosure fraud, it provides a pretty good overview. If you’re aware of the issues, it’s good to have it all in one place. The GAO does say [...]

It’s amusing to me that the potentially catastrophic scenario of failing to increase the nation’s debt limit is a second-order crisis at this point. First, Congress has to get past some kind of continuing resolution to keep the government funded, and they have to do that by next week. And when you have Senators like [...]