Obama's Financial Clampdown

Obama's first week in office continues to spur the leading stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post , which paints a picture of what to expect in the coming week as Congress takes up the president's stimulus bill. The WP outlines major benchmarks of Obama's plan and takes readers through a four-page report released yesterday by the White House that details "spending priorities and accountability measures for the recovery package." According to the paper, "Obama wants to double renewable energy capacity within three years, creating enough additional capacity to power 6 million homes, and he plans to leverage $100 billion to finance private-sector clean-energy initiatives." The Times focuses on imminent changes to the financial industry , including "stricter federal rules for hedge funds, credit rating agencies and mortgage brokers, and greater oversight of the complex financial instruments that contributed to the economic crisis." The analysis is gleaned from interviews, ... (link)