Articles About President Barack Obama

America’s states are under water in more ways than one.  This writer got a close-up view of how our aging infrastructure is being taxed by the elements.  A summer storm that brought as much as eight inches of rain in just two hours in the wee hours of Saturday, July 24 wreaked havoc in Chicago’s […]

Curiosity is growing about which Wall Street banks will be the first to get out of proprietary trading or the private equity business as they restructure to come into compliance with new financial regulatory reform legislation. The Volcker Rule – named for former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker – limits banks from these practices and […]

With the passage of historic financial reform legislation, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is being given the authority to reshape bank regulations, oversee financial markets and create a consumer protection agency.  Few Treasury secretaries will wield this much influence once President Obama signs the new financial overhaul legislation passed by Congress. Geithner’s fingerprints are all over […]

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) is enjoying a big victory in his last days in the Senate following passage of broad financial reform legislation designed to rein in the excesses that caused the financial meltdown.  First, the Senate and House versions of the bill must undergo reconciliation.  Under the new law, for example, homebuyers will have […]

The Great Recession has taken a toll on the famous American optimism and belief in social mobility as defined by the stories of such luminaries as Alexis de Tocqueville, Horatio Alger and Barack Obama.  According to a poll by YouGov for The Economist, 39 percent responded that the opportunities available to them were not as […]

In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 96 – 0 to attach a modified version of an amendment proposed by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) to the financial regulatory bill to investigate transparency in emergency lending practices by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.  “This amendment begins the process of lifting the veil […]

Congress — wary of 2010 mid-term elections – appears to be unlikely to pass climate change legislation this year, writes Jeffrey D. Sachs in Scientific American. According to Sachs, “The fracture lines are countless, but probably the most important one runs through public opinion.  A recent poll showed only 36 percent of Americans believing that […]

Business travelers and vacationers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean recently were stranded by the spectacular eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull Volcano that created an ash cloud so large it covered significant portions of Europe and disrupted air travel.  Although the flight delays were the result of an act of God, employees concerned about retaining […]

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are advocating for flexible workplaces by holding a Forum on Workplace Flexibility at the White House.  The forum was organized by the Council on Women and Girls, according to senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. “Millions of women and men across the country struggle to balance the demands of […]

The United States economy is entering an era of sustainable growth as companies begin hiring again.  That’s the opinion of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said “I think the economy is definitely getting stronger. We’ve made a lot of progress, we’ve got some work to do still and it’s going to take some time to […]