Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Women in Congress Highlight Ways Barack Obama is Standing Up For American Women and Families
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Obama campaign hosted a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to discuss Senator Obama and Senator Biden's record of fighting for issues of concern to women and American families. Speaker Pelosi was joined by Representatives DeLauro, Diana DeGette, Jan Schakowsky, Linda Sanchez, Donna Edwards and close to 40 Democratic women members of Congress. (Logo: xhttp://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/DNCLOGO )

BLACK CAUCUS HAS CHARLIE RANGEL'S BACK: CBC and Pelosi offer embattled congressman full support' in his tax drama.
*The Congressional Black Caucus says it offers its "100 percent support" to Democratic congressman Charlie Rangel despite Republican calls for him to step down as House Ways and Means Chairman pending an Ethics Committee investigation into his taxes.       The Caucus support came one day after Monday's inconclusive 90-minute meeting between Rangel and Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who also announced her support for Rangel.       

NANCY PELOSI: We Will Not Simply Hand Over $700 Billion To Wall Street
Democrats are pushing back on the bailout planoffered by the Bush Administration, specifically with legislation that would cut the salaries of the CEO’s whose firms participate in the bailout and by adding more oversight provisions, reports The Washington Post. Yesterday, Congressional Democrats presented their own plan which seeks to add oversight provisions and taxpayer protections to the proposal.   “We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street,” House

Rangel Meets with Pelosi Over Chairmanship
After reports yesterday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Representative Charles Rangel to step down as the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, his fate is unclear. NY1 reports he's keeping the chairmanship, while Politico reports that Pelosi says no decision has been made. Rangel, Pelosi and other House members met yesterday afternoon to discuss Rangel's problems related to income not reported on his Dominican Republic villa as well as from the sale of a home in D.C. The NY Po

Rangel safe for now, but trouble looms
Politico - Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) has persuaded House leaders to let him stay on as chairman of the powerhouse Ways and Means Committee — but he faces a new challenge from a Democratic Senate candidate who is rejecting a $10,000 Rangel contribution as tainted money.   Late Tuesday, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who’s running against indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), announced he was donating Rangel’s cash to the YMCA in line with the “campaign’s practice

The Morning Read: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
An unnamed source tells the New York Post that Nancy Pelosi urged Charlie Rangel in a private meeting to give up the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee. An unnamed source tells the Daily News Pelosi is unlikely to push Rangel aside. “You’re damn right he’s still the chairman,” a colleague of Rangel’s said. After being criticized for saying the country’s economic “fundamentals” are strong, John McCain’s camp noted that Michael Bloomberg agreed with that assessment. If Pa

Paulson urges quick action on $700 billion bailout
AP - The Bush administration insisted Sunday that Congress must move quickly to approve what one lawmaker called the "mother of all bailouts" ™ a $700 billion proposal to buy a mountain of bad mortgage debt in an effort to unfreeze the nation’s credit markets. Congressional leaders endorsed the plan’s main thrust, saying passage might occur in a matter of days. But they said it must be expanded to include help for people on Main Street as well as the big Wall Street financial firms who ha

Tony Blair is a funny guy!
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has agreed to make his first appearance on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central announced Tuesday. Blair is to be a guest on Thursday’s episode of the late-night chat series, the network said. Other political figures who have appeared on the show include former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Al Gore, Sens. John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, Senate Ma

Bush invites McCain, Obama to discuss bailout
AP - Democrats won a key concession from the White House on legislation to bail out the financial industry on Wednesday, then sought to scale back the $700 billion price tag, as Republican presidential nominee John McCain inserted himself into high-stakes negotiations on the rescue. President Bush invited McCain and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, along [...]

Treasury, Federal Reserve Plan Even Bigger Bailout
Photograph of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, with Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, SEC chairman Christopher Cox and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi among others, by Lauren Victoria Burke/AP The government took more steps to, hopefully, prevent more financial chaos in the financial markets. The NY Times characterizes the moves as "what could become the biggest bailout in United States history":While details remain to be worked out, the plan is likely to authorize the government to buy distressed mortgages at deep

Dealing with the Credit Crisis: Massive Government Intervention to Bail Out Banks
The US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve stepped in on Thursday to help calm down Wall Street. The government is to take on stricken banks' bad debts to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in the biggest state intervention since the Depression. REUTERS Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (C) speaks next to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (L), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday. US President George W. Bush has had a tough week. He entertained his cou

Word of possible financial crisis fix lifts stocks
AP - The stock market finally found reason to rally Thursday, and Congress promised quick action as the Bush administration prepared a plan to rescue banks from the bad debt at the heart of the worst crisis on Wall Street since the Great Depression. Details of the plan were still being worked out, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson emerged from a nighttime meeting on Capitol Hill to say he hoped to have a solution "aimed right at the heart of this problem." As word of a government plan began to reach Wa

Big Day in Englewood Cliffs
On the evening of Sept. 16, Brian Williams was jetting out of the CNBC studios in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., when he stopped to talk to a reporter about his extraordinary day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had plummeted 504.48 points in the most precipitous loss since September of 2001, dogged by news of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch’s hasty weekend sale to Bank of America, and A.I.G.’s still-uncertain future. And Mr. Williams had broadcast his Nightly News program from a studio at NBC�

Rangel Gets 'Forensic Accountant,' Bridge to Nowhere Not Dead
"The Case Against Sarah Palin, by Sarah Palin." [The New Republic] Charlie Rangel is meeting with Nancy Pelosi and has hired a "forensic accountant" to go over his finances. [City Room] Paul Kiel reports that the Palin administration is actually still pursuing the Bridge to Nowhere. [Pro Publica] When Palin used the Bridge to Nowhere line again today, it was reportedly the 10th time she's done it since the claim was debunked. [Think Progress] Myers Mermel is excited about the

Nation’s Top Economic Advisors Urge Congress To Move Fast on $700 Billion Bailout
Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged Congress to pass a $700 billion financial bailout.  They warned that letting problems persist would have dire consequences for the national economy, reports the AP. “If financial conditions fail to improve for a protracted period, the implications for the broader economy could be quite adverse,” Bernanke says in his prepared for a panel being held later today. Paulson echoes this stating, “We must do