At Senate Banking Committee Hearing, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) Says Government Officials Should Have Acted Sooner On Foreclosure Crisis

Senator Menendez says that instead of a wake up call from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the nation got a 'wait and see' attitude. (1:00)
Listen

Treasury Secretary Paulson Addresses Senate Banking Committee on the 'Heartrending' Effects of the Current Economic Turmoil

Responding to questions from Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson discusses the 'heartrending' effects of predatory lending in the housing and credit markets as well as his efforts to mitigate them.
Listen

Treasury Secretary Paulson Addresses Senate Banking Committee on the Way Forward Through Economic Turmoil

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. states that in this necessary contraction of the housing market and the associated economic crisis, firms must accept their losses and move on to building up capital. (1:00)
Listen

Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson Discusses Taxes During Senate Committee on Finance Hearing

Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson offers his opinion that America should not raise taxes during this morning's Senate Committee on Finance hearing. (0:30)
Listen

Rep. Marcy Kaptur States Opposition to Stimulus

Following the President's State of the Union Address, Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH9) expressed her lack of faith in the "stimulus plan" implemented by the Bush Administration.
Listen

Senator McCaskill reacts to Bush's ideas about economic stiumuls after the State of the Union address

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) says that the economic stimulus needs to be targeted and should be temporary. (:20)
Listen

Senator Sanders states Bush "missed reality"

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says that President Bush missed the reality of the middle class, and says that we have unequal distribution of wealth. (:21)
Listen

Congressman Kucinich Calls Stimulus Package "a Band-Aid"

After the State of the Union Address, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) warns of the seriousness of the current economic crisis and claims the president isn't taking necessary steps to correct it.
Listen

Dr. Orszag Allays Fears of Senate Finance Committee

Testifying to the Senate Finance Committee on possible solutions to the current economic crisis, Dr. Peter R. Orszag responded to questions regarding the recent dip in the stock market. Here he reassures Chariman Max Bauchus (D-MT) that financial markets should remain separate and that the stock market is not an indicator of future trends in the real economy.
Listen

Robert Kuttner says that OECD countries use low taxes in other countries to argue for a race to the bottom, that we could restore high tax codes without hurting the economy, and that Democrats should argue for higher taxes

Robert Kuttner, author of The Squandering of America and co-founder of The American Prospect, says that OECD countries use low taxes in other countries to argue for lowering taxes, causing a race to the bottom and cutting of social services. He says that the U.S. could restore tax codes from 1999 or 1978 without hurting the economy, because people with high income "can damn well afford" taxation rates as high as 50%. He says that Democrats should try to make such rates popular again. Kuttner spoke at an event organized by the Campaign for America's Future and the Progressive Caucus, and featuring Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). (1:00)
Listen

Robert Kuttner says that companies today are using the same tactics as companies in the 1920s

Robert Kuttner, author of The Squandering of America and co-founder of The American Prospect, says that companies today are using the same tactics as the pyramid schemes of the 1920s, including "lack of transparency, insider conflicts of interest, and too much speculating with borrowed money." He cites Enron, Worldcom, and sub-prime lending as examples. He spoke at an event organized by the Campaign for America's Future and the Progressive Caucus, and featuring Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). (0:57)
Listen

Lawrence Summers Encourages Swift Congressional Action to Combat Recession

During questioning by the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), Charles Eliot University Professor Lawrence Summers stressed the gravity of the current economic crisis and encouraged the Congress to quickly pass a corrective stimulus policy package. (0:27)
Listen

William Beach Refutes Claims of Recession at Joint Committee Hearing

William Beach, Director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis,  stated that recent economic indicators demonstrate slow growth rather than recession in his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee (JEC). (0:44)
Listen

Senator Edward Kennedy Declares Need for Bipartisanship in Fixing the Economy

At a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) today, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) emphasized the impact of economic downturn on American workers and announced intentions to work with together with both the President and congressional Republicans to solve the current economic crisis. (0:40)
Listen

Senator Charles Schumer Outlines Congress' Goals to Combat Threat of Recession

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) led a hearing today regarding a congressional stimulus package to combat the threat of recession. He laid out the committee's intentions to support a timely, targeted, and temporary policy to resolve this issue. (0:40)
Listen

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab on the Trade Deficit

Speaking to Scholars at the Woodrow Wilson International Center Tuesday, Ambassador Schwab discusses misconceptions and solutions to the United States’ trade imbalance. Reminding her listeners that 80% of the recent deficit increase can be attributed to rising oil costs, she highlights policies aimed at increasing exports.

Listen

Ambassador Susan Schwab on US trade liberalization

Ambassador Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative, refutes anti-liberalization critics and argues that the US should further promote an open global market in order to better alleviate poverty worldwide. (0:36)
Listen