By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A friend of the president gets invited to great parties, the chance to hobnob with Hollywood celebrities and sometimes, if the friend gets in trouble, he can pull out a "Get out of jail free" card.
Nearly three years after Congress passed the most far-reaching new regulations on Wall Street since the Great Depression, worries have resurfaced that the biggest U.S. banks have only grown in size and remain bailout candidates because they are "too big to fail."
Democrats opposed a Republican-backed move to mount a real-time national debt clock during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, according to one media report.
Facing criticism from Republican lawmakers, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke stood behind the Federal Reserve's low-interest-rate policies Wednesday and sought to reassure members of Congress that the central bank has a handle on the risks.
The House Ethics Committee officially exonerated Rep. Maxine Waters, California Democrat, in a 3-year-old conflict-of-interest case involving her work on behalf of minority-owned banks despite her husband's financial stake in one of them.
The House has prolonged its three-year ethics investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, yet again but is pledging to try to wrap up the case by the end of the year.
The House prolonged its three-year ethics investigation of one California Democrat while officially voting to reprimand and fine another.
In a move that serves as a capstone to Rep. Ron Paul's colorful career, the House on Wednesday voted to have Congress' chief investigators conduct a full audit of the Federal Reserve's shrouded decision-making process.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday that the Fed's efforts to bolster growth have helped lift the U.S. economy out of the Great Recession. But he acknowledged that growth remains weak and the Fed can only do so much.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a bleak picture of the U.S. economy Tuesday — and warned it will darken further if Congress doesn't reach agreement soon to avert a budget crisis.
The former Countrywide Financial Corp., whose subprime loans helped start the nation's foreclosure crisis, made hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, top government officials and executives of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, according to a House report.
The CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a much tougher reception Tuesday when he returned to Capitol Hill for a second round of questions about the bank's $2 billion trading loss.
The House Ethics Committee has concluded that the rights of Rep. Maxine Waters have not been violated in an ongoing investigation.
Mitt Romney is working to win over his former rivals.
To many Washington outsiders, congressional ethics is an oxymoron or fodder for late-night comedians, but watchdogs and longtime Washington observers point to one hopeful sign — an office they believe is helping members take ethics rules more seriously.
