Merrill Lynch | American News Project

Flogging of AIG Execs

By Lagan Sebert on Oct 07, 2008

In the wake of the $700 billion bailout, the public is finally getting a look at the faces behind the financial crisis. On October 7, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled former AIG CEOs Robert Willumstad and Martin Sullivan. During the five-hour hearing the executives tried to dodge blame as congress members harshly criticized their management of AIG and questioned their compensation.

Last Minute Fight Against Bailout Pork

By Lagan Sebert on Oct 03, 2008

Republican congressman Steven LaTourette proposed an amendment to the bailout package on Thursday, October 2, that would strip the pork out of the senate's bailout bill and limit the immediate bailout to $250 billion. LaTourette and more than a dozen colleagues who originally opposed the bill promised to vote for the bailout if the amendment was accepted. It was not.

Byron Dorgan’s Crystal Ball

By Lagan Sebert on Oct 01, 2008

Many experts point to the 1999 Financial Modernization Act as a cause of our current financial crisis. Senator Byron Dorgan opposed the act then and predicted our current crisis. More recently he has questioned the $700 billion bailout plan.

House Rejects Bailout Despite Pressure

By Lagan Sebert on Sep 29, 2008

The $700 billion bailout plan came to a vote in the House of Representatives after a week of intense debate. Though both Democratic and Republican leadership called on their colleagues to support the bill, it failed by 23 votes. The debate gave those in opposition a chance to voice their opposition to this historic bill, and called for renewed negotiations on the same day the stock market plunged.

VIDEO ESSAY: The End Of Free-Market Fundamentalism?

By Nick Penniman on Sep 25, 2008

Amid the chaos and chatter about this week's financial bailout, one clear theme emerged in some quarters: The era of free-market fundamentalism is over. But is it, really?

A Market-Based Mindset

By Danielle Ivory on Sep 23, 2008

Recently, the Bush administration proposed what could be the largest government bailout of private industry in the history of the United States. The architects of the proposal, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, are set to testify before Congress. ANP caught up with Charlie Cray, Director and Policy Analyst at the Center for Corporate Policy, who spoke about the philosophical underpinnings of the current economic meltdown.

VIDEO ESSAY: The Faces of the Financial Crisis

By Nick Penniman on Sep 17, 2008

The U.S. financial system faces a grave crisis as investment giants teeter on the edge of collapse. They're led by people - people who've made some rotten decisions in recent years.