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'The presidential campaign swept loudly into Washington on September 25 as Barack Obama and John McCain met with President Bush and congressional leaders at the White House to discuss a massive bailout of the nation's ailing financial markets.
The candidates' much-ballyhooed return from the trail, however, appeared to produce more theater than lawmaking. … Los Angeles TimesSupplement
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck’s speech on global financial markets at the Bundestag (prior to the White House meeting).
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'NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2008 - Shares of investment banks tumbled Monday morning as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch & Co. brokered a sale to Bank of America Corp.
Lehman Brothers stock was virtually wiped out at the opening bell after the storied investment bank, wracked by the credit crisis and mortgage-backed investments, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Its shares gave up $3.40, or 93 percent, to 25 cents in morning trading. The stock was trading at a 52-week high of $68.44 in November.
Shares of Merrill were the one bright spot. Under terms of its sale, Bank of America would exchange 0.8595 shares of its common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share. Merrill shares soared $4.86, or 28.5 percent, to $21.90. … Forbes.com
Supplementary: McCain, Obama Confront the Market.
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Germany's beleaguered Social Democratic party (SPD) yesterday named the foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to run against Chancellor Angela Merkel in next year's general election.With the nomination of a moderate, the SPD hopes to halt its sinking popularity and resolve an internal battle between old-school leftwingers and liberal reformists.An emergency meeting of party leaders near Potsdam, outside Berlin, also named Franz Müntefering to replace Kurt Beck, who is stepping down as party chairman. … Guardian UK _
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Denver (Colorado) – August 28, 2008
Excerpt - We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work … Full text at TPM.com
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