About 15 months ago actor Kal Penn joined the White House Office of Public Engagement, and 2 months ago he returned to Hollywood to make a third installment of the “Harold & Kumar” cult-favorite stoner movie series. In the last installment of the movie, Penn’s character Kumar smoked a joint with George W. Bush. And [...]

Funny or Die has taken the activist route by adding a ‘contact your senator’ message at the end of this hilarious video where the last 5 ex-presidents (as portrayed by Saturday Night LIve actors) visit Obama to give financial reform advice. So have a laugh then bug your Senator.

President-elect Barack Obama spent $740.6 million to get elected president in 2008, which was more than the $646.7 million George W. Bush AND John Kerry spent combined in 2004, and 44% of all money spent by candidates in 2008. In total, candidates spent $1.7 billion on the 2008 election campaign. Here are more excerpts from [...]

Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $729k are even since last week, ending several weeks of .5% price swings. Rates on loans from $729k to $1m are also about even. Rates on loans above $1m are not shown below because that pricing is truly custom based on client profiles. Only a few lenders [...]

In the midst of a crisis, there’s rarely time to question what caused the crisis. But it’s useful to know who helped get markets to where they are so we can avoid mistakes as we get through the triage and begin formulating policy solutions. Below are two stories that discuss a key player in the [...]

The AP reported today that the White House is pressing banks who’ve received Treasury funds to stop hoarding it and start lending it. Under the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (TARP), Treasury has given out about $150b of $250b to about 24 banks—here’s the latest list of banks and amounts. So far not much of that [...]

President Bush last week said publicly that “Wall Street got drunk … and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long it will sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments.” Not since President Camacho referred to the economy as the eco-mony in his state of the union speech [...]

As owners continue to walk away from their homes because of loans they can’t afford, foreclosures rose to .83% of all outstanding mortgages for the end of 2007. This is versus .54% for 2006. This has contributed to a rapid fall in home prices. The central bank estimates that home values decreased by $533 billion [...]

Fixed rates are even versus last week and ARM rates open the week down .125% from last Monday, but the volatility continues with rate swings of up to .375% on any given day. This is proof that credit markets are still not functioning properly, and that’s the topic on Capitol Hill Thursday when Fed Chairman [...]

The Senate finally signed off on the economic stimulus package which includes tax rebates to individuals, tax benefits for business and conforming loan limits up to $729,750 depending on median home prices in a given area. The higher limits were expected to run through 2008, and go into effect as soon as late-February. Now it [...]