Obama administration tries to reclaim financial overhaul debate as banks push back hard

September 18th, 2009 Obama in media blitz to push health care overhaulWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is sitting down for interviews with five television networks this afternoon, a highly unusual schedule even for a president who regularly uses the media to get his message across. Obama will be taping interviews with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Univision that will be shown during the networks' Sunday morning talk shows.

September 15th, 2009 Key elements of the Obama financial overhaulHere's a look at key parts of the Obama administration's financial overhaul plan. __ CHANGES IN OVERSIGHT OF FIRMS — Federally chartered banks would be overseen by a new national bank supervisor.

September 13th, 2009 Obama works to stay in control of health debateWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is working to reclaim the initiative from critics of his health care initiative and boost momentum to push his chief domestic priority through Congress. Obama kept up a steady weekend drumbeat of cheerleading for his health care plan in a campaign-style rally, on the radio and Internet, and on network television.

September 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to use the first anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse to talk about plans to wind down the government role in a financial sector that needed a Washington bailout last year, an administration official said Sunday. Obama's speech in New York on Monday will push Congress to take action on regulatory reform to prevent the kind of tailspin that the economy went through last year.

September 10th, 2009 Obama to give speech Monday on financial crisisWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is delivering a speech on Wall Street Monday, exactly one year after the Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed, precipitating the financial crisis felt around the world. The White House said Thursday that Obama will discuss steps the administration has taken to ease the crisis, its commitment to reduce government involvement in the financial sector and actions the U.S.

August 14th, 2009 Obama says he's not trying to vilify insurersBELGRADE, Mont. — President Barack Obama says he isn't trying to vilify the insurance companies.

July 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has proposed a crackdown on credit-rating agencies, among the key players blamed in a financial crisis that has devastated the global economy. The proposed legislation sent to Congress is designed to remove conflicts of interest between the private agencies and the banks and lenders that they are rating.

July 15th, 2009 Obama praises progress on health care overhaulWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says his administration will push through an overhaul of the nation's health care system and is urging Congress to finish the work before leaving for an August recess. Obama on Wednesday praised House and Senate versions of a bill to expand health care coverage to millions of Americans.

June 30th, 2009 Obama: consumer agency to enforce financial rulesWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says his new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will protect Americans from unscrupulous practices and make financial products easier to understand. The president sent Congress a 152-page bill to create the new agency, a key element in the sweeping overhaul of financial rules the administration unveiled two weeks ago.

June 18th, 2009 NEW YORK - Most US stocks dropped for a third straight day Wednesday, led by banks, after President Barack Obama unveiled regulatory reforms, but technology stocks served as a bright spot. Obama laid out a sweeping overhaul of the government's financial regulatory system, proposing the most significant changes since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

June 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A number of major US banks Wednesday returned emergency loans of more than $68 billion that they had received from the government at the height of the financial crisis in October. The paybacks have been viewed as a sign that Wall Street is beginning to stabilize after the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression.

June 17th, 2009 Obama to detail overhaul of finance regulationsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will unveil his proposal to overhaul regulations covering major financial institutions. He is calling for a new regulatory agency and expanded powers for the Federal Reserve to supervise large financial insittions considered too big to fail.

June 17th, 2009 Obama cites decades of mistakes behind recessionWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is offering a broad-scale overhaul of the financial system, saying hard times struck largely because a post-Depression era business regulatory scheme couldn't keep up with an increasingly global economy. In remarks readied for the unveiling of new rules to govern business, Obama attributed much of the country's current problem to "a cascade of mistakes and missed opportunities" which happened over several decades.

June 16th, 2009 Obama promises to close regulatory gapsWASHINGTON — As the Obama administration prepares to unveil an overhaul of the way financial institutions are regulated, President Barack Obama says the goal will be to fill a "series of regulatory gaps." Obama told reporters Tuesday there's been a "lack of oversight" that allowed what he termed "wild risk-taking." He says it led to conditions that have been "very dangerous" for the American people. Obama says rather than adding another layer of regulatory agencies, his approach will be to streamline and consolidate, and to add protections for consumers and investors.

May 13th, 2009 Geithner: Bailout repayments will broaden programWASHINGTON — The Obama administration will use bailout money repaid by large banks to provide additional capital infusions to community banks, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday. In remarks to an association of community bankers, Geithner also said the administration is moving forward with plans to streamline financial rules as part of a broader overhaul to be unveiled in the next several weeks.