“Banking” on The Daily Caller

Federal and local governments are trying once again to persuade some of the 17 million U.S. adults who rely on check-cashing services to open their own bank accounts. (more)

Congressional districts held by Democrats are taking a harder hit from the housing crisis than those represented by Republicans. (more)

WASHINGTON—Congress approved a rewrite of rules touching every corner of finance, from ATM cards to Wall Street traders, in the biggest expansion of government power over banking and markets since the Depression. (more)

The limitations imposed by the role of the states in the U.S. unemployment insurance system are the reason why a majority of workers are not protected and why even insured workers receive inadequate protection. Steven Attewell writes: “Our reconstruction of the unemployment insurance system should start from three basic principles. First, unemployment is a national problem for our single, national economy, and requires a nation-wide system to respond to it. Second, in order to protect the entire workforce from the sudden shock of wage loss and the economy from the sudden shock of consumer spending collapse, all workers need to be inside the system, contributing and protected. Third, unemployment benefits should be set at a sufficient level to keep individuals and families from falling into poverty and should be automatically extended in periods of economic decline in job losses, when normal expectations that people can find new jobs no longer apply.” (more)

NEW YORK — It’s cocktail hour on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and dozens of rich New Yorkers are gathered around a grand piano, sipping white wine in the living room of an elegant high-rise apartment. There is plenty of gossip to be heard, but this is not a social event. The city’s moneyed elite have come to commiserate about their growing distaste for their longtime congresswoman, Carolyn B. Maloney — and to open their wallets for the unlikely 34-year-old challenger they hope will defeat her. (more)

Congress will break this weekend not quite done on “financial reform.” A defeat of this bill would help avoid a double dip recession. The bill is dishonest because it does not deal with Fannie or Freddie, the main engines of our collapse. The bill’s deafening silence on these two institutions means it is posturing, not helping. In the short term, which is what you would think Congress cares about, the bill is deflationary because it takes precious capital from the banking industry while cutting alternatives available to consumers. It is not a coincidence that the stock market is breathing heavily and making new lows as the prospects for this “overhaul” have brightened. (more)

Mortgage rates have sunk to the lowest level in more than five decades, but consumers aren’t rushing to refinance their loans or buy homes. Mortgage company Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans sank to 4.58 percent this week. (more)

More borrowers dropped out of the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program last month than were added, but many of those homeowners found private help from their mortgage companies, according to data released Monday. (more)

Tony Podesta is in the news because he lobbies for BP, public enemy No. 1 in President Obama’s Washington after a BP-rented oil rig blew up and started gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico 63 days ago. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s flagship effort to help people in danger of losing their homes is falling flat. (more)

Banks have long walked a thin line on overdrafts. They are a sore point for many consumers, but the fees generate billions of dollars of revenue each year. Now the Federal Reserve has stepped in to craft new regulations aimed at preventing complaints like Becnel’s. (more)

Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal | Bank of America Corp. and other banks are preparing new fees on basic banking services as they try to replace revenue lost to regulatory rules, in a push that is expected to spell an end to free checking accounts for many Americans. (more)

I’m not what you could classify as news junkie; far from it, in fact. I try to keep up with what might reasonably be expected of a responsible, tax-paying adult in America but most often, I have only a basic grasp of the facts. Even then, news stories fight for space with the other topics that crowd my mind daily. And I’m not ashamed to admit that often these include such important ideas as: why do I even imagine I’ll wear shorts in public every summer, why don’t my boys understand the benefits of hanging up a damp towel, and how will I ever be able to sneak a handful of Sun Chips again if I have to open that compostable bag in the cabinet? (That last one is obviously related to the first.) (more)

Financial crises can be very difficult events to understand. Even for those who have spent a great deal of time studying such areas as finance and economics, comprehension of these disasters can be elusive. However, analyzing shared elements in the recent American and Greek financial crises can help give even the economic layman insight into their common causes. (more)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — No money? No problem! Pay with time, instead. (more)

U.S. lenders posted $18 billion in profits during the first quarter, reflecting signs of recovery in the banking industry even as the number of “problem” banks increased, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. (more)

Should we audit the Fed? (more)

As the future of the Federal Reserve’s role in Americans’ lives is vigorously debated around the country, The Daily Caller took a look at the lighter side of the feared institution. Few know that the Fed produces, in-house, about a dozen different comic books on financial topics — complete with itself cast as a superhero: (more)

The word “bank” is derived from the French banc, meaning bench, hearkening back to early medieval times when moneychangers and gem traders conducted their business face-to-face with their customers on a long bench. There was direct personal contact; business was based on mutual trust (or lack thereof). With all the current discussion about financial reform “so that Wall Street answers to Main Street,” it is also appropriate to examine banking on Main Street with small businesses in the neighborhood. (more)

President Obama has appointed three new doves to the Federal Reserve Board, thereby taking command of the nation’s central bank. But there’s a split developing inside the Federal Reserve System: The Reserve Bank presidents, appointed by their own district boards of directors, are increasingly likely to wage a battle royale against the central-bank headquarters in Washington and its free-money, ultra-easy policies. (more)