Residential mortgage-backed securities are the huge investment packages of what turned out to be near-worthless mortgages that bankrupted many investors and contributed to the nation’s financial crisis.
GOP insiders attack Gingrich
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Republican insiders are rising up to cut Newt Gingrich down to size, testament to the GOP establishment’s fear that the mercurial candidate could lead the party to disaster this fall.
The gathering criticisms are bitingly sharp, as if edged by a touch of panic, a remarkable development considering the target once was speaker of the House and will go down in history as leader of the Republicans’ 1994 return to power in Congress. The intended beneficiary is Mitt Romney, a once-moderate Massachusetts governor whom many rank-and-file Republicans view with suspicion.
“The Republican establishment might not be wild about Mitt Romney, but they’re terrified by Newt Gingrich,” said Dan Schnur, a former GOP campaign strategist.
The anti-Gingrich statements have come from conservative columnists, talk show hosts including Ann Coulter, former Reagan administration officials and others. One of the harshest was written by former Sen. Bob Dole, the party’s 1996 presidential nominee.
“I have not been critical of Newt Gingrich but it is now time to take a stand before it is too late,” Dole wrote in the conservative magazine National Review. “If Gingrich is the nominee it will have an adverse impact on Republican candidates running for county, state, and federal offices.”
U.S. economy sick but healing
WASHINGTON (AP) — The American economy may not be truly healthy yet, but it’s healing.
The 2.8 percent annual growth rate reported Friday for the fourth quarter was the fastest since spring 2010 and was the third straight quarter that growth has accelerated.
Experts cautioned, however, that the pace was unlikely to last and that it’s not enough to sharply drive down the unemployment rate.
Unemployment stands at 8.5 percent — its lowest level in nearly three years after a sixth straight month of solid hiring. And Friday’s Commerce Department report suggests more hiring gains ahead.
For the final three months of 2011, Americans spent more on vehicles, and companies restocked their supplies at a robust pace.
Unit to investigate mortgage fraud
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal and state law enforcement officials announced Friday they have launched a fraud-fighting unit, starting with 55 prosecutors and investigators, to root out wrongdoing in the market for residential mortgage-backed securities.
Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference the team will benefit from existing probes and disclosed that investigators have issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions in recent days, with the prospect that “more will follow.”
He said bringing full enforcement resources to bear will help expose abuses and hold violators accountable.
Residential mortgage-backed securities are the huge investment packages of what turned out to be near-worthless mortgages that bankrupted many investors and contributed to the nation’s financial crisis.