Free Republic

~ EXCERPT ~ The U.S. government plans to sell a significant share of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. this summer despite the disappointing performance of the auto maker's stock, people familiar with the matter said. A sale within the next several months would almost certainly mean U.S. taxpayers will take a loss on their $50 billion rescue of the Detroit auto maker in 2009. To break even, the U.S. Treasury would need to sell its remaining stake—about 500 million shares—at $53 apiece. GM closed off 27 cents a share at $29.97 in 4 p.m. trading Monday on the...

In an effort to allay fears that S&P’s judgment — one the White House has called “political” — will weaken global confidence in the U.S. economy, press secretary Jay Carney flatly dismissed the pessimistic assessment of how realistic a bipartisan deficit reduction agreement really is. When it comes to politics, Carney said, the White House knows better than S&P or the financial markets about what is possible in Washington. “We simply believe that that process is better,” Carney told reporters on Monday. “We believe that the political process will outperform the S&P’s expectations.”

President Barack Obama took on the “birther” issue that potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has yanked from the GOP’s fringe and thrust into the mainstream, saying it will backfire in a general election because people know he doesn’t “have horns” and want to focus on pocketbook issues.

President Obama pledged to "listen" at the outset of his much-ballyhooed bipartisan health care summit on Thursday. Turns out he meant he'd be listening to his own voice. By the end of the televised event, Mr. Obama had spoken for 119 minutes - nine minutes more than the 110 minutes consumed by 17 Republicans. The 21 Democratic lawmakers used 114 minutes, giving the president and his supporters a whopping 233 minutes, according to a "talk clock" kept by GOP aides. From the beginning, no one could agree on anything, even how much time each side had used. When a miffed...