The Washington Post reports that about two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way in which banks and other financial institutions conduct their business, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Majorities also back two main components of legislation that congressional Democrats plan to bring to a vote in the Senate this week: greater federal oversight of consumer loans and a company-paid fund that would cover the costs of dismantling failed firms that put the broader economy at risk.
A third pillar of the reform effort draws a more even split: 43 percent support federal regulation of the derivatives market; 41 percent are opposed. Nearly one in five – 17 percent – express no opinion on this complicated topic.
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The New York Times reports that small bands of elite American Special Operations forces have been operating with increased intensity for several weeks in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan’s largest city, targeting insurgent leaders to weaken the Taliban in advance of major operations, senior administration and military officials say.
The looming battle for the home of the Taliban is shaping up as a test of President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy, including how much the United States can count on the country’s leaders and military for support, and whether a likely increase in civilian casualties from heavy fighting will compromise a strategy that depends on winning over the Afghan people.
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The Hill reports that five dozen House Democrats have signed a letter calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to broaden its fraud investigation of Goldman Sachs.
The SEC alleges Goldman did not tell investors a hedge fund betting against a security marketed by Goldman was involved in setting up the mortgage-backed product. The suit focuses on one security.
Democrats, led by Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), contend there could be 24 additional instances of fraud because Goldman peddled not one but 25 of these instruments to investors. The letter asks the SEC to investigate the remaining 24 securities to see if material information was withheld from investors.
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Talking Points Memo reports that the city of Phoenix is considering suing Arizona over a controversial new immigration law signed into law on Friday.
The legislation requires law enforcement to demand immigration papers from anyone who they have a “reasonable suspicion” is in the country illegally.
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon told the “Arizona Republic” that the City Council will consider an item tomorrow that would direct the city attorney “to prepare a lawsuit asking for an injunction on this law and challenging it on constitutional grounds.” He also called the new law “unconstitutional” and “unenforceable.”
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