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Negative interest rates finally materialize, Tim Geithner falls on his face at Congress, and the House moves forward with their policy of gutting the Federal Reserve. That’s three big stories to talk about on today’s Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

WSJ: House Attacks Fed, Treasury
MarketWatch: Panel Votes to Audit Fed Balance Sheet
WP: Threatening the Fed’s Independence
Bloomberg: Geithner Resignation Calls Increase
Ryan and Hensarling: Why No One Expects a Strong Recovery

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally brought out the health care bill he’s fashioned behind closed doors over the past several weeks, and it ain’t pretty. The Budget Committee fully implemented 10 year score of the bill is $2.5 trillion. The CBO score, which is really just a six year measure, says taxes will go up $493.6 billion, while Medicare will be cut $464.6 billion. It’s a massive piece of legislation, but will it actually solve any of America’s health care problems? We’ll discuss the bill on today’s Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Keith Hennessey: Reid’s Tax Increases
Weekly Standard: 2,074 Pages of Bad Ideas
AUL: Reid Releases Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Reuters: Key Differences in Bill
Times Online UK: Obama Fears Double Dip Recession
WSJ: Showdown on Health Care

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The Democrat leadership in Washington is terrified that people will start blaming them for historically high unemployment levels, despite their best efforts to create or save jobs in Texas District 85 and elsewhere. We’ll talk about how the markets perceive their possible solutions — and why none of them are likely to work — on today’s Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

WP: House Focus Shifts to Jobs
AP: Jobs Jobs Jobs
NYT: Jobs!
WSJ: Jobs?

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Is America becoming more like China under President Obama? Or should we be upset that it isn’t? We’ll talk about the President’s jarring diplomatic trip to Asia and how the markets responded to Ben Bernanke’s New York speech on today’s Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

WSJ: Common Ground With Obama and Jintao
AP: China and America, Working Together
WP: Obama, Hu vow to continue to strengthen partnership
Niall Ferguson: The Great Wallop
RCW: Asia and the West in the Age of Obama

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It’s another day with the Federal Reserve at the center of discussion as Ben Bernanke heads to New York City to give some significant remarks. Should the Fed be more transparent? Should it be audited? We’ll talk about that and how the markets respond to the latest retail report on the latest Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

AP: Stocks Rise on Retail Report
WSJ: The Fed and Transparency
David Ignatius: Dodd and the Fed
Cafe Hayek: Adam Smith and Financial Regulation
TNL: Chris Dodd’s Big Regulation Push

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Welcome to Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca. Today we’d like to welcome first-time listeners at our new sponsor, BigGovernment.com. You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. For our Friday, November 13th edition, we’ll be talking about health care, and how President Obama’s policies could actually hurt the American entrepreneur. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Wall Street Journal: Health Care Surtax Applies to Capital Gains

FindLaw: Health Care and Small Business - the Three Bills Explained

Time: Why Small Business is Opposing the Health Care Bills

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President Obama heads to China this weekend for a four day trip at a key juncture for the global economy. What are the US’s goals there? And what are some of the lessons we’ve learned about prosperity and capitalism in the twenty years since the Berlin Wall fell? We answer these questions and more on the latest edition of Coffee & Markets, a series of daily morning podcasts on politics and the marketplace, brought to you by The New Ledger.

Links:

LA Times: China, the US and Taiwan

Obama’s visit highlights Asia’s importance

CCTV: Obama - China is a Vital Partner

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Today Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd will present his proposed reforms of financial regulation, which could have massive ramifications for American banks and the entire economy. Will these reforms do anything to stop another crash, or will they spell the end of American small business? We answer these questions and more on the latest edition of Coffee & Markets, a series of brief morning podcasts on politics and the marketplace, brought to you by The New Ledger.

Links:

Reuters: Dodd set to unveil financial reform bill

Bloomberg: Dodd Proposes Stripping Fed, FDIC of Regulation Roles

NPR: How Dodd’s reforms would change Fed

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Francis Cianfrocca joins Ben Domenech for the Monday, November 9th edition of Coffee & Markets, a series of brief morning podcasts on politics and the marketplace, now appearing as well on WashingtonTimes.com.

Today’s podcast focuses on the surge in stock markets around the globe, the health care vote over the weekend, and the difficulty of regulating moral hazard.

Items discussed include:

Interfluidity on Moral Hazard

National Journal: With House Passage, Stage Set for Senate (subscription only)

Even as the Senate comes back for a brief session this week before Wednesday’s Veterans Day holiday, the stage is largely set for the rest of the year’s legislative agenda in the wake of House passage of a landmark healthcare overhaul bill late Saturday night.

The House voted 220-215 to pass its version of health reform, but that milestone victory marks only the continuation of the bill’s long journey from the House to the president’s desk.

Action — or what passes for action — now moves to the Senate, where Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has already declared the House bill “dead on arrival.”

But Senate Majority Leader Reid’s office signaled he will try to complete a healthcare overhaul bill this year, even if it means weekend work.

“We will be in as much as necessary to get a bill done,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley said.

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Brad Jackson joins Ben Domenech for the Friday, November 6th edition of Coffee & Markets, a series of brief morning podcasts on politics and the marketplace, now appearing as well on WashingtonTimes.com.

Today’s podcast takes another break from market and economic coverage to focus on the ramifications of this week’s elections: who are some of the winners and losers who might not be obvious? What are some of the unexpected lessons? TNL’s Brad Jackson offers his take.

Items discussed include:

Michael Barone on Suburban Voters

Economically, the Obama majority was a top-and-bottom coalition. The Democratic ticket carried voters with incomes under $50,000 and over $200,000, and lost those in between. As the shrewd liberal analyst Thomas Edsall has noted, there’s a tension between what these groups want. High earners in non-Southern suburbs have been voting Democratic since the mid-1990s largely because of their liberal views on cultural issues; low earners vote Democratic because they want more government money shoveled their way.

Tuesday’s elections suggest those whose money gets shoveled are having second thoughts about this odd-couple coalition. In Virginia, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell carried affluent and immigrant-heavy Fairfax County, which Barack Obama carried by 21%. In New Jersey, Republican Christopher Christie cut Democrat Jon Corzine’s margin in demographically similar Bergen County from 16% in 2005 to 1%. A Republican was elected county executive in Westchester County, New York, and the Republican candidate for state Supreme Court in Pennsylvania carried the four-county suburban Philadelphia area—turf that voted 57% for Barack Obama in 2008.