Government, Politics and the Economy Gingrich: Obama Has “Already Failed” Former House Speaker, and possible 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said that President Obama’s plan to fix the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention has “already failed.” Bloomberg.com NY Senate: GOP Takes Control in Coup In a remarkable move, the New York Senate has come back into Republican hands. Malcolm Smith was ousted as Senate Majority Leader replaced by Senator Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre. Dems still hold the majority, but not the leadership and Paterson is ballistic. WCBSTV.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy White House Predicts Zero Job Growth This Year Christina Romer, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, expects the GDP to begin growing in the fourth quarter of this year, but she also expects unemployment to rise after the economy turns, saying the GDP must grow at 2.5% before unemployment improves. NYTimes.com Intense Bargaining Earns Banks Stress Test Concessions After two weeks of intense negotiations, the Fed scaled back the size of the capital hole facing some of the nation's biggest banks shortly before concluding its stress tests, using a measurement of bank-capital levels that resulted in much smaller capital... [Read Full Article]