Coleman, Franken, Wall Street: Who’s received more campaign $$ from crisis and scandal-plagued FIRE sector?

During the 2008 cycle, Sen. Norm Coleman has received three and a half times more in campaign contributions than Al Franken from interests in the so-called FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate) sector at the heart of the continuing financial crisis–and over twice as much from the principal players in this week’s Wall Street drama.

Underneath the economic rubble: SEC exemptions led to the current crisis

The always interesting Big Picture blog has culled together quotes and analysis from today’s NY Sun and other sources documenting Lee Pickard, the former director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s trading and markets division, admitting that the current stock market tumble and credit crisis can be directly attributed to a purposeful SEC exemption that was given to five firms. Those five firms? Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the now-belly-up Lehman Bros., Merrill Lynch, and Bear Stearns.

MnIndy interview: Doug Henwood on Lehman, AIG, Gray Monday, and the economy

After Monday’s dramatic tumble in the financial markets–led by dire announcements about Lehman Brothers (bound for bankruptcy court), Merrill Lynch (absorbed by Bank of America) and insurance giant AIG (desperately seeking bridge loans)–I got in touch with Doug Henwood for some help in sorting out these latest developments and what they augur for the US economy on Main Street.

In a 20-minute interview taped Tuesday afternoon, Henwood–the publisher of the invaluable Left Business Observer newsletter and perhaps our most plainspoken economics journalist–took the measure of “Gray Monday” and the arc of the US economy.