Wall Street Journal:

The Fed chairman is used to harsh treatment from some corners - Sen. Jim Bunning (R., Ky.) and Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) are two persistent Fed critics - but usually has a few friendly faces in front of him. That wasn’t the case during today’s hearings on Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill Lynch. (more…)

WSJ:

An expected rebound in the U.S. economy this year could be choked off by rising interest rates and inflation, sending the nation into a double-dip recession in mid to late 2010, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Martin Regalia warned Thursday. (more…)

The Journal.

WSJ:

Foreclosures aren’t only due to homeowners facing a cash crunch. One out of four defaults on mortgage loans is “strategic,” a new study says, due to a mortgage’s value exceeding the value of a house even if the homeowner can afford to pay.

Strategic default is most likely when home values have fallen by more than 15%, according to the study by authors of the Financial Trust Index, a joint project of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. (Read the paper here by authors Northwestern’s Paola Sapienza, Chicago’s Luigi Zingalesand Luigi Guiso of the European University Institute.)

WSJ.

Examiner:

Jonas’ official merchandise Web site sells bumper stickers that read “Jonas 2040,” and he told us that he spends a lot of time reading up on the presidents.

“I’ve read a couple biographies, but I’m more into books with quotes, things that [presidents] said that are really powerful. [I] just like looking back on some amazing men,” he said.

If he does eventually decide to run for president, one of his selling points can be that he’s so popular, he makes girls faint.
While speaking at a Senate committee hearing on juvenile diabetes Wednesday morning - his first taste of governmental life - a congressional intern fainted in the back of the room midway through his testimony.

Barone:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced a tough grilling yesterday in a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as indicated by the coverage here in the Washington Examiner and in the Wall Street Journal. He was pressed hard on his interactions in December and January with Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis over the issue of whether BofA should follow through on its commitment to buy Merrill Lynch. The reviews were not all positive. The invaluable Megan McArdle, a Bernanke fan for the most part, wrote that she got the impression he was lying.

The Examiner:

One of the mysteries surrounding President Obama’s firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin is what prompted the White House, supported by the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, to try to get rid of Walpin so quickly and quietly? (more…)

Examiner:

It’s like taking the guy selling hotdogs at $8 a pop and putting him in charge of national health insurance. You buy it only because you can’t bring your own hotdogs into the stadium.

WSJ:

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said the Obama administration may soon issue its first veto over an ongoing congressional effort to prevent the Pentagon from killing the futuristic - and enormously expensive - F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

Donley reiterated the veto threat to a small group of reporters gathered into his Pentagon conference room earlier today. The Defense Department wants to cap production of the plane at 187, but the House Armed Services Committee recently signed off on a bill that would include $369 million towards the purchase of 12 more F-22s next year. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other senior Pentagon officials want that money stripped out to free up funding for weapons that can immediately be used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WSJ.

AP:

WASHINGTON - A closely watched discrimination lawsuit by white firefighters who say they have unfairly been denied promotions is one of three remaining Supreme Court cases awaiting resolution Monday. And the court is considering whether a critical documentary about Hillary Rodham Clinton should be regulated under campaign laws. (more…)

AP:

Hours after the House passed landmark legislation meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions and create an energy-efficient economy, President Barack Obama on Saturday urged senators to show courage and follow suit.

The sharply debated bill’s fate is unclear in the Senate, and Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to ratchet up pressure on the 100-seat chamber.

“My call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this,” he said. “We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past. Don’t believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth.”

The Examiner.

WSJ:

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor asking her to provide further information about her background, as jockeying continues in advance of Sotomayor’s July 13 confirmation hearing.

The Alabama senator has been outlining his concerns about Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge in New York, in a series of public statements. He has cited her reliance on foreign legal sources, her position on the Second Amendment, and her role in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF).

Source.

AP:

President Barack Obama’s criticism of Iran has escalated into an unusually personal war of words. To Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s demand he apologize for meddling, Obama shot back that the regime should “think carefully” about answers owed to protesters it has arrested, bludgeoned and killed.

“The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous,” Obama said Friday. “We see it and we condemn it.”

Wall Street Journal.

Source.

Market Watch:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Porsche Automobil Holding SE said Saturday it is rejecting an ultimatum by Volkswagen and a large shareholder to accept a merger of the two automotive companies that would have put VW in charge, Dow Jones Newswires reported Saturday.

The new proposal sought to have Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and Chairman Wolfgang Porsche agree by the end of June to a deal that would have had the Emirate of Qatar buying Porsche’s stock (POAHF 64.00, -1.25, -1.92%) options in VW, with VW taking a 49 percent stake in Porsche’s sports-car business for 3 billion euros to 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion to $5.6 billion), reports said.

Market Watch:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Palm Inc. rallied 15% Friday morning as investors reacted favorably to the handset maker’s fourth-quarter financial results — even though the period did not include sales of the company’s newly launched Pre smartphone. (more…)

Source.

Source.