obama administration

Seeking cooperation in a polarized climate, President Barack Obama called on Congress Tuesday to act quickly on bipartisan measures that would extend tax breaks for small businesses and help startup companies raise money. He said he would sign the legislation "right away."

As the debt-ceiling discussion winds down in Washington and everyone laments over the meaning and mutual downside of compromise, the economy is still in trouble. But we learned some lessons along the way. Here are some key points from the debacle.

The housing crisis continues unabated, and millions of unemployed Americans remain at risk of ending up homeless. But additional government help is arriving from the Obama administration, and nonprofit agencies are making a difference in the efforts of some families to get help from their lenders.

Citing unnamed sources, news outlets reported Thursday evening that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner might leave the Obama administration soon. In response to the rumors, Geithner insisted, "I live for this work.... I'm going to be doing it for the foreseeable future."

Even before the International Energy Agency and the White House announced they were releasing billions of gallons or oil from fuel reserves, gas prices were falling. In the past two weeks, a gallon is down more than 11 cents. Also falling -- hopes for the euro, and the outlook for U.S. Treasury bonds.

Describing the president as deeply concerned about the impact on global economic growth of oil supply disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa, the Obama administration announced it would release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the next 30 days.

The administration's proposed revamp of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is actually an offering of multiple policy options, essentially passing the political hot potato to the Republicans. Problem is, any fix is sure to make mortgages costlier, with potential harm to the housing market.

In the State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama set a goal of getting 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. Now he's proposed $7,500 rebates, instead of tax credits, to reach that goal. Will that be enough to make it doable?

The Obama administration is launching a "private sector alliance" to help entrepreneurs. Startup America Partnership will bring together entrepreneurs, start-up financiers, CEOs and others to help companies start or grow, the group said in a statement. Steve Case, co-founder of AOL (AOL), will...

Approval ratings for both President Barack Obama and Congress have reached their highest levels in more than a year, according to a Harris Interactive poll released Monday.