White House Targets Credit Card Chicanery

Key figures deny harsh quotes, assertions of Obama weakness

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration is fighting back against allegations from Ron Suskind's coming book Confidence Men that the president's top advisers undermined his authority and ignored his orders, reports Politico . “This is not what I told the author, this is not what I believe, and anyone who knows me and my history of supporting this president as a candidate and in office knows this isn’t true,” said former communications director Anita Dunn , who was quoted in Suskind's book as saying the White House was "a genuinely hostile workplace to women." More»

He's done the job before, under Clinton

(NEWSER) - President Obama named current Treasury adviser Gene Sperling as his next top economic aide today, taking over for Larry Summers as director of the National Economic Council, the AP reports. It’s familiar territory, the Los Angeles Times adds: Sperling had the same job under Bill Clinton, and he faced a Republican Congress. "He's a public servant who has devoted his life to making this economy work—and making it work, specifically, for middle-class families," Obama said. More»

A woman CEO? Or an outsider?

(NEWSER) - News that Larry Summers is leaving the Obama administration has set off a flurry of speculation about who will or should replace him. And we've got that speculation for you right here:

• Obama would like to pick a female CEO, sources tell Politico , because he's "acutely aware that all of the administration's big four economic leadership positions are currently filled by white males with virtually no experience running a major business enterprise."

Top adviser joins exodus of economic team

(AP) - President Obama's top economic adviser plans to leave the administration at the end of the year, the White House said today. Lawrence Summers will leave his post as director of the National Economic Council to return to Harvard University, where he once served as president before being forced out in the aftermath of a remark about women's abilities in math and science. The departure comes amid a sluggish economic recovery that has seen unemployment hover near 10%. More»

Falls to an average of $4,951

(NEWSER) - The average American’s credit card debt hit an 8-year low in the second quarter of the year—even as rates hit a 9-year high . The average combined credit card debt fell to $4,951, down 13% from $5,719 over the same stretch last year, according to figures from the TransUnion credit reporting agency. The average hasn’t been below $5,000 since the first quarter of 2002, the AP reports. More»