Jason Furman, Barack Obama's campaign director for economic policy, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John McCain's senior economic policy advisor, met up on Squawk Box Thursday morning for a fiscal policy smack-down.

The president fondly remembered Tony Snow Thursday, telling mourners at Snow's funeral the conservative commentator-turned-White House press secretary "amassed a rare record of accomplishment."

For years, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tenaciously worked to nurture, and then protect, their financial empires by invoking the political sacred cow of homeownership and fielding an army of lobbyists, power brokers and political contributors.

Democrats in Congress are gearing up to pass a second election-year economic stimulus package, but unlike the $152 billion measure that passed in February, they are not counting on getting the support of President Bush.

Longer term U.S. Treasury bond yields have bottomed and will steadily rise because of inflation pressures in the aftermath of the ongoing U.S. economic downturn, the manager of the world's biggest bond fund wrote on Monday.

President Bush said Thursday he will lift key trade sanctions against North Korea and remove it from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, a remarkable turnaround in policy toward the communist regime he once branded as part of an "axis of evil."

The House Wednesday approved a bill that would protect about 25 million taxpayers from paying a tax that originally was meant for only the very wealthy.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology.

President Bush urged Congress to end a ban on offshore oil drilling, seeking to address rising consumer angst over gasoline prices.

Democrat Barack Obama said he would consider trimming corporate tax rates as part of a simplification of the U.S. tax code if he is elected to the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

A former CEO leading Barack Obama's search for a vice presidential candidate resigned abruptly Wednesday after questions about his home mortgage deals became a distraction for a candidate who argues he's not influenced by special interests.

Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain by 47 percent to 41 percent in the 2008 race for the White House, according to the first NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted after Mr. Obama wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain called for a EU-U.S. trade pact, saying exports were a bright spot in the U.S. economy Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton ended her historic quest to become the first female president Saturday, congratulating Democratic rival Barack Obama and throwing her full support behind him. Obama said he was "thrilled and honored" to have Clinton's support.

Hillary Clinton will end her White House bid and declare her support for Barack Obama, aides said on Wednesday, drawing the curtain on a grueling 16-month nominating fight that badly split the Democratic Party.