Power Play

12:52pm: The White House needs the labor vote for next year's election and it's deploying agency muscle win it -- at the expense of job creation. More

Jun 17: President Obama first captured the public's imagination with eloquent pleas for national unity, but our nation has only grown more divided since he entered office. What gives? More

May 9: The president already faces high unemployment. Add inflation to the mix, and Democrats all over will have big trouble next year. More

Mar 28: From Washington to Wall Street, American leaders are great at justifying their mistakes, but terrible at actually learning from them. What does that mean for the economic recovery? More

Mar 10: So much for the promise of a labor renaissance with the Obama inauguration. Unions are flailing in D.C. and on Main Street. More

Feb 8: President Obama is exhorting businesses to invest in American jobs and bolster the nation's distressed middleclass. But first he needs to show he's on their side. More

Jan 26: The President's unifying tone in last night's State of the Union was designed to make us forget that his first two years of governance left a nation deeply divided. More

Jan 20: In many corners of Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats are coming together to find ways to lower the national debt, offering cautious optimism for this Congress. More

Jan 18: During President Hu Jintao's visit with President Obama this week, don't expect frank discussion on the brewing crisis in U.S.-China co-dependence. More

Jan 7: Bold action got us into this financial mess, and only bold action will get us out. More

Dec 13: To avoid becoming chronically unemployed, people need more than platitudes of sympathy. They need to be part of the political dialogue. More

Nov 23: Will the senator from Tennessee's unrepentant negotiating make him a Republican hero or a target of the Tea Party? More

Nov 3: Democrats can't blame unemployment or the Great Recession for their massive losses. More

Nov 2: Two Capitol Hill veterans are poised to take key positions in budget and reform committees: Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Darrell Issa of California. More

Oct 31: When the Republicans went full bore after Pres. Clinton, they lost power. This year's newcomers need to learn the lessons of the 1990s. More

Oct 29: If American democracy is being threatened by special-interest dollars, why -- after a decade of "reform" -- is there more outside electioneering and more negative advertising? More

Sep 30: California is at the forefront of a working-class revolt as government workers pull in six-figure retirement packages. More

Sep 1: Think red, not green. But don't expect the republicans who want it to spread the politically lethal word. More

Aug 20: How the administration's push to pass financial reform squandered a rare moment of bipartisan work in Congress. More

Aug 19: The government won't come close to recouping its investment in GM. Steve Rattner says that's the wrong measurement. More

Jul 15: The government needs to take note of how companies like Caterpillar are quitting the sidelines to break down barriers for more U.S. manufacturing jobs. More

Jul 1: The former president shows what's missing from Obama's response to the Gulf Coast spill. More

May 19: When 500 screaming bank protestors descend on a neighbor, you can't help but consider the motives. More

May 14: How the president plans to pay for his agenda: A little tax here, a little tax there, and soon you're talking about real money. More

May 13: Wall Street may be a convenient villain but small government types are fixing their gazes on Fannie and Freddie. More

Jan 25: Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders are furious with the Fed. Now their anger has made them populist folk heroes - and a headache for Ben Bernanke. More

Nov 2: As politicians plan for midterm elections, they're going to get all tied up about who gets credit for a recovering economy. More

Sep 22: She's smart. She's experienced. She's worldly. Republican strategists worried about their party's future should take heed. More

Sep 10: Despite a few partisan jabs, President Obama's speech touched on conciliation - and even a big concession. But can conservatives take him at his word? More

Aug 20: Why the President is having a hard time getting a consensus: Citizens are wary of making the system worse, while politicians are deeply divided over the choices. More

Jul 29: The economic crisis has shifted the balance of power, so the U.S. has stopped lecturing its biggest lender. More

Mar 24: The Treasury Secretary is earning some key political support, but the real test comes when he asks for more bailout money. More

Mar 18: The president is trying to satisfy free marketers without getting on the bad side of labor. He could just tick everyone off. More

Mar 13: Who'll buy the toxic assets? The administration has condemned greed, but now must find a way to motivate profit-seekers More

Mar 6: The president has worked up a budget that manages big spending and big deficit cuts. All he needs now is Democratic votes on the Hill. More

Feb 25: Obama's speech to Congress shows a careful tone on the economy - dispelling gloom but maintaining an urgency about doing big things. More

Jan 28: Chronic ill will between Democrats and Republicans is aggravating differences over the trillion-dollar plan. More

Jan 21: The new president strives to assure Americans that, yes, they can. But reviving America's economy will mean hard work and 'unpleasant decisions.' More

Jan 20: He's going to spend like never before. He's going to bail out the financial system. And there's no play book. More

Jan 14: Congress is upset about how the bailout funds were spent and now Geithner's taxes. But the severity of the crisis may get him confirmed. More

Jan 8: Unions and business agree: The economy needs a jolt. But they have different views about what spending will mean. The president-elect is appealing to both. More

Jan 7: Anger over TARP has some Republicans sounding like populists. The identity crisis comes while the party is trying to find its voice in Obama's Washington. More

Dec 19: Obama the campaigner promised labor he'd support a bill to make unionizing easier. But business is opposed and the GOP hopes it has found an issue to seize on. More

Dec 10: Detroit may get its bailout at last - but Wall Street could pay the ultimate price. More

Dec 2: At the Fortune 500 Forum Monday, Hank Paulson revealed how the financial crisis has changed his thinking about free markets. More

Nov 24: The former treasury secretary was one step ahead of the Bush administration in prescribing solutions to the financial crisis. More

Nov 22: The New York Fed chief is a fresh face, but still a Washington insider. More

Nov 5: The financial crisis won Barack Obama the presidency. Now Obama's White House will have to save Wall Street. More

Oct 16: Many time-tested tactics have failed John McCain in his race for the presidency. With 19 days to go, he's hoping a blunt Ohioan can help him close the gap. More

Oct 8: Republican nominee's mortgage plan bypasses the free market in favor of big government. More

Sep 29: Republicans might blame Pelosi's rhetoric, but the message that mattered was the one that came from voters back home. More

Sep 27: In debate, both express support for bailout, but are vague on what its cost would force them to give up as president. More

Sep 24: Why neither presidential candidate knows what's about to hit him. More

Sep 8: Republican blasts 'cronyism' that led to problems. Dem notes the complexity of a clean-up. More

Aug 29: Nominee's economic policy chief brings ex-rival's team into the fold. More

Aug 25: At its convention in Denver, the Democratic Party tops the centrist economic policies of the Clinton Administration with a Big Government approach to the country's big problems. More

Jun 18: The Democratic nominee, in an interview with Fortune, says he wants free trade "to work for all people." More

Dec 14: The leading presidential candidates likes to excoriate big business, but with one exception, none of the them would govern with frothing animosity toward corporate America. More

Dec 13: With the Iowa caucuses nearing, some GOP presidential candidates are reviving the party's historic isolationist wing - and trade is their target. More

Dec 6: Free-market Republicans may not like the fact that he's meddling with the economy, but his efforts may serve them well come November '08, says Nina Easton. More

Oct 18: A Bain Capital deal that would give a Chinese outfit a stake in 3Com creates a ruckus on Capitol Hill, reports Fortune's Nina Easton. More

Oct 10: Republicans had to strike a tough balance last night, acknowledging the current economic strife without appearing to critique the GOP's track record, writes Fortune's Nina Easton. More

Sep 21: At Thursday's House banking panel legislators on both sides of the aisle were actually in accord when it came to how to fix the subprime mess, reports Fortune's Nina Easton. More

Sep 10: Democratic strategists and candidates believe they can profit from voter anxiety about jobs and the economy. Do Republicans know how to play the issue? Fortune's Nina Easton examines the strategies. More

Aug 16: But the Treasury Secretary tells Fortune's Nina Easton that the economy is strong enough to withstand the volatility. More

Aug 9: Friend or foe? With China holding more than $400 billion in U.S. debt, the question is already roiling presidential politics, says Fortune's Nina Easton. More

Aug 2: Voters who complain that the wealthy are getting wealthier love the Democrats. But so, too, do many of the wealthiest. Fortune's Nina Easton examines a tough balancing act for the party of the people. More

Jul 19: The Dow is soaring, and the economy is growing. So why are so many Americans bearish? Fortune's Nina Easton looks at an economy where money is plentiful, but security scarce. More

Jun 8: From opposite sides of the aisle, two Congressmen are quietly trying to take on the most volatile policy issue in Washington. Fortune's Nina Easton looks inside an unlikely partnership. More

May 24: Legislators hoping for a breakthrough in U.S.- China trade talks were disappointed, again, reports Fortune's Nina Easton. More