The unveiling of President Obama’s federal budget for 2013 involves two big stories. The first concerns deficits and debt, which have gotten plenty of attention. Although Obama characterizes his budget as restrained and responsible, the federal debt will grow 68 percent over the next decade to $19.5 trillion in 2022. But the second story has gotten only modest attention. It is how spending on the elderly is slowly and inexorably crowding out the rest of government — and creating enormous pressures for future, steep tax increases. Read full article > >

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Obama’s budget guts the government

U.S. and European antitrust officials approved Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility on Monday, clearing the way for the search giant to not only manufacture its own phones but also, more importantly, gain a much bigger patent portfolio. Read full article > >

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Antitrust officials approve sale of Motorola Mobility to Google

The Obama administration has repeatedly boasted how the historic rescue of Wall Street will cost taxpayers far less than originally expected. But the budget proposal released Monday came with some unwelcome news: The price tag of the bailout is suddenly going up. Read full article > >

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Obama budget: Price tag for Wall Street bailout goes up

The government’s new consumer watchdog on Monday outlined the first steps of its plans to regulate mortgage servicers, which have come under fire for fraudulent foreclosure practices . The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will revamp the billing statements sent to homeowners and the disclosures required for some complicated mortgages. It also is drafting new rules to prevent servicers from improperly charging consumers for homeowner’s insurance. Read full article > >

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CFPB outlines plans for mortgage servicers

Congressional Republicans rejected President Obama’s $3.8 trillion spending outline as nothing more than a political document meant to guide his reelection campaign while putting off any of the tough decisions about ballooning red ink until after the voters have cast their ballots. Read full article > >

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Republicans call Obama’s budget a reelection plan, ‘gimmick’

President Obama on Monday unveiled a $3.8 trillion spending plan that seeks to pump billions of dollars into the economy while raising taxes on the rich to tame a soaring national debt now projected to grow significantly faster than previously forecast. Read full article > >

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Obama budget: National debt will be $1 trillion higher in a decade than forecast

Exelis, Computer Sciences Corp. and Raytheon risk losing $3 billion in rocket-launch revenue during the next decade as the U.S. Air Force consolidates contracts to reduce costs. The Air Force plans to save at least 5 percent by eliminating redundancies in three maintenance and engineering contracts, Christina Sukach, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Space Command, said in an e-mail. Read full article > >

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Air Force pares contracts in cost-reduction move

Exelis, Computer Sciences Corp. and Raytheon risk losing $3 billion in rocket-launch revenue during the next decade as the U.S. Air Force consolidates contracts to reduce costs. The Air Force plans to save at least 5 percent by eliminating redundancies in three maintenance and engineering contracts, Christina Sukach, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Space Command, said in an e-mail. Read full article > >

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Air Force pares contracts in cost-reduction move

Procter & Gamble’s failure to raise the price of Cascade dishwashing soap shows why investors are buying Treasuries at the lowest yields in history, giving the Federal Reserve more scope to boost the economy. Read full article > >

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Sign that bond market backs 3rd quantitative-easing round? Check Huggies’ price.

A White House consultant’s report said Friday that the Energy Department should bolster its ability to assess loan guarantee risks in the wake of the Solyndra bankruptcy, and urged the department to “aggressively strengthen its position” before more borrowers turn to the government for relief. Read full article > >

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Consultant suggests changes to Energy Department’s loan reviews in the wake of Solyndra

Financial regulators have built an elaborate computer apparatus to scan stock markets for signs of insider trading, but the radar isn’t pointed at Congress. Instead, it is designed to detect more conventional forms of insider trading — a corporate lawyer acting on advance word of a merger or an accountant leaking details about a company’s earnings. A senator who calls his broker after receiving a closed-door briefing might not even raise a blip. Read full article > >

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For SEC, investigating insider trading in Congress presents complications

President Obama will send Congress a 2013 spending plan that would raise taxes on the rich and pump nearly $500 billion into new construction projects over the next decade, launching an election-year debate over the budget that promises starkly different visions for managing government debt and the sluggish economy. Read full article > >

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Budget to raise taxes on the rich, hike federal spending

The government’s $25 billion settlement Thursday with banks over fraudulent foreclosure practices begins a long-promised reckoning with the financial industry over its role in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, officials said. Read full article > >

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Settlement launches foreclosure reckoning

Even before the world knew him as a genius, the FBI had the book on Steve Jobs. In a 1991 background check, the FBI pegged Apple’s co-founder as brash and unlikable and noted his early drug use. Most tellingly, the agents, evaluating Jobs for an appointment under President George H.W. Bush, said acquaintances found him to have a peculiarly driven nature. Read full article > >

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Steve Jobs’s unflattering FBI file mentions drug use, 2.65 GPA

Gabe Sherman argues that Dodd-Frank has already ended Wall Street as we know it. So how did MF Global go up in flames last year? The brokerage firm’s bankruptcy was mostly the outcome of failed, risky bets it placed through complex derivatives, and it lost an estimated $1.2 billion of its customers’ money in the process. After raising this issue on Monday, I got a call from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who argued that MF Global’s demise wasn’t a sign that Dodd-Frank had failed to regulate derivatives in a comprehensive way. Read full article > >

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Barney Frank: MF Global bankruptcy wasn’t Dodd-Frank’s fault