President Barack Obama says Americans’ values are offended by excessive paychecks for executives whose companies were bailed out by taxpayers. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Obama praised the Treasury Department’s decision to order seven big companies that haven’t paid back last year’s government bailouts to halve their top executives’ average compensation.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has told a South Carolina audience that the federal bailout has failed to create jobs in America. The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that Jackson spoke with church members before delivering the sermon at Charity Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston on Sunday.

The federal deficit surged higher into record territory in August, hitting $1.38 trillion with one month left in the budget year. The Treasury Department says the deficit last month was $111.4 billion, below the $152 billion that economists expected.

The White House is fine with bailed-out insurer AIG’s decision to pay its new CEO $7 million a year. Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs says that’s the price of competent leadership to make the company profitable again.

The Treasury Department has approved 10 of the nation’s largest banks to repay $68 billion in government bailout money.

General Motors and Chrysler are racing to complete restructuring plans. They are facing a deadline Tuesday to present an outline of how they intend to make themselves viable again and repay billions in government loans.

Bank of America is selling some of its corporate aircraft fleet as the bank looks to scale back costs. Many financial firms are giving up private jet travel as scrutiny mounts over lavish spending after the companies received billions of dollars in rescue funds.

Bailed-out banking giant Wells Fargo is planning more than a week of corporate junkets at Las Vegas casinos. Wells Fargo, which received $25 billion in taxpayer money, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn and Encore hotels starting Friday. Some of that is for a company conference honoring the top mortgage lenders.

Bailed-out banking giant Wells Fargo is planning more than a week of corporate junkets at Las Vegas casinos. Wells Fargo, which received $25 billion in taxpayer money, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn and Encore hotels starting Friday. Some of that is for a company conference honoring the top mortgage lenders.

The Treasury Department says it will need to borrow $493 billion in the first three months of this year, a record amount for the January-March period.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is meeting with top government officials to develop the administration’s plan for overhauling the $700 billion bailout program and improve regulation of the financial system.

The Obama administration is increasing transparency in the government’s controversial $700 billion financial rescue program and says more reforms are in the works.

The Federal Reserve says the economy has weakened further and signaled it will keep a key interest rate near zero for quite “some time” to cushion the fallout.

The Treasury Department says it has distributed another $386 million to 23 banks, the first awards from the federal bailout fund since President Barack Obama took office.

President-elect Barack Obama has asked Democratic senators not to stand in the way of an additional $350 billion in bailout funds, calling the money essential to helping the troubled economy.