Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thurs 02.25.2010
In Debt We Trust By The Daily Reckoning - WallStreetPit.com Wherever we look at the world economy today, we see a wall of risk…and potential financial catastrophe. We see a large number of virtually bankrupt major sovereign states (US, UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, Japan and many more) teetering atop a financial system that is bankrupt, but is temporarily kept alive with phony valuations and unlimited money printing. Increasingly, therefore, investors will want to exchange this funny money for gold. Governments like the US and the UK are committed to printing increasing amounts of worthless paper money in order to finance their growing deficits. The consequence of this rescue mission will be a hyperinflationary depression in many countries, due to many currencies becoming worthless.
Bernanke delivers warning on U.S. debt By Patrice Hill - Washington Times Stage is set in U.S. for a Greek tragedy With uncharacteristic bluntness, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Congress on Wednesday that the United States could soon face a debt crisis like the one in Greece, and declared that the central bank will not help legislators by printing money to pay for the ballooning federal debt. Recent events in Europe, where Greece and other nations with large, unsustainable deficits like the United States are having increasing trouble selling their debt to investors, show that the U.S. is vulnerable to a sudden reversal of fortunes that would force taxpayers to pay higher interest rates on the debt, Mr. Bernanke said.
Is the Economy Headed for a Slowdown? By James Picerno - WallStreetPit.com Yesterday’s sharp downturn in the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for February has rattled investors, but the shift in sentiment isn’t surprising. With the labor market still weak, it’s only reasonable to expect that there’ll be a price to pay in Joe Sixpack’s outlook. As the Conference Board’s Lynn Franco said in the accompanying press release, consumers “remain extremely pessimistic about their income prospects. This combination of earnings and job anxieties is likely to continue to curb spending.”
Bullish a Year Ago, Robert Prechter Now Sees "the Biggest Bubble in History" by Aaron Task - TechTicker.com In February 2009, Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International predicted a market rally that would be "sharp and scary for anyone who is short." In recent months, Prechter returned to more familiar territory, declaring here in November the market was in a "topping area." "The individual investor has been more or less abandoning stocks" and buying bond funds, Prechter concedes. "I think that is going from the frying pan into the fire. The bond market is the biggest bubble in the history of the world. " Corporate debt, municipal debt, mortgages and consumer loans will all suffer in the great deflation Prechter believes is already underway
Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Greece By SEBASTIAN MOFFETT And COSTAS PARIS - WSJ ATHENS—Tens of thousands of Greeks took to the streets Wednesday as much of the country went on a 24-hour strike against government austerity measures. A small group of youths threw Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas. However, the 20,000 people who filed through downtown Athens—a relatively large crowd for a Greek strike—mostly limited themselves to chanting anti-government slogans.
Europe at risk of double-dip recession By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph A blizzard of bad data from France, Germany, and Italy have raised concerns that Europe's fragile recovery is stalling already, with mounting risks of a double-dip recession this year. French household spending dropped 2.7pc in January, led by a 19pc collapse in car sales following the end of France's scrappage scheme. Germany's IFO business confidence index dropped for the first time since the depths of the crisis in December 2008, partly due to bad weather. Confidence relapsed in Italy. Mervyn King, the Bank of England's Governor, said Europe's rebound "appears to have stalled" , posing fresh risks for Britain as well. "My particular concerns at present derive from the state of the world economy and our largest trading partner, the euro area," he said.
Wealthy Greeks Send Money Abroad By COSTAS PARIS - WSJ ATHENS--Wealthy Greeks are pulling their money out of local banks and sending it abroad, fearing increased government scrutiny on assets and a run on the banks if Athens is forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund, according to private bankers and other people with knowledge of the situation. "There is a lot of uncertainty out there," said a senior private banker at a Greek bank. "We've had a number of customers asking to move funds out of Greece, mostly to Cyprus, Luxembourg and Switzerland."
Greek rescue in danger as deputy prime minister attacks 'Nazi' Germany By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph -- Greece has greatly damaged its chances of an EU bail-out by lashing out at Germany over war-time atrocities and accusing Italy of cooking its books to hide public debt. The escalating dispute came as a general strike in Greece spilled over into violent clashes between hooded youths and riot police in Athens. Chants of "burn the banks" are a foretaste of tensions once austerity measures bite in earnest later this year. Public and private sector unions joined forces to bring the country to a standstill for 24 hours, halting flights, trains, and shipping, and shutting schools and hospitals.
Greece will be start of sovereign default domino effect, warns Ken Rogoff By James Quinn - Telegraph The former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund has predicted "a bunch of sovereign defaults" in the next few years, and gave warning that Greece is likely to be the first domino of several to fall. Professor Kenneth Rogoff, now a respected Harvard academic, also argued that substantial sovereign debt loads will force major global economies to tighten monetary policy, leading to further worldwide "shockwaves." Prof Rogoff's vision of the world's governments weighed down with debt is not a new phenomenon. "Greece is just the beginning," he said. "We usually see a bunch of sovereign defaults [in the years following a banking crisis]... I predict we will again. It's very hard to call the timing but it will happen."
Niall Ferguson On Sovereign Debt
Gold prices will touch or surpass $1,500 in 2010 Commodity Online "Gold's positive fundamentals, the high level of investor interest in key geographic markets and global monetary economic developments promise to push the yellow metal much higher," according to Jeffrey Nichols, managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors. In this Gold Report exclusive, the leading precious metals economist outlines the reasons for gold to continue its upward trajectory—not the least of which include the ailing USD and foreign central banks' reluctance to keep buying U.S. government debt. Regardless of the near-term prospects for gold, the long-term fundamentals promise substantial appreciation later this year and beyond. We remain firm in our conviction that gold prices will touch or surpass $1,500 in 2010— and continue to move higher in subsequent years.
Proposed Fed Tax not to impact physical metals By Dr Jeffrey Lewis - Commodity Online In an unprecedented modern move, the Federal government is considering a new investment tax as a way of paying for a huge annual deficit. The investment tax would cost investors .25% on purchases of stocks and exchange-traded funds outside of retirement accounts and would generate an estimated $90 – $100 billion in annual income for the US Treasury. Nothing is Safe If there is anything that the Federal Government has proven in the past two years, and even many years prior, no amount of private property is safe from the power-hungry arm of government. SEC rules have already declared that the government has the right to seize investors assets in time of intense economic hardship, and this new bill drafted by Congress opens the door for the government to steal parts of your wealth via taxation, if only penny by penny.
Gold: Long-Term Fundamentals Remain Promising GoldSeek.com "Gold's positive fundamentals, the high level of investor interest in key geographic markets and global monetary economic developments promise to push the yellow metal much higher," according to Jeffrey Nichols, managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors. In this Gold Report exclusive, the leading precious metals economist outlines the reasons for gold to continue its upward trajectory—not the least of which include the ailing USD and foreign central banks' reluctance to keep buying U.S. government debt.
Once again, IMF to decide gold’s fate! By Geena Paul NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Again, the bullion market is abuzz with talks that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to offload its 191 tonnes of gold in the market. This means the IMF will sell its gold to one of the official holders of the metal after considering bids by all interested parties. When the IMF did a sale of this kind in October last year, the gold market saw a flurry of activities and the prices soared to new heights. Gold struck a record high rising above $1,178 an ounce in November last year following the IMF sale of 200 tonne gold to India’s Reserve Bank. Gold had jumped nearly 13 per cent since the beginning of November as investors poured money into the precious metal after India’s central bank bought the metal from IMF. The central banks of Russia and Sri Lanka had separately bought gold after India’s move in 2009 end.
Thunder Road Reports On Irregularities In The Gold Market by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com Paul Mylchreest submits the following exhaustive Thunder Road report (from October 15, 2009), which is a follow-up to the previously posted Redburn Partners report. A detailed analysis on some of the less discussed aspects of the gold market, this is another must read for all who have even an incipient interest in the gold market. Paul's proposed investigative alternatives are as follows: Alternative 1: On average there is more than one ownership claim on each gold bar conforming to London Good Delivery (LGD) standard on the “pool” of gold which acts as liquidity for the massive OTC gold trade based in London. . . . or Alternative 2: There is FAR more gold bullion held in private hands than is acknowledged by current industry estimates. It is the large amount of additional gold on top of known gold stocks which provides sufficient liquidity to support the high volumes traded through London. . . .
1931 for the Euro, Part II By: Adrian Ash - goldseek.com It wasn't called the "irrevocable exchange rate" for nothing... PRICING YOUR money in gold – in a world where everyone else does the same, and at fixed exchange rates, too – makes for a big problem if the welfare state begins gobbling up more wealth, year after year, than it earns in taxation. "No [social] safety nets were allowed. If the gold stock was flowing outward [thanks to the currency falling on the international exchanges], interest rates had to rise to attract foreign funds and the domestic economy had to be suppressed to curtail imports."
It's All Greek to Me Peter Schiff - 321gold.com If the global economy were a three ring circus, then the center ring attraction would be the currency and debt battle quietly and slowly building between the United States and China. But for the past month the world's attention has been distracted by a much more entertaining sideshow in which European unity, and the ongoing viability of the euro, is being tested by the Greek debt crisis. I believe the short-term problems in Europe are being overblown and the potential demise of the euro highly exaggerated. For those who can connect the dots however, the Greek drama throws some much needed light on the far more daunting problems unfolding within our own fiscal house.
Banks Bet Greece Defaults on Debt They Helped Hide By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and ERIC DASH - NY Times Bets by some of the same banks that helped Greece shroud its mounting debts may actually now be pushing the nation closer to the brink of financial ruin. Echoing the kind of trades that nearly toppled the American International Group, the increasingly popular insurance against the risk of a Greek default is making it harder for Athens to raise the money it needs to pay its bills, according to traders and money managers.
Treasuries Rise as Greece Debt Concern Spurs Demand for Safety By Wes Goodman -- Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose on speculation demonstrations in Greece will make it tougher for the government to cut the European Union’s biggest budget deficit, increasing demand for the relative safety of U.S. securities. Ten-year yields approached a one-week low after Greece’s unions shut transportation, medical and educational facilities yesterday, protesting Prime Minister George Papandreou’s drive to reduce the deficit. Standard & Poor’s said yesterday it may lower Greece’s credit rating by the end of March.
PIMCO: The US Falls Into the Sovereign Debt Ring of Fire by Vince Veneziani - LewRockwell.com In the latest PIMCO investor letter, Bill Gross brings up a chart he likes to call "The Ring of Fire." As you can see, this chart/graph details the amount of debt a country has in relation to their GDP. Countries in the fire zone are headed for hell in a handbasket. PIMCO predicts these countries, which include the U.S., will increase public debt to greater than 90% over the next few years, which will in turn stall growth.
The Euro's Next Battleground: Spain By STEPHEN FIDLER - WSJ MADRID—Greece set off the crisis rattling the euro zone. Spain could determine whether the 16-nation currency stands or falls. The euro zone's No. 4 economy, Spain has an unemployment rate of 19%, a deflating housing bubble, big debts and a gaping budget deficit. Its gross domestic product contracted 3.6% in 2009 and is expected to shrink again this year, leaving Spain in its deepest and longest recession in a half-century.
Fiscal Tightening Could Sink Pound, UBS Cautions By KATIE MARTIN - WSJ LONDON—UBS AG, one of the world's biggest currency-dealing banks, warned that premature fiscal tightening in the U.K.—in a worst-case scenario—could knock some 30% off the currency's value against the dollar. In a note to clients Wednesday, the bank said any moves to cut public spending too hard, too fast and too long before the U.K. economy has recovered from its recent slump would be "the gravest mistake for sterling." In the worst-case scenario, the pound could tumble back to its mid-1980s lows of "$1.05 and below," from around $1.54 now, the bank said.
IMF names China central bank official as special advisor By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that it will name Zhu Min, currently deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, as special advisor to the managing director, a role that's expected to boost the IMF's understanding of Asia and emerging markets. Zhu, who is responsible for international affairs at the Chinese central bank, will likely assume his position at the IMF on May 3. As special advisor, Zhu will "play an important role in working with me and my management team in meeting the challenges facing our global membership in the period ahead, and in strengthening the fund's understanding of Asia and emerging markets more generally," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a statement.
When Will China De-Peg? The Daily Reckoning - WallStreetPit.com Recently we claimed that borrowing your way to national prosperity is a sure-fire way to servitude and political instability. Today, we aim to prove it. To do so, we cite this article from Reuters. It suggests that China is using or should use its large holdings of US Treasury bonds as a cudgel with which to bludgeon the United States, its strategic adversary/indispensable economic partner.
Sustained recovery still in question, Bernanke says By Greg Robb, MarketWatch Fed chairman provides few clues on the future of interest rates The U.S. economic recovery is still not yet on a sustainable path, and near-zero interest rates are still needed, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday. Bernanke's prepared testimony yielded very few surprises, and he gave no new clues regarding the future of monetary policy. As a result, Fed watchers maintained their own forecasts for monetary policy. Many see the first rate hikes coming in the fall of 2010; others see no move until next year.
Ron Paul, Bernanke Testimony
Bernanke Forecasts Long Period of Low Interest Rates By SEWELL CHAN - NY Times WASHINGTON - Ben S. Bernanke, making his first appearance before Congress since the Senate confirmed him last month to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, reaffirmed on Wednesday that short-term interest rates would remain exceptionally low - near zero - for "an extended period." In presenting the Fed's semiannual monetary report to Congress, Mr. Bernanke did not waver from the Jan. 27 statement of the central bank's key policy making board, or from a Feb. 10 statement in which he explained to Congress the strategies for gradually reducing the vast sums that banks hold in reserves at the Fed.
Geithner: US Needs Growth Before Attacking Deficit AP via CNBC Assessing a tough governmental juggling act, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner assured lawmakers Wednesday that stimulus spending to spur the economy now isn't in conflict with a need for longer-term austerity. Geithner told the House Budget Committee that before the federal government can begin attacking soaring deficits and a massive national debt, it needs to increase jobs and ensure economic growth.
Bernanke seeks to preserve Fed's power by compromising with Congress By Neil Irwin - Washington Post -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke launched a wide-ranging effort Wednesday to fend off congressional efforts to take powers away from the central bank, laying out a series of compromises and olive branches meant to defuse lawmakers' criticism. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, Bernanke said he will support legislation to disclose the names of companies that take advantage of special Fed lending programs, so long as enough time has passed since the loan requests to avoid stigmatizing the firms. He also said he will support expanding congressional oversight of many Fed functions if its power over monetary policy is exempted.
Greenspan was DY-NO-MITE! By: Tim Iacono - GoldSeek.com One of the most disturbing aspects of the recent economic collapse and the ongoing financial market crisis is that there is still widespread disagreement over who or what caused it. All too often, pundits say, "You can't lay all the blame for our current condition on one institution or one man" and that is true, but these same commentators oftentimes skirt answering the toughest of questions about what nearly brought the whole financial system down by distributing the blame among many players and many failings.
A Regional Fed President Torpedoes Bernanke By: Gary North - GoldSeek.com . . . . Charles Plosser gave a speech hostile to Federal Reserve policy. Plosser is the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He went public with his concerns. He delivered a speech to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia on February 17. The WAC has chapters in major cities. It is an important outlet for people in high positions inside the Establishment. His speech is here. He said: "The views expressed today are my own and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve System or the FOM." You can say that again, Chuck! His basic pitch was the same old story: the need for an independent central bank. That goes back to 1694: the founding of the Bank of England.
* * * * * 21st CENTURY BREAKDOWN “Wherever we’re headed, America is evolving in ways most of us don’t like or understand. Individually focused yet collectively adrift, we wonder if we’re heading toward a waterfall. Are we?” Strauss & Howe – The Fourth Turning . . . . Progressives like Arianna Huffington clearly don’t comprehend what is happening. The anger and disillusionment of the population are seen as worrisome and disturbing by those who believe history is linear. The entrenched ruling elite should be apprehensive. During a Crisis existing institutions are torn down as the social fabric of the country undergoes wrenching changes. Those in power are rightfully fearful of the masses they have screwed for decades. President Obama, Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, and the majority of economists and TV pundits are convinced the Crisis has passed and they have successfully maneuvered the country through the worst, avoiding a second Great Depression. History suggests otherwise. We have yet to experience the nastiest part of the Crisis.
Deflation Is Coming and There's Nothing Bernanke Can Do About It, Says Robert Prechter by Peter Gorenstein - TechTicker.com Contrary to popular belief, noted technical analyst Robert Prechter says the extraordinary action taken by the Federal Reserve to bail out the economy will not lead to runaway inflation. "Deflation is gaining the upper hand very, very slowly, but it's happening,"
Troubled banking industry sharply reduced lending in 2009 By Binyamin Appelbaum - Washington Post Lending by the banking industry fell by $587 billion, or 7.5 percent, in 2009, the largest annual decline since the 1940s, as the number of troubled financial institutions rose sharply, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday. FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair said that some small banks have reduced lending because of financial weakness, a problem the Obama administration aims to address with a proposal to pump $30 billion in new federal aid into community banks. The FDIC considered 702 banks to be in some danger of failing as of the end of 2009, more than double the number at the beginning of the year.
Fed to Get $200 Billion Boost Money From Treasury Will Make It Easier to Raise Interest Rates Down the Line By JON HILSENRATH - WSJ -- The Treasury said it will borrow $200 billion and leave the cash proceeds on deposit with the Federal Reserve, reviving a program that will make it easier for the Fed to raise interest rates when the time comes. Officials sought to dispel the notion that the move marks a step toward tightening credit now. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, is likely to reiterate assurances that the Fed will keep short-term interest rates low for an "extended period," meaning at least several more months, because inflation is low and the economy is burdened by lots of excess capacity.
Freddie Mac loses $7.8B in 4Q, may need more taxpayer cash By Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer WASHINGTON — Freddie Mac lost $7.8 billion in the final three months last year, but the mortgage finance company didn't need a federal cash infusion for the third quarter in a row. Freddie Mac, which has been controlled by federal regulators since September 2008, lost $2.39 a share, the company said Wednesday. The loss included $1.3 billion in dividends paid to the Treasury Department, which has an almost 80% stake in the company, based in McLean, Va.
At F.D.I.C. , Bracing for a Wave of Failures By ERIC DASH - NY Times The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is bracing for a new wave of bank failures that could cost the agency many billions of dollars and further strain its finances. With bank failures running at their highest level in nearly two decades, the F.D.I.C. is racing to keep up with rising losses to its insurance fund, which safeguards savers' deposits. On Tuesday, the agency announced that it had placed 702 lenders on its list of "problem" banks, the highest number since 1993.
FDIC’s Problem Banks List: Where Will It End? By Addison Wiggin - The DailyReckoning 02/24/10 Baltimore, Maryland – The FDIC is even more broke than it was three months ago. The fund the FDIC uses to “insure” your bank account went $20.9 billion in the red during the fourth quarter of 2009. That’s more than twice the deficit reported when the fund first entered negative territory in the previous quarter. Incredibly, the FDIC is still trying to reassure us that all is well because it’s collecting three years of advance payments on the annual assessments paid by its member banks. The fees total $45 billion – barely twice the amount of the current deficit. Yeah, we feel better.
S.E.C. Restricts Short-Selling and Addresses a Global Accounting Shift By FLOYD NORRIS - NY Times -- A sharply divided Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to restrict selling stocks short when they are falling rapidly, with the majority voicing hopes the action would improve investor confidence and the dissenters saying there was no evidence that any action was needed. The commission also said it hoped to approve the switch of American companies to international accounting standards by the end of 2011, but it set a series of conditions that made eventual adoption of the standards appear less than certain.
Bust Up the Health Insurance Trusts By Robert Reich - WallStreetPit.com ears ago I worked at an agency in Washington called the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC predates the New Deal. It was set up in 1914 during the administration of Woodrow Wilson, at a time when many of America’s industries had combined into giant trusts that had enormous market and political power. The FTC was designed to root out such unfair practices. It ought to take on the health insurance trusts. . . . . . . . . Rates are soaring all over the country. Insurers have been seeking to raise premiums 24 percent in Connecticut, 23 percent in Maine, 20 percent in Oregon and a wallet-popping 56 percent in Michigan. How can insurers raise prices as much as they want without fear of losing customers?
Insurer blames health costs for California rate hikes AP - LA Times . . . . In prepared testimony for a House investigative subcommittee, Angela Braly, president of WellPoint Inc., blamed the increases on the growing price tags for hospital care and pharmaceuticals. She also cited the ailing economy, which has caused many younger, healthier people to save money by dropping coverage, leaving her company covering an older, sicker population. “Raising our premiums was not something we wanted to do,” Braly said. “But we believe this was the most prudent choice.”
11.3 million homeowners underwater on mortgage By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- More than 11.3 million homeowners -- nearly one-fourth of all Americans with a mortgage -- owe more on their loan than their home is now worth, according to a report released Tuesday by FirstAmerican CoreLogic. More than 10% of people with mortgages owe 25% more than their home is worth. The number of underwater mortgages increased by about 620,000 from the third quarter, the firm said. Another 2.3 million mortgages had less than 5% equity in their home, which could be wiped out if home prices fall further.
New-Home Sales at a Low in U.S. By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ - NY Times New-home sales unexpectedly fell to a new low in January, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, rekindling worries that a turnaround for the housing market would be elusive in an era of high unemployment and huge debt burdens. Sales fell 11.2 percent in January - the third consecutive month of declines - to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, the lowest since record keeping began in 1963. Analysts had forecast an increase of 3.5 percent.
Weak New Home Sales Report Least of Housing's Problems, Barry Ritholtz Says by Aaron Task - TechTicker.com . . . . Ritholtz believes about the best you can say about housing is "the pace of deterioration has stabilized," as S&P's David Blitzer put it regarding this week's Case-Shiller report. In addition to "obvious" issues such as high unemployment, still historically high prices and tougher lending standards, he cites the following:
Benefits for jobless to end if Congress doesn't act by Erin Zlomek -The Arizona Republic The long-term unemployment benefits of more than 82,000 Arizonans remain in limbo as the U.S. Senate considers action on a benefits-extension bill. The Senate is expected to pass the extension, and it is expected to be signed into law. But lawmakers are cutting it close. Because the vote hasn't taken place and the outcome remains uncertain, the state Department of Economic Security was planning to begin mailing benefit cancellation notices to residents today.
California One Step Closer To Insolvency After State Cancels $2 Billion General Obligation Bond Sale by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com -- Five days ago a great white hope appeared for the great bankrupt Golden State (Baa1/A-), in the form of $2 billion in GO bonds, which were supposed to be promptly syndicated via underwriters JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. This would have been the first bond sale for California since November: a critical milestone as the state creeps ever closer to a full-on default. Unfortunately, the creeping just turned into a casual jog after Jane Wells (@janewells) just tweeted that California has cancelled its bond sale "after legislature fails to approve cash management flexibility bill [the] Treasurer said he needed to attract investors."And seriously, did California think it would succeed where so many other high yield issuers have recently failed?
Senate Approves $15 Billion Jobs Bill By CARL HULSE -NY Times WASHINGTON — In what Democrats hope is the first in a series of legislative victories, the Senate on Wednesday easily approved a $15 billion plan to spur job creation, a vote that lawmakers hoped would show that they were taking steps to improve the nation’s employment outlook. The coalition that passed the relatively modest measure by 70 to 28 included 55 Democrats, 2 independents and 13 Republicans, a show of bipartisan consensus that has been rare on Capitol Hill in recent months. Democratic leaders said they hoped to follow up with other measures that would encourage small businesses to expand and would provide assistance to those who remain out of work.
Senate breaks rule, OKs jobs bill 'Pay-go' no-go after 2 weeks By Stephen Dinan - Washington Times It took less than two weeks for lawmakers on Capitol Hill to vote to break rules requiring that new spending be offset elsewhere in the budget, waiving the requirement just minutes before a strong bipartisan majority pushed through a $15 billion job-creation bill in the Senate on Wednesday. The bill provides money to continue funding highway construction and offers a tax break for businesses that hire unemployed workers. Given the state of the economy, supporters said, the bill was too important to hold up.
Big Questions Still Linger on Eve of Health Care Meeting By DAVID LEONHARDT - NY Times Three years ago this month, a presidential candidate - John Edwards, as a matter of fact - started a debate on health reform by announcing a plan to cover the uninsured. Since then, we've had an election, town hall meetings, speeches, Congressional hearings and a special election in Massachusetts. Now comes Thursday's bipartisan meeting at the White House, which feels a bit like the start of the final act. And Congress could still end up passing a sweeping bill, a small bill or no bill at all. What follows is a guide to the big lingering questions: Isn't this meeting just for show?
More than healthcare riding on Thursday's summit By Peter Nicholas - LA Times President Obama's move to renew the healthcare debate at this stage could alter the political landscape ahead of the midterm election. Reporting from Washington - The healthcare summit that convenes Thursday in Washington has emerged as a high-stakes gambit for President Obama and opposing Republican lawmakers, carrying risks for both sides that could not only alter the outcome of the healthcare debate but also November's midterm elections.
Lawmakers in 44 states warn Congress By Seanna Adcox, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Angry voters spur bills for sovereignty COLUMBIA, S.C. | With tax collections dropping and jobless rates at record highs, state legislators hundreds of miles from Washington have found an easy way to appeal to conservative voters: Bash the federal government. Lawmakers in 44 states have introduced measures warning Congress not to trample states' rights and dozens of other resolutions opposing the government on issues including gun control and health care. Their efforts play to people angry with the status quo. A recent Pew Research Center poll found high anti-incumbent sentiment among voters ahead of the November congressional elections.
Check this out: Deposit money by taking a photo By Andrew Vanacore, Associated Press NEW YORK — In the near future, you might not even have to visit a bank or an ATM to deposit a check. You'll simply snap a couple of photos of it with your cellphone. Applications to do just that are already available for Apple's iPhone and other gadgets from USAA, a company that provides insurance and banking mainly for military veterans. Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are among the banks planning to release similar applications this year.
Math teacher hailed as hero after Colorado school shooting By Nicholas Riccardi - LA Times David Benke plays down his role in stopping the attack at the Littleton middle school. Accused gunman Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood is held on $1-million bail on two counts of attempted murder. David Benke plays down his role in stopping the attack at the Littleton middle school. Accused gunman Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood is held on $1-million bail on two counts of attempted murder. Reporting from Denver - During regular emergency drills at Deer Creek Middle School in suburban Denver, math teacher David Benke always told himself and his students that, should something dire occur, he would try to protect them.
Clinton: Political fights hurt U.S. image By Nicholas Kralev - Washington Times Wants world to see 'unity and strength' President Obama's diminished political power as a result of fights between the White House and Congress has damaged both his and the country's image abroad, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday. Even as she thanked Congress for its bipartisan support for many of the Obama administration's foreign policy goals, Mrs. Clinton said during two Senate committee hearings that recent bickering on domestic issues concerns her and that she hopes "we can figure out a better way to address it."
As Deadline Nears, G.M.'s Sale of Hummer Faces Several Big Obstacles By KEITH BRADSHER - NY Times -- HONG KONG - Hostility from Chinese regulators and financing problems are increasingly likely to scuttle plans by an obscure Chinese machinery company to buy the Hummer division from General Motors, people close to the negotiations said on Tuesday. General Motors has already extended repeatedly its deadline for completing the deal, with the current deadline at the end of this week; the original deadline was last September. But the buyer, the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, has failed to win regulatory approval for the deal at a time when senior Chinese officials are trying to put a new emphasis on limiting China's dependence on imported oil and protecting the environment.
GM to Shut Hummer After Sale Collapses By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU And SHARON TERLEP - WSJ General Motors Co.'s beefy Hummers will join its Pontiac and Saturn in the scrap yard of failed brands after a $150 million deal to sell the line to a Chinese equipment maker collapsed. Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Wednesday failed to win approval from Chinese regulators for its bid. GM said it would wind down Hummer operations after concluding Tengzhong would not be able to finalize the deal. "We are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed," said John Smith, GM vice-president of corporate planning and alliances. GM sold just 9,046 Hummers in the U.S. last year, down from more than 71,000 in 2006.
GM to Wind Down Hummer as Sichuan Tengzhong Sale Accord Fails By Katie Merx -- Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. said it will close Hummer, the maker of military-inspired sport-utility vehicles, after Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. couldn’t win Chinese approval to buy the unit. Winding down the brand will take several months, Nick Richards, a spokesman, said yesterday. Some of the 3,000 people now employed at Hummer work on other vehicles, so GM doesn’t know how many jobs will be lost, Richards said.
Bloom Energy Claims a New Fuel Cell Technology By TODD WOODY - NY Times SUNNYVALE, Calif. - A Silicon Valley company is claiming a breakthrough in a decades-old quest to develop fuel cells that can supply affordable and relatively clean electricity. Google, Bank of America, Wal-Mart and other large corporations have been testing the devices, which will be formally introduced on Wednesday. The start-up, Bloom Energy, has raised about $400 million from investors and spent nearly a decade developing a new variety of solid oxide fuel cell, considered the most efficient but most technologically challenging fuel-cell technology.
EU wants global halt on executions by 2015 Associated Press via AZCentral.com GENEVA - Spain's prime minister says the European Union wants a halt to all executions by 2015 as a step toward abolishing the death penalty. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says Spain will speak with countries that still have capital punishment in the hope of persuading them to eliminate the practice. Spain now holds the rotating EU presidency.
Judge Napolitano and Angela Keaton on Obama's foreign policy
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