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Latest Articles: United States News
Fannie Mae seeks new $8.4 billion US bailout to stay afloat
Post Date: 2010-05-11 12:52:40 by no gnu taxes
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US mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said Monday it needs an additional government bailout of 8.4 billion dollars after reporting a 2010 first-quarter loss of 11.5 billion dollars. "Our first-quarter results were driven primarily by credit-related expenses, which remain at elevated levels due to weaknesses in the economy and the housing market," the company said in a statement. The results showed improvement from the 2009 fourth quarter, when the loss stood at 15.2 billion dollars, the firm said, reporting its results in newly adopted accounting standards. But the company, which with sibling mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac was seized in a government rescue in September 2008 ...
Senate Votes To Audit The Fed, 96-0
Post Date: 2010-05-11 12:45:03 by Brian S
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The Senate on Tuesday approved a proposal to examine the Federal Reserve's role in the Wall Street bailouts of 2008-2009 as part of a broad financial regulation reform bill. The proposal from independent Senator Bernie Sanders would order congressional investigators to conduct a single audit of the U.S. central bank's use of its emergency lending authority since December 2007. It would require the Fed by December 1 to disclose which banks received its help. It passed by a vote of 96 to 0. "Though the measure was always popular, it faced extraordinary opposition from the White House, Wall Street and the Fed itself," Talking Points Memo's Eric Lach noted Tuesday. ...
Record levels of long-term unemployment in US
Post Date: 2010-05-11 12:42:42 by no gnu taxes
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Despite the pronouncements by the Obama administration and the news media of a supposed economic recovery, unemployment, and particularly long-term joblessness, continues to inflict immense suffering on tens of millions of workers and their families in the US. At present some 15 million workers are officially unemployed, including one out of every five men between the ages of 25 and 54. In many ways, the protracted character of the economic downturn and magnitude of the social distress it has caused rival that of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Last week, the Labor Department reported that 6.7 million unemployed workers—or 46 percent of the total—have been without a job for ...
Foreclosure Rates Highest in 5 years
Post Date: 2010-05-11 12:39:32 by no gnu taxes
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Alex Veiga from the Associated Press reports on a record number of foreclosures during the first 3 months of 2010. RealtyTrac Inc. reported that the number of foreclosures increased by 35% during the first quarter of 2010. Houses that were in pre-foreclosure jumped by 16% as compared to the same period in 2009. A quote from the article reads, “We’re finally seeing the banks start to process the inventory that has been in foreclosure, but delayed in processing,” Sharga said. “We expect the pace to accelerate as the year goes on.” What they are referring to is the “shadow inventory” that the banks have been sitting on. The article is also quoted, ”The ...
Kagan Helped Shield Saudis From 9/11 Lawsuits
Post Date: 2010-05-11 12:21:26 by Brian S
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Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama's latest nominee to the Supreme Court, helped protect the Saudi royal family from lawsuits that sought to hold al Qaeda financiers responsible in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The suits were filed by thousands family members and others affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. In court papers, they provided evidence that members of the Saudi royal family had channeled millions to al Qaeda prior to the bombings, often in contravention of direct guidance from the United States. But Kagan, acting as President Obama's Solicitor General, argued that the case should not be heard even if evidence proved that the Saudis helped underwrite al Qaeda, ...
Oil Spill Testimony To Congress: Not Our Fault
Post Date: 2010-05-11 12:06:18 by Brian S
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(05-11) 08:32 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- BP PLC told Congress Tuesday its massive Gulf oil spill was caused by the failure of a key safety device made by another company. In turn, that company says BP was in charge, and that a third company that poured concrete to plug the exploratory well didn't do it right. The third company, which was plugging the well in anticipation of future production, says it was only following BP's plan. The blame game shot into the open Tuesday as the Senate began a hearing into the oil spill that has been contaminating water in the Gulf of Mexico for three weeks and threatens sensitive marshes and marine life from Louisiana to Texas. Executives of the ...
Thieves Take Controversial Mojave Desert Cross
Post Date: 2010-05-11 11:49:01 by Brian S
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(05-11) 08:42 PDT MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities say a 7-foot-tall cross in the Mojave Desert that sparked a U.S. Supreme Court dispute has been stolen. The National Park Service says someone cut the bolts holding down the metal-pipe cross and made off with it late Sunday or early Monday. Veterans groups say they're outraged at what they consider the desecration of a symbol that was erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars to honor World War I dead. The cross was challenged by critics who say a religious symbol shouldn't be allowed on public land but the U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to order it removed.
Amid Complaints About High Taxes, Tax Bills In 2009 At Lowest Level Since 1950
Post Date: 2010-05-11 11:36:12 by Brian S
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By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAYAmid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.Some conservative political movements such as the "Tea Party" have criticized federal spending as being out of control. While spending is up, taxes have fallen to exceptionally low levels.Federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the ...
Joe Biden's Son In Hospital For Undisclosed Illness
Post Date: 2010-05-11 11:18:14 by Brian S
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(Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau, was in a Delaware hospital on Tuesday for an undisclosed illness and was described as alert and awake. Biden, 41, is Delaware's attorney general and opted against running for the U.S. Senate seat once held by his father. A statement from Joe Biden's office said Beau is at Christiana Medical Center "undergoing treatment at present." Joe and Jill Biden were at his side. "He is alert and awake, and communicating with his parents and his wife, who are with him. We will provide more details as they become available," the statement said. (Reporting by Steve Holland, editing by Jackie Frank)
BP Relief Wells Bring Risk of Bigger Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
Post Date: 2010-05-11 11:16:44 by Brian S
6 Comments
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc faces the risk of an even bigger oil spill as it attempts to drill two so-called relief wells to plug a leak on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico that’s gushing 5,000 barrels a day into the ocean. The relief wells will pump cement into the leak to seal it. To do that, BP will need to first drill into the same deposit of oil and gas that caused a pressure surge known as a blowout at the original well, igniting an explosion that killed 11 workers and sank a $365 million drilling rig. In a regulatory filing BP made to drill the relief wells it estimates another blowout could release as much as 240,000 barrels of oil a day into the ocean. That’s almost 50 ...
Now Obama Wants To Tell You What To Eat
Post Date: 2010-05-11 11:11:47 by A K A Stone
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A White House report warns, "The childhood obesity epidemic in America is a national health crisis." The review by the Task Force on Childhood Obesity says one out of every three children is overweight or obese. The task force is a key part of First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to solve the problem of obesity within a generation. President Obama ordered the comprehensive review of the issue. The report includes familiar themes, emphasizing the importance of improved nutrition and physical activity. It also calls for some new and dramatic controls on the marketing of unhealthy foods. The task force wants junk food makers and marketers to go on what amounts to an ...
Bush Protected Us From Illegal Immigration; Obama Won't
Post Date: 2010-05-11 10:58:49 by no gnu taxes
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October 5, 2006 President Bush signed federal legislation here Wednesday that he says will help “protect the American people,” in part, by tightening security on the U.S.-Mexican border. The bill appropriates money to the Department of Homeland Security in a number of areas, but Bush’s Arizona signing was meant to highlight its most high-profile element: illegal immigration Bush signed the bill shortly after telling those at a $500-a-person fundraiser, “If you want to make sure those on the front line of protecting you have the tools necessary to do so, you vote Republican for the safety of the United States of America.” The fundraiser for Republican Rep. Rick ...
Record Number of Jews slated for next U.S. Congress
Post Date: 2010-05-11 10:56:56 by Jethro Tull
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Record Number of Jews slated for next U.S. Congress
45 Jews to take the oath of office: 32 in the House of Representatives and 13 Jews in the Senate.
By The Forward and Brett Lieberman, Rebecca Spence
Tags: US Jewish World Israel news When the new Congress debuts in January 2009, a record 45 Jews will take the oath of office: 32 in the House of Representatives and - regardless of the outcome in the still-contested Minnesota election - 13 Jews in the Senate.
Among the three newcomers to the House are a young, gay, multimillionaire entrepreneur; a seasoned veteran of New Jersey's rough-and-tumble politics, and a wealthy attorney who poured $2 million of his own money into a ...
Fannie and Freddie: Can We Finally Admit the New Deal Failed?
Post Date: 2010-05-11 09:40:53 by no gnu taxes
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The Federal National Mortgage Association, fondly known as Fannie Mae, lost another $11.5 billion in the first quarter, its twelfth quarterly loss in a row, and is asking the taxpayers for another $8.4 billion to bail it out. According to the Wall Street Journal article, the company has lost $148 billion or about double the profits it has made in the last 35 years. This cute couple, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), have cost taxpayers about $145 billion from the collapse of the housing bubble. As you know the government has agreed to backstop these companies by guaranteeing their losses. What were quasi-governmental entities are now clearly labeled ...
Record levels of long-term unemployment in US
Post Date: 2010-05-11 09:07:13 by no gnu taxes
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Despite the pronouncements by the Obama administration and the news media of a supposed economic recovery, unemployment, and particularly long-term joblessness, continues to inflict immense suffering on tens of millions of workers and their families in the US. At present some 15 million workers are officially unemployed, including one out of every five men between the ages of 25 and 54. In many ways, the protracted character of the economic downturn and magnitude of the social distress it has caused rival that of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Last week, the Labor Department reported that 6.7 million unemployed workers—or 46 percent of the total—have been without a job for ...
Obama wants Innocent Peoples DNA....DANGER DANGER
Post Date: 2010-05-11 08:06:20 by A K A Stone
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President Obama may have given credence to a relatively new but questionable law enforcement practice that the rest of the developed world is starting to shun: taking and retaining DNA samples from individuals arrested for a crime but not convicted. That is, putting innocent people's DNA in criminal databases. During an interview with the president last month on the television program "America's Most Wanted," host John Walsh enthusiastically supported the expansion of this practice in the United States, saying, "We now have 18 states who are taking DNA upon arrest. England has done it for years. It's no different than fingerprinting or a booking photo." To ...
Elena Kagan nomination for Supreme Court riles both sides of political aisle
Post Date: 2010-05-11 00:35:22 by Brian S
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Activists and politicians aggressively jumped in Monday to define the debate over Solicitor General Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court, beginning an argument that may well dominate the summer on Capitol Hill. By choosing his administration's chief legal advocate for an open seat on the court, President Obama triggered a hailstorm of conservative accusations that he is seeking an automatic vote in favor of his legislative agenda. On the other side of the ideological spectrum, liberals -- while generally supportive -- worried whether Kagan would be a reliable counterweight to the court's conservative majority. Although Supreme Court nominations rev up each ...
New force for broad immigration reform: conservative evangelicals
Post Date: 2010-05-10 17:11:03 by Skip Intro
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New force for broad immigration reform: conservative evangelicals (CNN) -- Tea Party activists and other conservatives are planning rallies next month in support of Arizona's tough new immigration law, which has come under attack from Democrats, Latino groups and some maverick Republicans. But a growing chorus of conservative evangelical leaders has broken with their traditional political allies on the right. They're calling the Arizona law misguided and are attempting to use its passage to push for federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The group, which includes influential political activists such as Richard Land, head of the ...
Rush Limbaugh On White Kid Only Field Trip
Post Date: 2010-05-10 17:06:36 by A K A Stone
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AP Calls Obama ‘Aggressive’ In Oil Crises
Post Date: 2010-05-10 16:06:29 by no gnu taxes
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You can draw your own conclusion as to whether the Associated Press is a news organization or a shameless propaganda arm of the Democrat Party.
Scientist: Gulf Oil Spill May Be Far Worse Than First Estimated
Post Date: 2010-05-10 15:59:45 by Brian S
2 Comments
PENSACOLA, FL -- An estimated 5,000 barrels of oil are currently spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening sensitive fishing grounds and beaches. But as British Petroleum works to find a way to contain the massive spill, some scientists are saying the amount of oil that is leaking is being grossly underestimated. "I think that's an understatement by about a factor of five. I think the true flow rate is about 25,000 barrels a day and I base that on satellite data showing extent of spill," said Ian MacDonald, Professor of Oceanography at Florida State University. MacDonald said satellite images show the spill covering about 7,000 square miles, and the numbers just ...
The oil leaks, Tennessee slowly recovers, Obama hits the golf course
Post Date: 2010-05-10 15:51:24 by no gnu taxes
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How hard was Obama working over the weekend to deal with the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico or the terrible flooding in the state of Tennessee? Apparently so hard that he needed another golf break on Saturday before delivering the commencement address at Hampton University in Virginia on Sunday. This of course comes on the heals of another “Date night” on Friday in which the “first couple” dined at a popular Washington restaurant called Komi. Great to know the ‘commander in chief’ is working hard isn’t it?
Gulf Winds Turn on BP as Oil Containment Plan Snarls
Post Date: 2010-05-10 15:28:58 by Brian S
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May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Weather forecasts in the Gulf of Mexico indicate winds will push an oil slick toward Louisiana in the next few days after the failure of BP Plc’s latest attempt to stem the gushing offshore leak. Oil may come ashore 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of the main entrance to the Mississippi River tomorrow, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast. Winds as high as 23 miles an hour may cause six-foot waves from tomorrow night through May 13, the National Weather Service said in a forecast this morning. “The winds may play a huge role,” said Kristina Pydynowski, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.com in State College, ...
Obama Commencement Speech Displays Failure to Comprehend Founding Documents
Post Date: 2010-05-10 14:46:17 by no gnu taxes
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One would hope that the man that has risen to head this great nation, the beacon of freedom for the world, would have a rudimentary understanding of the nation's history and the significance of its founding documents. In the case of Barrack Obama, Ivy league educated and law degree not withstanding, one's hopes fail. After recently deriding the people of the entire state of Arizona, the president dashed off to Michigan to sell the massive programs that have crushed the nation in debt. First up the president minimized concerns over his trillion dollar expenditures by saying that debates about the size and role of government are as old as the republic itself. It wasn't at first ...
Dumb Luck Highlights Failure of the Obama Administration
Post Date: 2010-05-10 14:15:19 by no gnu taxes
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So it turns out the Times Square bomber used M-88 firecrackers as a detonator in his car bomb. The firecrackers were meant to ignite the gasoline containers which would then ignite the propane tanks, turning the Nissan Pathfinder into a giant hand grenade. M-88 firecrackers are consumer class 1.4G (formerly known as Class-C) fireworks that look like the M-80 firecrackers of yesteryear: small red cardboard tubes filled with black powder and sealed with wax. But they have little powder and no where near the explosive power of the mythical M-80. They look much more powerful than they are, which probably tricked the jihadi into using them and saving scores of New Yorkers and tourists.* The ...
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