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Wall Street Aristocracy Secretly Got $1.2 Trillion From Fed

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Bloomberg - By Bradley Keoun, Phil Kuntz - Aug. 22 (Special Report) - Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. were the reigning champions of finance in 2006 as home prices peaked, leading the 10 biggest US banks and brokerage firms to their best year ever with $104 billion of profits. By 2008, the housing market's collapse forced those companies to take more than six times as much, $669 billion, in emergency loans from the US Federal Reserve. The loans dwarfed the $160 billion in public bailouts the top 10 got from the US Treasury, yet until now the full amounts have remained secret

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Deficit hopes scaled back as Boehner pulls support

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Lisa Mascaro, Christi Parsons, Peter Nicholas - Jul. 10 (News Report) - The Republican House speaker bows to party pressure and says he'll seek a smaller agreement. President Obama has not abandoned the idea of a bargain that would reduce deficits by $4 trillion over 10 years.

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Tensions rise on Capitol Hill as America runs out of money

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Dominic Rushe - Jul. 03 (News Report) - Not so long ago, the Onion , America's satirical "newspaper", ran a story about what had happened to the real Barack Obama. You know, the one who was all about change and "the audacity of hope". Apparently, he had been kidnapped by an imposter bent on destroying the president by turning him into a "wishy-washy loser". But with another election looming, and a new financial crisis brewing across the Atlantic, the old Obama seems to be back. By 2 August the US must raise the legal limit on its $14.3 trillion debt or face dire consequences, and Republicans and Democrats have been locked in battle on Capitol Hill. With the crunch deadline approaching, Obama hit out at Republicans last week, saying they favoured corporate jet owners over children and the elderly. Those high-flying fat cats got six mentions in a speech that set out the president's combative stance. "Before we ask ...

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Military: 3 Southern California Marines entered into sham marriages to get housing allowance

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Jul. 03 (News Report) - Military officials are charging three California-based Marine corporals with fraud and larceny for entering in a pair of sham marriages to collect housing funding, officials said. The military alleges that a lesbian couple — one a Marine, the other a civilian — decided to live together off base and wanted to collect the $1,200 housing benefit granted to married Marines.

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Homeless shelter: Homeless shelter blames cuts on government

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Alexandra Zavis - Jun. 26 (News Report) - Union Rescue Mission, faced with a $1.3-million shortfall, says the government doesn't cover all the programs' costs or is slow to pay.

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Future of ethanol looks cloudy in Congress

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

American Public Media - Jun. 25 (News Report) - The ethanol industry has had many friends in Congress over the years who have given it preferential treatment, but a key vote last week in the U.S. Senate suggests a tight federal budget is making those friends more scarce.

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Six Designs For Houses That Cost Just $300 To Build

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Fast Company - By Morgan Clendaniel - Jun. 22 (News Report) - Shelter is one of humanity's most basic needs. But a house is a luxury beyond the wildest dreams of most people in the developed world--leading to dangerous and unsanitary shantytowns, which compound the problems of poverty and disease. The $300 House Project, for which designers were asked to figure out a way to construct a simple house for $300 or less, aimed to solve this problem, by creating cheap and simple to build houses that could be built on a massive scale. The winners--judged by luminaries like Yves Behar and Umair Haque--were recently announced.

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'Double-Dip' in Housing Prices Even Worse Than Expected

Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - May. 31 (News) - U.S. single-family home prices dropped in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market remained bogged down by inventory and weak demand, a closely watched survey said Tuesday.

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Kenya's Housing Finance Sees Industry Investment Slowing in 2012, MD Says

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Bloomberg - May. 20 (News) - Kenya's Housing Finance Sees Industry Investment Slowing in 2012, MD SaysBloombergHousing Finance Ltd., Kenya's only publicly traded mortgage company, said investment in housing may slow in 2012 ahead of an election that may aggravate political tensions that exploded into ...and more »

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Disaster, loss at every turn in wake of tornadoes

Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Carol J. Williams, Esmeralda Bermudez - May. 01 (News Report) - Reporting from Birmingham, Ala.— The scope of devastation left by the second-deadliest tornado blast in U.S. history continued to emerge Saturday as stunned survivors combed the wreckage of homes churned into matchsticks and aid workers and volunteers struggled to get food, water and generators to thousands displaced across seven Southern states. Hundreds who spent the night in emergency shelters hastily erected in hardest-hit Tuscaloosa, Ala., scoured the remnants of their homes and businesses for photos and keepsakes, mostly in vain. Many returned dispiritedly to the shelters, where the first federal relief teams were handing out application forms for temporary housing and reconstruction aid.

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Haitians Forced Out of Tents to Homes Just as Precarious

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Randal C. Archibold - Apr. 24 (News) - More than half of the Haitians driven into camps by the 2010 earthquake have moved out, but most of them appear to have been forced out or to have left to escape crime and living conditions.

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Studies: Natural gas has own environmental problems

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Tom Zeller - Apr. 17 (News Report) - Natural gas, with its reputation as a crucial linchpin in the effort to wean the nation off dirtier fossil fuels and reduce global warming, may not be as clean overall as its proponents say. Even as natural gas production in the United States increases and Washington gives it a warm embrace as a crucial component of America’s energy future, two coming studies try to poke holes in the clean-and-green reputation of natural gas. They suggest that the rush to develop the nation’s vast, unconvention... ...

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Student deaths spark suicide prevention campaign

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Salt Lake Tribune - By Rosemary WInters - Apr. 02 (News) - Extra counselors have been dispatched to the school of 850 students to offer one-on-one and small-group counseling throughout the day. The school also plans to launch a program called “Tell Someone” that will encourage youths to speak to an adult when they are feeling depressed or struggling with other problems.

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An idle plant, an empty town

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Ashley Powers - Mar. 29 (News Report) - The gypsum quarry in Empire, Nev., supplied building materials for the housing industry — and a heart for the tiny town. With the plant dark, Empire's homes are fast emptying.

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'No need' to expand Japan evacuation zone

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

MSNBC - Mar. 22 (News Report) - Japan said Tuesday there was no need to extend a 12-mile evacuation zone around its tsunami-damaged nuclear plant, despite elevated radiation readings outside the area.

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Nevada's story: Boom to bust in housing | Business | Chron.com

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Cristina Silva - Mar. 18 (News Report) - The figures are another striking example of how the housing crisis has pummeled Nevada, casting a new light on the severely weakened market after years of boom. One result is an increase in code violations. In Clark County, home to Las Vegas, ...and more »

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Inflation is low, but wages aren't keeping up with rising prices

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Mar. 18 (News Report) - Inflation spooked the nation in the early 1980s. It surged and kept rising until it topped 13 percent. These days, inflation is much lower. Yet to many Americans, it feels worse now. And for a good reason: Their income has been even flatter than inflation. Back in the 1980s, the money people made typically more than made up for high inflation. In 1981, banks would pay nearly 16 percent on a six-month CD. And workers typically got pay raises to match their higher living costs. No more. Over the 12 months that ended in February, consumer prices increased just 2.1 percent. Yet wages for many people have risen even less -- if they're not actually frozen.

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U.S. Pushes Mortgage Deal

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By Nick Timiraos, Dan Fitzpatrick, Ruth Simon - Feb. 24 (News) - The Obama administration is trying to push through a settlement over mortgage-servicing breakdowns that could force America's largest banks to pay for reductions in loan principal worth billions of dollars.

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Home Sales Rise as Prices Fall - WSJ.com

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - Feb. 23 (News) -

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Home Sales Data Doubted

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By Nick Timiraos - Feb. 22 (News Report) - The housing crash may have been more severe than initial estimates have shown. The National Association of Realtors is examining the possibility that it over-counted U.S. home sales dating back as far as 2007.

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George Clooney: 21st-Century Statesman

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Newsweek - By John Avlon - Feb. 20 (News Report) - In the age of Twitter-shortened attention spans, fame is an increasingly powerful weapon of diplomacy. How George Clooney is helping to bring change—and a hefty dose of hope—to Sudan.

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Housing Crash Is Hitting Cities Once Thought to Be Stable

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By David Streitfeld - Feb. 14 (News Report) - The rolling real estate crash that ravaged Florida and the Southwest is delivering a new wave of distress to communities once thought to be immune — economically diversified cities where the boom was relatively restrained.

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Governor pushes septic development curb

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Baltimore Sun - By Timothy B. Wheeler - Feb. 14 (News) -

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'Tea party' litmus tests pull Republicans to right

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Paul West - Feb. 13 (News Report) - Potential GOP presidential candidates appealed to the right at the annual Conservative Political Action conference. Ron Paul won the straw poll."Tea party" sentiment is pulling the Republican presidential contest to the right as would-be candidates appeal for support from the GOP's conservative base.

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Is Obama's Strong Housing Finance Stand for Real or a Political Play?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Atlantic Monthly - By Daniel Indiviglio - Feb. 13 (News Analysis) - On Friday, the Obama administration released a surprisingly strong housing finance policy report. It explains a general process to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and offers three alternatives for how to conduct housing finance policy without them. Each option has pros and cons, but put together they lean firmly towards free-market ideals, which arguably makes the report one of the clearest signals of President Obama's move to the center yet. Or does it? While these three options could genuinely attest to the administration's dedication to free market principles, they could also be strategically designed to achieve some political end. There are at least three possibilities here. A Punt

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