This morning, ADP, a payroll processing firm, put out its latest employment report . It isn’t good. Between July and August, private employers shed an estimated 10,000 workers; economists expected an increase of about 20,000 jobs. Moreover, ADP revised down July’s increase from 42,000 jobs to 37,000. Over the past six months, private employers have added 37,000 jobs per month, according to ADP’s estimates. To put that in context, the economy needs to add 100,000 to 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with the country’s growing population, and there are currently 14.5 million unemployed persons looking for work. On top of all that, ADP notes that it expects the government’s official employment report, due on Friday, to be worse. “[T]oday’s [ADP] figure does not include the effects of federal hiring — and now firing — for the 2010 Census,” the company notes. “Hiring for the census peaked in May. For this reason, Friday’s figure for the change in nonfarm total employment reported by the [Bureau of Labor Statistics] might be weaker than today’s estimate for nonfarm private employment in the ADP National Employment Report.” That means that both private and public employment might decline — meaning, unless the labor force shrinks dramatically, the unemployment rate will rise.

Go here to see the original:
An Ominous Private Jobs Report

Today, Christina Romer leaves her post as the head of the Council of Economic Advisers to return to the West Coast. The economist was among the most liberal in the White House, routinely pushing for more stimulus and government aid to help the ailing economy. In her last remarks as an administration official, to be given at 1 p.m., Romer plans to argue that intervention prevented the country from falling into another depression, but also to call for more spending to gin up the recovery. “Given our long-run fiscal challenges, any additional support should be done in a responsible way,” she will say, according to short excerpts released. “But concern about the deficit cannot be an excuse for leaving unemployed workers to suffer. “We have tools that would bring unemployment down without worsening our long-run fiscal outlook, if we can only find the will and the wisdom to use them.”

Read the original:
Romer’s Farewell Speech

Former Montgomery malpractice lawyer sentenced to 5 years for bilking clients Washington Post Schwartz was sent a cashier's check for $385000 and deposited it. The scam was also perpetrated on other lawyers in the country. The man named Chan intended … and more

Benin MPs want president impeached over fraud scandal BBC News Thousands of people in the country have lost their savings in an alleged investment scam . Mr Yayi's spokesman has previously denied the president's … and more

The unemployed rallied on Wall Street, in lower Manhattan. (Creative Commons) After 99 weeks, or more, of unemployment, traveling to a political rally is a luxury. Across the country, thousands of 99ers, Americans who have exhausted the maximum weeks of unemployment benefits, have written letters or called Congress advocating for legislation extending benefits or creating jobs programs. But the first 99ers rally, held on Wall Street this Thursday, proved a more modest affair. Image by: Matt Mahurin Share Normally, the unemployed suffer from political disenfranchisement, on top of the hardships of joblessness, including loss of income, poorer health outcomes and eroding skills. But a group of activists working online have founded list-servs and websites to connect hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers. And they have teamed up with major labor unions, like the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, to flex their political might. Up until now, their efforts have been virtual; at Thursday’s rally, the unemployed took to the streets for the first time. The rally came at a good time politically. Despite the very long odds of passage, Senate and House Democrats have originated two bills to aid the 99ers in the past 10 days. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) introduced a bill moving the maximum number of weeks of federal and state benefits to 119 last week. And this week, Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.) and Shelley Berkley (Nv.) introduced similar legislation in the House. But just two dozen or so 99ers and a few dozen more unemployed persons met on the steps of Federal Hall, across from the New York Stock Exchange. (Most of the 99ers or figures in the unemployment netroots I spoke with before the event said that they could not afford the gas or plane ticket to get to the rally.) Members of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 100 and the United Federation of Teachers joined them. A few hiccups marred the event. The weather hardly cooperated, with spitting rain and punishing heat and humidity. Additionally, the organizers failed to register for a sound permit, so the New York City Policy officers keeping the peace ordered activists to put away the megaphone about 10 minutes into the event. Organized by the fledgling Unemployed Workers Action Group, the rally called for an expansion of unemployment insurance and jobs programs for the long-term unemployed. There are an estimated 1.5 million 99ers across the country, and their plight results from a recession with not just an unusually high unemployment rate, but an unusually long average duration of unemployment. Indeed, a typical jobless worker — of whom there are 14.6 million — has been out of work for more than 34 weeks, about 8 months, a length unprecedented since the Great Depression. Despite its small size, the 99ers’ rally accomplished an important goal: It got the attention of the press, and advocates for the 99ers see the press as the key to creating pressure for legislation. “Two months ago, nobody knew who the 99ers were,” LaDona King, a 99er and major figure in the 99er netroots told me. “Everybody thought it was some city’s AAA baseball team.” But with growing awareness, they hope, will come political action. To that end, a volunteer at the rally took journalists’ names and numbers, and ensured that any reporter wanting access to a 99er for her story got easy access to several. Late in the event, Ed Schultz — the MSNBC and radio host who has devoted countless programming minutes to the 99ers, and for that reason holds nearly beatific standing among them — stood in a pair of khaki shorts at the back, conducting interviews and shaking hands. (He planned to address the crowd, but could not because of the noise permit issue.) And with the press there, the 99ers at the rally got their chance to speak, and tell their stories. Betty S. Cohen, of Brooklyn, worked as an administrative assistant at an investment bank — not a commercial bank, she notes — for two years before she was laid off in July 2008. “My skills are excellent,” she sighs, “but I can’t get a job anywhere.” She has applied to hundreds of positions via Monster.com and other online search engines, as well as contacting former employers and friends for leads. “I have gotten five calls, and no offers.” she says. “They don’t tell you why.” She has long since exhausted any savings, does not have any living family and is increasingly late on her rent and bills, though she says she was recently approved for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. “A friend loaned me $20,” she says. “And I told her I didn’t know when I would pay it back. I offered to pay her back in food. I can buy that now, at least.” Marion Glandorf formerly worked for Grenadier Realty Corp. on Roosevelt Island as an executive assistant. She managed contractor relationships for 1,100 apartments, assessed tenant needs and answered scores of calls per day. She came to the rally — she notes she is not a 99er, not yet — wearing a giant sign with her resume on it around her neck. Joining her was Bob Kohler of Suffolk County, New York. He had worked as an IT project manager before the recession, and has focused on writing motivational works about the power of positive thinking and the need to accept hardship. (He said the angry tone of the rally, with speakers shouting at the nearby investment banks, would prove counterproductive.) Kohler did not realize his unemployment insurance would run out shortly after Christmas. It just stopped. “It happened abruptly,” he said, and his wife and he had not adequately prepared. “The American dream?” he says, softly. “It’s decimated.” The rally attempted to capture that sense of decimation, with speakers sharing their stories of hardship — the loss of homes, the loss of respect, the trouble with health, the depression — on the Federal Hall steps, facing the New York Stock Exchange. Some rallied against the banks nearby, but most focused on the need for congressional jobs bills and a Tier V. Dozens of tourists stopped to listen and to clap in support among the protesters and the camera crews. So did a few investment bankers. “Get a fucking job” shouted one young man dressed, stereotypically, in a dark suit, red tie and loafers, his hair sharply parted. He was booed.

Original post:
99ers Rally For Unemployment Extension

Feds: Westchester Accountant Ran Ponzi Scam North Country Gazette 2 told Brown and the partner that he wanted to invest approximately $50000 in a secure, liquid investment in the area of alternative energy. …

More:
Feds: Westchester Accountant Ran Ponzi Scam – North Country Gazette

Popular Searches

• westchester accountant ponzi
• cache:W3TubuxbHWwJ:lionheartgroupscampreventiontips com/scams/senior-investment-savvy-no-guarantee-in-preventing-fraud-senior-spectrum/ north american press syndicate

Illegal fund manager jailed 4 years Business Times – Malaysia He is the first person in the country to be convicted of operating an illegal online investment scam , after the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)'s … and more

The White House is touting it as “recovery summer”: The economy is adding jobs, the unemployment rate is falling, housing is stabilizing and the $787 billion stimulus is working. But it certainly doesn’t feel that way to America’s young workers, who suffer the worst rates of joblessness of any demographic group — more than 18 percent, compared with 9.5 percent overall. And with July in full swing, their jobs situation is about to get worse. Image by: Matt Mahurin Share States and regional governments have slashed the summer programs that helped more than 320,000 young people find work last year, as stimulus funding is running out and Congress has failed to re-up the funds. Indeed, $1 billion in funding for summer jobs died along with the jobs bill , now being split up and — for some of its components — passed separately. Even if Congress gets to the summer jobs fund, and passes it, for hundreds of thousands of workers, it will be August, and too late. This is just one more headwind in what has become a perfect storm for youth unemployment, as young people, without long employment histories, compete for scarce positions with more seasoned workers. The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds hit 20 percent this spring, and has declined only slightly since then. In some cities, such as New York, it ranges as high as 40 percent. Nationally, one in four working-age teenagers is unemployed — for black teenagers, closer to one in two. In May, the economy created just 6,000 jobs for teens — 120 jobs per state, the smallest number in 40 years. Spells of unemployment are particularly detrimental for young workers. They tend to have less in savings and less work history than their older counterparts, as well as more debt. Therefore, they are more prone than older workers to falling into poverty when they lose their jobs. And as fewer of them are married, they cannot rely on a spouse’s work for income or health benefits. “Without insurance coverage, these young adults risk both their physical health and their financial security,” the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation reported this winter. Moreover, unemployment hurts young workers for longer than older workers. In an April report titled “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” the Economic Policy Institute’s Kathryn Anne Edwards and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez detailed the reasons why. “Work during teen years is characterized as being highly path-dependent — work status in one period is very sensitive to work status in the time period before,” they note. “With a dramatic downturn in the young adult labor market, fewer young workers are being incorporated into this path” — from work in high school to work in college to work afterward. Economists often describe youth unemployment as a “permanent scar,” rather than the “temporary blemish” it is for older workers. Studies show that the lack of early work experience depresses wages for the rest of a worker’s life. Summer jobs programs couldn’t fix all this, but programs funded with the $1.2 billion infusion from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act certainly were helping. Nationwide, the summer jobs program — centered on aiding young people with barriers to employment, such as pregnancy, school drop-outs or low family income — placed 88 percent of participants into summer jobs. By November 2009, the program helped more than 355,000 young people in all 50 states. Consider San Bernardino County, in southern California. The unemployment rate there is among the highest in the country — more than 14 percent — and the area has suffered from the lagging effects of the recession, especially the housing bust. Last year, stimulus funding meant work for hundreds of San Bernardino youths, and 43,500 young people across California. This year, the county planned to run the same programs, assuming the same level of federal funding, promised by legislators in Washington. (On the expectation of additional federal funds, and a decline in the unemployment rate, state and local governments used more than two-thirds of the available funds by November of last year.) But the money is not there, and the county is shuttering parts of the program. It is not alone. Some places — such as Boston — have found companies or nonprofits to keep programs open. Many have not. Nobody knows how many fewer young workers will benefit, but a tally of big-city programs suggests the number is in the hundreds of thousands. Nor does it look like federal aid will make a late arrival. Even when the Senate returns, it has no plans to resuscitate the jobs package — meaning young workers are on their own. “We served a record number of kids last year,” says Cathleen Collins, a spokesperson for the New York Department of Youth and Community Development, whose summer jobs program placed 52,000 young people last year. “This year, we are getting less funding from the state, and [$18.5 million] less from the federal government. … We monitored [the jobs bill] on an ongoing basis. It really was not clear to us that the funds would go through. So, we had a program that we could ramp up if it did, but the program is smaller this year” — half the size of last year’s, though unemployment in New York City is higher. Kalyani Thampi, a research analyst at the National Center for Children in Poverty, stresses that sustained, consistent investments in young people would be best. “It is worth it. It is cost-intensive, and time-intensive, and labor-intensive for governments to set these programs up,” she says. “But in the long term, these kids are given skill sets.” She also notes that the programs focus not on college graduates unable to get jobs, but on young workers who are more income-insecure to begin with — less educated, for instance. “Vocational training and pre-professional programs are becoming more and more important,” though the recession has forced governments to slash spending on such social-safety-net initiatives. “We have many, many unemployed youths who aren’t going to community college or to four-year degrees. They need to get jobs, and they need to be trained.” In that sense, it is not just the young workers who are missing out — it is the American labor force, missing the opportunity to train young people in the fields of the future.

Read more here:
Slashed Summer Jobs Funding Hits Young Workers Hard

In June, the labor force — the total number of people either working or looking for work — was 153.74 million. The number of unemployed people was 14.62 million. Ergo, the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. But the number of people in the labor force — which normally goes up by about 100,000 people a month — actually declined in June. And it declined a lot — by 652,000 people. Some of those people moved, or retired, or left the country. But, as any economist would tell you, a big proportion of them were likely “discouraged” out of the labor force. They had looked for jobs, couldn’t find one and decided to stop trying. Let’s say none of those people left the labor force, and instead kept looking for a job for another month. In that scenario, we would add those 652,000 people to both the number of unemployed and to the labor force. And we would get an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent — higher than in May. Of course, this is hypothetical, and does not take into account the impact of census hiring or retirement or a dozen other factors. My point is that the big fall in the unemployment rate is not really telling us about the job market in this specific month’s report, and the job market remains extremely distressed.

More:
More on the Bad Jobs Report

After failing to pass an extension of unemployment benefits earlier this week, the House tried again — and succeeded, 270 to 153. The Senate will take up its version of the bill when Congress returns from a week-long break, on July 12. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) had introduced the bill, H.R. 5618, to extend UI through Nov. 30 and retroactively grant benefits to those who started losing them at the beginning of June. By the time the Senate acts, approximately 2.5 million people will have stopped getting unemployment checks. Levin released this statement on passage: Earlier today, a Republican Member of this House spoke on the plight of millions of unemployed who are losing their unemployment insurance, saying, he came to the floor with a heavy heart. I think the unemployed in America welcome heavy hearts, but if there isn’t a helping hand, a heavy heart doesn’t work.  Those who are still unemployed should not suffer due to the indifference of Republicans in Congress. I want to list very briefly the basic facts for everyone to consider and for all of our country to hear: 1.7 million unemployed workers, unemployed through no fault of their own, looking for work, will have lost their benefits by the end of this week.  By the end of next week, without further action, 2.1 million will have lost their benefits.  By the middle of July, when the Senate can address this issue again, 2.5 million will be without this basic assistance. The average unemployment insurance in this country is about $300 a week, roughly half of the previous wage on average. For a family of four that average check is only 74 percent of the poverty level. These basic facts should refute the notion that those who are unemployed, who would have no benefits, are not looking for work.  Indeed, the reality is very clear.  For every job available there are five unemployed workers. This issue is fundamentally an emergency for our country and our economy. Unemployment benefits have been considered, and passed as emergency spending under both Democratic and Republican Congresses and Administrations. I cannot understand how anyone could come to this floor and say for 1.7 million people and their families this is not an emergency. There is no excuse for voting no.  It has been noted that the Senate is out of session.  We must pass this so it is the first item of business when they return. The only reason this extension has not passed the Senate in recent days is because there could not be found more than two Republicans to vote for this extension. That is a shame and it is shameful. This House needs to lift that shame off of the shoulders of everyone in this institution and pass this bill so that millions of American workers get the benefits they earned and deserve.

Go here to read the rest:
House Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension

Today, the Senate is debating the tax extenders’ package, also known as the jobs bill or H.R. 4213. The beleaguered legislation has been cut by more than $100 billion to appease centrists and deficit hawks who still refuse to vote for it as it expands the deficit by around $20 billion. But what do those billions get? Medicaid funding for the states, extended unemployment insurance benefits for millions of Americans and a host of measures to close tax loopholes. Shockingly, the bill might actually fail to pass due to the Democrats losing the vote of Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and failing to win over a Republican — presumably Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) or Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.). Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, is not known as much of a rhetorician. But he gave a good, passionate speech opening debate again on the floor this morning — and giving a good rundown of what is in this tossed-salad of a bill: I want to take some time this morning to update our fellow Senators and our constituents watching around the country about the bill currently before this body. This bill creates jobs, cuts taxes and closes corporate loopholes.  It’s a good bill.  It’s a necessary bill.  This bill will make our economy stronger. It’s a bill I’m fighting for because the recession has driven Nevada’s unemployment rate higher than any other in the entire country. I’m fighting for it because we need to help small businesses grow and hire and once again be the engine that runs our economy. I’m fighting for it because I don’t think big businesses should get rewarded for shipping jobs out of America when so many here at home are desperate for a paycheck and the dignity of a day’s work. This is the eighth week since March we have tried to find a resolution.  We have gone back and forth countless times, considering ideas, compromising where necessary and courting support. We tried to bring it to the floor, but the minority said no. Once we finally succeeded in bringing it here to the floor, we tried to bring it to a vote. Again, the minority said no. Somewhere along the line, throughout these charades, this job-creating, tax-cutting, loophole-closing bill has become a political football.  The debate has focused more on winning and losing than on doing what’s right. So I want to take a step back and talk about what’s really in the text of this legislation.  Let’s be crystal clear about all the good things a “yes” vote enables us to do — and what a “no” vote stops us from doing. This bill: Extends the tax deduction for students’ tuition. Extends the deduction for state and local sales taxes. Extends the standard deduction for property taxes. Extends the deduction for the cost of classroom supplies purchased by teachers. Includes a $4 billion extension of Build America Bonds that provide low-cost financing for infrastructure investments. Extends Small Business Administration lending programs that provide low-cost loans to small businesses. Provides $2.5 billion in funding for state wage assistance programs to help people move from welfare to work. Extends the Research and Development tax credit that provides more than $6 billion in assistance to firms conducting research on new technology. Provides $5 billion in New Markets Tax Credits that encourage investment in economically-distressed areas. Allows retail and restaurant businesses to write off property investments over 15 years rather than 39 years. Provides tax credits to assist mining firms with their rescue team training and to purchase safety equipment. Provides wage assistance to firms that continue paying normal wages to employees who are members of the military’s reserves and are on active duty. Contains incentives to encourage film and television productions in the United States. Later today, we’ll hold a vote on all of these items.  Those who want to help middle-class America will vote “yes.”  Those who want to protect corporate America will vote “no.” Those who want to create jobs and create the conditions for recovery will vote “yes.”  Those who want to kill jobs, who want to stop our recovery in its tracks and who want to keep things the way they are will vote “no.” Those who want our economy to prosper and succeed will vote “yes.”  Those who want this Congress and this economy to fail will vote “no.” Those who put people first will vote “yes.”  Those who put politics first will vote “no.” The American people are watching, and they’re waiting for us to act.  They demand that their Senators understand what they’re going through and how badly they’re struggling. I understand.  I know what the people of Nevada are going through.  I know how much a good bill like this one will help those families and small businesses. I hope other Senators here do, too — for the sake of those in my state, for the sake of those in their own states and for the sake of our nation’s economy. As for those who still don’t see the value in creating jobs, cutting taxes and closing corporate loopholes — I hope they’ll take some time today to come to the floor and listen to their fellow Senators who believe in this bill.  I hope they’ll listen with an open mind, and with their constituents’ best interests in mind. The time to decide is closing in on us, but it’s not over yet.  It’s not too late to do what’s right.

See original here:
Reid Fights for Fading Jobs Bill on Senate Floor

Trader found guilty of operating online investment scam Malaysia Star … has earned the dubious honour of being the first person in the country to be found guilty of operating an illegal online investment scam worth RM65mil. … Country's first illegal 'cyber fund manager' found guilty Malaysia Star (blog) all 4 news articles

How to avoid investment scams WTOP AP Interview: US teen sailor unfazed by ordeal WASHINGTON – Investment seminar scams are popping up in the DC area and across the country — and the Better … BBB issues red flags regarding investment seminar scams Holmes County Times Advertiser all 3 news articles

NJ TODAY Medicare rebates issued along with fraud warning Morning Sentinel “Unfortunately, scam artists around the country have been preying on seniors expecting this check ,” Pingree said in a written statement. … Illinois AG warns seniors of Medicare rebate scam Chicago Tribune Fraud Alert as Medicare Rebate Checks Hit Ohio Mailboxes Public News Service Scam artists eye Medicare checks DesMoinesRegister.com (blog) KOKC

It seems all those deficit hawks have the country spooked. A new Gallup poll says that terrorism and the national debt now rank evenly — above health care costs, unemployment, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the specter of climate change — as the most pressing issues for the American public. To boot, Newsweek notes that Americans can now help pay down the federal debt via donations accepted by credit card.

More here:
Debt Becomes Americans’ Top Fear

Consumer Smart-June 8, 2010 KIII TV3 Investment scams and schemes can come in many forms and a common technique to lure consumers in is the offer of a free financial seminar over lunch. … Connecticut-Based Advance Fee Loan Companies Cheating Americans across the Country PRLog.Org (press release) all 7 news articles

An Interview With A Con Artist — News 8 Talks To Fake Check Scammer WGAL Lancaster For years, the 8 On Your Side team has been telling you about the fake check scam — the most common scam in the country. You've heard from the victims, … and more

SecurityInfoWatch At the Frontline: Members 1st Federal Credit Union's Chip McBreen SecurityInfoWatch With the proliferation of check fraud and other types of crime targeting banks across the country, Pennsylvania-based … and more

Yar’Adua came to power in 2007 elections which he himself acknowledged were flawed, accepting criticism from both inside the country and abroad

Read more:
Yar’Adua: Nigeria’s lacklustre "servant" leader dies

The Consumerist (blog) LI family accused in cancer charity scam 7Online.com One victim wrote a 153-dollar check 'in memory of' a breast cancer victim. “It's unconscionable that people would prey on people's emotions because everyone … AG Sues To Shut Down Sham Cancer Charity North Country Gazette all 5 news articles

The Consumerist (blog) LI Breast Cancer “Charity” Was Just a Scam NBC New York People looking to donate to charities are urged to consult with the Attorney General's office to determine if the charity is legitimate. You can check on a … LI family accused in cancer charity scam 7Online.com Charity begins at home New York Post AG Sues To Shut Down Sham Cancer Charity North Country Gazette all 9 news articles

Online house rental scam hits Chillicothe properties Zanesville Times Recorder … back into the country to check on the condition of the home. Hess echoed the same advice many of the Web sites addressing the scam nationwide offered, … and more

As everyone already knows, 2009 was a terrible economic year for a lot of Americans, but some people had it worse than others. A handy table in today’s Wall Street Journal allows us to break down the five states that had the biggest declines in per capita income, and the rugged four that saw an increase — and what the rest of their financial pictures look like. The Worst 5. Idaho Although few outside of Idaho talk about Idaho now that Larry Craig isn’t toe-tapping in a wide stance in the Minneapolis airport, times were tough in Idaho last year! The Spud State was more of a dud state, with a 4.1 percent decline in per capita income, an 8 percent average unemployment rate (better than the national average!) and a 6.6 percent decline in home values. 4. Arizona John McCain’s home state didn’t see an end to its troubles in 2009, as the Copper State’s per capita income went down by 4.1 percent even as actual copper prices went up . Housing prices were down 13 percent and the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent. 3. South Dakota Although no one is loudly contemplating the addition of Ronald Reagan to Mount Rushmore anymore, the Mount Rushmore State had bigger problems in 2009, as per capita income fell by 4.4 percent. Somewhat protected from the unemployment plaguing much of the rest of the country, an average of only 4.4 percent of South Dakotans were unemployed. Better yet, it was one of 18 states that didn’t see a decline in housing prices, as they went up by 1.6 percent in 2009. Still, it’s a fair bet that the winter was miserably cold. 2. Nevada What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, as the saying goes, but neither money, jobs nor housing prices stayed in Vegas in 2009. Unlucky Nevadans saw per capita income drop 5.8 percent, the unemployment rate skyrocket to an average of 11.8 percent and housing prices fall like a lead balloon a grand total of 17 percent. Lady Luck apparently found a new watering hole. 1. Wyoming Per capita income in Wyoming dropped by 5.9 percent and housing prices plummeted by 6 percent. The average unemployment was only 6.4 percent, but the state’s most famous jobless resident — the ex-VP — decamped for a secret bunker elsewhere. The Best 4. Maryland Terps fans might not have a lot to cheer about, but in this economy, a 0.3 percent increase in per capita income was cause for celebration. Housing prices are down 5.5 percent, but average unemployment at 7 percent was under the national rate. 3. Vermont Vermonters were able to crack a smile over something other than delicious ice cream or flavorful cheddar: Per capita income was up a whole half percent in 2009. As in Maryland, average unemployment was under the national average at 7 percent, and housing prices dropped by only 1.3 percent. Looks like it’s time for a little spoonful of celebration. 2. Maine Residents of the Pine Tree State had reason to smile in 2009: a 1 percent increase in per capita income and a 1 percent increase in home values. At 8 percent, unemployment, too, was slightly below the national average. 1. West Virginia Although West Virginians are not often at the top of lists, they are when it comes to income increases in 2009, and their 1.8 percent increase in per capita income won out. Housing prices were down 2.7 percent — hardly the steepest decline — and unemployment was under the national average at 7.9 percent. Not a bad showing for the Mountain State!

See more here:
Five States With the Biggest Drops in Income, and the Four That Gained in 2009

Lawyers fall victim to cashier's check scam WFAA “I've met tons of my clients that are from out of state and out of the country,” said Richard Howell, the last attorney to fall victim to the scam . …

See more here:
Lawyers fall victim to cashier’s check scam – WFAA

Despite yesterday’s bipartisan Senate vote on a $15 billion jobs bill, Republicans on Capitol Hill have been pretty much united in their condemnation of additional deficit spending as a remedy to the nation’s entrenched jobs crisis . “The time has come,” Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said this week, “to stop pretending we can spend our way out of the recession.” Enter David M. Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general and now head of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for balanced budgets. Walker — teaming up with Lawrence Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute — said this week that a temporary bump in federal spending is the solution to longer-term deficit troubles, rather than part of the problem. “A focus on jobs now is consistent with addressing our deficit problems ahead,” Walker and Mishel wrote in Politico. The difficulty is that many politicians and news organizations often cast deficit debates as a dichotomy: You either care about them or you don’t. But this is rarely accurate. The fact that the two of us, who have philosophical differences on the proper role of government, find much to agree on about deficits is a testament to the importance of dropping this useless dichotomy and finally talking about deficits in a reasonable way. The reasonable way is first to make the distinction between temporary, emergency spending designed to pull the country out of recession and auto-pilot entitlement spending that’s the true root of the nation’s long-term budget troubles. The unlikely duo of Walker and Mishel is calling for programs that (1) target job creation specifically, (2) would build jobs quickly, and (3) wouldn’t rely on federal funds in the long run. Infrastructure funding, a hiring tax credit for businesses and an extension of unemployment benefits, they write, all meet these criteria. The “targeted, timely and temporary” diagnosis is hardly a new one, but its reiteration now — a year after passage of the Democrats’ $787 billion stimulus bill — is good evidence that lawmakers didn’t focus enough on those parameters the first time around ( as many economists have indicated ). Will lawmakers learn the lessons of the last year? Not probable in an election year when voter anger, more than economic necessity, seems likely to dictate what Congress can do.

View post:
The Republicans’ Jobs Dilemma

New York Daily News Four charged in series of financial schemes connected to '08 execution-style … New York Daily News But prosecutors say the four people busted Monday were in cahoots with the couple to steal $1 million from clients – and probers think the scam may have led … Lawyers' Eerie Assassination Leads to Corruption Charges Brooklyn Daily Eagle Murder Probe Leads to Multi-Indictments North Country Gazette all 13 news articles

SILive.com Lawyers' Eerie Assassination Leads to Corruption Charges Brooklyn Daily Eagle Asked if the references to guns meant that Delvicario and Schwartz's alleged scam included violent behavior, DA Hynes refused to comment. … Murder Probe Leads to Multi-Indictments North Country Gazette all 10 news articles

Investors lose RM1b in investment scams The Sun Daily PETALING JAYA (Feb 17, 2010): Investment scams promising high returns have become a menace in the country with investors losing over RM1 …

Read more here:
Investors lose RM1b in investment scams – The Sun Daily

Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) (WDCpix) There is unemployment, and then there is long-term unemployment. As Congress grapples this month with ways to tackle the nation’s jobless crisis, many economists are hoping lawmakers recognize the distinction. Not only is there often a stigma associated with being out of work for long stretches, but the long-term unemployed are also more likely to have lost a competitive step in their field, requiring focused retraining programs more nuanced than simply throwing federal dollars to existing industries . Many other workers will discover that the task they’ve spent a lifetime doing is no longer relevant on the other side of the recession. Image by: Matt Mahurin Share “The longer you remain unemployed, the tougher it is to get a job,” said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com. “You’re skills atrophy. Employers — rightly or wrongly — take that as a signal that you’re damaged goods.” The combination of factors presents a dilemma, not only for jobless folks in search of work, but also for the Washington lawmakers trying to stoke the coals of hiring. That long-term unemployment is at the highest level since recording began in 1948 only adds to the urgency of getting the policy right. “It’s a hard question for policymakers,” said Chad Stone, chief economist at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “There aren’t a lot of things they can do quickly.” Not that they aren’t trying. The House in December passed a $154 billion jobs bill , including billions of dollars in highway infrastructure, public transit and emergency help for struggling states. Few observers, however, gave that proposal much chance of passing the Senate, where Republicans have been pushing for a smaller bill with a greater emphasis on tax cuts. Indeed, on Thursday Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the leaders of the powerful Finance Committee, introduced a jobs bill of their own. The $85 billion draft proposal is centered around a series of business tax breaks designed to spur hiring and individual tax relief designed to encourage spending. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was quick to dismiss the proposal, arguing that it was too heavy on Republican sweeteners and too light on actual job-creation provisions. “The message is so watered down,” he said . The final product, though, is certain to look more like the Baucus-Grassley draft than the bill passed by the House. Some economists are warning, however, that tax provisions like those in the Senate bill pretend that the jobless pool is a level playing field, ignoring the stigma and skills questions associated with the long-term unemployed — and therefore favoring those who lost jobs more recently. ”Someone who’s been unemployed only 6 or 8 weeks often looks like a much stronger job candidate than someone who hasn’t been employed for the last 66 or 68 weeks,” said economist Gary Burtless, formerly with the Labor Department and now at the Brookings Institution. Desmond Lachman, economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, agreed, arguing that policymakers should be drafting their legislative fix in recognition that the nation’s jobless crisis is historically long-term. ”There is a distinction to be made,” Lachman said. “Policy needs to concentrate on retraining the long-term unemployed. Those who are short-term unemployed can rejoin the labor force more easily. They would benefit from policies that got the economy moving again and that subsidized employment through tax credits [among other things].” The $787 billion economic stimulus, enacted last winter, included billions of dollars for new job training. Economists are largely in agreement, however, that the package wasn’t large enough to address the recession. Another pickle: deciding which jobs merit retraining is never easy. It leaves lawmakers with the task of trying to distinguish which occupations were shed as a result of the recession, and which were lost due to deeper structural shifts governing the ever-changing economy in the age of increasing globalization. In short, some experts warn, not all retraining is created equal. “There’s a mismatch between the skills these people have and the skills we need moving forward,” Faucher said. “Retraining won’t do any good if the demand isn’t there.” The comments are timely. Even as the nation’s jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent last month — down from 10 percent in December — that headline-grabbing figure disguised a deeper problem: Namely, the number of American workers who’ve been unemployed longer than 27 weeks hit another all-time high of 6.3 million in January — up 183,000 since December and 5 million since the start of the recession in December 2007.  And that doesn’t count the roughly 2.5 million folks who want to work but have stopped looking. The National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group, lent a bit of context to those numbers, pointing out recently that the average stretch of unemployment has topped 30 weeks — a full nine weeks longer than the most recent severe jobs crisis in 1983. Another dismal milestone: more than 41 percent of jobless Americans have been without a job for longer than six months, NELP noted, up from 26 percent in 1983. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the economy has shed roughly 8.4 million jobs. It’s a trend that threatens the economy in a number of ways. Not only do the long-term unemployed consume less, but they’re also more likely to foreclose on their homes — a situation that only cripples recovery efforts by depressing the housing market even further. The White House seems to be well aware of the hurdles ahead. On Thursday, the administration issued its annual economic outlook, warning that long-term unemployment — and the skills lost as workers sit idle — can lead to a reduction in productivity and earning power, even long after the economy rebounds. The White House estimated that the economy will begin creating jobs this spring, though not in significant enough numbers to keep up with the labor pool, which grows by 100,000-150,000 workers each month. Indeed, Moody’s Economy.com is predicting the nation’s unemployment rate will jump back up near 11 percent later this year. For his part, Brookings’ Burtless suggested that the depth of the crisis demands a public jobs program on the level of the Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration — which employed 3.3 million people in 1936 — or the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act under Jimmy Carter, which grew to 725,000 public jobs in 1978. The political reality, however, is that today’s Congress is much too conservative to endorse such large, government-backed programs, even despite the stagnant jobs picture the country faces.

See the article here:
Congress Warned Not to Forget Long-Term Unemployed

Scam Alert: Hard cash, cold comfort Marco Eagle … the check cashers are responsible for the discrepancies. Marco Police Chief Thom Carr points out that most of these scams originate outside the country. … and more

MyFox Los Angeles Women Allegedly Behind Investment Scam MyFox Los Angeles Lupe Valencia has held seminars all over the country, getting people to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and promising big returns on investments . …

Continue reading here:
Women Allegedly Behind Investment Scam – MyFox Los Angeles

This email came to reporters’ inboxes from the office of the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, objecting to this Politico story about Blair’s testimony to the House intelligence committee today. From spokesman Arthur House: The article published by Politico today regarding testimony of the Director of National Intelligence before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is inaccurate and irresponsible. The DNI did not criticize the Administration in any way – the assertion that he did is simply wrong. The DNI stated that the combination of reality and politics regarding the December 25 attempted terrorist attack is surprising and that the Intelligence Community is trying to bring intelligence and law enforcement to bear on those who threaten our country. To suggest that his statement is a “blast” at the White House distorts words clearly spoken and seeks to create a conflict where none exits. The current version of Politico’s piece appears to have excised the relevant description. An addendum reads: “Blair’s office objected to an earlier version of this story which said that he had criticized the White House for leaks about the case.”

Follow this link:
Dennis Blair vs. Politico

Follow simple steps to eliminate Scam risks thepaper24-7.com Scammers will send a check and ask the seller to wire the excess through Western Union, often out of the country. The scammer's check is fake and eventually …

See more here:
Follow simple steps to eliminate Scam risks – thepaper24-7.com

Members of the Tea Party Nation e-mail list received an astonishing e-mail this afternoon, naming, rebutting, and attacking their critics. Sherry Phillips’s email is posted after the jump. Judson and I have stayed silent in the face of intense media scrutiny and attacks by former members.  As a wife and a mother, I have stood by my husband and family and stayed strong in the face of many baseless accusations and criticism.  We have refrained from responding to many of the attacks that have been thrown at us from other “Tea Party” groups, in the belief we did not want to spread the divisions that are already hurting this movement even though that does not seem to be the consideration of some others involved in this movement.  Because of the many TPN members’ requests and encouragement, I have decided to provide comment about Tea Party Nation and the National Tea Party Convention. We will stay silent no longer. I hope my comments and the issues I deal with in this note will provide some clarity. American Liberty Alliance – Eric Odom’s American Liberty Alliance is a for profit company that takes donations.  We agreed to a sponsorship exchange where ALA would be a gold sponsor of the convention and we would be a gold sponsor of the Tax Day Tea Party.  Shortly after agreeing to this exchange,  Eric emailed Judson and me privately saying he was supportive of us and this convention and did not want to pull out, because he thinks this convention is going to be a huge success; however, some his “influential supporters”  were not happy about ALA’s participation in the convention and asked Eric to withdraw. American Majority – After stating in the beginning they wanted to co-sponsor the convention, they never answered repeated emails sent asking them for confirmation of their attendance. They did not promote the convention and did not put the convention on their calendar.  In fact Ned Ryun spent 5 minutes in an interview on Fox News talking about the Tea Party movement and did not mention the convention at all.  Meanwhile, another training organization contacted us asking if they could become a sponsor and if they could do a breakout session.  We gladly accepted and gave them American Majority’s spots.  On January 6, Ned’s assistant sent an email stating she was making travel arrangements for them to come and participate in the convention and asked when did we have their breakouts scheduled.  I told her because of their non-response, we gave American Majority’s slots to this other organization. They then requested that their logo be removed from the Convention website.  We complied with their request. Tea Party Express – This group has been very supportive of us.  They intended to do a small tour, culminating in an event Saturday afternoon prior to the banquet.  Because of their efforts in the Scott Brown race and their intent to go after Harry Reid in Nevada, they simply cannot make the trip.  We received a very nice email from them explaining their actions and restating their invitation to join them when they kick off their next tour in March.  We will be there.  We fully support their endeavors as they open their next tour in Nevada this spring. Campaign for Liberty – We actively sought out Campaign for Liberty as a sponsor of this convention.  We were contacted several weeks ago by the TN Director for CFL who wanted to co-sponsor the convention and I put him in touch with our Sponsorship Chair.  We have not heard anything from them since. Former Tea Party Nation Members – Several former members were unanimously banned from our site for reasons running the gamut from antagonism to passing on confidential information.  These members have been blogging, as well as discussing their association with liberal media outlets and conspiring with each other to, “Take TPN and this convention down”. In one of their more egregious statements a former member wrote that Judson stated, “I want to make a million dollars from this movement.”  Judson has never made this statement.  He has stated on numerous occasions that he would like TPN to have a million members all fighting for the cause of conservatism! Bill Hemrick – Mr. Hemrick made a business loan to Tea Party Nation at a commercial interest rate.  This loan has been paid back in full.  That is the full extent of any relationship we have had with Mr. Hemrick. Congressmen Bachmann and Blackburn – Both Congresswomen have large targets on their backs and are rightfully concerned about backlash they will receive from the left-leaning Democrat controlled House Ethics Committee.  Because of the complexity of the Ethics Code regarding House Representatives, we have no doubt the Democrats would have found something in that code to cause them problems once the convention was over.  We were also informed by Rep. Bachmann that both were being told two different things by the House Ethics Committee in regard to their participation.  This of course sent up red flags to everyone involved.  We do not blame either Congressman for their decision to withdraw from the convention and maintain a strong relationship with them both. Tea Party Nation – Last February after Judson held one of the first tea parties in the country in downtown Nashville, he came up with the idea for a social networking site for conservatives. Judson and I created Tea Party Nation.  We formed the corporation. We financed the corporation. We bought the domain name teapartynation.com , we purchased the servers and we pay for the monthly expenses.  We are a C-Corp and do not accept donations.  Tea Party Nation charges nothing to be a member and is run entirely by volunteers.  Recently, we have been able to start charging for advertising on the site to help defray the costs of running the site. As TPN has stated since its formation, we are not a non-profit.  We prefer to offer free membership to conservative patriots so they may participate in the political process of restoring this nation to its founding principles without financial burdens, hardships or roadblocks to prevent their participation.  Members are then able to choose their own way to spend their money without any involvement from TPN. PayPal Account – We are using a business PayPal account for the convention.  An email address is required to notify a contact when payment is received and we are using my TPN email account at sherry@teapartynation.com as that notification email address.  All money in that account is transferred directly into the TPN business bank account. We fully expect to break even during this event.  We may even make a few thousand dollars to cover local operating costs of TPN. We have made the best of a tight budget and scaled back the price of attending this convention as much as we could without putting TPN into bankruptcy.  The convention is sold out and we have a waiting list of over five hundred people.  We never did this to make us rich or famous. Quite the contrary, we are patriots who love our country, our members and the people who are coming to Nashville to attend this great event. For all of you who will be attending, we look forward to meeting you this upcoming week and we thank everyone for the support and patriotism in this fight against liberalism.  God bless you all and I thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Original post:
National Tea Party Convention Organizers Push Back

Ken Vogel has an essential story looking at the not-so-secret, but rarely examined, collegiate conservative fund network that trained James O’Keefe, Stan Dai, and the other plotters in the Mary Landrieu phone tampering scandal. The Leadership Institute and the Collegiate Network helped O’Keefe and the others get trained and fund college newspapers; the Phillips Foundation gave Dai one of its fellowships. (Disclosure: From 2002 through 2004 I edited the Northwestern Chronicle, a paper that received funding from the Collegiate Network, and I was a CN fellow at USA Today from 2004 to 2005.) Today, those organizations are condemning what their proteges got up to. [LI's Steven] Sutton said the Institute suggested to O’Keefe that he ask Rutgers officials to banish the breakfast cereal Lucky Charms from campus dining halls because it was offensive to Irish American students. O’Keefe took the advice a step further and video recorded the meeting, posting it on YouTube , which Sutton said was an example of him pushing the envelope. Worth remembering: the Leadership Institute didn’t always say this about O’Keefe. I noted on Tuesday that LI President Morton Blackwell gave O’Keefe fulsome praise for the ACORN sting, happily crediting his LI training. With training and a little financial help from the Leadership Institute, James O’Keefe started in 2004 an independent conservative student newspaper , The Centurion , at Rutgers , a large state university in New Jersey. James fought the liberal administration at Rutgers.  Leftists on campus stole whole issues of The Centurion .  His paper continued and grew stronger because of the abuses. James went to ten different training schools of the Leadership Institute.  The Institute hired him for a year (2006-07) to help conservative students around the country form their own campus publications.  He conducted 75 training programs for LI. Among the useful things James learned at LI was:  “ Don’t fire all your ammunition at once. ” In September 2009, each day for five days James released new videos exposing ACORN’s outrageous practices.  The roof caved in on ACORN .  Obviously, the impact of his work would have been much less if James had released all those videos at the same time. Now James is a national conservative hero, and I believe he will write his own ticket to a future career doing just what he loves to do. Obviously, the ACORN tapes went further than the college stunts that LI now characterizes as over-the-top.

More here:
Conservative Journalism Networks Back Away From O’Keefe and Co.

Since last week’s Supreme Court decision freeing corporations to spend unlimited sums to influence elections, there’s been a great deal of debate about what Congress, short of amending the Constitution, could do to prevent the nation’s big businesses from buying even more influence in Washington than they’ve already got. Today, Yale law professors Bruce Ackerman and Ian Ayres offer a solution. Writing in The Washington Post, the campaign finance reformers propose a new statute to keep the financing restrictions in place for any companies doing business with the federal government (i.e., most of the country’s biggest corporations). Using the drug lobby as an illustration, they explain: Federal contractors already are not allowed to “directly or indirectly . . . make any contribution of money or other things of value” to “any political party, committee, or candidate.” This provision arguably bars Big Pharma from launching a media campaign in favor of a candidate who supports its special deals, thereby “indirectly providing” the candidate something “of value.” But it doesn’t cover the case in which contractors threaten to spend millions to oppose senators and representatives who refuse their excessive demands. There is a need, then, for a new statutory initiative: The same anti-corruption rationale may prohibit contractors from spending millions in favor of candidates requires a statutory prohibition on a negative advertising blitz. It wouldn’t be difficult to imagine, for example, the drug industry going after Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who’s been pushing a proposal to empower states to negotiate pharmaceutical prices for their lowest-income seniors. (The prohibition on those negotiations has been a cash cow for the drug companies.) Ackerman and Ayres predict that their proposal would withstand the scrutiny of even the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. The Roberts court is skeptical — to put it mildly — of campaign finance restrictions. But it is still highly unlikely that the justices would strike down a law targeting federal contractors. All nine recognize that Congress may restrict free speech when there is a significant risk of corruption. That risk is obvious when corporate speakers are simultaneously doing business with the government. Of course, with just 10 months to go before November’s midterms, Congress would have to act quickly — not something it’s exactly known for.

View original post here:
A Legislative Fix to Citizens United

Caution saves couple from check scam News-Journal.com The Lefevers believe the check is a scam designed to dupe unsuspecting people into sending money across the country for an empty promise of thousands of …

Read more:
Caution saves couple from check scam – News-Journal.com

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who’s done plenty in recent months to alienate Democrats, won’t improve his standing with his comments today to Fox News. Asked by Neil Cavuto if he would switch to the Republican Party if the GOP somehow took over the Senate in this year’s elections, Lieberman declared that he has “no idea.” “That’s a big hypothetical a long away from now,” he said. “I was elected as an Independent but I remained a registered Democrat, so I’m with the Democratic Caucus.” Today’s tight Senate contest in Massachusetts, Lieberman added, is indication that Capitol Hill has grown too partisan — and voters are fed up. “The independents are speaking loudly around the country today and they’re telling us, one, to get together here in Washington,” he said. “The second thing really is to do something about the economy and move to the center and worry about things that [independents] are worried about.” That’s no music to the ears of liberals who were hoping that the pendulum swing away from the Bush administration might arc longer than just a year.

Go here to read the rest:
Lieberman Calls for ‘Move to the Center,’ Doesn’t Rule Out Switch to GOP

An ambitious plan to update the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act that supporters hope to see signed into law in 2010 comes amid charges that this legislation was responsible for nothing less than the subprime crisis and the resulting collapse of the residential real estate market. The plan, sponsored by Rep. Eddie Johnson (D-Tex.), would close some loopholes in the original act that let non-bank financial firms operate with relative impunity. It would levy negative ratings on a much wider array of institutions that practiced predatory or discriminatory lending, and it would require that non-bank entities like mortgage providers and insurance companies comply with all CRA tenets. Image by: Matt Mahurin Share Why this piece of legislation is still such a lightning rod more than 30 years after its introduction is something both its supporters and detractors struggle to explain from their respective camps. “The idea that this was just some sort of carrot-stick regulation that didn’t work is a perception that goes very much in hand with a right-wing agenda,” said Jose Garcia, associate director for research and policy at advocacy group Demos. Demos is one of several progressive groups seeking to have the bill, the Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2009, made into law. On the other hand, Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, asserts that political pressure drives CRA support. “It fundamentally gets to some very emotional issues. [Supporters] see this as an issue of racism and social justice,” he said. The Cato Institute held a forum in November that was broadly critical of the CRA, asserting that the financial models at its core are faulty. Federal Reserve chairman Benjamin Bernanke called the CRA a “catalyst” in 2007, although he touched on the trouble already brewing in the subprime mortgage sector as an imperative to revisit the Act in the wake of significant changes in the banking industry since its implementation. At its heart, the CRA was created to try and legislate out some of the institutional discrimination in the financial services industry. It was conceived in a very different era from today’s world of global banking behemoths. In the wake of the civil rights movement, most banks were still small, often single-branch operations. Many would operate selectively in low-income and minority neighborhoods, accepting the deposits of local residents but only writing home or business loans in more affluent communities. Regulatory changes in banking plus an agenda embraced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to boost homeownership cracked the mortgage market wide open beginning in the 1990s, and the CRA was initially credited with higher rates of homeownership among low-income and minority Americans. According to Kathleen Day, spokesperson for the Center for Responsible Lending, “The purpose of the CRA is to go into underserved areas and look for credit-worthy borrowers you overlooked because of red-lining,” she said, referring to the bank practice of categorically refusing to lend in certain neighborhoods. The result of reckless lending practices is by now apparent to everyone, although concerns were swept under the rug in the go-go years of the mid 2000s. CRA supporters say brokers and non-bank mortgage outfits wrote nearly 95 percent of the bad loans, while the Act took the fall when these loans turned out to be unsustainable. “Nine out of 10 of the people who got bad loans already had homes,” said the Center’s Day. “Six out of the 10 were refinances and three were selling one home and buying another.” Often, Day adds, the unscrupulous vendors that preyed on subprime mortgage candidates cloaked their malfeasance in the language of the CRA’s mission, a sleight of hand that muddied the waters and assigned undue blame on the regulation when mortgages — and the huge numbers of securities backed by them — began to sour. Even Lawrence White, a New York University who wants to see the CRA scrapped, says it’s not to blame for the financial meltdown. “The CRA has very little to do with the subprime lending debacle,” he said. Aside from mortgage lending, the other goal of the CRA is to provide basic banking services to low-income and minority citizens. In these locations, “Pawnshops and the like literally became the banking services,” said John Taylor, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the organization spearheading the modernization of the CRA. “In some communities there are no financial institutions,” asserted Demos’s Jose Garcia. Geographic impediments and language barriers create a two-tier system that leaves low-income Americans, minorities and immigrants without access to the banking and lending services the middle class takes for granted. If the legislation were better-enforced — something the NCRC’s Taylor believes the modernization bill would facilitate — banks wouldn’t be able to do things like close branches in these communities without repercussions. But preventing closures would just be the beginning. In a 12-page statement, the NCRC spelled out major features of modernization. Key among them are inclusion of non-bank financial firms under the umbrella of CRA oversight, and a greater emphasis on the neighborhoods in which institutions write loans, not just the locations where their branches or offices are located. This is partially due to the rise of online and branchless financial institutions, but Taylor says the switch will also prevent companies like subprime mortgage-peddlers from operating under the radar. Advocates also want to see enforcement of the CRA transferred to the not-yet-created Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The CFPA, as its supporters envision it, would consolidate regulatory oversight and enforcement of banking and lending activities in a single agency, rather than the patchwork of regulators some say let ruinous business practices slip through the cracks. The modernization effort isn’t without roadblocks, though. The current House bill has yet to progress to the Senate, although Taylor says the NCRC’s goal is to have the modernization signed into law sometime this year. The CFPA doesn’t even exist yet, and might never come to fruition. Last week, Senate Banking Committee Chair Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the lawmaker who has championed the idea, indicated he may be willing to abandon the idea of a consumer protection agency. In the end, it’s not clear what is ahead for the CRA. Some, like the Cato Institute’s Mark Calabria, think the need has run its course. “There was a logical raison d’être for the creation of the CRA at the time but that justification is no longer there,” he said. He admits that an outright repeal of the Act is unlikely, though. NYU’s Lawrence White also wants to get rid of the CRA, although he wants to replace it with a cap-and-trade system of credits similar to the protocol used to eliminate acid rain-causing sulfur dioxide in the 1980s. Progressive and social-justice groups say that the CRA, while not perfect, needs to be improved, not thrown out. “We’re talking about trillions of dollars of private resources that could be available to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods,” said the NCRC’s Taylor. “We believe in banks. If we don’t have them active in these neighborhoods, it’s very unlikely they’re going to prosper. We want banks to see these neighborhoods as an important part of the economic future of this country and of their business plans.” In the end, it might come down to that. If the notoriously profit-hungry banking industry sees economic potential in lower-income areas, this would go a long way towards keeping the predatory players out of the arena.

See the original post:
What’s Next for the CRA?

It doesn’t get Democrats any closer to 60 votes for climate legislation, but Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) efforts to cross the aisle and help craft a cap-and-trade bill are starting to have an effect on the debate among conservatives. In a peculiar little “New Year’s Resolution” dialogue today with Gail Collins, New York Times columnist David Brooks writes, “If you’re willing to give me nuclear power” — which the liberal Collins conceded as her resolution — “I’m willing to follow Lindsey Graham’s lead and do a little bit on the cap-and-trade bill, which is an imperfect piece of legislation, God knows, but still probably good for the country.” This coming from one of the three or four most prominent conservative voices in print media — but a prominent conservative who doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence in his knowledge of the climate policy debate. He writes in the same piece that last night, “I learned from Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund, my favorite environmental group, that the cap-and-trade bill, which I thought was dead in the senate, actually is close to getting enough votes to pass.” Given the ease of persuading Brooks and the reach of his writing, his is a pretty good ear to have.

View original post here:
David Brooks: ‘I’m Willing to Follow Lindsey Graham’s Lead’

KOHD Top scams of 2009 revealed Laurinburg Exchange Mystery Shopping/Secret Shopper Scams – Consumers across the country signed up to become “mystery shoppers” and received a legitimate looking check that … Top 10 scams of 2009 Chicago Tribune (blog) Top 10 Scams of 2009 KOHD Akin Takes You Through the Top Scams MyFox Houston Gaston Gazette

New Scam Surfaces On Internet Bru Direct In his email scam , Wei claimed that he had been authorised by a Brunei bank to set up a royal investment fund in the country. He managed to fraudulently …

Read this article:
New Scam Surfaces On Internet – Bru Direct

Photo by: Doug Lindley Idaho State Journal The vacant property is located in the northeast corner of the park and no existing mobile homes at High Country Estates are affected by the scam . …

Read more here:
Photo by: Doug Lindley – Idaho State Journal

At the start on 2009, the Democratic governor of New Jersey already lacked the approval ratings to suggest an easy reelection for him in the fall. But few were ready to put money on New Jersey going Republican in November. Despite the state’s Democratic slant and Corzine’s incumbency, experience, personal wealth and campaign visits from just about every major Democratic politician in the country, Corzine lost his seat. Democrats blame the state’s troubled economy for Corzine’s loss, but Republicans point to Corzine’s failure to solve the state’s tax, housing and employment crises. Next — 1. Rod Blagojevich

Excerpt from:
2. Jon Corzine

The former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee parlayed his congressional influence into a lucrative contract as president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) — and the move paid off handsomely for both parties. After Baucus and the White House secured an $80 billion deal with PhRMA early in the reform debate, Senate leaders worked to protect the drug makers from a series of measures that would cut deeper into industry profits. The Senate version of Waxman’s state drug negotiation proposal, for example, went down in flames in the Finance Committee in September. More recently, PhRMA lobbying killed legislation that would have allowed Americans to buy drugs abroad at lower costs. And like the insurance companies, the drug makers can only benefit from having millions of new Americans covered under health plans. Meanwhile, the drug companies remain among the most profitable in the country. Next — 4. Nancy Pelosi

Read more here:
5. Billy Tauzin

The 2008 presidential election promised to bring great changes to the country’s national security policy. Here are the five players who did the most to craft America’s approach to keeping its citizens safe in 2009. Click here to begin slideshow.

Read more from the original source:
Top Five National Security Players of 2009

In June, the White House issued a report making the case that health reform — well beyond a moral and social imperative — is also vital to the economic health of the country. Today, administration officials were at it again. A new report from the Council of Economic Advisers finds that the health bills moving through the Senate would slow the growth rate of health care spending by 1 percent per year into the indefinite future — a trend that would reduce budget deficits, help small businesses, and even lower premiums for Medicare patients. White House senior economist Christina Romer told reporters Monday that those arguing against the Senate bill ”have not looked at the numbers.” “We are headed for a train wreck,” she said. This is hardly a new argument, and certain members of Congress have been screaming for years about the unsustainability of the country’s health care spending. Still, in the middle of a fierce health reform debate — in which scare tactics and political messaging have long-trumped the nuances of the policy — it’s worth reminding voters that leaving the health care system in its current form is no option.

Read the original post:
The Economic Case for Health Reform, Part II

Andrew Breitbart, whom I profiled after his Big Government website launched the unfolding video sting investigation of ACORN, talks to Colby Hall about some of the sites he’ll launch in 2010. I had thought “Big Environment” would be first, but the next site will actually be “Big Journalism,” followed in some order by “Big Peace,” Big Education” and “Big Jerusalem.” Breitbart’s pitch: We aim to for a largely underserved audience who fiercely believe in free markets and don’t think Western Civilization sucks. If we aren’t 50% country of the country, we are damn near close. We are Tea Party-esque, with outraged Americans who have had it up to here with mainstream media. Our audience is comprised of normal, mainstream people: blue-collar workers, actors, students — black, white, straight, Jewish, Hispanic. They are at wit’s end and want to go to war with the Democratic-media complex.

Read this article:
Andrew Breitbart Launching More ‘Big’ Sites

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) asked about the progress of the civilian surge in Afghanistan, and Ambassador Eikenberry beamed as he answered the question. “We’ve made very significant progress over the last 12 months,” Eikenberry said. “By January of next year, during about a 7-week time frame … we will have had a three-fold increase.” Numbers? “About 1,000 civilians overall in Afghanistan,” with 400 of those “out in the field” beyond Kabul, “USAID development specialists, Department of Agriculture specialists, throughout the country,” law-enforcement, DEA agents. They’ll “multiply the effects of wherever they are by hiring Afghans.” Beyond January, Eikenberry expected even more: “Right now we’re in discussions with the department with what additional numbers and capabilities on the ground.” He didn’t have exact figures for his needs throughout 2010, but Eikenberry forecasted a requirement for “several hundred more over the course of the next six, nine months.” Deputy Secretary Jack Lew said something similar yesterday, about a 20 to 30 percent increase in civilians in Afghanistan next year. Still, Ellison said, that makes it 100 troops for every civilian. “You have to look at the effects they’re going to be achieving,” replied Eikenberry, a former military commander in Afghanistan. “When we talk about civilians we’re talking about individuals. Three good agricultural specialists working in the ministry” can achieve massive results, he said.

The rest is here:
Is The Civilian-to-Military Ratio Correct in Afghanistan?

Madoff liquidator targets Irish feeder funds Royal Gazette Ireland's financial regulator in January said two funds based in the country had exposure to Madoff's scam . That same month, Dublin-based Thema … and more