Top Financial Services Committee Republican Says Foreclosure Prevention Efforts ‘Need To Stop’
Last month, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) — who has now officially been named the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee — explained that, in his view, “Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks.” And it seems that the rest of the Republicans on the Financial Services Committee are coalescing around their chairman’s philosophy.
Last week, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), who is chairing the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, said that he wants to implement a mortgage finance system that is entirely private, jeopardizing the very existence of the 30-year mortgage on which so many families rely. And in a speech today, Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said that he wants all foreclosure prevention efforts to be halted immediately:
“All these foreclosure mitigation initiatives we’re taking need to stop,” he said, speaking at an event co-hosted by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the NYU Stern School of Business. Neugebauer said the private market should be allowed to work through the problems in the housing market without “administration pressure” to avoid foreclosures. “Markets aren’t kind, but they’re very efficient,” he said. “There were people who were put in their homes that probably never should have been there before.”
Neugebauer is parroting the conservative vision of the housing crisis — which to them was caused entirely by government policies encouraging homeownership amongst those who couldn’t afford it — so it’s not surprising that he thinks the government should get out of the foreclosure prevention business. But the actual problems in the housing market bear little resemblance to those Neugebauer outlined.
For one thing, leaving aside that many of the borrowers who faced foreclosure early in the housing crisis were hoodwinked by predatory lenders, the foreclosure crisis long ago migrated out of subprime loans and into prime loans, as people lost their jobs in the Great Recession. So a crisis created in large part by the shenanigans of bankers then walloped homeowners, who become unemployed through no fault of their own. Neugebauer’s prognosis also ignores the problem of underwater homeowners, who, again, through no fault of their own, now owe more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, due to plunging home prices.
Meanwhile, one million homes were foreclosed upon last year, and real estate analysts say that another one million will go into foreclosure this year. This not only harms the individual borrowers, but the wider economy, dragging down home values for everyone else and blowing holes in bank balance sheets.
The administration’s foreclosure prevention efforts have, admittedly, left a lot to be desired, but that’s because they involve lots of carrots for banks to modify mortgages, but few sticks, while banks have institutionalized systems biased in favor of foreclosure (like their use of “robo-signers“). Neugebauer’s approach would simply remove the limited help current foreclosure prevention efforts provide, leaving homeowners to the mercy of the very banks whose negligence helped drive the housing crisis in the first place. For some ideas on how to properly reform foreclosure prevention programs, visit here, here, and here.
Video - Olbermann says goodbye...
Keith Olbermann gives abrupt goodbye to MSNBC show
NEW YORK (AP) — Keith Olbermann was MSNBC's most popular personality and single-handedly led its transformation to an outspoken, left-leaning cable news network in prime time. Despite that, he often seemed to be walking on a tightrope with his job. Friday night, it snapped.
Olbermann returned from one last commercial break on "Countdown" to tell viewers it was his last broadcast, and read a James Thurber short story in a three-minute exit statement. Simultaneously, MSNBC e-mailed a statement that "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract." The network thanked him and said, "we wish him well in his future endeavors."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imlpgDcvVf_NPbQpmfJfqepDwB3Q
---
22 Facts Reflecting The Demise Of California
#1 The California state government is facing a potential state budget deficit of 19 billion dollars this year, and California debt is rapidly approaching junk status. One way or another the taxpayers of California are going to have to pay for this mess somehow.
#2 California Governor Jerry Brown recently unveiled a "draconian" budget plan for 2011 that includes 12 billion dollars more in spending cuts and that maintains 12 billion dollars in recent tax increases.
#3 The state of California currently has the third highest state income tax in the nation: a 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and a 10.55% bracket at $1,000,000.
#4 California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana has the next highest at 7%.
#5 Residents of California pay the highest gasoline taxes (over 67 cents per gallon) in the United States.
#6 California had more foreclosure filings that any other U.S. state in 2010. The 546,669 total foreclosure filings during the year means that over 4 percent of all the housing units in the state of California received a foreclosure filing at some point during 2010.
http://rense.com/general92/22.htm
---
State bankruptcy bill imminent, Gingrich says
(Reuters) - Legislation that would allow U.S. states to file for bankruptcy will likely be introduced in Congress within the next month, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives and a powerful Republican party figure, told Reuters on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K6PI20110121
---
Big states spurn bankruptcy bill
(Reuters) - Some of the biggest U.S. states with the worst budget deficits on Friday rejected any federal help in the form of a bill that would allow them to file for bankruptcy -- something they now are barred from.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K78P20110121
---
WikiLeaks founder Assange slams Swiss banker arrest
By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The founder of whistleblower site WikiLeaks attacked Switzerland on Sunday for arresting a Swiss banker on suspicion of breaching banking secrecy instead of investigating the tax evasion he said he had uncovered.
In an interview published in the Swiss weekly Der Sonntag, Julian Assange, whose website has angered Washington by releasing confidential U.S. diplomatic cables, said Switzerland's actions were drawing renewed international attention to its controversial banking practices.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70M07T20110123
---
FDIC's Bair calls for foreclosure claims commission
WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The mortgage servicing industry should fund a new commission to compensate homeowners who may have wrongly been kicked out of their homes, a top U.S. banking regulator said on Wednesday.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said this claims commission could be modeled on those created to compensate victims of the BP oil spill and Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. She said the size of such a claims fund would have to be negotiated.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1922390420110119
---
U.S. mulls way to identify risky financial firms
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators will propose criteria on Tuesday for deciding which market players other than banks, such as hedge funds, could threaten the financial system and require greater scrutiny by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70D2CF20110118
---
Ireland’s Titanic Bailout at Risk, Iceland looms ahead
The announcement by Brian Cowen that he was resigning as the leader of the Fianna Fail party, but is going to stay on as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) until the March 11 election, has put the Irish bailout into question. The November bailout of the Irish economy consisted of a series of different financing packages being combined into a larger total.
The first funds available under the bailout were provided by the raiding of the Irish retirement fund by its bankers. The next steps were to be funded by the EU and IMF funding sources, once the people of Ireland were legally subjected to the bailout requirements. The bailout never made it to a full vote before the collapse of the Fianna Fáil party.
This leaves Ireland in the unique position of being able to reclaim its future, by denying its past. The citizens of Ireland have not accepted the bailout. The coalition is not expected to be able to put the matter to a vote before the election.
“All we know is we are going to get an election on or before March 11 but that is about it,” said Micheal Marsh, professor of politics at Trinity College Dublin, calling the events of the past week “bizarre.”
“If the conditions in which all of this was going on were not so serious it really would be farcical.”
The people are clear they plan on voting for anyone who will fight the bailout. This makes the chances of a post-election bail out vote of acceptance unlikely. If the Bailout fails to be voted on in the coming days, it may never make it to a vote.
The Irish people are overwhelmingly against the loss of their Sovereignty because bankers were allowed to take outsized risk. The fact that these same bankers were allowed to book extremely large bonuses for bankrupting the nation is at the core of the problem.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ireland%E2%80%99s-titanic-bailout-risk-iceland-looms-ahead
---
Illinois' First Tax Hike Victim - Jimmy John's
Jimmy John Liautaud told The News-Gazette on Tuesday that he is angry about the moves, which boosted the individual income tax from 3 percent to 5 percent and the corporate income tax from 7.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
"All they do is stick it to us," he said, adding that the Legislature and governor showed "a clear lack of understanding." "I could absorb this and adapt, but it doesn't feel good in my soul to make it happen," Liautaud said.
Champaign has been its corporate base, but Liautaud said it will not necessarily continue that way. Liautaud said he has been contacted by "multiple pro-business states" that made him feel "wanted and important."
"I enjoy being courted and the process," he said.
Once he collects information on alternative sites, he will present it to the company's board of directors and ask the board to decide.
As for himself, "my family and I are out of here," he said.
Jimmy John's employs 100 at the corporate office in Champaign and has 190 other employees who work elsewhere but come to Champaign every four weeks, Liautaud said.
Some people may not realize how many travel to Champaign-Urbana as a result of Jimmy John's being here – many of them for training. Liautaud said his business accounts for "350 motel nights a week in Champaign, 1,400 motel nights a month."
"They eat at Cheddars," get automotive service at Sullivan-Parkhill and "drink at Carlos (Nieto's) bars," he said.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/illinois-first-tax-hike-victim-jimmy.html
---
Budget Deficit Accounting Fraud and the Off-Balance-Sheet Student Loan Scam; Time to Scrap Entire Student Loan Program
Inquiring minds have been wondering why the federal debt has been rising far faster than cumulative federal deficits. The short answer is off-balance-sheet scams like student loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "assets".
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/budget-deficit-accounting-fraud-and-off.html
---
Brian Cowen: The PM who lost his powers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12258654
---
Cuba stops postal service to US 'until further notice'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12257412
---
New tests for 'murder weapon' in Amanda Knox case
"This is a key moment," Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said before the hearing started. "Today, for the first time, independent experts will be asked to examine the evidence."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12258935
---
The most stressful dinner party in the world?
One of the key moments of a sensitive state visit to the US by Chinese President Hu Jintao was a state dinner in the White House - the kind of occasion where the food has to do a lot more than simply taste great.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12255127
---
Ivory Coast: Regional bank ally of Laurent Gbagbo quits
A key ally of Ivory Coast's disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo has resigned as head of the Central Bank of West African States amid regional pressure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12260535
---
Silvio Berlusconi refuses to quit in Italy sex scandal
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told his People of Freedom party he has no intention of resigning over allegations he had sex with an under-age prostitute.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12260299
---
Hawaii governor claims record of Obama's birth 'exists in archives' but can't produce the vital document
And he again promised he would do 'what I can do' to publicly verify that records show Obama was born in Hawaii and is a citizen of the United States, making him eligible to be President.
The Governor vowed when he took office in December that he would do his best to end the debate over Obama's birth, which began in 2008 during the presidential campaign.
'We'll do what we can as quickly as we can to make it inevitable that only those who wish the President ill, only the ones with a political agenda, will be the ones doing this kind of thing,' he said at the time. 'The President is entitled to the respect of his office and he's entitled to have his mother and father respected.'
During that interview, Abercrombie said his goal to combat birthers was a personal one.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348916/Hawaii-governor-says-Obamas-birth-record-exists-produce-it.html#ixzz1Btg7tyVt
---
China buys gold and the world follows - The Chinese are building on a trend that’s likely to last
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold prices have lost around $75 an ounce this year but analysts are unfazed by the drop, with many betting the slump in prices will soon be cut short as the Chinese New Year feeds an increase in global demand that’s destined to last.
“We are entering a period of strong seasonal growth in gold demand and Chinese New Year is a big part of that,” said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. “Physical demand has been supporting the gold prices on the downside even during the typical slack periods, and I expect that upcoming increase in demand will also support the price, but at higher levels.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-buys-gold-and-the-world-follows-2011-01-21
---
The World is sinking: Dubai islands 'falling into the sea'
The islands were intended as the ultimate luxury possession, even for Dubai.
Now their sands are eroding and the navigational channels between them are silting up, the British lawyer for a company bringing a case against the state-run developer, Nakheel, has told judges.
"The islands are gradually falling back into the sea," Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, for Penguin Marine, said. The evidence showed "erosion and deterioration of The World islands", he added.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/8271643/The-World-is-sinking-Dubai-islands-falling-into-the-sea.html
---
Spain to rescue its banks
The Spanish government is set to launch a sweeping restructuring of its troubled regional savings banks in an attempt to reassure the market it can sort out the problems of its financial system..
Forty out of a total of 45 Spanish cajas will merge or form operating alliances with each other as the authorities look to prevent fears over the banking system from morphing into a wider market run on the country as a whole.
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/spain-to-rescue-its-banks.html
bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft company Top Financial Services Committee Republican Says Foreclosure Prevention Efforts ‘Need To Stop’
Last month, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) — who has now officially been named the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee — explained that, in his view, “Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks.” And it seems that the rest of the Republicans on the Financial Services Committee are coalescing around their chairman’s philosophy.
Last week, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), who is chairing the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, said that he wants to implement a mortgage finance system that is entirely private, jeopardizing the very existence of the 30-year mortgage on which so many families rely. And in a speech today, Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said that he wants all foreclosure prevention efforts to be halted immediately:
“All these foreclosure mitigation initiatives we’re taking need to stop,” he said, speaking at an event co-hosted by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the NYU Stern School of Business. Neugebauer said the private market should be allowed to work through the problems in the housing market without “administration pressure” to avoid foreclosures. “Markets aren’t kind, but they’re very efficient,” he said. “There were people who were put in their homes that probably never should have been there before.”
Neugebauer is parroting the conservative vision of the housing crisis — which to them was caused entirely by government policies encouraging homeownership amongst those who couldn’t afford it — so it’s not surprising that he thinks the government should get out of the foreclosure prevention business. But the actual problems in the housing market bear little resemblance to those Neugebauer outlined.
For one thing, leaving aside that many of the borrowers who faced foreclosure early in the housing crisis were hoodwinked by predatory lenders, the foreclosure crisis long ago migrated out of subprime loans and into prime loans, as people lost their jobs in the Great Recession. So a crisis created in large part by the shenanigans of bankers then walloped homeowners, who become unemployed through no fault of their own. Neugebauer’s prognosis also ignores the problem of underwater homeowners, who, again, through no fault of their own, now owe more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, due to plunging home prices.
Meanwhile, one million homes were foreclosed upon last year, and real estate analysts say that another one million will go into foreclosure this year. This not only harms the individual borrowers, but the wider economy, dragging down home values for everyone else and blowing holes in bank balance sheets.
The administration’s foreclosure prevention efforts have, admittedly, left a lot to be desired, but that’s because they involve lots of carrots for banks to modify mortgages, but few sticks, while banks have institutionalized systems biased in favor of foreclosure (like their use of “robo-signers“). Neugebauer’s approach would simply remove the limited help current foreclosure prevention efforts provide, leaving homeowners to the mercy of the very banks whose negligence helped drive the housing crisis in the first place. For some ideas on how to properly reform foreclosure prevention programs, visit here, here, and here.
Video - Olbermann says goodbye...
Keith Olbermann gives abrupt goodbye to MSNBC show
NEW YORK (AP) — Keith Olbermann was MSNBC's most popular personality and single-handedly led its transformation to an outspoken, left-leaning cable news network in prime time. Despite that, he often seemed to be walking on a tightrope with his job. Friday night, it snapped.
Olbermann returned from one last commercial break on "Countdown" to tell viewers it was his last broadcast, and read a James Thurber short story in a three-minute exit statement. Simultaneously, MSNBC e-mailed a statement that "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract." The network thanked him and said, "we wish him well in his future endeavors."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imlpgDcvVf_NPbQpmfJfqepDwB3Q
---
22 Facts Reflecting The Demise Of California
#1 The California state government is facing a potential state budget deficit of 19 billion dollars this year, and California debt is rapidly approaching junk status. One way or another the taxpayers of California are going to have to pay for this mess somehow.
#2 California Governor Jerry Brown recently unveiled a "draconian" budget plan for 2011 that includes 12 billion dollars more in spending cuts and that maintains 12 billion dollars in recent tax increases.
#3 The state of California currently has the third highest state income tax in the nation: a 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and a 10.55% bracket at $1,000,000.
#4 California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana has the next highest at 7%.
#5 Residents of California pay the highest gasoline taxes (over 67 cents per gallon) in the United States.
#6 California had more foreclosure filings that any other U.S. state in 2010. The 546,669 total foreclosure filings during the year means that over 4 percent of all the housing units in the state of California received a foreclosure filing at some point during 2010.
http://rense.com/general92/22.htm
---
State bankruptcy bill imminent, Gingrich says
(Reuters) - Legislation that would allow U.S. states to file for bankruptcy will likely be introduced in Congress within the next month, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives and a powerful Republican party figure, told Reuters on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K6PI20110121
---
Big states spurn bankruptcy bill
(Reuters) - Some of the biggest U.S. states with the worst budget deficits on Friday rejected any federal help in the form of a bill that would allow them to file for bankruptcy -- something they now are barred from.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K78P20110121
---
WikiLeaks founder Assange slams Swiss banker arrest
By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The founder of whistleblower site WikiLeaks attacked Switzerland on Sunday for arresting a Swiss banker on suspicion of breaching banking secrecy instead of investigating the tax evasion he said he had uncovered.
In an interview published in the Swiss weekly Der Sonntag, Julian Assange, whose website has angered Washington by releasing confidential U.S. diplomatic cables, said Switzerland's actions were drawing renewed international attention to its controversial banking practices.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70M07T20110123
---
FDIC's Bair calls for foreclosure claims commission
WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The mortgage servicing industry should fund a new commission to compensate homeowners who may have wrongly been kicked out of their homes, a top U.S. banking regulator said on Wednesday.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said this claims commission could be modeled on those created to compensate victims of the BP oil spill and Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. She said the size of such a claims fund would have to be negotiated.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1922390420110119
---
U.S. mulls way to identify risky financial firms
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators will propose criteria on Tuesday for deciding which market players other than banks, such as hedge funds, could threaten the financial system and require greater scrutiny by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70D2CF20110118
---
Ireland’s Titanic Bailout at Risk, Iceland looms ahead
The announcement by Brian Cowen that he was resigning as the leader of the Fianna Fail party, but is going to stay on as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) until the March 11 election, has put the Irish bailout into question. The November bailout of the Irish economy consisted of a series of different financing packages being combined into a larger total.
The first funds available under the bailout were provided by the raiding of the Irish retirement fund by its bankers. The next steps were to be funded by the EU and IMF funding sources, once the people of Ireland were legally subjected to the bailout requirements. The bailout never made it to a full vote before the collapse of the Fianna Fáil party.
This leaves Ireland in the unique position of being able to reclaim its future, by denying its past. The citizens of Ireland have not accepted the bailout. The coalition is not expected to be able to put the matter to a vote before the election.
“All we know is we are going to get an election on or before March 11 but that is about it,” said Micheal Marsh, professor of politics at Trinity College Dublin, calling the events of the past week “bizarre.”
“If the conditions in which all of this was going on were not so serious it really would be farcical.”
The people are clear they plan on voting for anyone who will fight the bailout. This makes the chances of a post-election bail out vote of acceptance unlikely. If the Bailout fails to be voted on in the coming days, it may never make it to a vote.
The Irish people are overwhelmingly against the loss of their Sovereignty because bankers were allowed to take outsized risk. The fact that these same bankers were allowed to book extremely large bonuses for bankrupting the nation is at the core of the problem.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ireland%E2%80%99s-titanic-bailout-risk-iceland-looms-ahead
---
Illinois' First Tax Hike Victim - Jimmy John's
Jimmy John Liautaud told The News-Gazette on Tuesday that he is angry about the moves, which boosted the individual income tax from 3 percent to 5 percent and the corporate income tax from 7.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
"All they do is stick it to us," he said, adding that the Legislature and governor showed "a clear lack of understanding." "I could absorb this and adapt, but it doesn't feel good in my soul to make it happen," Liautaud said.
Champaign has been its corporate base, but Liautaud said it will not necessarily continue that way. Liautaud said he has been contacted by "multiple pro-business states" that made him feel "wanted and important."
"I enjoy being courted and the process," he said.
Once he collects information on alternative sites, he will present it to the company's board of directors and ask the board to decide.
As for himself, "my family and I are out of here," he said.
Jimmy John's employs 100 at the corporate office in Champaign and has 190 other employees who work elsewhere but come to Champaign every four weeks, Liautaud said.
Some people may not realize how many travel to Champaign-Urbana as a result of Jimmy John's being here – many of them for training. Liautaud said his business accounts for "350 motel nights a week in Champaign, 1,400 motel nights a month."
"They eat at Cheddars," get automotive service at Sullivan-Parkhill and "drink at Carlos (Nieto's) bars," he said.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/illinois-first-tax-hike-victim-jimmy.html
---
Budget Deficit Accounting Fraud and the Off-Balance-Sheet Student Loan Scam; Time to Scrap Entire Student Loan Program
Inquiring minds have been wondering why the federal debt has been rising far faster than cumulative federal deficits. The short answer is off-balance-sheet scams like student loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "assets".
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/budget-deficit-accounting-fraud-and-off.html
---
Brian Cowen: The PM who lost his powers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12258654
---
Cuba stops postal service to US 'until further notice'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12257412
---
New tests for 'murder weapon' in Amanda Knox case
"This is a key moment," Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said before the hearing started. "Today, for the first time, independent experts will be asked to examine the evidence."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12258935
---
The most stressful dinner party in the world?
One of the key moments of a sensitive state visit to the US by Chinese President Hu Jintao was a state dinner in the White House - the kind of occasion where the food has to do a lot more than simply taste great.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12255127
---
Ivory Coast: Regional bank ally of Laurent Gbagbo quits
A key ally of Ivory Coast's disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo has resigned as head of the Central Bank of West African States amid regional pressure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12260535
---
Silvio Berlusconi refuses to quit in Italy sex scandal
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told his People of Freedom party he has no intention of resigning over allegations he had sex with an under-age prostitute.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12260299
---
Hawaii governor claims record of Obama's birth 'exists in archives' but can't produce the vital document
And he again promised he would do 'what I can do' to publicly verify that records show Obama was born in Hawaii and is a citizen of the United States, making him eligible to be President.
The Governor vowed when he took office in December that he would do his best to end the debate over Obama's birth, which began in 2008 during the presidential campaign.
'We'll do what we can as quickly as we can to make it inevitable that only those who wish the President ill, only the ones with a political agenda, will be the ones doing this kind of thing,' he said at the time. 'The President is entitled to the respect of his office and he's entitled to have his mother and father respected.'
During that interview, Abercrombie said his goal to combat birthers was a personal one.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348916/Hawaii-governor-says-Obamas-birth-record-exists-produce-it.html#ixzz1Btg7tyVt
---
China buys gold and the world follows - The Chinese are building on a trend that’s likely to last
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold prices have lost around $75 an ounce this year but analysts are unfazed by the drop, with many betting the slump in prices will soon be cut short as the Chinese New Year feeds an increase in global demand that’s destined to last.
“We are entering a period of strong seasonal growth in gold demand and Chinese New Year is a big part of that,” said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. “Physical demand has been supporting the gold prices on the downside even during the typical slack periods, and I expect that upcoming increase in demand will also support the price, but at higher levels.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-buys-gold-and-the-world-follows-2011-01-21
---
The World is sinking: Dubai islands 'falling into the sea'
The islands were intended as the ultimate luxury possession, even for Dubai.
Now their sands are eroding and the navigational channels between them are silting up, the British lawyer for a company bringing a case against the state-run developer, Nakheel, has told judges.
"The islands are gradually falling back into the sea," Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, for Penguin Marine, said. The evidence showed "erosion and deterioration of The World islands", he added.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/8271643/The-World-is-sinking-Dubai-islands-falling-into-the-sea.html
---
Spain to rescue its banks
The Spanish government is set to launch a sweeping restructuring of its troubled regional savings banks in an attempt to reassure the market it can sort out the problems of its financial system..
Forty out of a total of 45 Spanish cajas will merge or form operating alliances with each other as the authorities look to prevent fears over the banking system from morphing into a wider market run on the country as a whole.
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/spain-to-rescue-its-banks.html
bench craft company>
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft company[reefeed]
bench craft company
bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft company Top Financial Services Committee Republican Says Foreclosure Prevention Efforts ‘Need To Stop’
Last month, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) — who has now officially been named the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee — explained that, in his view, “Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks.” And it seems that the rest of the Republicans on the Financial Services Committee are coalescing around their chairman’s philosophy.
Last week, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), who is chairing the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, said that he wants to implement a mortgage finance system that is entirely private, jeopardizing the very existence of the 30-year mortgage on which so many families rely. And in a speech today, Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said that he wants all foreclosure prevention efforts to be halted immediately:
“All these foreclosure mitigation initiatives we’re taking need to stop,” he said, speaking at an event co-hosted by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the NYU Stern School of Business. Neugebauer said the private market should be allowed to work through the problems in the housing market without “administration pressure” to avoid foreclosures. “Markets aren’t kind, but they’re very efficient,” he said. “There were people who were put in their homes that probably never should have been there before.”
Neugebauer is parroting the conservative vision of the housing crisis — which to them was caused entirely by government policies encouraging homeownership amongst those who couldn’t afford it — so it’s not surprising that he thinks the government should get out of the foreclosure prevention business. But the actual problems in the housing market bear little resemblance to those Neugebauer outlined.
For one thing, leaving aside that many of the borrowers who faced foreclosure early in the housing crisis were hoodwinked by predatory lenders, the foreclosure crisis long ago migrated out of subprime loans and into prime loans, as people lost their jobs in the Great Recession. So a crisis created in large part by the shenanigans of bankers then walloped homeowners, who become unemployed through no fault of their own. Neugebauer’s prognosis also ignores the problem of underwater homeowners, who, again, through no fault of their own, now owe more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, due to plunging home prices.
Meanwhile, one million homes were foreclosed upon last year, and real estate analysts say that another one million will go into foreclosure this year. This not only harms the individual borrowers, but the wider economy, dragging down home values for everyone else and blowing holes in bank balance sheets.
The administration’s foreclosure prevention efforts have, admittedly, left a lot to be desired, but that’s because they involve lots of carrots for banks to modify mortgages, but few sticks, while banks have institutionalized systems biased in favor of foreclosure (like their use of “robo-signers“). Neugebauer’s approach would simply remove the limited help current foreclosure prevention efforts provide, leaving homeowners to the mercy of the very banks whose negligence helped drive the housing crisis in the first place. For some ideas on how to properly reform foreclosure prevention programs, visit here, here, and here.
Video - Olbermann says goodbye...
Keith Olbermann gives abrupt goodbye to MSNBC show
NEW YORK (AP) — Keith Olbermann was MSNBC's most popular personality and single-handedly led its transformation to an outspoken, left-leaning cable news network in prime time. Despite that, he often seemed to be walking on a tightrope with his job. Friday night, it snapped.
Olbermann returned from one last commercial break on "Countdown" to tell viewers it was his last broadcast, and read a James Thurber short story in a three-minute exit statement. Simultaneously, MSNBC e-mailed a statement that "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract." The network thanked him and said, "we wish him well in his future endeavors."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imlpgDcvVf_NPbQpmfJfqepDwB3Q
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22 Facts Reflecting The Demise Of California
#1 The California state government is facing a potential state budget deficit of 19 billion dollars this year, and California debt is rapidly approaching junk status. One way or another the taxpayers of California are going to have to pay for this mess somehow.
#2 California Governor Jerry Brown recently unveiled a "draconian" budget plan for 2011 that includes 12 billion dollars more in spending cuts and that maintains 12 billion dollars in recent tax increases.
#3 The state of California currently has the third highest state income tax in the nation: a 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and a 10.55% bracket at $1,000,000.
#4 California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana has the next highest at 7%.
#5 Residents of California pay the highest gasoline taxes (over 67 cents per gallon) in the United States.
#6 California had more foreclosure filings that any other U.S. state in 2010. The 546,669 total foreclosure filings during the year means that over 4 percent of all the housing units in the state of California received a foreclosure filing at some point during 2010.
http://rense.com/general92/22.htm
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State bankruptcy bill imminent, Gingrich says
(Reuters) - Legislation that would allow U.S. states to file for bankruptcy will likely be introduced in Congress within the next month, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives and a powerful Republican party figure, told Reuters on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K6PI20110121
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Big states spurn bankruptcy bill
(Reuters) - Some of the biggest U.S. states with the worst budget deficits on Friday rejected any federal help in the form of a bill that would allow them to file for bankruptcy -- something they now are barred from.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K78P20110121
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WikiLeaks founder Assange slams Swiss banker arrest
By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The founder of whistleblower site WikiLeaks attacked Switzerland on Sunday for arresting a Swiss banker on suspicion of breaching banking secrecy instead of investigating the tax evasion he said he had uncovered.
In an interview published in the Swiss weekly Der Sonntag, Julian Assange, whose website has angered Washington by releasing confidential U.S. diplomatic cables, said Switzerland's actions were drawing renewed international attention to its controversial banking practices.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70M07T20110123
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FDIC's Bair calls for foreclosure claims commission
WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The mortgage servicing industry should fund a new commission to compensate homeowners who may have wrongly been kicked out of their homes, a top U.S. banking regulator said on Wednesday.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said this claims commission could be modeled on those created to compensate victims of the BP oil spill and Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. She said the size of such a claims fund would have to be negotiated.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1922390420110119
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U.S. mulls way to identify risky financial firms
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators will propose criteria on Tuesday for deciding which market players other than banks, such as hedge funds, could threaten the financial system and require greater scrutiny by the Federal Reserve.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70D2CF20110118
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Ireland’s Titanic Bailout at Risk, Iceland looms ahead
The announcement by Brian Cowen that he was resigning as the leader of the Fianna Fail party, but is going to stay on as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) until the March 11 election, has put the Irish bailout into question. The November bailout of the Irish economy consisted of a series of different financing packages being combined into a larger total.
The first funds available under the bailout were provided by the raiding of the Irish retirement fund by its bankers. The next steps were to be funded by the EU and IMF funding sources, once the people of Ireland were legally subjected to the bailout requirements. The bailout never made it to a full vote before the collapse of the Fianna Fáil party.
This leaves Ireland in the unique position of being able to reclaim its future, by denying its past. The citizens of Ireland have not accepted the bailout. The coalition is not expected to be able to put the matter to a vote before the election.
“All we know is we are going to get an election on or before March 11 but that is about it,” said Micheal Marsh, professor of politics at Trinity College Dublin, calling the events of the past week “bizarre.”
“If the conditions in which all of this was going on were not so serious it really would be farcical.”
The people are clear they plan on voting for anyone who will fight the bailout. This makes the chances of a post-election bail out vote of acceptance unlikely. If the Bailout fails to be voted on in the coming days, it may never make it to a vote.
The Irish people are overwhelmingly against the loss of their Sovereignty because bankers were allowed to take outsized risk. The fact that these same bankers were allowed to book extremely large bonuses for bankrupting the nation is at the core of the problem.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ireland%E2%80%99s-titanic-bailout-risk-iceland-looms-ahead
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Illinois' First Tax Hike Victim - Jimmy John's
Jimmy John Liautaud told The News-Gazette on Tuesday that he is angry about the moves, which boosted the individual income tax from 3 percent to 5 percent and the corporate income tax from 7.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
"All they do is stick it to us," he said, adding that the Legislature and governor showed "a clear lack of understanding." "I could absorb this and adapt, but it doesn't feel good in my soul to make it happen," Liautaud said.
Champaign has been its corporate base, but Liautaud said it will not necessarily continue that way. Liautaud said he has been contacted by "multiple pro-business states" that made him feel "wanted and important."
"I enjoy being courted and the process," he said.
Once he collects information on alternative sites, he will present it to the company's board of directors and ask the board to decide.
As for himself, "my family and I are out of here," he said.
Jimmy John's employs 100 at the corporate office in Champaign and has 190 other employees who work elsewhere but come to Champaign every four weeks, Liautaud said.
Some people may not realize how many travel to Champaign-Urbana as a result of Jimmy John's being here – many of them for training. Liautaud said his business accounts for "350 motel nights a week in Champaign, 1,400 motel nights a month."
"They eat at Cheddars," get automotive service at Sullivan-Parkhill and "drink at Carlos (Nieto's) bars," he said.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/illinois-first-tax-hike-victim-jimmy.html
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Budget Deficit Accounting Fraud and the Off-Balance-Sheet Student Loan Scam; Time to Scrap Entire Student Loan Program
Inquiring minds have been wondering why the federal debt has been rising far faster than cumulative federal deficits. The short answer is off-balance-sheet scams like student loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "assets".
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/01/budget-deficit-accounting-fraud-and-off.html
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Brian Cowen: The PM who lost his powers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12258654
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Cuba stops postal service to US 'until further notice'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12257412
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New tests for 'murder weapon' in Amanda Knox case
"This is a key moment," Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said before the hearing started. "Today, for the first time, independent experts will be asked to examine the evidence."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12258935
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The most stressful dinner party in the world?
One of the key moments of a sensitive state visit to the US by Chinese President Hu Jintao was a state dinner in the White House - the kind of occasion where the food has to do a lot more than simply taste great.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12255127
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Ivory Coast: Regional bank ally of Laurent Gbagbo quits
A key ally of Ivory Coast's disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo has resigned as head of the Central Bank of West African States amid regional pressure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12260535
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Silvio Berlusconi refuses to quit in Italy sex scandal
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told his People of Freedom party he has no intention of resigning over allegations he had sex with an under-age prostitute.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12260299
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Hawaii governor claims record of Obama's birth 'exists in archives' but can't produce the vital document
And he again promised he would do 'what I can do' to publicly verify that records show Obama was born in Hawaii and is a citizen of the United States, making him eligible to be President.
The Governor vowed when he took office in December that he would do his best to end the debate over Obama's birth, which began in 2008 during the presidential campaign.
'We'll do what we can as quickly as we can to make it inevitable that only those who wish the President ill, only the ones with a political agenda, will be the ones doing this kind of thing,' he said at the time. 'The President is entitled to the respect of his office and he's entitled to have his mother and father respected.'
During that interview, Abercrombie said his goal to combat birthers was a personal one.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348916/Hawaii-governor-says-Obamas-birth-record-exists-produce-it.html#ixzz1Btg7tyVt
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China buys gold and the world follows - The Chinese are building on a trend that’s likely to last
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold prices have lost around $75 an ounce this year but analysts are unfazed by the drop, with many betting the slump in prices will soon be cut short as the Chinese New Year feeds an increase in global demand that’s destined to last.
“We are entering a period of strong seasonal growth in gold demand and Chinese New Year is a big part of that,” said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. “Physical demand has been supporting the gold prices on the downside even during the typical slack periods, and I expect that upcoming increase in demand will also support the price, but at higher levels.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-buys-gold-and-the-world-follows-2011-01-21
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The World is sinking: Dubai islands 'falling into the sea'
The islands were intended as the ultimate luxury possession, even for Dubai.
Now their sands are eroding and the navigational channels between them are silting up, the British lawyer for a company bringing a case against the state-run developer, Nakheel, has told judges.
"The islands are gradually falling back into the sea," Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, for Penguin Marine, said. The evidence showed "erosion and deterioration of The World islands", he added.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/8271643/The-World-is-sinking-Dubai-islands-falling-into-the-sea.html
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Spain to rescue its banks
The Spanish government is set to launch a sweeping restructuring of its troubled regional savings banks in an attempt to reassure the market it can sort out the problems of its financial system..
Forty out of a total of 45 Spanish cajas will merge or form operating alliances with each other as the authorities look to prevent fears over the banking system from morphing into a wider market run on the country as a whole.
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/spain-to-rescue-its-banks.html
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bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft company
bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
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bench craft company bench craft companyFox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Good morning Chiefs fans! A thank you to Joel and Chris for covering for me. Technology seems to hate me lately. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news covers a lot of topics: the national anthem, racial bias, Super Bowl odds, and pork. Enjoy.
bench craft company As more and more Americans face foreclosure and start to miss payments, many are facing the questions, "What happens if/when I stop paying my mortgage?" Here we answer this question in detail.
Stop Foreclosure Help: What Type of State Do You Live in - Deed of Trust or Mortgage State?What happens when you stop paying your mortgage depends on which type of state you live in, ie, a deed of trust state or a mortgage state. Why? Because lenders collateralize home loans in one of two ways - as a trustees deed, or as a mortgage.
Trustees Deed Defined
A deed is the physical document that transfers the title of a property to another party. trustee's deed is a deed is the document (deed) executed by a person serving as a trustee - of your home in this case. Trustees can be attorneys, title companies or other entities. It doesn't really matter because they can't act unless/until a lender tells them to start the foreclosure process - and provides proof that you are in default.
How the Home Foreclosure Process Proceeds Under a Trustees Deed State
When you stop paying your mortgage, a lender can foreclose at any time. How they foreclose depends on whether you're in a mortgage state or a deed of trust state.
In a deed of trust state, there are two situations where the lender can start foreclosure proceedings:
(i) Notice of Default: When you miss one payment, you are legally in default on your home loan. But, most lenders won't do anything until you are e at least 90 days late. Then, the trustee - on direction from the lender - files an NOD; Notice of Default.
This is simply a notice that alerts you, the homeowner, that if you don't become current with your mortgage, they intend to start the next stop -- posting a notice of sale.
(ii) Notice of Sale: This is when the lender instructs the trustee to set sale date for your home. How long it will take for a sale date to be set and carried out varies by state. It can be as few as 30 days, or as long as 6 months or more.
In today's foreclosure-ridden market, not uncommon for this period to be four to six months or longer.
When a property goes to sale in a deed of trust state, there is no right of redemption, which is a major difference between a mortgage state and a deed of trust state, which brings us to how foreclosures happen in "mortgage states."
What is a Mortgage?
Basically, the foreclosure process is the same as in a deed of trust state, with two glaring exceptions: the aforementioned right of redemption and judicial/non judicial foreclosure.
Stop Foreclosure Advice: The Difference Between a Judicial and a Non-Judicial Foreclosure
When a borrower doesn't pay the mortgage, the lender has the right - and the power - to foreclosure on the property and sell it to recoup monies owed to them. In a mortgage state, they must go through the courts system to start this process. This makes it a judicial foreclosure.
In deed of trust states, the foreclosure process is a non-judicial one. This means, the lender doesn't have to go through the courts in order to properly foreclose. This makes it easier for lenders to foreclosure because the foreclosure process often quicker, easier and less expensive.
Stop Foreclosure Advice: What is the Right of Redemption
The second major difference between mortgage states and deed of trust states is what's known as a right of redemption period. The is regulation that allows homeowners who've been foreclosed upon a period of time to "redeem" their property --- even after it has been sold.
The right of redemption period varies by state. Only mortgage states have rights of redemption periods. Deed of trust states do not. Once a home is sold in a deed of trust state, the sale is final.
Stopping Foreclosure: A Timeline -- Why It Takes a While
The foreclosure process can take anywhere from 30 days to a year or more once you break it down, ie:
90 Days. Usually, you have this long to miss payments before a lender will take any foreclosure action.
30-120 Days:Notice of Default Mailed. This gives homeowners another 30-120 days to bring their mortgage current, or work out some other plan, eg, mortgage modification, forbearance agreement, etc.
30-180+ Days: Notice of Sale. Lender notifies homeowner that a sale date has been set.
If you add all this time up, it's anywhere from five months to a year or more before you have to vacate your property. If your financial situation is temporary, this can be enough time to get back on your feet and
stop the foreclosure process.
