XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Thursday 16 September 2010

One in seven Americans is living in poverty, Census shows - highest number since the government has kept such statistics -

One in seven Americans is living in poverty, Census shows - highest number since the government has kept such statistics - 




One in seven Americans is living in poverty, the highest number in the half-century that the government has kept such statistics, the Census Bureau announced Thursday.
Last year was the third consecutive year that the poverty rate climbed, in part because of the recession, rising from 13.2 percent in 2008 to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, last year.
Asians were the only ethnic group whose poverty rate did not change substantially; every other race and Hispanics experienced increases in poverty rates.
In addition, 51 million Americans were uninsured, as the number of people with health insurance dropped from 255 million to less than 254 million -- the first decrease since the government started keeping track in 1987. The number would have been worse because 6.5 million fewer people got insurance through their jobs, but it was offset by a leap in government-backed health insurance. More than 30 percent of Americans now get coverage from the government.
"Given all the unemployment we saw, it's the government safety net that's keeping people above the poverty line," Douglas Besharov, a University of Maryland public policy professor and former scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told the Associated Press.
The grim statistics reflect the depth of the recession that began almost three years ago and could have an impact on midterm elections less than two months away.
"These numbers should be a wake-up call," said Peter Edelman, a Georgetown University professor and co-director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy. "These are deeply disturbing numbers."
At organizations where the unemployed come to get help finding a job or seek food, the numbers were no surprise.
"In the decade I've been doing this work, this is a low point," said Jason Perkins-Cohen, executive director of the Job Opportunities Task Force in Baltimore. "We're getting a real feeling of desperation. For sheer numbers, it's a new, unhappy world."
At the nonprofit Action Though Service in Prince William County late Thursday morning, the shelves of the agency's pantry were starting to empty, as the line for help snaked out the door with a few dozen people seeking assistance.
Prince William resident Carol Williams said she has come to the shelter once a month since January, when she was laid off from her job at United Medical Center due to budget woes.
"I worked since I was 15, and, now, for the first time I don't have a job and I can't feed my family," said Williams, 55. "I have a degree; doesn't matter. The jobs aren't there."
Williams said she has been applying for dozens of jobs a week and had about 20 interviews since January. "I think people are scared to hire someone who is not working," she said, adding there also is just a lot more competition because of the high unemployment rate.
A single mother, Williams has five mouths to feed -- children and grandchildren-- ranging in age from 17 months to 28. Williams said she was able to raise three sons on her own, but she now turns to the food pantry at ACTS and her father and friends for help.
"We had no bread, no nothing last Friday because the pantry was closed," she said. "Luckily a friend helped me or we would have had no food for the weekend."
Advocates said they're seeing a lot more people like Williams.
"We have definitely seen many more individuals who are very well-educated, with high degrees, where it's the first time to ever be in a situation to ever have to ask for help for food or shelter," said Vickie Koth, executive director of Good Shepherd Alliance inLoudoun County.
Koth recalls one family of four in particular, where both parents were highly educated -- the mother was a lawyer, and the father was a mortgage broker. "They were in the business of buying and selling homes, and they had three foreclosures within the same span of time and were homeless for the first time.
"We're full all the time and we turn people away every day, and that's always been true. But the types of people that call have changed," Koth said. "Time after time I've heard individuals say, 'I've given to shelters, I've volunteered at food pantries. I've never thought I'd be here myself.' "

Taxpayer Losses from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac seizures may near $400 billion -

Taxpayer Losses from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac seizures may near $400 billion - 



Taxpayer losses from the government seizure of failed housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach nearly $400 billion, but likely won't top that level as some had feared, the firms' federal regulator said Wednesday.

To offset some losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking billions of dollars in repayment from banks that sold bad loans to the firms, acting director Edward J. DeMarco said.

Some banks are balking, and the agency is considering tougher action, DeMarco said. But he did not specify what steps might be taken.


The bailouts of the two former government-sponsored enterprises, which continue to keep the mortgage financing market afloat almost single-handedly, already have reached $148.2 billion as bad loans they purchased during the real estate boom continue to fail.

Concerns were raised about the ultimate price tag when the Obama administration in December lifted a $400-billion cap on the federal commitment to Fannie and Freddie through 2012. Officials at the time said they did so to provide certainty to the real estate market as the 
White House and Congress wrestle with the future of the entities.

DeMarco told a House Financial Services subcommittee Thursday that the total cost of the bailout "appeared to be less than $400 billion."

That figure would hold even under most scenarios analyzed by Fannie and Freddie in which the economy suffers another "severe stress."

But to provide Congress and the public a better idea of the potential costs, the agency is working to put the finances of Fannie and Freddie under more extensive stress tests similar to those regulators used to assess the financial condition of the nation's largest banks last year.

Given the projections, Rep. 
Judy Biggert (R-Il.) asked DeMarco whether he would support legislation preventing Fannie and Freddie from borrowing more than $400 from taxpayers, who now own 79.9% of each of them.

DeMarco said he would oppose such a move because it would take away the clarity the administration provided to investors in December about the backing for mortgage securities from Fannie and Freddie.



Read more - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fannie-freddie-20100916,0,6603010.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes/mostviewed+(L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sharpened his criticism of China's exchange rate policies -

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sharpened his criticism of China's exchange rate policies - 




U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sharpened his criticism of China's exchange ratepolicies, saying the yuan was strengthening too slowly and that he will look for new ways to get Beijing to move faster.
In testimony released on Wednesday and prepared for U.S. lawmakers considering a tough new trade law, Geithner called on China to allow "significant, sustained appreciation over time" and for the yuan to "fully reflect market forces."
"We are concerned, as are many of China's trading partners, that the pace of appreciation has been too slow and the extent of appreciation too limited," Geithner said in remarks to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to be delivered on Thursday.
"We will take China's actions into account as we prepare the next Foreign Exchange Report, and we are examining the important question of what mix of tools, those available to the United States and multilateral approaches, might help encourage the Chinese authorities to move more quickly."
Geithner's testimony comes amid a rising chorus of support from U.S. lawmakers and industry groups for punitive action, including a bill that would slap duties on Chinese imports to force Beijing to let the yuan rise.

Congressmen Weiner and Waxman Set Gold Hearing - trying to prevent you from parking your wealth in assets, like gold -

Congressmen Weiner and Waxman Set Gold Hearing - trying to prevent you from parking your wealth in assets, like gold - 






Just as the government is trying to prevent people from investing in anything other than T-Bills by raising taxes on taxable interest and dividends to confiscatory levels, it's also trying to prevent you from parking your wealth in assets, like gold, that compete with the paper dollars issued by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. A press release from Rep. Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York, not yet (as of this instant) posted on Mr. Weiner's Web site, announces that a September 23 hearing of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection (a subcommittee of Rep. Henry Waxman's Commerce Committee) will focus on "legislation that would regulate gold-selling companies, an industry who's [sic] relentless advertising is now staple of cable television."
From the press release: "Under Rep. Weiner's bill, companies like Goldline would be required to disclose the reasonable resale value of items being sold." That's great. Are Mr. Weiner and Chairman Bernanke also going to agree to print on every dollar the reasonable expectation that its value will be eroded by inflation?
Gold investors (or speculators) are already punished by the federal government by having their investment, even in a gold exchange-traded-fund, taxed at the higher rates that apply to collectibles rather than long term capital gains.
Not to mention the fact that Mr. Weiner's regulatory push seems as much aimed at conservative journalists as at the gold-dealers. The press release says, "Goldline employs several conservative pundits to act as shills for its' [sic] precious metal business, including Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee, Laura Ingraham, and Fred Thompson. By drumming up public fears during financially uncertain times, conservative pundits are able to drive a false narrative. Glenn Beck for example has dedicated entire segments of his program to explaining why the U.S. money supply is destined for hyperinflation with Barack Obama as president."

U.S. Homes Lost to Foreclosure Up 25 % - Lenders took back more homes in August since the start of the mortgage crisis -

U.S. Homes Lost to Foreclosure Up 25 % - Lenders took back more homes in August since the start of the mortgage crisis - 




 Lenders took back more homes in August than in any month since the start of the U.S. mortgage crisis.
The increase in home repossessions came even as the number of properties entering theforeclosure process slowed for the seventh month in a row, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
In all, banks repossessed 95,364 properties last month, up 3 percent from July and an increase of 25 percent from August 2009, RealtyTrac said.
August makes the ninth month in a row that the pace of homes lost to foreclosure has increased on an annual basis. The previous high was in May.
Banks have been stepping up repossessions to clear out their backlog of bad loans with an eye on eventually placing the foreclosed properties on the market, but they can't afford to simply dump the properties on the market.
Concerns are growing that the housing market recovery could stumble amid stubbornly high unemployment, a sluggisheconomy and faltering consumer confidence. U.S. home sales have collapsed since federal homebuyer tax credits expired in April.
That's one reason fewer than one-third of homes repossessed by lenders are on the market, said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.
"These (properties) are going to come to market, but very slowly because nobody wants to overwhelm a soft buyer's market with too much distressed inventory for fear of what it would do for house prices," he said.
As a result, lenders are putting off initiating the foreclosure process on homeowners who have missed payments, letting borrowers stay in their homes longer.

Egyptian newspaper doctors photo of Barack Obama - and Obama’s tie has mysteriously changed colour – from purple to grey -

Egyptian newspaper doctors photo of Barack Obama - and Obama’s tie has mysteriously changed colour – from purple to grey - 
Al-Ahram's Photoshopped image of President Hosni Mubarak at the Middle East peace talks.


US President Barack Obama leads President Hosni Mubarak.

There are those who lead and those who follow, and the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram clearly feels that President Hosni Mubarak fits into the former category.
When he was pictured with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, trailing behind Barack Obama on the red carpet at the White House recently, it was nothing Photoshop could not fix. So, on Tuesday, the state-run daily Al-Ahram published the photo, taken at the launch of the latest Middle East peace talks – but with Mubarak switched to the front of the procession.
The doctored picture was exposed by the Egyptian blogger Wael Khaliland quickly struck a chord with Egypt's vibrant network of online opposition activists. Spoof versions have since appeared depicting the 82-year-old Mubarak landing on the moon, breaking the 100m world record and hoisting aloft the World Cup.
The controversy comes as the government gears up for parliamentary elections and amid rumours the authoritarian leader, who has ruled Egypt for nearly three decades, is seriously ill.
"I think what's significant is that Al-Ahram, the regime's mouthpiece, is clearly very sensitive about the way Mubarak appears to the general public in the current climate," Khalil said. "People have picked up on the photo because it's such a good insight into the way the government operates in Egypt; whenever there are problems or failings they simply try and gloss over them – you can see that in this photo, and you can see it in the way they run the country."
Al-Ahram is the most widely circulated Arabic newspaper in the Middle East and is known for its largely fawning coverage of the Egyptian government.
Its market share has been challenged in recent years by an increasingly bold crop of independent newspapers willing to adopt a more critical tone towards the ruling NDP party, a stance which has landed many independent editors in court.
By contrast Al-Ahram and other state-run publications have a track record of subtly "improving" pictures of Egypt's political elite, although usually in a less obvious manner than this week's example.
The scandal will come as a blow to Al-Ahram's director, Abdel Moneim Said, a former Egyptian senator who was thought to have presided over a slight revival of the 135-year-old newspaper's fortunes since taking the helm last year, following decades of mismanagement. Al-Ahram has so far failed to issue any response or apology for its actions, although the offending photo has been removed from the paper's website.