Nytimes: New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step

New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step

By JACKIE CALMES and MICHAEL COOPER

WASHINGTON — Now that unemployment has topped 10 percent, some liberal-leaning economists see confirmation of their warnings that the $787 billion stimulus package President Obama signed into law last February was way too small. The economy needs a second big infusion, they say.
No, some conservative-leaning economists counter, we were right: The package has been wasteful, ineffectual and even harmful to the extent that it adds to the nation’s debt and crowds out private-sector borrowing.
These long-running arguments have flared now that the White House and Congressional leaders are talking about a new “jobs bill.” But with roughly a quarter of the stimulus money out the door after nine months, the accumulation of hard data and real-life experience has allowed more dispassionate analysts to reach a consensus that the stimulus package, messy as it is, is working.
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AP: Foreclosures are at a new high..uh-oh

www.theblackurbantimes.com
WASHINGTON — The foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader economic recovery.
The latest evidence was a report Thursday that a rising proportion of fixed-rate home loans made to people with good credit are sinking into foreclosure. That's a shift from last year, when riskier subprime loans drove the housing crisis.
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AP: Trade, jobless claims figures show recession fades..Obama wins again!!

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber, Ap Economics Writer – 1 hr 10 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The ending of the recession is reviving global trade, increasing U.S. imports by a record amount in July and boosting foreign demand for American goods for a third straight month.

While the job market remains a long way from recovering, first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering some cause for optimism.

The jump in imports could be a sign that U.S. consumer spending is recovering, economists said. That's good news because such spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.
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AP-Obama: Unemployment likely to keep ticking up

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Tuesday declined to predict how high unemployment will climb but made clear he expects it to keep worsening for a while as hiring lags behind other signs of economic recovery.

"How employment numbers are going to respond is not year clear," the president said on a day when he was headed to Michigan, home of a particularly battered economy. "My expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months."

The unemployment rate stands at 9.5 percent, the highest in 26 years.

Obama, addressing reporters in the Oval Office, said the stabilization of the financial markets has allowed banks to start lending again and some small businesses to stay afloat. But he said his administration is aware that the most important factor is whether people are able to get good-paying jobs.
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Video: G20 Protesters=Some serious gangsta cats

Got Money? Just $150 million gets you "90210" producer's old house

$150M buys you late TV producer's L.A. mansion
By ALEX VEIGA, AP Real Estate Writer Alex Veiga, Ap Real Estate Writer Fri Mar 27, 12:34 am ET

LOS ANGELES – The widow of producer Aaron Spelling is placing "The Manor" in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood on the market for a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it by far the most expensive home for sale in the U.S.

The French chateau-style mansion has 56,500 square feet of space on more than 4.6 acres and is the largest home in Los Angeles County. Among the neighbors are the Los Angeles Country Club and, not too far away, the Playboy Mansion.

Spelling's late husband produced hit shows such as "Charlie's Angels," "Dynasty" and "Beverly Hills 90210." He died in 2006.

"Everything there is glamorous, and is luxurious and it's really great scale," said Sally Forster Jones, an agent with Coldwell Banker Previews International in Los Angeles, which is co-listing the property. "There really is nothing to compare it to."

Spelling told The Associated Press that she let her dog Madison, a soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, help pick out the best real estate agent for the task. She had her security bring the dog into the room every time she met one of the candidate agents and watched how the dog reacted. If Madison didn't like them, Spelling crossed them off the list.
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AP: Obama to focus on economy in news conference

Obama to focus on economy in news conference
By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent 26 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama looked to steer the nation's economic attention to the bigger picture Tuesday night and away from recent days' micro-focus on outrage over executive bonuses, declaring signs of progress as his administration attacks the crisis "on all fronts." "It's a strategy to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending and to grow our economy over the long term," Obama said in remarks released in advance of his prime-time news conference.

During a crowded week for the White House and furious debate that echoed from Main Street to Capitol Hill corridors, the president sought to take a step back. He summarized the steps taken so far by his administration to address the worst economic disaster in a quarter-century, framing them with optimism.

"We will recover from this recession," he said. "But it will take time, it will take patience and it will take an understanding that when we all work together — when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other — that's when we succeed."

A day earlier, the Obama administration unveiled a plan to melt a vast credit freeze by helping banks shed bad loans. Under the plan, the government will finance the purchase by private investors of as much as $1 trillion of the $2 trillion in bad assets still held by the nation's banks, in the hopes of freeing banks to begin lending more freely and churn up economic activity.
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Solar power helps a family's electric bill stay under $5.

Rocketing utility bills have hit Marylanders across the board. This past winter saw unprecedented amounts for many--but not all. Alex DeMetrick found one couple whose monthly bill is less than the cost of a cappuccino.
Al and Nancy Schnoebeler have spent the past 20 years in their home in the woods outside Centreville on the Eastern Shore. Five years ago, they hooked into Delmarva Power.

"Last month's bill was approximately three dollars and a half for electric use," Nancy Schnoebeler said.

Service charges cost twice as much, bringing the bill up to $10.65. The rest of the electricity comes from the sun striking a small array of solar panels.

Instead of spending $25,000 20 years ago to bring in a line, the Sneblens spent $10,000 to run their home off solar-generated power.
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Got Money? Budget deficit on track to hit $1.845 trillion..thanks George

Obama budget deficit could hit 1.845 trln dlrs

50 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US budget deficit could hit 1.845 trillion dollars this year under the budget proposed by President Barack Obama, quadrupling the 2008 record shortfall, a new forecast showed.

The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan agency of Congress, said its latest budget deficit estimate for fiscal 2009, which ends on September 30, would amount to 13.1 percent of the country's entire economic output.

Since its early January estimate of a 1.2-trillion-dollar gap, the CBO said, the enactment of stimulus legislation such as the 787-billion-dollar stimulus plan and other measures to revive the economy, and other factors had added more than 400 billion dollars to deficit projections for 2009 and 2010.

The new projections were based on a sweeping 3.55-trillion-dollar multi-year budget proposed by President Barack Obama's administration to Congress in February.
Obama has acknowledged the size of his budget's 1.752-billion-dollar deficit in 2009 would require "some hard choices" on spending priorities.
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President Obama wants AIG bonuses blocked

Obama Orders Treasury Chief to Try to Block A.I.G. Bonuses
By HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday vowed to try to stop the faltering insurance giant American International Group from paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives, as the administration scrambled to avert a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street that could complicate Mr. Obama’s economic recovery agenda.

“In the last six months, A.I.G. has received substantial sums from the U.S. Treasury,” Mr. Obama said. He added that he had asked Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner “to use that leverage and pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”
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Get out the library card..The Public Library is making a comeback!

Times Are Tough, and Libraries Are Thriving
By JOSEPH BERGER
Nytimes.com
TEANECK

SHIRA WEISS, a 34-year-old publicist, showed up one day with her two children at the Teaneck Public Library for the first time in years after her husband had gently inquired why she needed to spend so much on books.

She applied for a new library card and — after taking out two chick-lit novels, an illustrated “Star Wars” book for her 5-year-old, Jake, and two animal books for her 2-year-old, Ben — she instinctively pulled out her wallet to pay.

“I guess it will take an adjustment period until I realize that some of the best things in life are indeed free,” she said.

Ms. Weiss’s cheerfully erratic return to her local library illustrates a surprising upside to the economic downturn: Libraries are booming.

Indeed, the bad news on the economy is good news for libraries across the New York region, so long as they can escape the budget ax that is falling on many municipal services as cities and towns struggle with declining revenue.

People are flocking to libraries after forsaking Barnes & Noble or ditching their HBO service and subscriptions to Netflix, library officials said, because libraries’ books, DVDs and CDs have a significant advantage: They are free.
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Texas Gov. Rick Perry says "No" to President Obama's stimulus money for the unemployed

Texas gov. rejects stimulus money for unemployment
By MONICA RHOR, Associated Press Writer Monica Rhor, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 47 mins ago

HOUSTON – Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday rejected $555 million in federal stimulus money that would expand state unemployment benefits, saying the money would have required the state to keep funding the expanded benefits after the stimulus money ran out.

Perry, an outspoken critic of President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill, did accept most of the roughly $17 billion slated for Texas in the plan.

But he said the requirements attached to the federal stimulus money would require a change in the state's definition of unemployment, expanding coverage to more people and placing more of the state's tax burden on employers.

"During these tough times, Texas employers are working harder than ever to move products to market, make payroll and create jobs," Perry said at a news conference. "The last thing they need is government burdening them with higher taxes and expanded obligations."
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President Obama signs new bill for $410 billion..whats in the bill?

Obama defends pet projects and signs spending bill
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer 8 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, sounding weary of criticism over federal earmarks, defended Congress' pet projects Wednesday as he signed an "imperfect" $410 billion measure with thousands of examples. But he said the spending does need tighter restraint and listed guidelines to do it. Obama, accused of hypocrisy by Republicans for embracing billions of dollars of earmarks in the legislation, said they can be useful and noted that he has promised to curb, not eliminate them.

On another potentially controversial matter, the president also issued a "signing statement" with the bill, saying several of its provisions raised constitutional concerns and would be taken merely as suggestions. He has criticized President George W. Bush for often using such statements to claim the right to ignore portions of new laws, and on Monday he said his administration wouldn't follow those issued by Bush unless authorized by the new attorney general.

White House officials have accused Bush of using the statements to get around Congress in pursuing anti-terror tactics.
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STOCKS AROUND THE WORLD FALL..NO HOPE IN U.S. BANK BAILOUT!

World stocks fall on skepticism over US bank plan
By LOUISE WATT, Associated Press Writer Louise Watt, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 11, 8:26 am ET
LONDON – World stock markets were lower Wednesday following a steep sell-off on Wall Street, as investors reacted with skepticism to the U.S. government's latest plan to rescue the ailing financial industry with as much as $2 trillion in funding.
In European afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.5 percent at 4,192.97, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.6 percent to 3,001.75, and Germany's DAX slipped 0.4 percent to 4,488.34.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher start after markets plummeted the day before as investors were not reassured by the financial rescue. Dow futures were up 0.1 percent at 7,883 and Standard and Poor's futures were up 0.1 percent at 826.7.
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