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20090326

Barack Obama -

Federal -

Enforcement -

Financial -

Accounting -

Politics -

American International Group -

Consumer -

Crises -

History -

US -

International

"Geithner to Propose Vast Expansion Of U.S. Oversight of Financial System." ... "Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to propose today a sweeping expansion of federal authority over the financial system, breaking from an era in which the government stood back from financial markets and allowed participants to decide how much risk to take in the pursuit of profit." ... "The [Democratic President] Obama administration's plan, described by several sources, would extend federal regulation for the first time to all trading in financial derivatives and to companies including large hedge funds and major insurers such as American International Group. The administration also will seek to impose uniform standards on all large financial firms, including banks, an unprecedented step that would place significant limits on the scope and risk of their activities." ... "Most of these initiatives would require legislation." ... "In coming months, the administration plans to detail its strategy in three other areas: protecting consumers, eliminating flaws in existing regulations and enhancing international coordination." ... "The nation's financial regulations are largely an accumulation of responses to financial crises. Federal bank regulation was a product of the Civil War. The Federal Reserve was created early in the 20th century to mitigate a long series of monetary crises. The Great Depression delivered deposit insurance and a federally sponsored mortgage market. In the midst of a modern economic upheaval, the Obama administration is pitching the most significant regulatory expansion since that time." ... "The administration's signature proposal is to vest a single federal agency with the power to police risk across the entire financial system." (1, 2, 3) -By Binyamin Appelbaum and David Cho with contributions by Zachary A. Goldfarb

-WashingtonPost

20090218

Barack Obama

Michael Steele - Pete Hoekstra

Don Young

Lindsey Graham

Ken Calvert

Emergency

Economics

Politics

Families

Jobs

Housing

Construction

Education

Government

US_Debt

Missouri

"Kit Bond Touts Effects Of Stimulus Bill He Voted Against." ... "[Missouri Republican Senator Kit Bond voted against the stimulus bill asserting:} “Unfortunately, this bill stimulates the debt, it stimulates the growth of government, but it doesn’t stimulate jobs,” Bond insisted." ... "However, today Bond is touring Missouri to tout the very stimulus plan he railed against. In a press release, Bond boasted about an amendment he included in the bill to provide more funding for affordable housing — and that will create jobs:"

"Last week, Bond led a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing an amendment to help provide needy families affordable housing. Bond’s amendment provides $2 billion to fund low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects that have been stalled by the financial credit crisis. As part of the Democrats’ spending bill now signed into law, the Senate unanimously accepted Bond’s provision. […]"
"This provision will have a real impact in Missouri, especially for low-income, working families in need of safe and affordable housing. … Bond’s amendment will save more than 700 housing units and create 3,000 new jobs in Missouri."

"“This is the type of emergency stimulus spending we should be supporting — programs that will create jobs now and help families,” Bond said." ... "Bond’s “I was against it before I was for it” maneuver at least has local media fooled. Just 24 hours after noting his opposition to the stimulus bill, local news this morning reported that Bond would be touring the state “pushing his plan to create 3,000 jobs in the state and build more than 700 affordable housing units.” Watch the local CBS channel try to keep up with Bond’s flip-flops:"

WATCH: "Kit Bond Touts Stimulus Plan He Voted Against."

"Bond is not alone in trying to reap the political benefits both from voting against the bill and from bringing much needed funding to his district:"

"– [Minnesota Republican Governor] Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), who complained that the “federal government is spending money they don’t have,” told Rachel Maddow he would nevertheless accept funds for Minnesota: “Our view is, if you buy the pizza, it’s OK if you have a slice.”"
"– [South Carolina Republican Senator] Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who also campaigned ardently against the bill, said he would nevertheless gladly accept its funds for his state. “You don’t want to be crazy here,” he said."
"– [Florida Republican Representative] Rep. John Mica (R-FL) gushed over the bill, which he, too, voted against. “I applaud [Democratic] President Obama’s recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America’s future,” he said in a press release."
"– [Alaska Republican Representative] Rep. Don Young (R-AK) boasted that he “won a victory for…Alaska small business owners” in the recovery bill he refused to vote for."

"No wonder RNC [Republican National Committee] Chairman Michael Steele declared recently, “You have absolutely no reason — none — to trust our word or our actions at this point.”"

"Update [Missouri Republican Representative] Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) boasted about the educational benefits of the recovery act, while [California Republican Representative] Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) said his office "will do what we can to direct as much money as we can." Neither voted for the bill."

"Update [Michgan Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) joins in, praising the stimulus' "generous" incentives for home buyers on his Twitter feed:"

"petehoekstra If you know of someone thinking of buying first home, now may be the time.Stimulus incentive is very generous!Up to 8k!Check it out."

"UpdateBlueJersey notes adds [New Jersey Republican Representative] Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) to the growing list. After insisting last Friday that the recovery bill "would have exploded our national debt without providing meaningful job growth," Lance toured construction sites in his district yesterday, touting funds that would come from the stimulus bill. "This is a classic example of a "shovel-ready' project," Lance said after the tour." -By Ali Frick

-ThinkProgress.org

20090213

Financial

Crisis

Analysis - Government

Politics

"Large U.S. banks on edge of insolvency, experts say." ... "Some of the large banks in the United States, according to economists and other finance experts, are like dead men walking." ... "A sober assessment of the growing mountain of losses from bad bets, measured in today's marketplace, would overwhelm the value of the banks' assets, they say. The banks, in their view, are insolvent." ... "None of the experts' research focuses on individual banks, and there are certainly exceptions among the 50 largest banks in the country. Nor do consumers and businesses need to fret about their deposits, which are insured by the [United States] U.S. government. And even banks that might technically be insolvent can continue operating for a long time, and could recover their financial health when the economy improves." ... "But without a cure for the problem of bad assets, the credit crisis that is dragging down the economy will linger, as banks cannot resume the ample lending needed to restart the wheels of commerce. The answer, say the economists and experts, is a larger, more direct government role than in the Treasury Department's plan outlined this week." ... "The Treasury program leans heavily on a sketchy public-private investment fund to buy up the troubled mortgage-backed securities held by the banks. Instead, the experts say, the government needs to plunge in, weed out the weakest banks, pour capital into the surviving banks and sell off the bad assets." ... "It is the basic blueprint that has proved successful, they say, in resolving major financial crises in recent years." (1, 2) -By Steve Lohr with contributions by Eric Dash

-IHT.com

Mitch McConnell

Economic

Emergency

Jobs

Accounting

Politics

Opinion - People

Social Security

Government

Reference

Book

Kentucky

"Revisionists' blind view of New Deal." ... "[N]early eight decades after [Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt] FDR launched the New Deal, amid possibly the greatest economic emergency since the 1930s, it’s important to understand that the most sophisticated arguments seeking to demolish the New Deal are based on a misreading of the bulk of the historical evidence. University of California, Davis historian Eric Rauchway, the author of “The Great Depression & The New Deal: A Very Short Introduction,” dismantled Shlaes’ argument in a 2007 review in Slate. He showed how [right wing writer Amity] Shlaes had tried to diminish the nation’s economic growth during the 1930s using the narrow gauge of the Dow Jones Industrial Average as opposed to the gross domestic product." ... "Shlaes cited unemployment figures that excluded Americans who had New Deal-generated jobs, and she virtually ignored what Rauchway calls “the authoritative reference work Historical Statistics of the United States.” That reference book shows that during FDR’s first term, the real GDP grew by some 9 percent annually; and after the 1937-38 recession, the economy grew at an annual clip of 11 percent. By the fall of 1934, another New Deal historian, William E. Leuchtenburg, explains, “the ranks of the unemployed had been reduced by over 2 million and national income stood almost a quarter higher than in 1933.”" ... "The Shlaes-[ Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch] McConnell anti-New Deal critics tend to minimize the enduring contribution of laws such as the Wagner Act, which established workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively, and the Social Security Act of 1935 that provided for unemployment as well as old-age insurance. They highlight, instead, the failure of the National Industrial Recovery Act to fuel economic growth, overlook the ways in which the New Deal alleviated people’s misery and rarely acknowledge that World War II lifted the economy and ultimately ended the Depression because the national government joined closely with the private sector to provide a massive stimulus in the form of federal wartime spending." ... "FDR’s New Deal had its share of failures, setbacks and problems. But to argue that it harmed the American people, “failed abysmally” (Shlaes’ words) to reduce unemployment, and retarded economic growth is to twist the historical evidence beyond all reasonable recognition. Such arguments are forms of revisionism that are misleading, polemical and riddled with distortions of the overwhelming facts at hand about the New Deal’s achievements as well as its real shortcomings. " -By Matthew Dallek

-Politico.com

20090211

Financial

Crisis

Politics

Sports

Entertainment

Marketing

Trip

History

Consumers

Government

Lawmakers

Obama

Nevada

New York

"Unapologetic CEOs: What Did the Banks Do With Your Cash? Bank CEOs [Chief Executive Officer], With $125 Billion in Taxpayer Money in Hand, Testify and Defend Before Congress." ... "The heads of eight major banks that received $125 billion in taxpayer bailout funds were largely unapologetic for their role in helping to create the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression as they testified before Congress this morning." ... "The CEOs said they are trying to lend out more money and pledged to return to profit, be more transparent and repay taxpayers as soon as possible." ... "But for the most part, the CEOs in their prepared testimony shrugged off recent criticism about the high level of pay within their firms, the use of luxury jets and posh trips to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo [Monaco]." ... "Bank of America took heat recently for sponsoring a five-day carnival-like affair outside the Super Bowl. The event -- known as the "NFL experience" -- included 850,000 square feet of sports games and interactive entertainment attractions for football fans and was blanketed in Bank of America logos and marketing calls to sign up for football-themed banking products." ... "The eight financial firms received a combined total of $125 billion since October through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly referred to as TARP." ... "Lawmakers have expressed outrage that the funds are not fulfilling their purpose of increasing the flow of credit to consumers. They point to a report released last month by the New York state comptroller that said Wall Street firms had handed out $18 billion in bonuses last year." ... "That news led [Democratic] President Obama to impose new restrictions on executive compensation for banks that receive money through the TARP in the future." ... "In the face of pressure from Washington, Citigroup recently scrapped plans to purchase a $50 million luxury jet." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Matthew Jaffe and Scott Mayerowitz

-ABCNEWS.com

Eric Cantor

Web

Video

Politics

Government

Jobs

Economic

Crisis

Peoples

Health Care

Homes

Virginia

"GOP [Republican] Rep. Cantor Attacked For Profanity-Laced Web Video." ... "As first reported by The Plum Line, Virginia Republican [Representative] Eric Cantor is in hot water after his office responded to critics by sending out a profane web video." ... "AFSCME [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees] President Gerald McEntee isn't amused. "Eric Cantor may think the greatest economic crisis in seventy years is a joke, but we don't," he said in a statement. "He should talk to the people in Virginia who are losing their jobs, health care and homes."" ... "Brad Woodhouse, President of Americans United for Change, responded more forcefully:"

""Does Eric Cantor believe that peddling profanity-laced filth around the Internet is consistent with the values of the people of Virginia or the country? This is childish, inappropriate and disgusting behavior from someone who is supposed to be a leader in Congress and a role model to others. Eric Cantor's response to one of the most serious crises facing America in our lifetimes is to spread this filth, denigrate government employees and treat the current economic crisis like a joke. This video has been floating around on YouTube for years - but Eric Cantor's use of it in this context shows how completely and utterly out of touch he is with the current economic crisis and the lives of his constituents. Eric Cantor should be ashamed and he should apologize.""

"And AFL-CIO President John Sweeney added: "During these tough economic times the last thing hard working Americans need is to be ridiculed by a member of the Republican leadership. Rep. Cantor should apologize for insulting America's workers with this profane video."" ... "ThinkProgress points out that Cantor himself is an anti-obscenity crusader who has said "the use of obscenity" in television "should not and cannot be tolerated."" -By Rachel Weiner

-HuffingtonPost.com

20090210

Financial

Crisis

Government

Accounting

Politics

History

Author

Texas

"Economist James Galbraith: Bailed-Out Banks Should Be Declared Insolvent." ... "With estimates of the cost of addressing the financial crisis exceeding $9.7 trillion, we speak with economist and University of Texas professor James Galbraith, author of [the book] The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. Galbraith says rather than pouring billions into propping up troubled giant banks, the government should declare them insolvent." ...

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JAMES GALBRAITH: ... "[W]hen you’re dealing with a bank which has already basically rendered itself insolvent by virtue of its complicity—it’s basically seeking for easy money, for big profits, out of mortgage originations and underwriting fees in the last part of this decade—then you’re dealing with a bank which is already underwater. The risk capital is already worth nothing. It’s being held up only by the expectation of a federal bailout." ... "The management is—the problem with leaving the management in place is that you cannot rely on the existing management to give you a full and fair accounting of what is in the books of the bank and what the practices of the bank are. That is why you need to bring in a new team. You need to bring in a team which is nominated by the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation], which has as its first objective coming clean, going through the books of the bank and separating the good assets from the bad assets, the assets which are—which have a reasonable chance of continuing to earn income from the assets which need to be written down or written off. Then you can make an assessment of just how big the losses are and what has to be done, whether the bank itself should be closed, which is sometimes the case; whether it can find a merger partner, which is sometimes the case; or whether what you do is reorganize it, isolate the bad assets from the good assets and relaunch the good assets as part of a new bank. One thing or another has to be done. And when it’s done, you can begin to basically grow the economy on the basis of these new newly reconstructed credit institutions." ... "But so long as you’re dealing with the old management and so long as you’re dealing with the old practices and so long as you don’t have a clean audit of the books, the chances are that the bank is going to behave in ways which are not constructive, which do not contribute to the growth of the economy, and which leave all kinds of suspicions present in the system about the integrity of the institution and of the regulatory process. And that’s the problem the Treasury Department seems to be determined not to face." ... "And so long as it doesn’t face it, we’re not going to get out of this, and the Treasury Department is not contributing constructively to the success of the recovery plan, which the Congress is about to enact. And that will mean that the recovery plan itself will be, sort of after the fact, too small to deal the problem of unemployment, which is just growing at the rate of a half a million jobs a month. So we are—and that’s the dilemma that we’re in."

AMY GOODMAN: "Professor Galbraith, are you for nationalizing banks?"
JAMES GALBRAITH: "You know, I think the term is a political misleading term. I learned a few months ago that in 1982, at the time of the Latin American debt crisis, the [Republican President] Reagan administration’s FDIC had a contingency plan to nationalize the major banks in the case that a major Latin American country—let’s say Mexico or Argentina or Brazil—had defaulted outright on its debt. This was not something that administration would have wanted to do. In the end, they didn’t have to do it. But they had a plan to do it, if it was necessary because the banks were rendered insolvent by the running to ruin of a major class of assets." ... "Well, we have a major class of assets—that is to say, all of these subprime mortgage-backed securities—which have run to ruin. They should never have been issued in the first place. They are very, very highly likely to default. They were issued on terms which makes them basically unmarketable, because there is not adequate loan documentation. And when there is loan documentation, that documentation evidently indicates that the loans are likely to go bad, so that nobody outside will buy them. That’s a problem that exists in the banking system, and the regulators simply have to deal with it." ... "And I don’t think—you know, it’s not—we’re not in 1945 in Attlee’s Britain, where we are taking the commanding heights of their economy or anything like that. We are doing what regulators always have to do, in conservative and liberal administrations, when faced with major intractable insolvencies in the financial system. If you don’t deal with that, the problem of fraud and loss just gets worse. And the losses that are incurred after insolvency are losses that fall on the taxpayer, because they come against deposits that are insured. So, one way or another, until we deal with this, the taxpayers’ liability just gets bigger and bigger."

AMY GOODMAN: "Professor Galbraith, I hate to ask you this last question with just about thirty seconds to go, but it’s about the title of your book and what it means, The Predator State."
JAMES GALBRAITH: "Well, the Predator State refers to the takeover of state power by private interests masquerading behind conservative principle and basically acting for private clients and private profit. That was the [Republican President] Bush administration in a nutshell. The title goes back to Veblen and a bit to my father’s New Industrial State, and it’s an attempt to capture in two words a phenomenon that I think really has transformed our economy, much for the worse in the last several decades." -DemocracyNow.org

20090206

China

Drought

Disaster

History

People

Food

Animals

Agriculture

Land

"China suffering worst drought in 50 years." ... "China is suffering another natural disaster -- this time, the worst drought in half a century. The land is parched and the irrigation dams have dried up. Crops and livestock are dying." ... "China on Thursday raised the drought-emergency-alert level from orange to red and allocated an additional $44 million dollars on top of the $13 million in emergency aid already released." ... "Since November northern and central China has had little rain. Many places have not had rainfall for more than 100 days." ... "In the drought, more than 4.3 million residents face a shortage of drinking water, as do 2 million livestock." ... "The drought has hit 12 provinces, including the wheat-producing areas in Henan, Anhui, and Shandong provinces. Chinese media says the total area affected has reached 1,370 million hectares (3,385 million acres)." -By Jaime Florcruz

-CNN

20090205

Barack Obama

Noteworthy

Economic

Crisis

History

People

Families

Jobs

Homes

Consumer

Energy

Health Care

Education

Internet

Science

Transportation

Construction

Government

Legislation

Politics

"The Action Americans Need." [By Democratic President Barack Obama] ... "By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression. Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished. People everywhere are worried about what tomorrow will bring." ... "What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis." ... "Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse." ... "That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come." ... "This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it's a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent." ... "In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive." ... "I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. They know that we have tried it those ways for too long. And because we have, our health-care costs still rise faster than inflation. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. Our children still study in schools that put them at a disadvantage. We've seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail." ... "Every day, our economy gets sicker -- and the time for a remedy that puts Americans back to work, jump-starts our economy and invests in lasting growth is now." ... "Now is the time to protect health insurance for the more than 8 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage and to computerize the health-care records of every American within five years, saving billions of dollars and countless lives in the process." ... "Now is the time to save billions by making 2 million homes and 75 percent of federal buildings more energy-efficient, and to double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy within three years." ... "Now is the time to give our children every advantage they need to compete by upgrading 10,000 schools with state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries and labs; by training our teachers in math and science; and by bringing the dream of a college education within reach for millions of Americans." ... "And now is the time to create the jobs that remake America for the 21st century by rebuilding aging roads, bridges and levees; designing a smart electrical grid; and connecting every corner of the country to the information superhighway." ... "These are the actions Americans expect us to take without delay. They're patient enough to know that our economic recovery will be measured in years, not months. But they have no patience for the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action while our economy continues to slide." ... "So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time." -By Barack Obama

-WashingtonPost

Barack Obama

Financial

Crisis

Government

Legislation

"Obama puts the heat on Republicans: He says the 'half steps' now urged by the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] for the stimulus bill are the same ideas that led to the financial crisis." ... "[Democratic] President Obama abruptly changed tactics Wednesday in his bid to revive the economy, setting aside his bipartisan stance and pointedly blaming Republicans for demanding what he cast as discredited "piecemeal measures."" ... "Obama's comments were a marked departure from the conciliatory tone he has maintained as he courted Republican votes for his stimulus package through compromise. Against the wishes of his own party, Obama crafted a plan that relied heavily on tax cuts rooted in Republican economic doctrine." ... ""Now, let me say this," Obama said. "In the past few days, I've heard criticisms of this plan that frankly echo the very same failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis in the first place -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems, that we can address this enormous crisis with half steps and piecemeal measures and tinkering around the edges, that we can ignore fundamental challenges, like the high cost of healthcare, and still expect our economy and our country to thrive." ... ""I reject these theories," he continued. "And, by the way, so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change."" ... ""A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery and a more uncertain future," he warned at another White House appearance." -By Peter Nicholas

-LAtimes

20090201

Barack Obama

Corporate

Government

Crisis

Politics

"Bailouts for Bunglers." ... "“We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we’d like to do our best to preserve that system,” says Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary [appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama] — as he prepares to put taxpayers on the hook for that system’s immense losses." ... "Meanwhile, a Washington Post report based on administration sources says that Mr. Geithner and Lawrence Summers, President Obama’s top economic adviser, “think governments make poor bank managers” — as opposed, presumably, to the private-sector geniuses who managed to lose more than a trillion dollars in the space of a few years." ... "And this prejudice in favor of private control, even when the government is putting up all the money, seems to be warping the administration’s response to the financial crisis." ... "In normal times, banks raise capital by selling stock to private investors, who receive a share in the bank’s ownership in return. You might think, then, that if banks currently can’t or won’t raise enough capital from private investors, the government should do what a private investor would: provide capital in return for partial ownership." ... "But bank stocks are worth so little these days — Citigroup and Bank of America have a combined market value of only $52 billion — that the ownership wouldn’t be partial: pumping in enough taxpayer money to make the banks sound would, in effect, turn them into publicly owned enterprises." ... "My response to this prospect is: so? If taxpayers are footing the bill for rescuing the banks, why shouldn’t they get ownership, at least until private buyers can be found? But the Obama administration appears to be tying itself in knots to avoid this outcome." ... "If news reports are right, the bank rescue plan will contain two main elements: government purchases of some troubled bank assets and guarantees against losses on other assets. The guarantees would represent a big gift to bank stockholders; the purchases might not, if the price was fair — but prices would, The Financial Times reports, probably be based on “valuation models” rather than market prices, suggesting that the government would be making a big gift here, too." ... "And in return for what is likely to be a huge subsidy to stockholders, taxpayers will get, well, nothing." -By Paul Krugman

-NYTimes

20090126

Iceland

Economic

Crisis

"Crisis claims Icelandic cabinet: Iceland's coalition government has collapsed under the strain of an escalating economic crisis." ... "Conservative Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced the resignation of his cabinet, after talks with his Social Democratic coalition partners failed." ... "He said he could not accept the Social Democrats' demand to lead the country." ... "Iceland's financial system collapsed in October under the weight of debt, leading to a currency crisis, rising unemployment and daily protests." ... "The economy is forecast to shrink by almost 10% this year." ... "The coalition between Mr Haarde's Independence Party and Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir's Social Democratic Alliance had been under strain in recent months." ... "It emerged that the country's banks, which had amassed debt during years of rapid expansion, owed about six times the country's economic output." ... "Money from around the world had also poured into Iceland because interest rates there exceeded 10%." ... "Mr Haarde's government responded to the financial collapse by nationalising leading banks. It also negotiated about $10bn in loans with the International Monetary Fund and donor countries. "

-BBC.co.uk

20081216

Jim DeMint

Bob Corker

Richard Shelby

Mitch McConnell

Foreign

Money

Politics

Construction

Auto

Makers

Government

Emergency

Legislation

Labor

Michigan

California

South Carolina

Alabama

Tennessee

Kentucky

German

Japanese

South Korean

"Foreign Auto Makers Won Billions in Government Subsidies: Southern States Gave [Foreign] Auto Companies Tax-breaks and Cash for Training." ... "To hear Southern Republicans tell the story, the financial burdens facing Detroit’s automakers are self-made troubles to be settled by the laws of Adam-Smith capitalism." ... "“We don’t think it is the role of government to intervene,” [South Carolina Republican Senator] Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]) told the Fox Business Network last week. “We need to let the market and the laws work the way they are already in place.”" ... "Yet this argument — that the government has no business interfering in free markets — ignores an increasingly frequent tradition among Southern states, which have fronted billions in local taxpayer dollars in the past two decades to attract foreign auto plants. Those incentives, arriving in the form of tax breaks, training for new employees and even land, have enticed [German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke] BMW to South Carolina, [German automaker] Mercedes to Alabama and [Japanese automaker] Nissan to Tennessee. The result of the government subsidies has been the steady emergence of the South as an auto-manufacturing powerhouse. Some are dubbing it the “New Detroit” – a region where real estate is cheap and the labor’s not unionized." ... "Not coincidentally, these Southern states are represented by the same coalition of GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] senators who led the fight against the recent Detroit [Michigan] bailout proposal. That legislation would have provided $14 billion in emergency bridge loans to General Motors and Chrysler, both of which say they lack the finances to survive the month. Rallying behind the animated opposition of GOP [Republican Senators] Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.[Tennessee]), Richard Shelby (Ala.[Alabama]), Mitch McConnell (Ky.[Kentucky) and South Carolina’s DeMint, Senate Republicans killed the legislation." ... "On Friday, the day following the Senate vote, Shelby told CNBC that if the Big Three had only managed their business operations as well as the foreign companies, known as transplants, they wouldn’t be scrambling now for a taxpayer-funded bailout." ... "“You look at the South,” Shelby said. “You take — not just Mercedes in my hometown — but BMW, Honda and all of them. These companies are flourishing with American workers made in America.”" ... "But the flourishing of the transplants didn’t come without significant taxpayer help. Shelby’s Alabama, for example, secured construction of a [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz plant in 1993 by offering $253 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training and land improvement. For [Japanese automaker] Honda, the state’s sweetener surrounding a 1999 deal to build a mini-van plant was $158 million in similar perks, adding $90 million in enticements when the company expanded the plant three years later. A 2001 deal with [Japanese automaker] Toyota left the company with $29 million in taxpayer gifts." ... "Alabama is hardly alone. Corker’s Tennessee recently lured [German automaker] Volkswagen to build a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga [Tennessee], offering the German automaker tax breaks, training and land preparation that could total $577 million. In 2005, the state inspired Nissan to relocate its headquarters from southern California by offering $197 million in incentives, including $20 million in utility savings." ... "In 1992, South Carolina snagged a BMW plant for $150 million in giveaways. In Mississippi in 2003, Nissan was lured with $363 million. In Georgia, a still-under-construction [South Korean automaker] Kia plant received breaks estimated to be $415 million. The list goes on." -By Mike Lillis

-WashingtonIndependent.com

20081213

Bob Corker

Richard Shelby

Jim DeMint

Mitch McConnell

Foreign

Money

Politicians

Auto

Makers

Michigan

Workers

Emergency

Law

Tennessee

Alabama

Kentucky

South Carolina

Georgia

Japanese

German

South Korean

"Meet the GOP's [Republican's] wrecking crew: Why did a small group of Southern Republicans turn the auto bailout into a demolition derby? Introducing the senators who hate unions and love foreign cars." ... "On July 15, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker was a happy man." ... ""I cannot think of a more exciting day, even more so than Election Night, for me," the Republican senator from Tennessee said in a conference call that day. The reason for his elation was the announcement that [German automaker] Volkswagen, lured by up to $500 million worth of incentives from the state government, had agreed to build a $1 billion plant near Chattanooga, Tenn. [Tennessee.] That is, not just in his home state, but in the suburbs of the city he once served as mayor." ... "Add VW [Volkwagen] to [Japan automaker] Nissan, which already has two plants and its North American headquarters in Tennessee, and you begin to see why Corker was so aggressive this month about trying to block -- or at least dramatically rewrite -- a proposal to float billions of dollars in emergency loans to domestic automakers. Most of the focus during this debate has been on lawmakers who represent Michigan, the home of the Big Three -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But Corker represents the other side of the coin: Tennessee and other Southern states have recently come to depend on foreign automakers and their non-union factories. If you're from those parts, what's good for American car companies may no longer be what's good for the country -- because your economy now depends on their foreign competitors instead." ... "Expect to hear more not just from the very vocal Bob Corker, but from the rest of a core group of Southern senators whose bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans. Here's a guide to the major players."

"[Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby, R-Ala. [Republican-Alabama]"
"Foreign auto plants: [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz, [South Korean automaker] Hyundai, [Japanese automaker] Honda"

"[South Carolina Republican Senator] Jim DeMint, R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]"
"Foreign auto plants: [German automaker] BMW [Bayerische Motoren Werke]"

"[Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. [Republican-Kentucky]"
"Foreign auto plants: [Japanese automaker] Toyota"

"[Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker, R-Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]"
"Foreign auto plants: Two [Japanese automaker] Nissan plants, as well as the company's U.S. [United States] headquarters; [German automaker] Volkswagen will open near Chattanooga [Tennessee] in 2011"

"As mayor of Chattanooga, he [Corker] reportedly conceived the idea for the site that will soon become home to the [German automaker] Volkswagen plant, and was instrumental in its development. He organized efforts to lure [Japanese automaker] Toyota to the area, and when that failed, he had VW execs [executives] and other top state politicians over to his house for dinner." ... "Georgia's two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isaakson, both voted against the plan as well. Their state has a big [South Korean automaker] Kia factory coming in soon." (1, 2) -By Alex Koppelman and Mike Madden with contributions by Vincent Rossmeier and Gabriel Winant -Salon

Barack Obama

Housing

Crisis

Investors

Politics

New York

"HUD pick foresaw subprime crisis in '04." ... ""[Democratic President Elect] Barack Obama's pick for HUD [Housing and Urban Development] -- former New York City [New York] Housing Commissioner Shaun Donovan -- was one of the earliest public officials to foresee the magnitude and destructive capacity of the subprime crisis." ... "In the middle of 2004, I sat down with Donovan (I was at Newsday at the time) for a chat about [Democratic New York City, New York] Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to tackle the shortage of low- and middle-income housing in the city." ... "To my surprise, Donovan brushed aside my questions about the city's initiatives and began talking at length about the coming "flood" of foreclosures he anticipated among highly leveraged apartment buildings purchased by recent immigrants -- and a looming subprime crisis for one- and two-family homeowners in up-and-coming neighborhoods in southeast [New York City burroughs] Queens and central Brooklyn." ... "I left the meeting a little shaken: At the time housing prices in previously depressed parts of the city were booming and the city had been able to sell off almost of all its once-massive stock of foreclosed properties to private owners and investors. The future looked bright to almost everyone -- but not to Donovan, who was planning for the looming disaster." -By Glenn Thrush

-Politico.com

20081212

Secret

Corporate

Government

Politics

US_Debt

Emergency

"Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion (Update2)." ... "The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral." ... "Bloomberg filed suit [2008 November] Nov. 7 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act requesting details about the terms of 11 Fed lending programs, most created during the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression." ... "The Fed responded [2008 December] Dec. 8, saying it’s allowed to withhold internal memos as well as information about trade secrets and commercial information. The institution confirmed that a records search found 231 pages of documents pertaining to some of the requests." ... "“If they told us what they held, we would know the potential losses that the government may take and that’s what they don’t want us to know,” said Carlos Mendez, a senior managing director at New York-based ICP Capital LLC, which oversees $22 billion in assets." ... "The Fed stepped into a rescue role that was the original purpose of the Treasury’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The central bank loans don’t have the oversight safeguards that Congress imposed upon the TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program]." ... "Total Fed lending exceeded $2 trillion for the first time Nov. 6. It rose by 138 percent, or $1.23 trillion, in the 12 weeks since Sept. 14, when central bank governors relaxed collateral standards to accept securities that weren’t rated AAA." ... "The Bloomberg lawsuit is Bloomberg LP v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 08-CV-9595, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)." -By Mark Pittman

-Bloomberg

Auto

Makers

Legislation

Workers

Emergency

Government

Politics

Economy

History

Cheney

Michigan

"Senate Republicans kill auto bailout bill." ... "Republican opposition killed a $14-billion auto industry bailout plan in the Senate on Thursday night, putting the future of [United States] U.S. automakers in doubt and threatening to deliver another blow to the economy." ... "The measure died after a last-ditch effort by Senate Democratic leaders to strike a compromise that would have lured enough support to save the legislation, which was crafted in consultation with the [Republican President Bush] White House." ... "The bill's failure raises the possibility of bankruptcy by one or more of [Michigan state's] Detroit's Big Three and puts new pressure on [Republican] President Bush to authorize emergency loans for the automakers from the $700-billion Wall Street rescue fund, a step he has adamantly refused to take." ... "The collapse of General Motors, Chrysler or Ford -- along with many of their suppliers and dealers -- could throw hundreds of thousands more workers onto the growing unemployment rolls and further cloud the closing days of the [Republican President] Bush administration." ... ""If we don't do this, we will be known as the party of [Republican President] Herbert Hoover forever," [Republican Vice President] Cheney told them, according to a Senate Republican aide, evoking the president whose inaction is widely blamed for helping trigger the Great Depression in the early 1930s." (1, 2) -By Jim Puzzanghera with contributions by Ken Bensinger

-LAtimes

20081211

Auto

Makers

Emergency

Money

Politics

Workers

Environmental

Laws

Fuel

Technology

Emissions

Government

Michigan

California

"Murky future for auto rescue amid GOP opposition." ... "A House-passed bill to speed $14 billion in loans to Detroit's [Michigan] automakers stands on shaky ground in a bailout-weary Congress, undermined by Republican opposition that could derail the emergency aid in the Senate." ... "Republicans are challenging lame-duck [Republican] President George W. Bush on the proposal, arguing that any support for the domestic auto industry should carry significant concessions from autoworkers and creditors and reject tougher environmental rules imposed by House Democrats." ... "The automakers initially asked Congress for $25 billion, then returned two weeks later to plead for as much as $34 billion. But with the {Republican President Bush] White House refusing to dole out new spending for the Big Three [Automakers], congressional Democrats agreed to use an existing program that was to help carmakers retool their factories to make more fuel-efficient cars." ... "That fund yielded only $15 billion in emergency loans, and when negotiators agreed to leave some money in the environmental program, the amount fell to $14 billion." ... "Democrats agreed to scrap language — which the White House had declared a deal-breaker — that would have forced the carmakers to drop lawsuits challenging tough emissions limits in California and other states. But they kept a provision to force the automakers to abide by those states' limits — a kind of consolation prize for environmentalists, who already were livid at the raid of the fuel-efficiency program." -By Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ken Thomas

-AP via -Yahoo

20081210

Homeless

Families

Poverty

Crisis

Politics

Law

Police

Florida

"Homeless turn foreclosures into shelters." ... "For Max Rameau, a vacant, boarded-up home is more than just a symbol of the national housing crisis. It's an opportunity to house the homeless." ... "Rameau, a homeless advocate, runs a controversial program in Miami [Florida] that helps families squat in homes vacated because of bank foreclosures. Using Internet listings and a team of volunteers, Rameau and his Take Back the Land foundation matches homeless families with empty homes." ... "Rameau, 39, says his efforts are creative solutions for two of America's biggest problems: rising numbers of vacant homes and a growing homeless population. He has moved in six families since January. The authorities so far haven't stopped him." ... ""It's morally indefensible to have vacant homes sitting there, potentially for years, while you have human beings on the street," Rameau says." ... "Kelly Penton, a city of Miami spokeswoman, says police don't have the manpower to scour neighborhoods looking for squatters. Police only act on a complaint by a property owner, which so far hasn't happened, she says." ... ""People need to obey the law, obviously," Penton says. "But it has to be something that's reported to the city."" ... "With 44% of the nation's 744,000 homeless unsheltered, it's not surprising that people want to take over homes, says Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless." -By Rick Jervis

-USATODAY

Poverty

Emergency

People

Health

Wisconsin

"From canned goods to fresh, food banks adapt." ... "Vanessa Rosales comes to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry here [in Madison, Wisconsin's capital] rather than others for one reason: She can choose what food she brings home, rather than being handed a bag filled with random groceries." ... "The pantry, which looks like a small grocery store, is indicative of broad changes going on at the nation's food banks and food pantries." ... "No longer simply the domain of canned corn and peanut butter, food banks are preparing ready-to-eat meals, opening their own farms and partnering with institutions as varied as local supermarkets and state prisons to help gather and process food. They are also handling much more fresh produce, which requires overhauling the way they store and distribute food." ... "Pantries, which distribute the food donated to food banks, are also acting as social service clearinghouses. Many are handing out information about screenings for breast and cervical cancer and sending volunteers out to sign up people for food stamps." ... "And as demand continues to rise, food banks are trying to feed more people with less food." ... ""I keep hearing that demand is up and up and up," said Ross Fraser, a spokesman for Feeding America, which provides more than two billion pounds of food annually to food banks around the country. "I heard one person saying they're feeding schoolteachers. The needle is moving higher up the socioeconomic class, and people making more money are needing emergency food assistance."" (1, 2) -By Katie Zezima

-IHT.com

20081209

Adolescents

Emergency

Mental

Privacy

"Adolescents, Failed by U.S. Health Care, Go to Emergency Rooms." ... "Adolescents rely on hospital emergency rooms for routine treatment more than any other age group, according to a report that found the U.S. [United States] health-care system often fails those ages 10 to 19." ... "Many youths lack access to specialty services for mental health, substance abuse and sexual and reproductive health, according to the report today by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine." ... "“Even when services are accessible, many adolescents may not find them acceptable because of concerns that confidentiality is not fully ensured, especially in such sensitive domains as substance use or sexual and reproductive health,” according to the report." -By Justin Blum

-Bloomberg

REPORT: "Adolescent Health Services: Missing Opportunities." -Institute of Medicine

20081115

Global

Financial

Crisis

Terrorism

Intelligence

Nuclear

Pakistan

China

Afghanistan

Yemen

"Experts See Security Risks in Downturn: Global Financial Crisis May Fuel Instability and Weaken U.S. [United States] Defenses." ... "Intelligence officials are warning that the deepening global financial crisis could weaken fragile governments in the world's most dangerous areas and undermine the ability of the United States and its allies to respond to a new wave of security threats." ... "U.S. government officials and private analysts say the economic turmoil has heightened the short-term risk of a terrorist attack, as radical groups probe for weakening border protections and new gaps in defenses. A protracted financial crisis could threaten the survival of friendly regimes from Pakistan to the Middle East while forcing Western nations to cut spending on defense, intelligence and foreign aid, the sources said." ... "The crisis could also accelerate the shift to a more Asia-centric globe, as rising powers such as China gain more leverage over international financial institutions and greater influence in world capitals." ... "Some of the more troubling and immediate scenarios analysts are weighing involve nuclear-armed Pakistan, which already was being battered by inflation and unemployment before the global financial tsunami hit. Since September, Pakistan has seen its national currency devalued and its hard-currency reserves nearly wiped out." ... "Analysts also worry about the impact of plummeting crude prices on oil-dependent nations such as Yemen, which has a large population of unemployed youths and a history of support for militant Islamic groups." ... "Annual spending for U.S. intelligence operations currently totals $47.5 billion, a figure that does not include expensive satellites that fall under the Pentagon's budget." ... "U.S. officials are following developments with particular concern because of Pakistan's critical role in the campaign against terrorism, as well as the country's arsenal of dozens of nuclear weapons. Al-Qaeda has appealed directly to Pakistanis to overthrow their government, and its Taliban allies have launched multiple suicide bombings, some aimed at economic targets such as the posh Marriott hotel in Islamabad [Pakistan's capital], hit in September." ... "Economic and social unrest has helped drive recruiting for militant groups that cross into Afghanistan to attack U.S. troops." ... "China already was on track to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy, perhaps as early as 2030. Now, many experts believe the global recession could help it do so faster." (1, 2, 3) -By Joby Warrick

-WashingtonPost

20081112

Henry Paulson

Government

Emergency

Politics

AIG

"Washington's $5 Trillion Tab: Fighting the financial crisis has put the U.S. on the hook for some $5 trillion a report says. So far." ... "For all the fury over [Republican President Bush's] Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government's response to the credit crisis." ... "According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system." ... "The Fed has taken on much of that total, including lending a cumulative $1 trillion in overnight or short-term loans since March to primary dealers through its emergency discount window and making a cumulative $1.8 trillion available through its term auction facility, a series of short-term transactions it began making available twice a month in January. It should be noted that a portion of the funds lent in these programs has been repaid and that the totals represent what has been made available." ... "The Fed also took on tens of billions in debt, including $29 billion in debt of Bear Stearns, and made $60 billion of credit available to American International Group (nyse: AIG - news - people ). It is committing $22.5 billion to set up a special purpose vehicle to manage some of AIG's residential mortgage-backed securities, and it is financing $30 billion of a second fund to hold $70 billion of multi-sector collaterized debt obligations on which AIG wrote credit default swaps." ... "The Treasury, in addition to the $700 billion raised in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, agreed to guarantee money market funds against losses up to $50 billion, will inject $40 billion of capital into AIG and is backing the conservatorship of Fannie Mae (nyse: FNM - news - people ) and Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE- news - people ), to the tune of $200 billion." ... "The FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation], meanwhile, is guaranteeing $1.5 trillion of senior unsecured bank debt." ... "Not included in the total are the Fed's long-existing discount window lending to commercial banks, the mortgage modification plan announced by regulators on Tuesday, support for the Federal Home Loan Banks and a myriad of other programs." -By Elizabeth Moyer

-Forbes

20081110

Henry Paulson

Secret

Corporate

Government

Politics

Emergency

Law

"Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose [$2 Trillion in taxpayer loans to banks] (Update2)." ... "The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral." ... "Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return." ... "``The collateral is not being adequately disclosed, and that's a big problem,'' said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., where he co-manages $17 billion in bonds. ``In a liquid market, this wouldn't matter, but we're not. The market is very nervous and very thin.''" ... "Bloomberg News has requested details of the Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure." ... "The Fed made the loans under terms of 11 programs, eight of them created in the past 15 months, in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression." ... "``It's your money; it's not the Fed's money,'' said billionaire Ted Forstmann, senior partner of Forstmann Little & Co. in New York. ``Of course there should be transparency.''" -By Mark Pittman, Bob Ivry and Alison Fitzgerald

-Bloomberg

20080925

Germany

Global

Financial

Crisis

Politics

"Era of U.S. financial dominance at an end: Germany." ... "Germany blamed the United States on Thursday for spawning the global financial crisis with a blind drive for higher profits and said it must now accept more market regulation and a loss of its financial superpower status." ... "In some of the harshest criticism of the United States since the crisis threw Wall Street banks into financial disarray this month, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the turmoil would leave "deep marks" on both sides of the Atlantic, but called it primarily an American problem." ... ""The world will never be as it was before the crisis," Steinbrueck told the Bundestag lower house of parliament." ... ""The United States will lose its superpower status in the world financial system. The world financial system will become more multi-polar," he said." ... "The crisis has put the [Republican President] Bush White House, which has long advocated a hands-off approach to markets, on the defensive and forced it to rethink its financial policy." -By Noah Barkin and Kerstin Gehmlich

-Reuters via -Yahoo

Financial

Crisis

Politics

Government

"Bailout Could Deepen Crisis, CBO Chief Says: Asset Sales May Lead to Write-Downs, Insolvencies, Orszag Tells Congress." ... "The director of the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday that the proposed Wall Street bailout could actually worsen the current financial crisis." ... "During testimony before the House Budget Committee, Peter R. Orszag -- Congress's top bookkeeper --said the bailout could expose the way companies are stowing toxic assets on their books, leading to greater problems." ... ""Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values," Orszag said in his testimony. "Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent."" ... "In an interview later yesterday, Orszag explained using the following example: Suppose a company has Asset X, whose value is recorded on the books as $100. Because of the current economic decline, Asset X's real value has dropped to $50. If the company takes part in the government bailout and sells Asset X for $50, the company has to report a $50 loss on its books. On a scale of millions of dollars, such write-downs could ruin a company." ... "Such companies "look solvent today only because it's kind of hidden," Orszag said. "They actually are insolvent" already, he said." (1, 2) -By Frank Ahrens

-WashingtonPost

Jobs

History

Weather

Disasters

Louisiana

Texas

"Jobless claims soar near 7-year high: First economic report since financial meltdown shows initial unemployment claims rose by 7%, boosted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike." ... "According to a study by the Department of Labor, initial filings for state jobless benefits increased by a seasonally adjusted 32,000 to 493,000 in the third week of September. It was the highest number of weekly claims since Sept. 29, 2001, when unemployment soared in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." ... "The Labor Department said about 50,000 of the new claims were due to the effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. There were 18,400 more claims from the week before in Louisiana alone, and Texas added 1,200." ... "Earlier this month, the government reported that there were 84,000 jobs lost in August, bringing to 605,000 the number of jobs cut from payrolls by U.S. employers in the first eight months of the year." ... "The unemployment rate surged to 6.1% last month, a nearly five-year high and up from 5.7% in July. In the last recession, unemployment reached a high of 6.3%." -By David Goldman

-CNN

20080924

John McCain

Financial

Disaster

Politics

Government

Massachusetts

Arizona

2008 Election

"Democrats claim Wall St. bailout breakthrough." ... "Democratic [Massachusetts Representative] Rep. Barney Frank said on Wednesday Democrats had reached an agreement to stem one of the worst U.S. financial disasters in decades, and that there would be enough votes to pass the measure and send it to [Republican] President George W. Bush to sign into law." ... "Frank took a dig at [2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who interrupted his campaign to return to Washington on Thursday to help work on a Wall Street bailout." ... ""All of sudden, now that we are on the verge of making a deal, John McCain here drops himself in to help us make a deal, Frank said." ... "He expressed fear that McCain, a U.S. [United States] senator from Arizona who has spent much of the year away from the Capitol campaigning, could end up slowing down work on the bill." ... "The Massachusetts Democrat noted that a meeting on Capitol Hill on Thursday will be interrupted for a "photo op" at the White House with congressional Democrats and Republicans as well as Bush." ... ""We're trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign," Frank said." ... "Democrats blamed the crisis largely on the failure of Bush to adequately regulate the financial industry." (1, 2, 3) -By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro with contributions by Doina Chiacu

-Reuters

Sarah Palin

John McCain

Financial

Crisis

Politics

Government

Law

Alaska

2008 Election

"Palin: US could face another Great Depression." ... "[2008 Election] Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn't act on the financial crisis." ... "Asked whether there's a risk of another Great Depression if Congress doesn't approve a $700 billion bailout package, Palin said, "Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on."" ... "Couric pressed Palin on examples of how McCain, a 26-year congressional veteran, had led the charge for more oversight." ... "The Alaska governor cited [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's warnings about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago as well as image as a maverick. Questioned again for examples, and reminded that McCain had been chairman of the Commerce Committee, Palin said, "I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you."" ... "McCain has insisted Palin is ready to take over as president, but he made no mention of including her in the meetings he wants in Washington to deal with the financial crisis." -By Sara Kugler

-AP via -Yahoo

20080923

Henry Paulson

Financial

Crisis

Politics

Legislation

"Bad News For The Bailout: The [Republican President Bush Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson Plan." ... "At a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complained of being rushed to pass legislation or else risk financial meltdown." ... "In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy." ... ""It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."" -By Brian Wingfield and Josh Zumbrun with contributions by Liz Moyer

-Forbes

20080921

John McCain

Corporate

Government

Disaster

Politics

US_Debt

Healthcare

Social Security

Rights

Book

2008 Election

"Naomi Klein: Financial crisis part of Bush 'shock doctrine'." ... "The bailout of Wall Street’s largest players by the federal government is another example of the [Republican President] Bush administration pursuing a corporate agenda at the expense of average Americans, a prominent author argued on Friday." ... "In a Friday night interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Naomi Klein said President Bush’s $700 billion proposal to rescue the financial sector stems from a profiteering streak that has dominated the last eight years." ... ""The disaster is far from over," Klein said. "The disaster was on Wall Street and they have moved the disaster to Main Street."" ... "Referring to the bailout, Klein said the "bomb has yet to detonate" and that the real crisis will strike when tax payers are overwhelmed when faced with the debt from the bailouts." ... "According to Klein, the bomb will detonate if Sen. John McCain becomes president and "rationalizes" that it is necessary to privatize government programs like social security and healthcare because neither the government nor Americans can afford them." ... ""The real disaster has yet to come; the real disaster is the debt that is going to explode on American tax payers," Klein said." ... "Klein’s book, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," outlines how crises, real or perceived, have been used by governments, especially the United States under George W. Bush, to strong-arm a disoriented citizenry into accepting changes to its rights, and its government, that it wouldn't otherwise accept." -By David Edwards and Andrew McLemore

-RawStory.com

WATCH: Naomi Klein on Republican Bush's "Shock Doctrine"

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20080916

Noteworthy

Emergency

Money

Politics

Legal

History

AIG

"U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout; Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up: Emergency Loan Effectively Gives Government Control of Insurer; Historic Move Would Cap 10 Days That Reshaped U.S. [Unijted States] Finance." ... "[Under Republican President Bush] The U.S. government seized control of American International Group Inc. -- one of the world's biggest insurers -- in an $85 billion deal that signaled the intensity of its concerns about the danger a collapse could pose to the financial system." ... "The step marks a dramatic turnabout for the federal government, which had been strongly resisting overtures from AIG for an emergency loan or some intervention that would prevent the insurer from falling into bankruptcy. Just last weekend, the government essentially pulled the plug on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., allowing the big investment bank to go under instead of giving it financial support. This time, the government decided AIG truly was too big to fail." ... "Under terms hammered out Tuesday night, the Fed will lend up to $85 billion to AIG, and the U.S. government will effectively get a 79.9% equity stake in the insurer in the form of warrants called equity participation notes. The two-year loan will carry an interest rate of Libor plus 8.5 percentage points. (Libor, the London interbank offered rate, is a common short-term lending benchmark.)" ... "The loan is secured by AIG's assets, including its profitable insurance businesses, giving the Fed some protection even if markets continue to sink. And if AIG rebounds, taxpayers could reap a big profit through the government's equity stake." ... "It puts the government in control of a private insurer -- a historic development, particularly considering that AIG isn't directly regulated by the federal government. The Fed took the highly unusual step using legal authority granted in the Federal Reserve Act, which allows it to lend to nonbanks under "unusual and exigent" circumstances, something it invoked when Bear Stearns Cos. was rescued in March." ... "The U.S. on Sept. 6 took over mortgage-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as they teetered near collapse." ... "In bailing out AIG, the Federal Reserve appeared to be motivated in part by worries that Wall Street's financial crisis could begin to spill over into seemingly safe investments held by small investors, such as money-market funds that invest in AIG debt." ... "Indeed, on Tuesday the $62 billion Primary Fund from the Reserve, a New York money-market firm, said it "broke the buck" -- that is, its net asset value fell below the $1-a-share level that funds like this must maintain. Breaking the buck is an extremely rare occurrence. The fund was pinched by investments in bonds issued by now collapsing Lehman Brothers." ... "Money-market funds are supposed to be among the safest investments available. No fund in the $3.6 trillion money-market industry has lost money since 1994, when Orange County, Calif., went bankrupt. A number of money-market funds own securities issued by AIG. The firm is also a big insurer of some money-market instruments." -By Matthew Karnitschnig, Deborah Solomon, Liam Pleven and Jon E. Hilsenrath with contributions by Diya Gullapalli, Serena Ng, Damian Paletta and Ashby Jones

-WSJ.com

20080915

Barack Obama

John McCain

Sarah Palin

Disaster

Politics

Workers

Colorado

Arizona

Alaska

2008 Election

"Obama blames Wall St. crisis on Republican policy." ... "[Obama on McCain:] "In 19 months he [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain] has not named one thing he would do differently from this [Republican President Bush] administration on the central issue of this election," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama said of McCain. "Not one thing. And we know that if we go down that path, that the next four years will look exactly like the last eight."" ... ""Can you afford to take a chance on someone who's voted against the minimum wage 19 times," Obama asked a crowd of thousands under a blazing sun at a rally in western Colorado at the start of a swing through contested Western states. "When it was $4, he was against it, when it was $5 he was against it, when it was $6 he was against it."" ... "Charging that McCain was out of touch, Obama said, "He doesn't get what's happening between the mountains in Sedona [Arizona] where he lives and the corridors of power where he works. Why else would he say that we've made great progress economically under George Bush. Why else would he say that the economy isn't something he understands as well as he should." ... ""Why else would he say, today of all days, just a few hours ago — think about this, we just woke up to news of financial disaster — and this morning he said that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong. Sen. McCain, what economy are you talking about?"" ... "He also took a little poke at McCain's running mate, [Alaska Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin, raising the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska that she initially supported and later opposed. Saying that McCain had put some lobbyists in key roles of his campaign, Obama said, "If you think those lobbyists are working day and night for John McCain just to put themselves out of business, well I've got a bridge to sell you up in Alaska."" -By Terence Hunt

-AP via -Yahoo

20080831

John McCain

Joe Biden

Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton

Hurricane Katrina

Weather

Emergency

Investigation

Legislation

Politics

History

Federal

New Orleans

Louisiana

Communications

Funds

Children

Transportation

2008 Election

"McCain To Katrina Victims In 2005: You're On Your Own." ... "It doesn’t really come as a surprise to those of us who have watched [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain over the years that he's about to make a campaign stop in New Orleans [Louisiana] after Hurricane Gustav hits this week. After all, he's been exploiting the troops for years, what's a few hurricane victims after that?" ... "What does seem odd is that McCain thinks Gulf Coast residents will forget how he, [Republican President] George W. Bush and the then-Republican Congress turned their backs on them so many times in the months after Katrina thundered ashore in 2005." ... "Too bad he spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster response so thoroughly." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt. 1661 "…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina."" ... "Biden's legislation would have provided many things including money to purchase interoperable communications equipment to help first-responders dealing with the disaster, $10 million "to find, unite, and transport children impacted by Hurricane Katrina to their parents, legal guardian, or next of kin" and funding to assist victims of domestic violence in affected areas." ... "But with John McCain's help, the Republican-led Senate shot down the funding on a 41-56 vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding." ... "When [New York Democratic] Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY[ Democratic-New York]) proposed the creation of a Congressional Commission to "examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future," John McCain was once again exactly where [Republican President] George W. Bush wanted him to be: On the "nay" side of a straight party-line vote (44-54) that killed that legislation." ... "And lest you think it was McCain taking a stand against what might become a Democratic witch hunt on the failures of his bosses in the White House, the bill called for a wholly bipartisan panel, stating specifically of the 10-member group that "not more than 5 members of the Commission shall be from the same political party."" ... "Unlike McCain, Barack Obama was one of the cosponsors of that bill and both he and Biden voted for immediate oversight on the bungled Katrina response." ... "But that's not all." -By Bob Geiger

20080806

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Dick Cheney

Halliburton KBR

Blackwater

Corporate

Government

Disaster

Politics

Military

Peoples

Health

Investigators

Hurricane Katrina

Housing

Iraq

Cayman Islands

"No Crisis Is Immune From Exploitation Under Bush." ... [By HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:] "Tucked away on the Cayman Islands sits Ugland House, an unassuming, nondescript building of modest scale and size. However, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), this five-story office building is home to more than 18,000 corporate entities, nearly half of which have U.S. [United States] ties." ... "In the past few years, the number of corporations flocking to places like the Cayman Islands to evade U.S. taxes has exploded. One of these companies, [Republican Vice President Dick Cheney's] former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, has used offshore tax havens to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes. To no one's surprise, instead of cracking down on KBR, the [Republican President] Bush administration has rewarded the company in April of this year with a 10-year, $150 billion contract in Iraq." ... "There appears to be no crisis, tragedy or disaster immune from exploitation under the Bush administration. The examples of the waste, fraud and abuse are legion -- from KBR performing shoddy electrical work in Iraq that has resulted in the electrocution of our military personnel according to Pentagon and Congressional investigators, to the firing of an Army official who dared to refuse a $1 billion payout for questionable charges to the same company. In another scam, the Pentagon awarded a $300 million contract to AEY, Inc. [Incorporated], a company run by a 22-year-old who fulfilled an ammunition deal in Afghanistan by supplying rotting Chinese-made munitions to our allies." ... "But the fraud and waste are not limited to the war. In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, for example, FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] awarded a contract worth more than $500 million for trailers to serve as temporary housing. The contractor, Gulf Stream, collected all of its money even though they knew at the time that its trailers were contaminated with formaldehyde." ... "While touting fiscal responsibility, [Republican] President Bush and his administration have lined the pockets of political cronies like Halliburton and Blackwater. While calling for earmark reform, the president has allowed no-bid and questionable contracting throughout the federal government to dwarf earmark spending by a 10-to-1 ratio." -By Hillary Rodham Clinton

-WSJ.com

20080728

Jim Adkisson

People

Emergency

Church

Terrorism

Politics

Police

Law

Tennessee

"Witnesses recall Knoxville church shooting horror: ‘He had gun leveled in our direction,’ says man who helped stop rampage." ... "Jamie Parkey thought the blast that ripped through the sanctuary of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was part of the play his daughter and other children were putting on. Then he saw blood on another parishioner behind him and saw a man with a 12-gauge shotgun calmly firing away at the congregation." ... "“He had the gun leveled in our direction,” Parkey told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Monday, one day after the gunman killed two church members and wounded six others before being wrestled to the ground by parishioners. “That’s when I pushed my mother and daughter to the floor and got under the pew. When I saw the men rushing him was when I got up to join them.”" ... "Parkey was one of the people who tackled 58-year-old Jim D. Adkisson, kicking the shotgun away and holding the gunman on the floor with an arm-bar hold. Parkey’s 16-year-old daughter was in the play, and he had been sitting in the front of the church with his mother and his 6-year-old daughter when the attack began." ... "“For the situation, everyone responded phenomenally,” Parkey said. “June and Kevin Spooner mobilized and got the kids out the back.” Vicki Masters, the director of the play the children had been rehearsing for all summer, yelled for people to get out of the building. Another woman ushered children to the Presbyterian church next door after the gunman was subdued." ... "“Everybody did exactly what they needed to do,” Broyles added. “There was very little panic, very little screaming or hysteria. It’s a remarkable congregation of people. I’ve never seen such a loving response to such an overwhelming tragedy.”" ... "Adkisson is being held in lieu of $1 million bail while local police, with the assistance of FBI agents, gather evidence and search his home in a neighboring town. Police say they found a letter in Adkisson’s car which said that he planned the attack, that he couldn’t find a job, and “stated his hatred for the liberal movement.”" -By Mike Celizic

-TODAYShow.com -MSNBC

20080619

John McCain

Barack Obama

Iowa

Flood

Disaster

Law

Enforcement

2008 Election

"Culver aides: McCain ignored request to cancel Iowa visit." ... "An aide to [Iowa Democratic Governor] Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state." ... "Patrick Dillon, Culver's chief of staff, said the governor was concerned that McCain's trip would divert local law enforcement from the flood recovery effort to provide security for McCain." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama canceled a scheduled visit to eastern Iowa last week at the request of state officials." -By Mike Glover

-AP via -Google

Disaster

Environment

Human

Agriculture

Land

Science

Iowa

History

Weather

"Iowa Flooding Could Be An Act of Man, Experts Say." ... "[Cedar Falls, Iowa college professor and City Council member Kamyar] Enshayan, director of an environmental center at the University of Northern Iowa, suspects that this natural disaster wasn't really all that natural. He points out that the heavy rains fell on a landscape radically reengineered by humans. Plowed fields have replaced tallgrass prairies. Fields have been meticulously drained with underground pipes. Streams and creeks have been straightened. Most of the wetlands are gone. Flood plains have been filled and developed." ... ""We've done numerous things to the landscape that took away these water-absorbing functions," he said. "Agriculture must respect the limits of nature."" ... "Officials are still trying to understand all the factors that contributed to Iowa's flooding, and not everyone has the same suspicions as Enshayan. For them, the cause was obvious: It rained buckets and buckets for days on end. They say the changes in land use were lesser factors in what was really just a case of meteorological bad luck." ... "But some Iowans who study the environment suspect that changes in the land, both recently and over the past century or so, have made Iowa's terrain not only highly profitable but also highly vulnerable to flooding." ... "" (1, 2) -By Joel Achenbach with contributions by Kari Lydersen

-WashingtonPost

20080614

Flood

Iowa

Des-Moines

Illinois

History

Health

"Thousands Flee Rising Waters In Iowa, Ill.: Breaking Levees Flood Des Moines [Iowa's capital], Western Ill. [Illinois]; Streets In Cedar Rapids [Iowa] May Be Underwater For Two Weeks." ... "Days after it rose out of its banks on its way to record flooding in Cedar Rapids, the Cedar River has forced at least 24,000 people from their homes, emergency officials said Saturday." ... "The bleak news came as swollen rivers breached levees in the state capital, Des Moines, and in far western Illinois, leading to the evacuation of hundreds more homes." ... "Officials guess it will be four days before the Cedar River drops enough for workers to even begin pumping out water that has submerged at least 438 blocks, threatened the Cedar Rapids drinking water supply and forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital." ... "The Cedar River crested Friday night at nearly 32 feet, 12 feet higher than the old record set in 1929." (1, 2)

-AP -CBSNews

20080518

WATCH - John McCain - Iraq - Military - Disaster - Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans - Louisiana - US - Economy - Politics - Author - - Media - 2008 Election - "McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare." [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain]

[John McCain]

[YouTube Video]

"According to Cliff Schecter, author of The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't: "It is dangerous for a democracy when a presidential candidate can lie with impunity, change positions on a whim, and physically and verbally threaten others and virtually none of it is reported by a besotted media eagerly awaiting the next moment when he might slap their backs in friendship."

-TheRealMcCain.com -BraveNewFilms.org

20080511

John McCain - DCI Group - Burma (Myanmar) - Military - Money - Politics - People - Human Rights - Weather - Disaster - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - "Two McCain Aides With Ties to Burma Junta Resign." ... "ABC News’ Jan Simmonds reports: Two of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain' campaign aides resigned this weekend after media reports brought to light their ties to a lobbying group [DCI group] that once represented the military junta of Burma, which the regime calls Myanmar." ... "The aides, Douglas Goodyear, who was tapped as the GOP Convention Coordinator, and Doug Davenport, a regional manager focusing on the mid-Atlantic states, both worked for DCI. The firm was hired in 2002 to represent Burma’s military junta to try to begin a dialogue of political reconciliation with the United States." ... "The Burmese government has been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human rights record and has in recent days aroused an international outcry for its handling of the relief efforts in wake of a cyclone that according Oxfam [charity] could eventually claim 1.5 million lives if food, clean water and medical supplies are not rushed in to the devastated region. Relief agencies and governments that have offered assistance, including the United States, say the regime has frustrated their attempts to help the survivors of the disaster, tying up visa applications for aide workers in bureaucratic red tape and not allowing shipments of food and medical supplies into the country." -ABCNEWS.com

20080502

Stephen Johnson - Corporate - Government - Politics - Fetal- Human - Health - Science - Environmental - Safety - Enforcement - Emergency - Wildlife- Soil - Water - Law - Manufacturing - History - Michigan - Illinois - "EPA's top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago] Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1." ... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan], plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States." ... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ... "Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't been taken."" (1, 2) -By Michael Hawthorne -ChicagoTribune

20080414

Emergency - Economy - Politics - Haiti - Bangladesh - Egypt - United States - World - Poor - People - Historical - - Children - Health - Mind - "Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket." ... "Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global development said Monday." ... ""This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute." ... ""The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's "American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries ... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States."" ... "World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty." ... ""The international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified by the U.N.'s [United Nations] World Food Programme to meet emergency needs," he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and come up with it now."" ... ""In just two months," Zoellick said in his speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family."" ... "The price of wheat has jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend as much as 75 percent of their income on food." ... ""This is not just about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said." -CNN

20080331

Government - Food - People - Families - Poverty - Disasters - Fuel - Prices - Politics - History - "As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record." ... "Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s." ... "The number of recipients, who must have near-poverty incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member, has fluctuated over the years along with economic conditions, eligibility rules, enlistment drives and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, which led to a spike in the South." ... "But recent rises in many states appear to be resulting mainly from the economic slowdown, officials and experts say, as well as inflation in prices of basic goods that leave more families feeling pinched. Citing expected growth in unemployment, the Congressional Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million, up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007." ... "The percentage of Americans receiving food stamps was higher after a recession in the 1990s, but actual numbers are expected to be higher this year." -By Erik Eckholm -NYTimes
Food - Crisis - World - People - Farmers - Land - Fuel- Money - Politics - History - Weather - Drought - China - UN - "Tensions rise as world faces short rations." ... "Food prices are soaring, a wealthier Asia is demanding better food and farmers can't keep up. In short, the world faces a food crisis and in some places it's already boiling over." ... "Around the globe, people are protesting and governments are responding with often counterproductive controls on prices and exports -- a new politics of scarcity in which ensuring food supplies is becoming a major challenge for the 21st century." ... "Plundered by severe weather in producing countries and by a boom in demand from fast-developing nations, the world's wheat stocks are at 30-year lows. Grain prices have been on the rise for five years, ending decades of cheap food." ... "Drought, a declining dollar, a shift of investment money into commodities and use of farm land to grow fuel have all contributed to food woes. But population growth and the growing wealth of China and other emerging countries are likely to be more enduring factors." ... "World population is set to hit 9 billion by 2050, and most of the extra 2.5 billion people will live in the developing world. It is in these countries that the population is demanding dairy and meat, which require more land to produce." ... "In 2007 alone, according to the U.N. [United Nations] Food and Agriculture Organization's world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent." [see also: Agflation] (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Russell Blinch and Brian Love with contributions by Ayesha Rascoe, Missy Ryan, Alistair Thomson, Ho Binh Minh and Eddie Evans -Reuters

20080219

Corporate - Government - Politics - Hurricane Katrina - Flood - Disaster - New Orleans - Louisiana - University - Homes - "Supreme Court rejects Katrina victims' flood insurance case." ... "The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to offer help to Hurricane Katrina victims who want their insurance companies to pay for flood damage to their homes and businesses." ... "The justices rejected appeals from Xavier University [in New Orleans, Louisiana] and 68 other individuals and businesses seeking to allow their lawsuits against the insurers to go forward." -AssociatedPress

20080214

Peoples - Housing - Safety - Emergency - Politics - Government - Science - Investigators - Censorship - Hurricane Katrina - Hurricane Rita - Weather - "CDC Confirms Health Risks to Occupants of Trailers." ... "Federal health officials have confirmed that high levels of formaldehyde gas pose health risks to hurricane victims housed in 38,000 government trailers on the Gulf Coast, and will recommend that occupants be moved before temperatures rise this spring and summer, [Republican President] Bush administration officials disclosed yesterday." ... "The findings cap nearly two years of internal government deliberation over the housing of hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors in the trailers, and come 23 months after FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency ] first received reports of health problems and test results showing formaldehyde levels at 75 times the U.S.[United States]-recommended workplace safety threshold." ... "[Mississippi Democratic Representative] Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized what he depicted as the [Repblican President] Bush administration's tardy response." ... "FEMA announced plans in July to test the occupied trailers after congressional investigators accused it of suppressing internal warnings about the problem. Testing finally began in late December." -By Spencer S. Hsu -WashingtonPost

20080206

Emergency - Tennessee - Alabama - Kentucky - Arkansas - People- Homes - History - "Tornadoes in South Kill 50 in Rare Winter Strike (Update10)." ... "The deadliest tornado outbreak in almost a decade tore across the southern U.S. [United States] late yesterday, killing at least 50 people, sparking a pipeline explosion in Tennessee and destroying homes from Alabama to Kentucky." ... "The ``extremely dangerous'' tornadoes, spawned by unseasonably warm temperatures, prompted the first high-risk weather alert issued in February in 10 years, AccuWeather.com said." ... "``Tornadoes in February, especially this many and this strong, is a rare event,'' Buddy Rogers, spokesman for the Kentucky Emergency Management Office, said by phone." ... "The twisters first struck in the late afternoon, killing 26 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama, the Associated Press reported, citing emergency officials." -By Demian McLean -Bloomberg

20080204

Emergency - Politics - Federal - Animal - Environmental - History - Underwater - Military - Technology - California - Los Angeles - "Judge rejects Bush attempt to skirt law protecting whales." ... "A federal judge rejected on Monday [Republican] President Bush's attempt to exempt the Navy from environmental laws protecting endangered whales from sound waves caused by underwater sonar blasts during anti-submarine training off the Southern California coast." ... "Bush issued an order Jan. [January] 15 that sought to override the judge's order limiting the Navy's use of sonar in Channel Islands waters frequented by whales and other marine mammals. The president said the restrictions would interfere with military exercises that are essential to national security.'" ... "But U.S. [United States] District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of Los Angeles [California] said Monday that Bush lacked authority in this case to suspend the National Environmental Policy Act, on which her earlier order was based." ... "That law requires federal agencies to examine environmental damage that their actions might cause and propose measures to prevent the harm. Cooper - who had found that the Navy failed to follow those requirements - said federal regulations, in place since 1978, allow the president to override the environmental law only in an emergency." ... ""The Navy's current 'emergency' is simply a creature of its own making ... its failure to prepare adequate environmental documentation in a timely fashion," Cooper said in a 36-page ruling. " -By Bob Egelko -SFGate.com

20080201

Iraq

Afghanistan

Military

Money

Politics

Nuclear

Terrorism

Disaster

"'Appalling Gap' Found in Homeland Defense Readiness: National Guard, Reserve Forces Lack Sufficient Personnel, Training to Respond to Crisis in U.S. [United States], Report Says." ... "The U.S. military is not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home, and it is suffering from an "appalling gap" in forces able to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released yesterday." ... "The situation is rooted in severe readiness problems in National Guard and reserve forces, which would otherwise be well-suited to respond to domestic crises but lack sufficient personnel and training, as well as $48 billion in equipment because of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves." ... "Guard readiness has continued to slide since last March, when the panel found that 88 percent of Army National Guard units were rated "not ready," said retired Marine [Major General] Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman." ... ""We think there is an appalling gap in readiness for homeland defense, because it will be the Guard and reserve that have to respond for these things," he said in an interview, noting that the reserves are present in 3,000 U.S. communities. The commission, which was established in 2005, has 12 members, including several other former military officers." ... ""Because the nation has not adequately resourced its forces designated for response to weapons of mass destruction, it does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available," the report said. "This is an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk.""

-WashingtonPost

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Money - Politics - Disaster - "Guard, reserves called inadequate for domestic disasters: The forces have been strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and hobbled by inadequate funding, a congressional report concludes." ... "National Guard and reserve forces remain inadequately equipped and unprepared to deal with a wide range of domestic disasters, particularly an attack with unconventional weapons, a congressional commission has concluded." ... "In its final report, the panel said Thursday that congressional and Pentagon policymakers had been reluctant to acknowledge that the military remains the only institution that can respond quickly to natural and man-made disasters. That reluctance "places the nation at risk," because it has led to shortfalls in planning and readiness, the report said." ... "Reserve units have been taxed by repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, but the commission said the inadequacies were not solely the result of the wars. Overall, it said, the Pentagon has failed to provide adequate funding, on the "flawed assumption" that current training for military operations overseas would suffice for domestic duties as well." ... "The commission was set up by Congress in 2005 to examine the needs of the Guard and reserves amid their heavy deployment to war zones. The panel sounded a special alarm over what it said was the Guard's insufficient training -- due to inadequate funding -- for a chemical, biological or nuclear strike." -By Peter Spiegel -LAtimes

20080122

Consumer - Emergency - "Fed Shifts to Lending Concern in Emergency Rate Cut (Update1)." [Federal Reserve cuts rate by 0.75 percentage points to 3.50 percent] ... "The Federal Reserve signaled today that it has grown increasingly concerned over the reluctance of banks to provide credit to companies and consumers, restrictions that may exacerbate an already slowing economy." ... "The central bank, executing a record emergency reduction in its benchmark interest rate, said in its statement that ``credit has tightened further for some businesses and households.'' The Federal Open Market Committee also noted that ``strains in short- term funding markets have eased somewhat.''" ... "The Fed lowered interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point after stocks plunged in Europe and Asia on heightened fears of a U.S. recession." ... "The Fed's first steps in addressing the August credit collapse were to buttress liquidity to keep financial markets stable. Officials cut the charge on direct loans to banks on Aug. [August] 17 [2007] in an unscheduled conference call. Last month, the central bank introduced a new tool to inject funds into banks through two monthly auctions of cash." -By Scott Lanman -Bloomberg

20071121

US - Pakistan - Emergency- Law- Journalists - Human Rights - Del - Joseph R Biden - 2008 Election - "Bush More Emphatic In Backing Musharraf: He Says Leader 'Believes in Democracy'." ... "[Republican] President Bush yesterday offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."" ... "Bush spoke nearly three weeks after Musharraf declared emergency rule, sacked members of the Supreme Court and began a roundup of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. Musharraf's government yesterday released about 3,000 political prisoners, although 2,000 remain in custody, according to the Interior Ministry." ... "Several outside analysts and a key Democratic lawmaker expressed incredulity over Bush's comments and called them a sign of how personally invested the president has become in the U.S. relationship with Musharraf." ... ""What exactly would it take for the president to conclude Musharraf has crossed the line? Suspend the constitution? Impose emergency law? Beat and jail his political opponents and human rights activists?" asked [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del. [Delaware]), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a presidential candidate. "He's already done all that. If the president sees Musharraf as a democrat, he must be wearing the same glasses he had on when he looked in Vladimir Putin's soul."" ... "Bush was asked in the interview if there is any line Musharraf should not cross. "He hasn't crossed the line. As a matter of fact, I don't think that he will cross any lines," Bush replied, according to an ABC transcript." -By Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright -WashingtonPost

20071109

Photo - Media - Intelligence - Politics - California - Wildfire - Emergency - "Just Who Was At That Fake FEMA Briefing? CBS News Obtains A Photo Of The "Press" Gallery Full Of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] Staffers." ... "CBS News has obtained this photo of the now infamous fake FEMA press conference held during the California wildfires. The photo, taken by a FEMA employee, is one of the only known photos of the press gallery of that event." ... "The gallery is not filled with members of the press but with high-level agency employees." ... "At the podium on the left is Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson, the second in command at FEMA." ... "It was announced Thursday that an internal investigation had found that FEMA's press secretary encouraged, and in some cases instructed, employees to pose as reporters and ask questions at the fake news conference." ... "Since the briefing [former director of public affairs at FEMA, John "Pat"] Philbin - who, at the time of the news conference, already had accepted a job at the office of the director of national intelligence - lost his new post before he even started because of the incident." -CBSNews

20071026

Humanity - Global - Environmental - Science - Disaster - Politics - UN - Earth - Climate - Animals - Rivers - "Environmental failures 'put humanity at risk': · UN report bemoans lack of urgency by governments· Five-year study involved more than 1,400 scientists." ... "The future of humanity has been put at risk by a failure to address environmental problems including climate change, species extinction and a growing human population, according to a new UN report." ... "In a sweeping audit of the world's environmental wellbeing, the study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that governments are still failing to recognise the seriousness of major environmental issues." ... "The study, involving more than 1,400 scientists, found that human consumption had far outstripped available resources. Each person on Earth now requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the planet can supply, it finds." ... "Meanwhile, biodiversity is seriously threatened by the impact of human activities: 30% of amphibians, 23% of mammals and 12% of birds are under threat of extinction, while one in 10 of the world's large rivers runs dry every year before it reaches the sea." ... "The report - entitled Global Environment Outlook: Environment for Development - reviews progress made since a similar study in 1987 which laid the groundwork for studying environmental issues affecting the planet." ... "It addresses a number of areas where environmental degradation is threatening human welfare and the planet, including water, over-fishing and biodiversity - where the UNEP says a sixth, human-induced, extinction is under way." -By Martin Hodgson -Guardian.co.uk

20071024

California - Wildfires - Disaster - San Diego - Homes - People - History - "Wildfires Cause More Than $1B In Damage: Thousands Of Homes In Southern Calif. [California] In Peril; Nearly 1 Million People Evacuated." ... "On the fourth day of a vicious firestorm, exhausted firefighters and weary residents looked forward Wednesday to a break - an expected slackening of the fierce wind that has fanned the state's explosive wildland blazes." ... "San Diego County officials say the property damage from this week's wildfires has reached at least $1 billion countywide." ... "[Republican] President Bush continued to step up federal engagement in the California wildfire emergency Wednesday, signing a major disaster declaration that funnels money to people whose property losses aren't covered by insurance." ... "Bush had already declared a federal emergency on Tuesday for seven California counties, triggering short-term federal help. On Wednesday, responding to a late-night request from [Republican Governor] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bush went a step further and issued the broader major disaster declaration." ... "With nearly 1 million people ordered out, it marks one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history, reports CBS' The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith." ... "The fires have burned 410,000 acres, or about 640 square miles." ... "The 16 wind-fed wildfires have destroyed nearly 1,500 homes. " (1, 2) -AP via -CBSNews

20071020

Noteworthy - Global - Climate - Disaster - Environment - Water - "Rising seas threaten 21 mega-cities." ... "Cities around the world are facing the danger of rising seas and other disasters related to climate change." ... "More than one-tenth of the world's population, or 643 million people, live in low-lying areas at risk from climate change, say U.S. and European experts." -AP via -Yahoo

20071019

Water

Emergency

Weather

Environment

History

Farm

Animals

Food

Georgia

Alabama

North Carolina

Tennessee

Kentucky

"Southeast drought hits crisis point." ... "Outdoor watering bans already cover the northern third of Georgia and dozens of cities, counties and towns in surrounding states. Farmers are selling cattle because pastures have dried up. Alabama's Elmore County had to bring in floating pumps and barges to extend its water intake pipe farther out into shrinking Lake Martin. Georgia might have to do the same at Lake Lanier, Atlanta's main water source." ... "Although rain is due today across parts of the region, it will barely dampen the 16-month drought. Through September, it is the region's driest year in 113 years of record-keeping. In five of the six worst-hit states, rain totals this year are close to a foot below normal." ... "It is the driest year on record for North Carolina and Tennessee, second-driest in Alabama and third-driest in Kentucky. A tree-ring study this summer of Tennessee's rainfall history shows this is the third-driest year for the state in at least 350 years, behind only 1839 and 1708." -By Patrick O'Driscoll and Larry Copeland with contributions by Jordan Schrader, Marty Roney, Leon Alligood, Ron Barnett, Jessie Halladay, Matt Reed, and Jennie Coughlin

-USATODAY

20071012

World - Climate - Science - Education - Earth - Environmental - Emergency - UN - India - US - Politics - 2008 Election - "Gore and UN panel win Nobel prize: Climate change campaigner Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." ... "The committee cited "their efforts to build up and disseminate knowledge about man-made climate change"." ... "Mr Gore, 59, won an Oscar for his climate change film An Inconvenient Truth while the IPCC is the top authority on global warming." ... "IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri said he was "overwhelmed" by the award." ... "He told a cheering crowd of colleagues and journalists outside his office in Delhi [India's capital] that he hoped the award would bring a "greater awareness and a sense of urgency" to the fight against global warming." ... "The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the recipients' efforts to "lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract [climate] change"." ... "The committee said it wanted to bring the "increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states" posed by climate change into sharper focus." ... "It highlighted a series of scientific reports issued over the last two decades by the IPCC, which comprises more than 2,000 leading climate change scientists and experts." ... "Mr Gore was praised as "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted", through his lectures, films and books." ... "Speaking in Washington, Mr Gore praised the IPCC, "whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years"." ... ""We face a true planetary emergency," Mr Gore warned. "It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."" ... "Correspondents say Mr Gore's selection has prompted supporters to renew calls for him to stand in next year's US presidential [2008 election] race. Until now, Mr Gore has said he will not run." -BBC/News

20070914

Weather - Disaster - Texas - Federal - Money - Wind - Land - - Florida - "Humberto claims 1 in East Texas." ... "Hurricane Humberto claimed the life of an Orange County man as the storm blasted East Texas with winds up to to 85 miles an hour this morning." ... "Today, [Texas Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry declared Jefferson, Orange and Galveston counties disaster areas, clearing the way for federal funds after Humberto developed from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane in just more than 12 hours." ... "Humberto didn't exist until late Wednesday afternoon, and wasn't even a tropical storm until almost midday, strengthening from a tropical depression with 35-mph winds to a hurricane with 85-mph winds in just 18 hours, senior hurricane specialist James Franklin said at the National Hurricane Center in Miami [Florida]." ... ""To put this development in perspective, no tropical cyclone in the historical record has ever reached this intensity at a faster rate near landfall. It would be nice to know, someday, why this happened,'' Franklin said." -By Kevin Moran and Harvey Rice with contributions by Eric Berger, Carol Christian, Anne Marie Kilday, and Dale Lezon -AP -Chron

20070904

US - China - Made - Business - Children - Health - Safety - Brain - Learning - Consumer - Food - Environmental - Pet - "Mattel Recalls 848,000 Barbie, Other Toys With Lead (Update3)." ... "Mattel Inc., the world's largest toymaker, recalled about 848,000 Chinese-made Barbie and Fisher-Price products whose paint may contain excessive levels of lead, its third in the past five weeks." ... "The 11 affected toys include Barbie kitchen, living room and other furniture items as well as Fisher-Price preschool Geo Trax Locomotive toys and Bongo Band drums. No injuries have been reported, Mattel said today." ... "Mattel has recalled 21 million Chinese-made products since the beginning of August. U.S. officials have raised alarm about tainted products from China including seafood containing harmful drugs, toothpaste with an ingredient found in antifreeze and pet food containing a chemical used to make plastic." ... "About 65 percent of Mattel toys are made in China." ... "Lead may be toxic if ingested by children and can cause brain damage, behavior and learning problems and slowed growth, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency." -By Heather Burke -Bloomberg

20070829

New Orleans - Louisiana - Mississippi - Storm - Flood - Hurricane Katrina - Disaster - Rebuilding - Politics - Federal - Money - "An Angry New Orleans Remembers Katrina: Upset Over Lack Of Progress Since Devastating Storm, Protests And Memorials Mark 2nd Anniversary." ... "On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable throughout a city where the mourning for the dead and feeling of loss for flooded homes, schools, snow cone stands, old-time hairstylists and hardware stores doesn't seem to subside." ... "Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans at 6:10 a.m. Aug. 29, 2005, as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States." ... "[Republican] President Bush commemorated Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow Wednesday with a somber moment of silence. Across town, in a symbol of a federal-city divide that persists two years after the killer storm, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin marked the levee-breach moment with bell-ringing." ... "The front page of The Times-Picayune advertised a scathing editorial above the masthead: "Treat us fairly, Mr. President." It chided the Bush administration for giving Republican-dominated Mississippi a share of federal money that it said was disproportionate to the lesser impact the storm had there than in largely Democratic Louisiana. "We ought to get no less help from our government than any other victims of this disaster," it said." (1, 2) -AP -CBSNews

20070818

Utah - Worker - Safety - Political - Federal - Law - Coal - Industry - Disaster - Earth - Science - "Mine's dangers overlooked." ... "Although mine owner Robert Murray has taken an active role in the rescue effort, his judgment all along about the mine's safety has been questionable." ... "Crandall Canyon is a "retreat mining" operation, in which coal pillars more than a mile beneath the surface are removed to get the last remnants of coal, causing the tunnel ceiling to collapse - presumably after miners have retreated to safe ground. It is an inherently dangerous mining method. In fact, the collapse Thursday that killed the three rescuers was a "mining-induced settling of the mountain," according to University of Utah researchers." ... "There is plenty of legitimate criticism of the [Republican President Bush overseen] federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for allowing the mining to go on so long. "I'm surprised that (the mine owner) would try to take that last section," said Robert Ferriter, a mine safety expert. "I would've thought that would have triggered someone from MSHA to say, 'Wait a minute, let's take a look at this.' "" ... "Murray's assurances of the tunnel's safety, for both the mining and rescue operations, proved to be inaccurate. A controversial figure in mining, Murray has sought tax cuts for the industry and given generously to Republican congressional candidates, particularly those from mining states, through his company's political action committee." -SPTimes.com

20070817

Peru- Earthquake - Peoples - Homes - Medical - Water - "Toll nears 500 in Peru quake: More than 16,000 homes are lost in the 8.0 temblor. The mayor of coastal Pisco says, 'Our city is destroyed.'" ... "The death toll in a massive earthquake that battered Peru's Pacific coast soared toward 500 on Thursday as rescue workers struggled to reach scenes of devastation and stunned victims appealed for medical aid, water and coffins." ... "Teams dug beneath the rubble in the cities of Pisco and Ica and the nearby town of Chincha, all situated near the epicenter of the magnitude 8.0 quake south of the capital, Lima. The damage and casualties appeared to be concentrated in those three communities, which also lost power and telephone service." ... ""Our city is destroyed," Mayor Juan Mendoza of Pisco, a port city of about 130,000 people, said, sobbing in an interview with Peruvian news media. "The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets."" ... "Mendoza estimated that 70% of the structures in his city had been leveled." (1, 2) -By Adriana León and Patrick J. McDonnell -LAtimes

20070815

China - Transportation - Construction- Economy - "China Bridge Collapse Toll Rises to 36." ... "Chinese rescuers blasted apart chunks of rubble Wednesday in the search for nearly two dozen people still missing in a bridge collapse that killed at least 36." ... "At least 100 construction workers were dismantling scaffolding on the bridge when it collapsed in the southern tourist town of Fenghuang. The disaster rekindled concerns about rushed, shoddy work amid China's torrid economic expansion." -By Alexa Olesen -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
North Korea - Food - Farmland - Disaster - History - UN - Economy - "North Korea Suffers Worst Rains Ever: Floods Destroy 11 Percent Of Impoverished Country's Farmland At The Height Of Growing Season." ... "Floods caused by the largest rains ever recorded in parts of North Korea have destroyed more than one-tenth of the impoverished country's farmland at the height of the growing season, official media reported Wednesday." ... "The U.N. food agency estimated the damage claimed by the North so far was about a quarter of the crop losses the country said it suffered in 1995 floods. That previous disaster, along with mismanagement of the economy and the loss of [North Koreas's capital] Pyongyang's Soviet benefactor, led to famine that is believed to have killed as many as 2 million North Koreans." ... "Precipitation along some areas of the Taedong River were the "largest ever in the history" of measurements taken by the country's weather agency, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported." -AP via -CBSNews

20070813

Hurricane Katrina - Real Estate - Disaster - Politics - Alabama - Mississippi - Louisiana - Government -Construction - Legislation - "Katrina aid goes toward luxury condos." ... "With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama's football stadium [in Tuscaloosa, Alabama]." ... "About 10 condominium projects are going up in and around Tuscaloosa [Alabama], and builders are asking up to $1 million for units with granite countertops, king-size bathtubs and 'Bama decor, including crimson couches and Bear Bryant wall art." ... "And they intend to take full advantage of the generous tax benefits available to investors under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, or GO Zone, according to Associated Press interviews with buyers and real estate officials." ... "The GO Zone contains a variety of tax breaks designed to stimulate construction in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama." ... "The GO Zone was drawn to include the Tuscaloosa area even though it is about 200 miles from the coast and got only heavy rain and scattered wind damage from Katrina." ... "Locals say Tuscaloosa was included in the GO Zone through the efforts of Republican [Alabama Senator] Sen. Richard Shelby, who is from Tuscaloosa, graduated from Alabama and sits on the powerful Appropriations Committee. But Shelby aides said Tuscaloosa made the cut because it was classified as a disaster area by the government after Katrina, not because of the senator's influence." -By Jay Reeves -AP via -USATODAY
Wireless - Communications - Market - Emergency - Radio - - - Technology - "FCC Rules Allow One Bidder To Buy More Than Half of Spectrum." ... "A single company could bid for more than half the lucrative spectrum to be auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission after the final rules for the sale failed to include a provision prohibiting this from occurring." ... "There had been pressure on FCC policymakers to include such a rule to ensure that an incumbent wireless carrier such as Verizon Wireless or AT&T Inc. wouldn't be able to take the lion's share of the spectrum being sold." ... "Potential new entrants to the market, such as Google Inc., as well as a handful of public interest groups had been pushing the FCC to include the rule." ... "Two sections make up 32 megahertz of the 62 megahertz of prized airwaves being sold off. They include one 22-megahertz swath with so-called open-access requirements attached -- which is actually six separate pieces that can be added together, and another 10-megahertz chunk that will be used to provide wireless broadband service to the emergency services community, with any spare capacity able to be used for commercial purposes." ... "The remaining 30 megahertz has been broken up into several hundred licenses." -By Corey Boles -WSJ.com

20070808

Minnesota - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - History - Transportation - Construction - Science - Politics - "I-35W inspectors flagged serious cracks, rusting." ... "[Minnesota] State bridge inspectors warned for nearly a decade before its collapse that the Interstate 35W bridge had "severe" and "extensive" corrosion of its beams and trusses, "widespread cracking" in spans and missing or broken bolts." ... "Not only was the superstructure in poor condition, but certain components were "beyond tolerable limits," and one of the bridge's piers had "tilted to the north," they reported." ... "By 2000, the inspectors wrote that "eventual replacement of the entire structure would be preferable" to redecking the bridge. They added: "If bridge replacement is significantly delayed, the bridge should be re-decked."" ... "That recommendation was repeated in every report afterward, but it never happened." ... "[Minnesota Republican Governor Tim] Pawlenty defended the decisions made about the bridge." ... "However, in every report since 2000, inspectors urged the state to replace bolts in a specific area of the bridge, a job listed each year under "Immediate Maintenance Recommendations."" ... "And since 2004 the reports repeatedly cited fatigue cracking in two girders as another problem requiring immediate maintenance, possibly including measures to relieve stress." ... "More than 11,000 comparable bridges in the nation have deficiency ratings similar to those of the I-35W bridge." -By Pat Doyle, Mike Kaszuba, Dan Browning and Laurie Blake -StarTribune
Minnesota - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - River - Navy - Robotic - Technology - Space Shuttle Columbia - USS-Monitor - Historic - Police - "Navy Divers Join Minn. Bridge Search." ... "An elite team of Navy divers joined the search for victims of the [Minneapolis, Minnesota I-35W] interstate bridge collapse Tuesday, bringing to the job lessons learned from such disasters as TWA Flight 800 and the loss of the space shuttle Columbia." ... "The team of 16 divers and a five-member command crew arrived a day earlier. Once their gear arrived before dawn Tuesday, several divers immediately entered the Mississippi River even though local officials encouraged them to wait until daybreak." ... "``Two in the morning, they dove into the water,'' Minneapolis Police Capt. Mike Martin said, calling them ``the best divers in the world.''" ... "Navy Senior Chief David Nagle said the divers wanted to get a feel for the area and were in the water for about two hours. Divers were back in the river by late morning, removing concrete rebar and other debris." ... "Joining the Navy team was an FBI dive crew, doing forensic work for the investigation. Their tools included a small unmanned submarine equipped with a robotic arm. ``It's basically crime-lab-underwater kind of work,'' Martin said." ... "The Navy and FBI team bring experience and technology far beyond what's been available to local search crews, who complained they have been hampered by dangerously unstable wreckage and a rapid current." ... "The Navy divers will be tethered to above-ground oxygen tanks, so they can stay in the water much longer than local divers, who had been using scuba tanks. Heavy-duty equipment will allow divers to cut through steel wreckage. The Navy also has sophisticated sonar to scan for bodies." ... "Navy divers assisted in the reclamation of historic sunken ships including the ironclad Civil War ship the Monitor." -By Patrick Condon with contributions by Steve Karnowski and Mark Scolforo -AP via -Guardian.co.uk

20070807

Minnesota - Political - Transportation - Construction- Gas - Legislation - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - Don Young - Alaska - Government - "Bridge Collapse Revives Issue of Road Spending." ... "In the past two years, [Minnesota Republican Governor] Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota twice vetoed legislation to raise the state’s gas tax to pay for transportation needs." ... "Now, with at least five people dead in the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge here, Mr. Pawlenty, a Republican, appears to have had a change of heart." ... "Even as the cause of the bridge disaster here remains under investigation, the collapse is changing a lot of minds about spending priorities. It has focused national attention on the crumbling condition of America’s roadways and bridges — and on the financial and political neglect they have received in Washington and many state capitals." ... "Despite historic highs in transportation spending, the political muscle of lawmakers, rather than dire need, has typically driven where much of the money goes. That has often meant construction of new, politically popular roads and transit projects rather than the mundane work of maintaining the worn-out ones." ... "The $286 billion federal transportation legislation passed by Congress in 2005 included more than 6,000 earmarks, which amounted to blatant gifts to chosen districts, including the [Alaska Republican Representative Don Young's] so-called Bridge to Nowhere in rural Alaska (that earmark was later removed after a political uproar)." ... "A study released in May by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young found that 83 percent of the nation’s transportation infrastructure was not capable of meeting the country’s needs over the next 10 years. The American Society of Civil Engineers, in its latest national report card, gave transportation infrastructure a D." (1, 2) -By Susan Saulny and Jennifer Steinhauer -NYTimes

20070803

Minnesota- I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - Water - Sheriff - Fire Department - "Divers work in a dark, dangerous world." ... "Divers searching in the murky Mississippi River for victims of the [Minneapolis, Minnesota I-35W] bridge collapse work in a hazardous world where a mistake can cost them their lives." ... "Underwater debris swirls the river's already powerful currents into whirlpools of fast-moving water that can endanger divers, authorities said." ... "And the water is a potentially lethal stew of fuel, broken glass, jagged car parts, and concrete and rebar from the fallen bridge." ... ""Conditions on the river are even more treacherous than yesterday," Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said Friday. "The divers will be taking extreme caution. We will be slow and methodical during our search operations today." ... "Visibility in parts of the river is less than a foot, said one diver, Capt. Shanna Hanson of the Minneapolis Fire Department."" -CNN
Minnesota - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Car - Transportation - Water - "Driver makes dramatic underwater escape after bridge collapses." ... "Alicia Babatz was on her way to pick up her 2-year-old daughter Wednesday when she felt the [Minneapolis, Minnesota I-35W] bridge give way beneath her." ... "She said she thought she was going to die as her car crashed into the concrete and plunged into the water. Buckled in behind the wheel, she watched the water rise above her." ... "Fighting what she called "excruciating pain," Babatz, 22, escaped through a window and swam to the rubble of the collapsed bridge." ... ""I was crying for help, but there were cries for help all around me," she said." ... "It took Babatz about 30 minutes to get out of the water. She said she looked back, and her car was gone." -CNN
India - Pakistan - Bangladesh - Nepal - Weather - Floods - History - UN - People - Children - Homes - "Millions flee 'worst ever' floods." ... "Monsoon rains in South Asia have driven millions from their homes and caused what the United Nations says is the worst flooding in living memory." ... "More than 1,000 people have been killed or injured by rising waters, but aid agencies say the figure is expected to rise sharply." ... "U.N. children's body UNICEF said it had lost track of how many people had been affected by the floods across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal." ... "So far about 20 million people are known to have fled their homes or trapped in villages at risk from landslides, snakebites and disease." ... ""Hundreds of thousands have lost their homes, their possessions, livestock and fields and will have to begin their lives from scratch when flood waters recede," UNICEF said." -CNN

20070802

Minnesota - I-35W Bridge Collapse - Disaster - Vehicles - Transportation - Construction - Technology - Politics - Government - River - "Minn. bridge problems uncovered in 1990." ... "Minnesota officials were warned as early as 1990 that the [Minneapolis, Minnesota I-35W] bridge that plummeted into the Mississippi River was "structurally deficient," yet they relied on a strategy of patchwork fixes and stepped-up inspections." ... "In 1990, the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient," citing significant corrosion in its bearings. The bridge is one of 77,000 bridges in that category nationwide, 1,160 in Minnesota alone." ... "[Bridge engineer Dan] Dorgan said the bearings could not have been repaired without jacking up the entire deck of the bridge. Because the bearings were not sliding, inspectors concluded the corrosion was not a major issue." ... "During the 1990s, later inspections found fatigue cracks and corrosion in the steel around the bridge's joints. Those problems were repaired. Starting in 1993, the state said, the bridge was inspected annually instead of every other year." ... "A 2005 federal inspection also rated the bridge structurally deficient, giving it a 50 on scale of 100 for structural stability." ... "The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge was Minnesota's busiest bridge, carrying 141,000 vehicles a day. It was in the midst of mostly repaving repairs when it buckled during the evening rush hour. Dozens of cars plummeted more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, some falling on top one of another. A school bus sat on the angled concrete." -By Sharon Cohen and Brian Bakst with contributions by Seth Borenstein, Martiga Lohn, Ryan Foley and Jon Krawczynski -AP via -Yahoo
Minnesota - Transportation- Disaster - Lawmakers - Construction - Money - Politics - "Bridge collapse renews focus on transportation funding debate." ... "Two key Minnesota lawmakers are angry that it has taken a tragedy to free up money for such an essential piece of the state's transportation infrastructure." ... "A former Minnesota transportation official says the total cost including demolition and new construction, could be $400 million." ... "However, two key Minnesota lawmakers are angry it's taken a disaster to get people's attention." ... "State [Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Representative] Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul [Minnesota], and chair of the House bonding committee, has many of the same questions as others about why the bridge collapsed." ... ""Did we do due diligence in our inspections, and our response to those inspections?" she asked." ... "Hausman cautions it is wise to wait for the investigation to supply answers about what caused the bridge collapse." ... "She is not willing, for example, to assert that years of deferred state transportation maintenance spending is a cause." ... "What makes her angry, she says, is the criticism aimed at her and other lawmakers who, over the years, have advocated spending more on repairing Minnesota's transportation infrastructure." ... "State [Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Senator] Sen. Keith Langseth, on the other hand, points directly at Gov. [Minnesota Republican Governor Tim] Pawlenty for not paying attention to the state's infrastructure needs." ... ""I've been in it for six governors. On infrastructure this one is the worst, without any question," said Langseth." ... "He says the governor is responsible for ignoring transportation maintenance." ... ""He thinks he can just keep pushing this stuff off, whether it's by bonding rather than paying cash, or just not doing it," said Langseth. "He thinks he can get that beyond his tenure in office and just dump it on to somebody else, and it caught up with him."" -By Dan Olson -MPR -PublicRadio.org

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