20
million-plus collect unemployment checks in '09
A record 20 million-plus people collected unemployment benefits at
some point in 2009, a year that ended with the jobless rate at 10
percent. As the pace of layoffs slows, the number of new applicants
visiting unemployment offices has been on the decline in recent
months. But limited hiring means the ranks of the long-term
unemployed continues to grow, with more than 5.8 million people out
of work for more than six months.
Posted 1/4/10
Mayo
Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients
The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national
model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare
patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in
Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little. More than 3,000
patients eligible for Medicare, the government’s largest
health-insurance program, will be forced to pay cash if they want to
continue seeing their doctors at a Mayo family clinic in Glendale,
northwest of Phoenix, said Michael Yardley, a Mayo spokesman.
Posted 1/4/10
Nation's
Capital Imposes New Tax on Bags
Under a tax that went into effect Jan. 1, Washington, D.C., shoppers
will have to pay an extra nickel for every paper or plastic bag they
use from any business that sells food or alcohol. The fee is
intended to cut down on litter and encourage people to bring their
own reusable bags to shop.
Posted 1/4/10
Paying
more at the Pumps: Oil rises above $80
Posted 10/21/09
The
People vs Wall Street
Amidst the economic wreckage, after 7 million job losses and
approaching 2 million home foreclosures in the US alone, with
businesses and consumers around the world still struggling to get
finance after the long credit crunch, Wall Street is finally on
trial. A little piece of Wall Street, at least. In the first major
case against bankers at the heart of the financial meltdown, a jury
of 12 mainly working-class New Yorkers will decide the fate of the
two Bear Stearns managers whose hedge funds imploded in 2007,
signalling the start of the crisis. Ralph Cioffi, 53, and Matt
Tannin, 48, pocketed millions of dollars in pay during the boom
years, but the events of 2007 left their investors nursing losses of
$1.6bn (£1bn) and ruined forever the reputation of Bear Stearns,
one of the oldest investment banks on Wall Street.
Posted 10/16/09
U.S.
Banks May Take Big Hit From U.K. Liquidity Rules
Controversial new U.K. rules that require banks to hold more cash
and government bonds could end up costing U.S. and European
financial institutions dearly as well. Many countries are looking at
tougher liquidity rules, but the U.K.'s decision to move before an
international consensus has been reached, and to apply its rules
widely, could cost U.S. and European firms "potentially
billions of dollars," said Simon Morris, a partner at law firm
CMS Cameron McKenna in London. The Financial Services Authority's
rules, which were finalized last week, will ensure banks hold more
highly liquid assets, meaning they should still be able to sell them
even during a financial crisis. That's important because many
troubled firms found themselves unable to offload assets during the
crisis, adding to the problems.
Posted 10/16/09
You
Weren't One Of Those That Believed Obama's Campaign Promise About No
New Taxes On Middle And Lower Class, Were You? Finance Committee
Reports Health Bill Includes $507 Billion In New Taxes And Fees
The
health-care bill that the Senate Finance Committee will vote on
today will cost a total of $829 billion over 10 years, with $507
billion of that cost being covered by new federal taxes and fees,
according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). On Oct. 7, the
CBO released a report on the budget impact of the “chairman’s
mark” summary of the bill that the Finance Committee is set to
vote on today. Based on the document it was given, the CBO found
that the bill would reduce the federal budget deficit by $81 billion
over 10 years. That estimate was based on the calculation that, if
enacted, the bill would bring in $480 billion in new tax revenues
and $27 billion in fees... According to the JCT, this $180 billion
in new taxes would include: A new tax on prescription drug makers
that would account for $22.2 billion over 10 years; a new tax on
medical device manufacturers that would bring in $38.6 billion; and
a new annual tax on insurance companies would net the government
$60.4 billion.
Posted 10/15/09
Icelandic
Christian Media Pioneer Discusses The Spiritual Impact Of Their
National Financial Collapse And Its Foreboding For America On
FutureQuake
The bulk of the discussion focuses on the severe banker-based
financial crisis recently experienced by Iceland, where overnight
the citizens of Iceland changed from the wealthiest people on Earth,
to one of the poorest, with insanely high inflation, joblessness and
shortages of basic supplies and staples. This crisis, which has
created widespread psychological and domestic family crises,
foretells the scenario that the United States and other developed
nations are soon to experience, and whom could learn well from
Iceland's travails and response. However, these challenging
circumstances have provided an opportunity for Iceland's Christian
community, united through national grass-roots representatives such
as Lindin Media, to provide guidance and spiritual support to
individual citizens, and directly to the country's leadership at
this time of need.
Posted 10/14/09
U.S.
Intelligence Budget: $75 Billion, 200,000 Operatives. Fusion Centers
Will Have Access to Classified Military Intelligence
Speaking at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club September 15, Director
of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis C. Blair, disclosed that the
current annual budget for the 16 agency U.S. "Intelligence
Community" (IC) clocks-in at $75 billion and employs some
200,000 operatives world-wide, including private contractors. In
unveiling an unclassified version of the National Intelligence
Strategy (NIS), Blair asserts he is seeking to break down "this
old distinction between military and nonmilitary intelligence,"
stating that the "traditional fault line" separating
secretive military programs from overall intelligence activities
"is no longer relevant." As if to emphasize the sweeping
nature of Blair's remarks, Federal Computer Week reported September
17 that "some non-federal officials with the necessary
clearances who work at intelligence fusion centers around the
country will soon have limited access to classified
terrorism-related information that resides in the Defense
Department's classified network."
Posted 9/28/09
House
moves to extend unemployment benefits
Despite predictions the Great Recession is running out of steam, the
House is taking up emergency legislation this week to help the millions
of Americans who see no immediate end to their economic miseries. A bill
offered by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and expected to pass easily
would provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits for more than
300,000 jobless people who live in states with unemployment rates of at
least 8.5 percent and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the
end of September.
Posted 9/22/09
A
year on, it's still a housing story
And even as the banks that are holding mortgages appear to be
getting healthier, the tide of foreclosures, which threatens to
keep a lid on consumer spending for months to come, shows no signs
of abating...
Posted
9/11/09
1,000
Banks to Fail In Next Two Years: Bank CEO
The US banking system will lose some 1,000 institutions over the
next two years, said John Kanas, whose private equity firm bought
BankUnited of Florida in May. "We've already lost 81 this
year," Kanas told CNBC. "The numbers are climbing every
day. Many of these institutions nobody's ever heard of. They're
smaller companies."
Posted
8/28/09
Mounting
joblessness fuels US housing crisis
More than one in every eight homeowners with a mortgage
was behind on home loan payments or in some stage of foreclosure at the end of
the second quarter, as mounting unemployment aggravated the housing crisis,
the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday. The percentage of loans
that were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due rose to 13.16 per
cent, the highest increase since the MBA began keeping records in 1972 and a
jump of more than a percentage point since the first quarter.
Posted 08/22/09
U.S.
deficit grew by $181 billion in July
Posted 8/11/09
About
half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011
Posted 8/7/09
2,688
Banks at Risk For Closing: "The "X" List"
Posted 8/5/09
After
the fall
WORLD trade has been one of the worst casualties of the
global economic slowdown and the source of some particularly startling
figures. Towards the end of last year trade all but collapsed. ...Estimates by
the World Trade Organisation suggest that trade volumes will shrink by around
a tenth this year. But recent figures from big economies give reasons to hope
that the worst of the slump may now be past.
Posted 7/29/09
Reich:
Recovery Isn't Going To Happen
The economy can't ?recover? because it can't go back to
where it was before the crash, Reich said. So, instead of asking when the
recovery will start, we should be asking when and how the new economy will
begin, he said.
Posted 7/15/09
Obamageddon
is Coming! <-
4-minute video by Gerald Celente
Food riots, tax protests, strikes and high
unemployment all will characterize our economic future according to Gerald
Celente.
Posted 7/8/09
U.S.
recession to bottom out this year: OECD
A severe U.S. recession
will bottom out this year, but any recovery will be weak due to anemic markets
and shrunken consumer wealth, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development said on Wednesday.
Posted 6/25/09
Exclusive
Interview with Future Prediction Expert Gerald Celente
Human Events had the opportunity to interview forecaster extraordinaire Gerald
Celente, President of Trends Research Institute, several days ago -- and the
future he predicts looks bleak indeed. In fact, as Mr. Celente sees it,
the Great Depression will seem like a mild recession as what waits for us in
2011 hits with the force of a Katrina financial hurricane
Posted 6/15/09
Obama
hints at service reductions to save medical costs
Posted 6/15/09
Exclusive
Interview with Future Prediction Expert Gerald Celente
Mr.
Celente's forecast on our impending future is based on his study of history.
He says we are bent on destroying our currency, bankrupting our government,
and unleashing a violent citizen-against-citizen eruption as the economy
collapses into chaos and martial law fascism.
Posted 6/10/09
Payroll
firm ADP reported Wednesday that companies in the U.S. cut an
estimated 532,000 workers from payrolls last month.
Posted
6/4/09
U.S.
Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says
Posted
6/1/09
China
still buying record amounts of U.S. bonds
<- FEATURE!!!
Posted 5/26/09
Some
Link Economy With Spate Of Killings
The carnage
that occurred during less than 48 hours last week capped a recent string of
unusually brazen mass killings, which crime experts say have touched more
people and occurred in more public settings than in any time in recent memory.
Comparative statistics are difficult to come by, but during the past month
alone, at least eight mass homicides in this country have claimed the lives of
57 people. Just yesterday, four people were discovered shot to death in a
modest wood-frame home in a remote Alabama town.
Posted 4/9/09
U.S.
could face second recession next year
Posted
4/3/09
Obama's
smoke and mirrors (by
David Limbaugh)
There has doubtlessly been great anxiety about the economy, but I think even
greater anxiety exists over what President Barack Obama is doing and planning
to do to this country. We've always had economic downturns, and we've always
recovered, but we've never deliberately planned to spend ourselves into
bankruptcy, from which we may not be able to recover.
Posted 3/30/09
Bernanke:
Recession could end in '09
Posted
3/17/09
Financial
burden of Obama's healthcare system 'massive'
A free-market economist says given the financial trouble facing the Social
Security and Medicare entitlement programs, it would be extremely unwise for
President Obama to add an expanded national healthcare program to the tab of
taxpayers.
Posted 3/12/09
27000
job cuts announced at NEC and Hitach
Posted
2/16/09
Closures
in Nebraska, Florida, Illinois & Oregon bring the number of bank failures to
13 this year
Posted
2/16/09
If
You Are Elderly – Be Afraid, Very Afraid
President Obama’s press conference last night was long on fear and short on
facts. Once again, he warned the country that our “crisis” will become a
“catastrophe” if we don’t immediately pass his spending bill. I always
get suspicious when a politician wants everyone to shut up and vote on a
700-page bill. You can bet there are a lot of “surprises” hidden in the
fine print.
Posted 2/12/09
Tough
choices for America's hungry
In October, more than one in 10 people -- about 31 million -- were using the
food stamp program to get by, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Posted 2/10/09
Is
Feb. 10 financial doomsday for thousands?
Posted
1/12/09
Unemployment
by State
As of July 2008
Posted 10/20/08
Stocks
crushed
The story behind the government's $700 billion bank bailout plan.
Posted 10/6/08
...we
now learn that this plan is equivalent to the dictatorial
Patriot Act of 2001 (by David Bay)
When this measure is passed by Congress, the Treasury Secretary
will possess absolute dictatorial control over the entire
economy! Just as the President exercises in the Patriot Act!
Posted
9/29/08
Bush Administration officials
are using the same scare tactics
...against Congress to pass the massive financial
bailout plan that they used against Congress in 2001-2002 to pass the terrorist
bill, the Patriot Act!
Posted
9/29/08
Billions
of gallons of oil in North Dakota, Montana
Posted 4/21/08
Mortgage
Meltdown 2007 - Homes entering foreclosure at record rate
Posted
9/10/07
Wall
St skids on housing, credit fears
Posted
9/10/07
Unpaid
Credit Cards Bedevil Americans
Posted
12/28/07
Mortgage
crisis 'will drag the US into recession'
Posted
8/27/07
Shrewd
lenders spark US mortgage chaos
Posted
8/27/07
Washington
eyes big arm sales to Israel, Egypt
Posted
8/27/07
Milk
Prices Rise to Record Highs
Posted 8/13/07
Mortgage
Meltdown: concerns hit US markets
Posted 8/13/07
US
investors gird for fresh market meldown in coming week
Posted 8/13/07
World
markets reel as contagion spreads
Posted 8/13/07
American
dream sours as housing market collapses
Posted
5/7/07
Gas
Prices Jump Over 11 Cents
The average price
of self-serve regular gasoline hit a record high of $3.18, rising more than
11 cents over the past two weeks, according to a nationwide survey released
Sunday.
Posted 5/22/07
Gloomy
Greenspan warns of major recession for US economy
Posted
5/14/07
Major
Market plunge a symptom of Coming trouble
Posted 7/30/07
Market
Meltdown - Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Credit Fears
Posted
8/6/07
US
Banks 'set to foreclose and call in a swathe of loans'
The United States faces a severe credit crunch as mounting losses on
risky forms of debt catch up with the banks and force them to curb
lending and call in existing loans, according to a report by Lombard
Street Research.
Posted
6/29/07
U.S.
Homeowner Woes Felt Around World
Posted 8/15/07
U.S.
infrastructure on verge of total failure, says expert
Posted
8/6/07
Wall
St skids on mortgage troubles
Posted
8/3/07
