News Headline

FDIC chief: Intervene on Foreclosures

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:19:11 -0500

The nation's top banking regulator warned Tuesday that help for troubled homeowners is failing to keep pace with the foreclosure crisis. "We're definitely behind the curve, and we fall further behind the curve every day," FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair told an audience at the Fortune 500 Forum in Washington, D.C. According to Bair, the nation's financial system would be in much better condition today if earlier warnings she made about mortgage modification had been heeded. Bair began sounding the alarm more than two years ago, warning that lenders had to shore up capital reserves to offset non-performing loans. In October 2007, she told lenders that they should start modifying more at-risk mortgages so borrowers could afford to stay in their homes.

Automakers Publish Rescue Plans

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:15:16 -0500

Chrysler, Ford and General Motors have all submitted their proposals to Congress for multi-billion dollar loans upon which their survival could depend. The so-called Detroit Three of troubled U.S. carmakers have asked for a combined total of $34 billion. Slashing costs, reducing levels of debt and investing in greener technologies form the center-piece of each proposal. The chief executives of Ford and GM have even offered to work for $1 a year if Congress approves the emergency aid.

Obama Pledges to Work With Governors

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:12:05 -0500

Plagued by rising unemployment, falling tax revenue and increased demand for state services, the nation's governors met with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden to press for federal money to ease their fiscal strain. Obama and Biden told those at the National Governors Association meeting that the federal government needs to build a deeper relationship with the governors in order to put America on the path to long-term prosperity. "Change is not going to come from Washington alone," Obama said.

Automakers Post Steep Declines

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:07:54 -0500

Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC on posted harsh declines in November U.S. vehicle sales, serving up timely reminders of the brutal climate as their top executives head to Capitol Hill in hopes of gaining access to at least $25 billion in loans. The industry as a whole posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of 10.18 million cars and trucks, the lowest level since October 1982, according to Autodata.

EPA to Gut Mining Rule

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:04:49 -0500

The Environmental Protection Agency on approved a last-minute rule change by the Bush administration that will allow coal companies to bury streams under the rocks leftover from mining. The 1983 rule prohibited dumping the fill from mountaintop removal mining within 100 feet of streams. In practice, the government hadn't been enforcing the rule. Government figures show that 535 miles of streams were buried or diverted from 2001 to 2005. Along with the loss of the streams has been an increase of erosion and flooding. The 11th hour change before President George W. Bush leaves office would eliminate a tool that citizens groups have used in lawsuits to keep mining waste out of streams. Mining companies had been pushing for the change for years.

U.S. Blasted at Climate Talks

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:04:06 -0500

Environmentalists criticized the United States and other rich countries for failing so far to make meaningful commitments at a U.N. conference on climate change. Some 190 countries are meeting in Poznan, Poland, for talks that are part of the attempt to reach a new climate-change treaty in the Danish capital of Copenhagen next year. But activists warned of failure at the Poznan talks, which last through Dec. 12, saying industrialized countries are resisting setting long-term targets for cutting the emission of greenhouse gases unless developing countries make a similar sacrifice.

Pelosi: Automaker Help On the Way

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:15 -0500

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she believes either Congress or the Bush administration will step in to aid domestic automakers because bankruptcy is not an option. The California Democrat said Washington had little choice about helping automakers who say they account for 1-in-10 American jobs. "I believe that an intervention will happen," Pelosi said at a briefing in Washington. "Everybody is disadvantaged by bankruptcy, including our economy, so that's not an option." Pelosi said Congress will either approve new loans for the auto industry, or the Bush administration will provide funding through the $700 billion financial markets rescue plan approved by Congress last month.

Bailout Oversight Lacking, GAO Says

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:53:58 -0500

The Bush administration has failed to adequately oversee its $700 billion financial bailout program and must move rapidly to guarantee that banks are complying with the plan's limits on conflicts of interest and lavish executive compensation, congressional investigators said yesterday. The Bush administration has failed to adequately oversee its $700 billion financial bailout program and must move rapidly to guarantee that banks are complying with the plan's limits on conflicts of interest and lavish executive compensation, congressional investigators said yesterday.

Monitor: Bailout Lacks Coherent Plan

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:36:53 -0500

The head of a new congressional panel set up to monitor the gigantic U.S. government bailout says the government still does not seem to have a coherent strategy for easing the financial crisis, despite the billions it has already spent in that effort. Elizabeth Warren, the chairwoman of the oversight panel, said in an interview that the government instead seemed to be lurching from one tactic to the next without clarifying how each step fits into an overall plan.

Manufacturing at 26-Year Low

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:58:38 -0500

A closely watched index of the nation's manufacturing activity fell to a 26-year low in November and stands at a level indicating overall economic contraction for the second straight month. The Institute for Supply Management, a purchasing management group, said its manufacturing index declined to a reading of 36.2 in November from 38.9 in October. It was the lowest reading for the index since May 1982, when the economy was mired in recession. "Manufacturing is in free fall," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at research firm High Frequency Economics, in a note to clients. "This survey promises continued recession."