Obama leaves for India on a ten-day tour ending in South Korea, costing us taxpayers some $200 Million dollars a day! Obama is bringing an entourage of 3,000 people with him. Obama’s trip to India does include a meeting with Prime Minister Manohan Singh in New Delhi. A total of 40 jetliners will haul Obama, family, friends and staff. They’ve rented the entire Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel, all 570 rooms! He’s even bringing his teleprompters with him! He will also be protected by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay there beginning Saturday. The measure has been taken as Mumbai attack in 2008 took place from the sea.
The Federal Reserve said it will buy $600 billion of U.S. government bonds over the next eight months to drive down interest rates and encourage more borrowing and growth. The Fed left open the possibility of doing more if growth and inflation don’t perk up in the months ahead. The $75 billion a month in new purchases of Treasury debt come on top of $35 billion a month the Fed is expected to spend to replace mortgage bonds in its portfolio that are being retired. The U.S. central bank said it would buy about $75 billion in longer-term Treasury bonds per month. It said it would regularly review the pace and size of the program and adjust it as needed depending on the path of the recovery. In its post-meeting statement, the Fed described the economy as “slow”, and said employers remained reluctant to add to payrolls. It said measures of inflation were “somewhat low.”
During a discussion about Proposition 19 on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time” last night, Zach Galifianakis commented that the people’s opposition to marijuana legalization might be rooted in a feeling that smoking marijuana is still taboo. Read more
ISLAMABAD — Suspected militants attacked and set fire to at least 20 tankers carrying oil for NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Monday, the third such strike inside Pakistan in as many days, police said. The attack not far from the capital Islamabad took place on a supply line that has been stalled because of a temporary border closing imposed by Pakistani authorities to protest a NATO helicopter attack that killed three Pakistan troops last week. The attackers opened fire on trucks that were parked at a poorly guarded terminal before setting them afire, he and other officers said. The trucks were en route or waiting to travel to the Torkham border crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass, which is used to bring fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing and other non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s other main route into landlocked Afghanistan, in Chaman in the southwest, has remained open. While NATO and the United States have alternative supply routes into Afghanistan, the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient. Most of the coalition’s non-lethal supplies are transported over Pakistani soil after being unloaded at docks in Karachi, a port city in the south. On Friday, a day after the closure of the Khyber Pass route to NATO and US traffic, there were two attacks on oil tankers headed to the country. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for at least one of them, and vowed to launch more.
State Department notice issued Sunday about the potential for terrorists attacks in Europe. The alert expires Jan. 11: The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to the potential for terrorist attacks in Europe. Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks. European governments have taken action to guard against a terrorist attack and some have spoken publicly about the heightened threat conditions. Terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests. U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Terrorists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime services. U.S. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling.
A rare advisory for U.S. travelers to beware of potential terrorist threats in Europe drew American shrugs Sunday from Paris to Rome, but tourism officials worried that it could deter would-be visitors from moving ahead with plans to cross the Atlantic. The travel alert is a step below a formal warning not to visit Europe, but some experts said it could still hurt a fragile European economy already hit hard by the debt crisis. “I think if someone was looking for an excuse not to travel, then this is just the ticket,” said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. “However, I don’t think most people will alter their plans unless the threat is very specific.” The State Department alert advised the hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions about their personal security. Security officials say terrorists may be plotting attacks in Europe with assault weapons on public places, similar to the deadly 2008 shooting spree in Mumbai, India.
ShoreBank Corp., the Chicago lender operating under a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. cease-and- desist order for 13 months, will be shut and most of its assets will be bought by Urban Partnership Bank. Urban Partnership, created to make the acquisition, will keep branches in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit and continue to focus on low-income communities, the people said, speaking anonymously because the matter is private. Urban Partnership will have Tier 1 capital of at least 8 percent and its chief executive officer will be William Farrow, a former executive at the Chicago Board of Trade and Bank One Corp. Investors include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., General Electric Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and several philanthropic groups, the people said. ShoreBank raised more than $145 million from the firms in May and the funds were placed in escrow pending a decision by the U.S. Treasury to provide another $75 million in bank bailout funds.
ShoreBank was founded in 1973 in Chicago’s South Side, an area that includes some of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods. The area is also home to enclaves of wealth such as President Barack Obama’s Kenwood neighborhood, close to the University of Chicago.
Congressional republicans asked for a probe into the mysterious survival of Shorebank. The letter they sent to the President asks “why did government-supported Wall Street banks decide to save ShoreBank rather than the numerous others [failing banks] that faced a capital shortage?”
The answer is that ShoreBank is politically connected to both Bill and Hillary Clinton and Michelle and Barack Obama. Obama’s connections to the world of socially responsible investing are both longstanding and personal. His friend John Rogers later became one of his campaign fundraisers. John Rogers was also the husband of Desiree Rogers who became the White House social secretary (she was let go after a couple of reality TV stars crashed a state dinner).
Obama…is pictured above in 1988, honoring one of the founders of ShoreBank, one of the largest Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in the US. The first social shareholder proxy initiative was organized by the iconic Chicago-based community organizer Saul Alinsky against Eastman Kodak in the late 1960s. Alinsky died in 1972.
Barack arrived in Chicago 13 years later to work with the Developing Communities Project, an offshoot of Alinsky’s network, a context which must have made him conversant with proxy voting strategies. He served on the Woods Fund board along with Board Chairman Howard Stanback, who is currently head of Shorebank’s Neighborhood Institute. He also was chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) during the time that Business People for the Public Interest (BPI) was approved for $375,000 in grants. Ron Weissbourd, former Exec VP for Shorebank was serving on the board of directors for BPI during the same time period.
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, while still a Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama visited Kenya, the former home of his biological father. He promoted the application of microfinancing (an activity for which ShoreBank has been a major promoter) as a way to fight poverty world-wide. Chicago’s Shorebank donated $1 million to Kenya and also assisted in setting up financial institutions in Kenya and many other locations throughout the world.
The bank steadily grew financially and facilitated the renewal of poverty stricken areas through the rest of the 1970’s and early 80’s, catching the attention of then-Governor Bill and Hillary Clinton of Arkansas (in fact, according to the IFA, Bill is still advocating on behalf of ShoreBank).
Because Shorebank was lending to run-down neighborhoods, the Clintons , along with Shorebank, decided to establish the Southern Development Bancorporation in Arkadelphia, Arkansas in 1988. They hoped that the poor in Arkansas would be helped by the loans they could obtain. Hillary’s former roommate at Wellesley College, Jan Piercy, joined Shorebank in 1984.
In this video, Hillary Clinton speaks (in September 2008) about Shorebank. The “Ron” she refers to is Ron Grzywinski, one of the founders of Shorebank (founded in 1973).
ShoreBank was the institution that financed the loan to Trinity United Church of Christ (Jeremiah Wright’s church) for Jeremiah Wright’s $1.6 million retirement home and a $10 million line of credit for Trinity United. Van Jones, who is a recognized account holderat ShoreBank.
The banks have agreed to contribute $140 million to bail out the bank, while the federal government will donate tens of millions more, according to people close to the talks. In addition to major Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs (GS: 148.13 ,+1.03 ,+0.70%), which agreed to contribute $20 million to the bailout effort, as well as Citigroup (C: 3.76 ,-0.04 ,-1.05%) and JPMorgan (JPM: 37.14 ,+0.05 ,+0.13%), General Electric’s (GE: 15.03 ,-0.22 ,-1.44%) GE Capital will also contribute $20 million to the rescue effort. All the firms have either received massive government assistance during the financial crisis or, in the case of Goldman Sachs, are facing multiple regulatory investigations into their business practices.
The bailout has been controversial. Senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett served on a Chicago civic organization with a director of the bank, and President Obama himself has singled out the bank for praise in lending to low-income communities.
The bank’s Tier 1 capital shrank to $4.1 million at the end of June from $26.3 million on March 31 and $43.5 million at the end of last year, according to the FDIC. The bank had “engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices,” the FDIC said in its order last July. In March, ShoreBank was ordered by the FDIC to boost capital within 60 days, a deadline it missed.
ShoreBank posted a $119 million loss in 2009 and a $39.6 million loss in the first half of this year, according to FDIC figures. It had a net loss of $9.3 million in 2008.
The House ethics committee announced three counts of alleged ethics violations against California Democrat Maxine Waters, including a charge that she requested federal help for a bank where her husband owned stock and had served on its board. The report accuses the 10-term congresswoman of violating three House rules: one that requires its member to “behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House”; a second that prohibits lawmakers from using their influence for personal benefit; and a third forbidding the dispensing of favors. By transmitting a “statement of alleged violation,” the ethics committee is ending the investigative phase of the Waters matter and moving to the adjudicatory phase. Taking this crucial step signals that the committee has “substantial reason to believe” that Waters broke the official rules of the House.
Waters case revolves around whether she helped OneUnited Bank obtain federal bailout funds in late 2008. Her husband, Sidney Williams, served as a member of OneUnited’s board of directors from January 2004 until April 2008, and was a stockholder in the bank. Waters’ husband, former NFL linebacker Sidney Williams, was on the board of directors of OneUnited Bank and had between $500,000 and $1 million in investments there, according to the congresswoman’s financial disclosure reports. The bank still features a photograph of the congresswoman on its website. OneUnited was heavily invested in preferred stock of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and its leadership feared it was on the brink of collapse in 2008.
Around the same time that Waters set up a September 2008 meeting between U.S. Treasury Department officials and representatives of minority-owned banks, her chief of staff, Mikael Moore, sent an e-mail to the staff of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. According to the report, the subject of the e-mail was: “One United is in trouble.’” Waters has publicly boosted OneUnited’s executives and criticized its government regulators during congressional hearings. Last fall, she helped secure the bank a meeting with Treasury officials.
Three months later, Boston-based OneUnited, with branches in Massachusetts, Florida and Los Angeles County, received $12 million in bailout funds. Waters has detailed her financial ties in a series of federal disclosure forms and has been vocal in public in support of the bank. Those ties, however, have received little public attention. Nor is it well known how the influential lawmaker has over the years acted to support the bank and its executives. Waters said in 2007 during a congressional hearing that for African-Americans, “the test of your commitment to economic expansion and development and support for business is whether or not you put your money where your mouth is.” OneUnited’s executives have donated $12,500 to Ms. Waters’s election campaigns.
In her 2007 remarks, Waters alluded to two banks, Independence Bank of Washington, D.C., and “another bank that was about to be acquired by a major white bank out of Illinois.” Waters didn’t mention that OneUnited had been an unsuccessful suitor of Independence, which had been taken over several years earlier. The second bank, which she didn’t name, appears to have been Family Savings Bank of Los Angeles. In 2002, that bank backed out of a merger agreement with FBOP Bank of Oak Brook, Ill., and shortly afterward was acquired by OneUnited. OneUnited’s minority-lending record is mixed. The bank received “outstanding” Community Reinvestment Act ratings for lending in Los Angeles. It has weak ratings in Massachusetts and failed to meet minimum standards in Florida. Waters acknowledged she made a call to the Treasury on OneUnited’s behalf. The bank’s capital, which was heavily invested in shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was all but wiped out with the federal takeover of the two mortgage giants, and the bank was seeking help from regulators. OneUnited eventually secured bailout funds under the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
A provision designed to aid OneUnited was written into the federal bailout legislation by Mr. Frank, who is chairman of the financial-services panel. Mr. Frank has said he inserted the provision to help the only African-American owned bank in his home state. Regulators demanded that OneUnited raise fresh capital and name an independent board. The bank was ordered to stop paying for a Porsche used by one of its executives and its chairman’s $6.4 million beachfront home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., a luxury enclave between Malibu and Santa Monica. The report says Waters asked the Treasury Department to meet representatives from the National Bankers Association, a trade group representing minority-owned and women-owned banks. The discussion at that September 2008 meeting centered on OneUnited Bank.
Waters, who chairs the Financial Services subcommittee on housing and community opportunity, contends that the National Bankers Association requested the meeting, which was held on behalf of the association, not OneUnited. The report comes one year after the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent watchdog, asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Waters, citing a call the congresswoman made to then-Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson during the financial crisis to set up the meeting between Treasury officials and representatives of minority-owned banks.
Waters and her husband, Sidney Williams, were investors in two African-American owned California banks that merged with other lenders in 2002 to form OneUnited. Congressional financial-disclosure forms show Ms. Waters acquired OneUnited stock worth between $250,000 and $500,000 in March 2004, as did Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams joined the board of OneUnited that year. ach sold shares in September 2004 — including Ms. Waters’s entire stake — but Mr. Williams continued to hold varying amount of the company’s stock. In the lawmaker’s most recent financial-disclosure form, dated May 2008 and covering the prior year, Ms. Waters reported that her husband held between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of the bank’s stock. Waters issued a defiant statement in response to the committee’s decision, vowing to take the matter to a public trial. “I have not violated any House rules,” Waters said. “Therefore, I simply will not be forced to admit to something I did not do.”
Obama’s $787 billion “stimulus” a flop. In a January report, White House economists predicted the bill would create (not merely save) 3.3 million jobs. Since then, 2.8 million jobs have been lost, pushing unemployment toward 10 percent. The February 2009 report “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,” which the White House used as an ammunition belt in the fight to gain passage of its $862 billion economic stimulus bill (the actual cost of which exceeds $1 trillion when interest is included).
History proves otherwise. In 1939, after a doubling of federal spending failed to relieve the Great Depression, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau said that “we have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. . . . After eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started . . . and an enormous debt to boot!” Japan made the same mistake in the 1990s (building the largest government debt in the industrial world), and the United States is making it today. During the 1930s, New Deal lawmakers doubled federal spending–yet unemployment remained above 20 percent until World War II.
• Japan responded to a 1990 recession by passing 10 stimulus spending bills over 8 years (building the largest national debt in the industrialized world)–yet its economy remained stagnant.
• In 2001, President Bush responded to a recession by “injecting” tax rebates into the economy. The economy did not respond until two years later, when tax rate reductions were implemented.
• In 2008, President Bush tried to head off the current recession with another round of tax rebates. The recession continued to worsen.
• Now, the most recent $787 billion stimulus bill was intended to keep the unemployment rate from exceeding 8 percent. In November, it topped 10 percent.
The stimulus bill has proven to be a waste of borrowed money that has failed to create jobs, generate economic growth or do much of anything other than line the pockets of White House political allies. $308 million was given in subsidies to BP before the Gulf oil spill disaster, and subsidize a study on what happens when monkeys snort coke.
Department of Labor jobs report, which showed private sector job creation fell by 190,000 between April and May of this year, jolted markets worldwide including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 3.2% to its lowest level since early February. In total the U.S. economy has now lost a net of 2.2 million jobs since Obama signed his stimulus bill, and his administration is now 7.2 million jobs short of what he promised his $862 billion stimulus would help create by 2010.
This repeated failure has nothing to do with the pace or type of spending. Rather, the problem is found in the oft-repeated Keynesian myth that deficit spending “injects new dollars into the economy,” thereby increasing demand and spurring economic growth. According to this theory, government spending adds money to the economy, taxes remove money, and the budget deficit represents net new dollars injected. Therefore, it scarcely matters how the dollars are spent.
The White House issued a report saying that the stimulus bill had “saved or created” 2.5 to 3.6 million jobs.” This report, based on a highly inflated projection of how much economic growth is created for every government dollar that’s spent, is further evidence that Washington is lying to the Nation. The national unemployment rate was 7.7 percent when the stimulus was passed. Today it is 9.5 percent. Since the passage of the stimulus, more than three million jobs have been lost across the country, resulting in a net job loss of 2.4 million.
One year later, one thing is clear: the stimulus bill has failed. One year later, not one net job has been created as unemployment rose from 7.6 percent to nearly 10 percent nationwide. Mr. President, millions of Americans are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ Obama’s stimulus bill failed by its own standards. The idea that increased deficit spending can cure recessions has been tested, and it has failed. If growing the economy were as simple as expanding government spending and deficits, then Italy, France, and Germany would be the global economic kings. Every dollar Congress “injects” into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. No new income, and therefore no new demand, is created. They are merely redistributed from one group of people to another. Congress cannot create new purchasing power out of thin air.
Once again, the American public has been sold a bill of goods by the politicians who are trying to buy the public’s votes with the public’s money.
Al and Laurie went from friends to lovers. Al has been having an affair with Laurie, who divorced Seinfeld creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David in 2007. The breaking news story is developing, but the details emerging are the following. He has been photographed with a women doing some pretty wild stuff with the female in a blue dress. When the news of Al and Tipper breaking up hit the media, everyone knew it was because of another woman. Tipper Gore constantly thought that Al Gore was having affairs, which had a negative affect on their relationship. Tipper suspected of having affairs with a reported five women throughout their marriage. One was a 23-year-old Texas Titans cheerleader, another was an unidentified massage therapist, Cabinet member and Gore environmental advisor Kathleen McGinty, a “sultry screen star” who goes unnamed and a now-deceased high-school sweetheart named Donna Armistead, and now Laurie David.
For three years Donna Armistead was Al Gore’s girl, the only real romantic relationship in his life before he met Mary Elizabeth “Tipper” Aitcheson. Tipper’s jealousy started early and involved Armistead, who he was linked with romantically in 2001. “Tipper confronted Al about it, and he denied it,” said the source. When Tipper again went on to accuse Gore of having an affair with a Tennessee Titans cheerleader, it got to be too much for Al.
*The high-school sweetheart, named Donna. Donna is dead now. But she gave an interview in 2000 and she talked about how Tipper was a jealous bitch… in 1970, when Al introduced Tipper to Donna, Tipper wouldn’t acknowledge her. Boring. And the woman is dead!
*The Cabinet member, “Environmental Advisor” Kathleen McGinty. There were rumors about Al and Kathleen in 1995, but the Enquirer claims that they investigated at the time and “the two had a strictly professional relationship.” My guess? Bubba probably boned her, but Al didn’t hit it.
*The message therapist, name unknown. Circa 2000, there were rumors about Al having a “fling” with his massage therapist. The source says: “Tipper knew that Al had a daily massage, and she was always jealous of the therapists… he mostly had female masseuses, but Tipper became so vocal about the women that Al switched to male therapists to keep the peace.” Verdict? Hand-jobs, probably.
*The “sultry screen star,” name unknown. Why do I think it’s Leo DiCaprio? Anyway, circa 2001, there was a “whispering campaign” about it. Tipper confronted him about Leo (or whoever) but Al denied it. The source says: “By this time, Tipper’s jealousy was putting stress on their marriage.” My take: Al & Leo 4 Eva.
*The cheerleader, name unknown, but identified as “a gorgeous 23 year-old Tennessee Titans cheerleader.” Once again, this sounds more like Bubba’s type, right? Maybe Al was just being a good wingman, a bro, and covering for his buddy. Anyway, the cheerleader was allegedly the last girl that Tipper went into a “jealous rage” about.
Tipper’s jealousy was putting stress on their marriage, Al finally told her their relationship was over because he couldn’t stand her jealous rages anymore.
Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow’s subway system as it was jam-packed with rush-hour passengers killing at least 37 people. The first blast just before 8 a.m. (12.00 a.m. ET) tore through the second carriage of a train as it stood at the Lubyanka metro station. The explosion killed at least 23 people. Another blast about 40 minutes later wrecked the second carriage of a train waiting at the Park Kultury metro station, killing 14 more people.
