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Former eBay executive Meg Whitman has opened up a wide lead in the Republican race for governor, according to the latest Capitol Weekly/Probolsky Research poll. About a third of Republicans and decline-to-state voters who said they intend to vote Republican said they favor Whitman, who has a 3-to-1 edge over rival contender Tom Campbell, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner remains stuck in a distant third, with 5.5 percent of Republican support. The numbers show a significant increase in recent weeks for Whitman that reflects her prodigious spending. Already, seven months before the primary and full year before the general election, Whitman...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 5, 2009 President Obama signs an Executive Order Focused on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance WASHINGTON, DC – Demonstrating a commitment to lead by example, President Obama signed an Executive Order (attached) today that sets sustainability goals for Federal agencies and focuses on making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic performance. The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to set a 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target within 90 days; increase energy efficiency; reduce...

Few things cause the eye to glaze over more than economic statistics, particularly when discussing all but incomprehensible sums in the billions and trillions of dollars. There are two statistics which the public should be aware of more than others; they are 1) Gross Domestic Product (total economic output of the country); and 2) The Net Gross Domestic Product per Person (The GDP less the amount of government spending at all levels divided by the total population). The Net GDP per person recognizes the impact of federal, state and local spending on the economy. Ideally the net amount each citizen...

After dropping some popular immigration-enforcement measures, Congress on Tuesday passed the 2010 homeland security spending bill that gives President Obama the authority to transfer terrorism-suspect detainees to the United States for trial, though only after he submits a plan to Congress. The Senate voted 79-19 to pass the $44.1 billion bill, following the House's approval last week. Mr. Obama is expected to sign it. "It has been eight years, eight long years since the attacks of 9/11. There are some people in this country who have become complacent about the threat of another attack. Don't count me as one of...

A 90-page document released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released on September 24 proposes 77 standards for smart grid development. The report also detailed 14 areas that the government agency will prioritize in order to facilitate development. Utilities, regulators, and vendors have been waiting for this release from the NIST. The report details specific standards that utilities and developers will be expected to meet in their smart grid deployment. The institute will continue working on cybersecurity standards which should be released by the end of the year. The NIST began working on a set of standards...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release September 25, 2009 The following fact sheets outline the outcomes of the Pittsburgh Summit hosted by President Obama on September 24th and 25th. FACT SHEETS The Pittsburgh Summit: Key Accomplishments LINK Creating a 21st Century International Economic Architecture LINK Framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth LINK Bold and Coordinated Actions from Crisis to Recovery LINK Partnering on Food Security LINK Acting on our Global Energy and Climate Change Challenges LINK Support for the Most Vulnerable LINK

With the massive increases in federal spending, inflation is one of the risks that await us. To protect us from the political demagoguery that will accompany that inflation, let's now decide what is and what is not inflation. One price or several prices rising is not inflation. Increases in money supply are what constitute inflation, and a general rise in prices is the symptom. As the late Nobel laureate professor Milton Friedman said, "Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it cannot occur without a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in...

The Federal Reserve has made $14 billion in profits on loans made in the last two years, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials close to the matter. The U.S. central bank also earned about $19 billion from interest and fees charged to institutions that tapped liquidity facilities during the global financial crisis, the report said. If the Fed had invested the same amounted loaned out in three-month Treasury bills since August 2007, it would have earned $5 billion in interest, the FT said. .....

SNIPPET: "When including about $10.5 billion in matching funds committed by the applicants, the total price tag for the proposed broadband projects topped $38 billion. The Recovery Act provided a total of $7.2 billion to the two agencies to expand broadband services, of which NTIA will use $4.7 billion, largely to deploy broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, and RUS will invest $2.5 billion to facilitate broadband deployment in primarily rural communities. Approximately $2.4 billion from RUS and up to $1.6 billion from NTIA is available in this first grant round."

"Obama’s Spending Plans Will Nearly Double the National Debt--White House Leaked the News Late on Friday" Monday, August 24, 2009 SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) - In news leaked late Friday to the Reuters news agency, the White House conceded that the national debt will increase by $9 trillion over the next ten years, nearly doubling a national debt that now stands at $11.67 trillion." SNIPPET: "The good news that the White House leaked to Reuters late on Friday is that it is now projecting that this year’s deficit will be $1.58 trillion, down from the $1.84 trillion it earlier estimated. At $1.58...

A late Friday afternoon candygram from the White House to help you get the weekend started right. And to think, China’s starting to doubt that American debt is a smart investment. It’s a good thing our massive new health-care bureaucracy’s going to be deficit-neutral. Imagine how much higher this number would be if it wasn’t. The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to roughly $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday. “The new forecasts are based on new data that reflect how severe the economic downturn...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to roughly $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday. "The new forecasts are based on new data that reflect how severe the economic downturn was in the late fall of last year and the winter of this year," said the official, who is familiar with the plans. "Our budget projections are now in line with the spring and summer projections that the Congressional Budget Office put out." The CBO said in June that deficits between 2010...

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG THE BLOG TUESDAY, AUGUST 4TH, 2009 AT 6:55 AM Facts Are Stubborn Things Posted by Macon Phillips Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, "facts are stubborn things." Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to "uncover" the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions. In this video, Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, addresses one example that makes it look like the President intends to...

Thought you be interested in this roll call vote on Sen. Tom Coburn’s proposal to allow traded-in Cash-for-Clunkers cars to be used to assist charities and poor families. Here’s the text of the proposal. [Amendment, quickly: The clunkers, instead of being destroyed, could be donated to charitable organizations] Here's the breakdown

So you can see the dealers are enjoying it. My local television stations are flooded with Cash for Clunkers commercials. Dealers are soaking it up. So the question then arises…with a cost per consumer of TWO HUNDRED AND TEN TIMES the rebate they are getting for trading in their car, is it worth it? Or is Cash for Clunkers just a plan to get some more money in the automakers pockets? It seems they are the ones benefiting from this, not the consumer.

<p>The new infusion means the troubled company has drawn a total of $45.9 billion of its $200 billion lifeline this year. Fannie Mae and its sister firm, Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), were taken over by the federal government last September amid the global financial meltdown.</p>

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ----------------------------------------------------------------- For Immediate Release August 5, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE ECONOMY Monaco Coach, Wakarusa, Indiana 11:55 AM. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Well, it is wonderful to be in Wakarusa. Thank you so much for the wonderful welcome. Herman, thanks for the great introduction. It is great to be back in Indiana. (Applause.) This is as close as I've gotten to home in a while. (Laughter.) And I flew out here with somebody who I think the...

Note:The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 29, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT TOWN HALL Broughton High School Raleigh, North Carolina 12:05 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, North Carolina! (Applause.) Thank you so much. All right, please, everybody have a seat. I am so excited to be back in Raleigh, to be back in North Carolina. (Applause.) This is a community and a state that has been so good to me. (Applause.) And I know that part of the reason is because I travel...

re than 4,600 new police officers are to be hired across the United States at a cost of one billion dollars as part of the country's economic stimulus plan, administration officials said Tuesday. The grants will be awarded to some 1,046 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states and will provide the full salary and benefits for 4,699 officers for three years, according to a Justice Department statement. There is also a provision that departments receiving the funds retain the positions for at least a fourth year

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM Office of Communications & Outreach 400 Maryland Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20202 _______________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 24, 2009 PRESIDENT OBAMA, U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION DUNCAN ANNOUNCE NATIONAL COMPETITION TO ADVANCE SCHOOL REFORM Obama Administration Starts $4.35 Billion "Race to the Top" Competition, Pledges a Total of $10 Billion for Reforms President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that states leading the way on school reform will be eligible to compete for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top competitive grants to support education reform...

Note: The following text is a quote: Vice President Biden, Attorney General Holder Announce Recovery Act Funding to Support Law Enforcement Recovery Act Funds to Add Police Officers to the Streets; Build Safer Communities Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced $1 billion in grants to fund the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers all across the country under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The grants will be awarded to 1,046 law enforcement agencies from all 50 states and will provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for 4,699 officers...

Some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies are reaping billions of dollars in extra revenue amid global concern about the spread of swine flu. Analysts expect to see a boost in sales from GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis when the companies report first-half earnings lifted by government contracts for flu vaccines and antiviral medicines.

Freddie Mac Gets Another $6.1B from Gov't BY STEPHEN BERNARD | AP Business Writer You have entered an invalid email address From (email):* Required NEW YORK (AP) - Battered mortgage giant Freddie Mac received $6.1 billion in new funds from the Treasury Department to help offset its mounting liabilities, according to a regulatory filing submitted Wednesday. The company could also be close to naming a new, permanent CEO, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has been operating Freddie Mac since last fall, requested the funds for Freddie Mac after the mortgage...

One of President Barack Obama's most prominent Wall Street backers gives him high marks on just about everything except his approach to Wall Street.

By Glenn Somerville and Corbett Daly WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it has put another $7.5 billion into auto lender GMAC to enable it to support both Chrysler LLC [CBS.UL], and General Motors Corp Corp (GM.N) car buyers and partly meet a shortage of capital. The widely anticipated action is intended to help counter a scarcity of credit that has helped drive sales of domestic cars into a ditch. The Federal Reserve also extended an exemption that will let GMAC keep lending to GM dealers and retail customers, which it normally would be...

Oregon Republicans offer no-new-tax budget by Harry Esteve, The Oregonian Tuesday May 12, 2009, 1:43 PM SALEM -- Oregon could pay for a full school year and protect its most vulnerable citizens without raising taxes, according to an alternative budget proposal released Tuesday by Republican legislative leaders. Their two-year spending plan, outlined in the broadest terms at a news conference, effectively gives most state agencies the same amount of money they got over the past two years and maintains a surplus to cover emergencies. "A rush to new taxes, quite frankly, is unnecessary," said Sen. Frank Morse, one of the...

At least $53 million in federal funds have gone to ACORN activists since 1994, and the controversial group could get up to $8.5 billion more tax dollars despite being under investigation for voter registration fraud in a dozen states. The economic stimulus bill enacted in February contains $3 billion that the non-profit activist group known more formally as the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now could receive, and 2010 federal budget contains another $5.5 billion that could also find its way into the group’s coffers. An Examiner review of federal spending data found that ACORN has received at least...

Reporting from Washington -- President Obama touted his plan for developing high-speed railways Thursday, detailing how $13 billion in federal money would act as a "down payment" on creating speedier passenger train service. "High-speed rail is long overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways," Obama said. "There's no reason why we can't do this." The proposal lists the long-planned rail corridor from Los Angeles to San Francisco as one that could receive funding, as well as a network featuring...

Most of this as-yet-undiscovered problem, Gober says, lies in the area of reinsurance, whereby one insurance company insures the liabilities of another so that the latter doesn't have to carry all the risk on its books. Most major insurance companies use outside firms to reinsure, but the vast majority of AIG's reinsurance contracts are negotiated internally among its affiliates, Gober says, and these internal balance sheets don't add up. The annual report of one major AIG subsidiary, American Home Assurance, shows that it owes $25 billion to another AIG affiliate, National Union Fire, Gober maintains. But American has only $22...

Books claiming that science disproves ‘young-earth’ creationism are very common, and books that claim the Bible itself does not mandate a literal interpretation of the first few chapters of Genesis are not in short supply either. David Snoke’s book A Biblical Case for an Old Earth ostensibly falls in the latter group, though his main reason for rejecting biblical creation is really uniformitarian ‘science’. Books like these generally don’t pose a threat to informed creationists, and this one is no exception. In fact, Snoke could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had actually taken the time to...

D.C. officials say any federal stimulus funds provided for schools and bridges in the District will enable them to drop their own funding plans for such projects and divert the money to help plug other gaps in their 2010 budget. The officials argued at a meeting of the Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia on Tuesday evening that such action would not undermine the purpose of the stimulus package, which has been designed to move money quickly into projects where it will produce the most jobs. But some economists see the plan as an example of a...

Obama urged to spend billions on weather research1 hour 45 mins ago Tim Gaynor Weather scientists on Tuesday urged Barack Obama to spend $9 billion on satellites and research to prepare for hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires and examine links between destructive weather and climate change. Members of the American Meteorological Society meeting in Phoenix said they want Obama, who becomes U.S. president on January 20, to provide the funds over the next five years. "There are some very basic research questions that need to be addressed so that we can make wise policy ... and better protect people and infrastructure,"...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Federal Reserve announced Monday that it will make hundreds of billions more dollars available to the nation's banks in return for a wide range of troubled collateral. The central bank said that its so-called term auction facility, which accepts financial instruments such as mortgage-backed securities as a collateral, will be doubled immediately to $300 billion. The total amount available to banks will rise to $600 billion under the moves announced Monday. In addition, the Fed signaled it could increase the amount available through those loans to $900 billion by the end of the year,...

Washington - While crafting a bill intended to rescue the U.S. economy this week, lawmakers couldn't stop themselves from adding billions of dollars in tax breaks that have little to do with restoring confidence in financial markets. Senators quietly tucked a number of earmarks into the tax package of the 451-page bill that was passed Wednesday night and is expected to be put to a vote in the House today: a $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children; a $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners; $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for...

As the public focuses on a $700 Billion dollar bailout bill, many may not have noticed the separate $630 Billion the The Federal Reserve will pump into the global financial system or the just approved $600 billion spending bill that funds the government into March. This is on top of the 180 Billion the Federal Reserve pumped into the system last week.

Russia has managed to sell Saudi Arabia $4 billion worth of weapons. Half of that is for 100 Mi-35 and Mi-17 helicopters. The Mi35 is the export version of the most recent Mi24. This is a twelve ton helicopter gunship that also has a cargo area that can hold up to eight people, or four stretchers. The Mi24 can carry rockets, missiles bombs and automatic cannon. It is used by over thirty countries, and has a pretty good reputation for reliability. The design is based on the earlier Mi-8 transport helicopter. Thus the Mi-17 is also a 12 ton helicopter,...

Private equity firm the Carlyle Group came under renewed pressure to come to the rescue of its beleaguered investment fund, Carlyle Capital, which warned on Monday that creditors could liquidate up to $16 billion of assets. A spokeswoman for the Carlyle Group told Forbes.com that it was considering "all options" to maximize the interests of stakeholders in Carlyle Capital, adding that the Amsterdam-listed fund's troubles had not materially affected the parent company or its other 54 funds. So far it has provided an unsecured credit facility of $150 million to the fund, which it launched last July. The pressure was...

Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq’s declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, according to a draft American government report. Using an average of $50 a barrel, the report said the discrepancy was valued at $5 million to $15 million daily. The report does not give a final conclusion on what happened to the missing fraction of the roughly two million barrels pumped by Iraq each day, but the findings are sure to reinforce longstanding suspicions that smugglers, insurgents and corrupt officials control...

Malaysia will build a 7 billion US dollar pipeline to transport Middle East oil across the north of its peninsula to East Asian countries. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters today that he had agreed to the project. Mr Abdullah, who is also the finance minister, says the project is one of the government's major initiatives to develop Malaysia's northern region. The News Straits Times says Trans-Peninsula Petroleum, the company that will construct the 312-kilometre pipeline, will invest as much as seven billion US dollars in the ambitious project over eight years. The pipeline will run from northwestern Kedah...

Bloomberg stories are "link only," per FR excerpt policy.FULL STORY

Bloomberg is link only. Story

A major overhaul of California's schools will cost tens of billions of dollars more per year, but money alone won't fix the many problems facing the nation's largest public education system, according to a series of landmark studies to be released Wednesday. A summary of the findings and some of the studies' supporting material was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. The documents include several estimates of how much money it would take to boost student performance so all California schools meet the Department of Education's goal. The studies are part of a package requested by political leaders to inform...

Billionaire club membership jumps Membership of the world's billionaire club has swelled to almost 1,000, while members' net worth has risen by 35% on last year, according to Forbes. A record 946 billionaires - worth a total of $3.5 trillion (£1.82 trillion) - now exist, up from 793 last year. Microsoft founder Bill Gates held the top spot for the 13th year in a row with a net worth of $56bn. Forbes put the increase in wealth down to surging commodity prices, real estate and strong equity markets. "In the last five years... despite all the turmoil in the...

NEW YORK: The number of billionaires in China and India nearly doubled in the last year, pushing Japan from Asia's top spot for the first time in 20 years, according to Forbes Magazine's latest rich list. "It was a sizzling year in Asia. Both India and China saw huge gains," said Forbes Associate Editor Luisa Kroll, who oversaw the report. "After a 20-year reign at the top, Japan is no longer in Asia's top spot." India now has 36 billionaires with a total net worth of 191 billion dollars, up from the 22 it had last year and swamping Japan's...

Wife of former PA chairman met in Tunis with Abbas, both agree to strengthen relations Suha Arafat, the widow of former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, has made up with the current chairman, Mahmoud Abbas. The two bridged their divisions on Thursday when Abbas met Suha during his visit in Tunis, and the two agreed to strengthen relations. Abbas and Suha Arafat cut ties when Arafat was lying at Paris hospital. Suha mobilized the Arab press and claimed that Abbas and other Palestinian leaders were attempting to replace Arafat while he was still alive. The declaration was highly embarrassing to the...

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is seeking damages totaling more than $1 billion as part of an arbitration claim against the Ecuadorean government for seizing its assets, a company spokesman said on Thursday. The U.S. oil producer has also terminated all local employees in Ecuador and is relocating its expatriate staff, the spokesman said.

Iraqi oil gangs syphon off billions By Jim Muir in Baghdad (Filed: 28/04/2006) A new class of grand mafiosi sucking billions of pounds out of Iraq's vital oil sector is crippling efforts to rebuild the nation, according to an official report published in Baghdad. The findings of the Oil Ministry's independent inspector-general painted a sordid picture of massive abuses pervading every corner of the industry, from the well-head to the petrol pump. It said that since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, the spread of smuggling had turned Iraq from a major exporter of petrol products into an importer. Smuggling and...

NEW YORK - Former President Clinton's attempt to marshal the resources of the world's wealthy and influential to solve global problems resulted in $2.5 billion in pledges during a signature conference held last year. This year, he wants even more. On Friday, the former president was joined by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he discussed plans for the 2006 Clinton Global Initiative and from the September 2005 gathering. Clinton described major strides in addressing global health challenges like HIV infection in Africa, saying the CGI had negotiated testing and treatment for 250,000 people...

Child safety advocate Patty Wetterling announced today she will run for Congress in the 6th District. The move comes two weeks after Wetterling bowed out of the U.S. Senate race after a lackluster performance in terms of key endorsements and fundraising. "Everything has changed. The world has changed. I have changed,'' Wetterling said. Last April Wetterling said she would not win in the district. "That was really dumb,'' she of that statement. Wetterling will challenge former state transportation commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg for the Democratic nomination. Tinklenberg criticized Wetterling's entry into the race because she had previously reassured him she would...