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Government obligations for Social Security and Medicare may soon exceed the combined net worth of every household and nonprofit organization in the country. Prices dropped last year. But we still need to invest to protect ourselves from inflation. That's why our retirement-plan investing needs an inflation "tilt." You'll understand why in a few paragraphs. How bad will future inflation be? I don't know. Neither does anyone else. It could be a normal inflation of 3% to 4% a year. It could also be a banana-republic 10% a month. What we know is that all governments make promises they can't fulfill....

The U.S. Department of Education has just released the latest findings from the “Nation’s Report Card,” the leading nationwide measurement of educational outcomes. The findings contained good news for critics of the 2001 federal education law No Child Left Behind (NCLB). But supporters of the law got good news of their own. The good news for the critics is that the Nation’s Report Card shows reading and math scores still have not substantially changed since 1971. The good news for supporters is that the Nation’s Report Card shows reading and math scores still have not substantially changed since 1971. Welcome...

Regulators seized a Bremerton, Wash., bank late Friday as the financial crisis claimed its 33rd federally insured financial institution of 2009. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimated that the failure of Westsound Bank would cost its deposit-insurance fund $108 million. Westsound is the second Washington bank to be closed by regulators so far this year. Westsound had total assets of $334.6 million and total deposits of $304.5 million as of March 31.

(snip) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, first of all, Neil, they should not be eligible for any benefits. That would be crazy. But the major point here is that President Obama, with great fanfare, announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay, the prison at Gitmo, as we know it, and then, nothing. In other words, they did what, you know, that everybody would like to see done at least around the world, et cetera, but then no addressing of the fundamental issues associated with it. What do you do with the detainees? What sort of system of trials do you...

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April was a cruel month indeed for new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The weeks before the Swine Flu outbreak found her stumbling through reporters’ questions about a DHS threat assessment memo on “Rightwing Extremism.” That memo urged law enforcers nationwide to monitor the allegedly gathering danger from Rightist radicals, including pro-lifers, immigration opponents, and those who reject “federal authority in favor of state and local authority.” Was this a sinister conspiracy by an administration full of Chard-sipping arugula eaters determined to spy on Red-State patriots? That‘s quite unlikely: The memo was commissioned during the Bush administration, as was a...

In a decision that could force Silicon Valley's largest water provider to refund millions — or perhaps tens of millions — of dollars to its customers, a judge on Thursday ruled that one of the Santa Clara Valley Water District's primary fees is illegal. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy found that the district's "groundwater extraction fee" requires voter approval under Proposition 218, a state law passed in 1996.

They try ‘use it or lose it’ approach to stalled project in Nevada. BY JAMES ROSEN WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, backed by 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, introduced legislation Thursday to provide “rebates” from a $30 billion fund to build the stalled Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository in Nevada. Because South Carolina has more nuclear reactors than most states do, its residents have contributed a disproportionately large share — more than $1.2 billion — to the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund for developing the Yucca repository. Graham criticized President Barack Obama for his decision to mothball the Yucca project,...

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New Frontier Bank, Greeley, Colorado, was closed today by the State Bank Commissioner, by Order of the Banking Board of the Colorado Division of Banking, which then appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Greeley (DINB), which will remain open for approximately 30 days to allow depositors time to open accounts at other insured institutions. At the time of closing, the receiver immediately transferred to the DINB all insured deposits of New Frontier, except for brokered deposits, certificates of deposit (CDs) and individual retirement accounts...

NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators have shut down Cape Fear Bank — the first North Carolina bank to collapse since 1993, and the 22nd U.S. bank to fail this year. On Friday, the small Wilmington, N.C. bank was closed by state regulators and taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. was chosen to assume all of Cape Fear Bank's $403 million in deposits and buy about $468 million of its $492 million in assets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was named receiver of Cape Fear Bank on...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — New Frontier Bank, one of Colorado state's biggest banks, was closed down by state regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said in a statement. Based in Greeley, Colorado, New Frontier had, as of March 24, total assets of two billion dollars and and total deposits of about 1.5 billion, the FDIC said. . . . . . Unable to have a rival bank take charge of New Frontier's credits and deposits, the FDIC said it "created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Greeley (DINB), which will remain open for approximately 30 days to allow depositors time to...

QUINCY - In 2006, my last year as governor of Massachusetts, I vetoed a card-check bill that allowed public workers to organize if a majority signed union authorization cards as opposed to casting a traditional secret ballot. The veto was a gain for the rights of employees and employers to a fair election, but the victory was short-lived. After I left office, organized labor had another run at replacing the secret ballot with a card check. With the support of Democrats in the Legislature, that same bill was passed in 2007 – and my Democratic successor signed it into law....

(CNN) – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is firing back against critics who say he should accept the entire $2.8 billion in federal stimulus funds allotted to his state, launching a one-minute TV spot in which he argues a substantial portion of the money will only saddle the state with further debt. "The truth is more tax dollars will be spent in our state this year then ever before. But there must be a stopping point," the South Carolina Republican, who has not ruled out a 2012 White House bid, says in the ad. "Going further into debt will not...

Last week the House passed another budget that increases federal power, raises taxes, and increases the national debt. I voted against it, and was pleased to see that not a single Republican representative voted for it. Legislators often see bipartisanship as constructive, but I disagree especially where the destruction of our economy or our liberty is concerned. There has been too much bipartisan consensus on expanding government far beyond the bounds of the Constitution which we all swore to defend and uphold. Because of this, I have never been able to vote for a budget. However, it was good to...

If you were online and couldn't access some websites today, we might know the reason why. The FBI raided a Dallas building that houses servers for several different websites. CBS 11 News has learned that the raid is part of a general criminal investigation. Because of the confiscation of computers at Core IP Networks, a number of legitimate businesses have been affected. From the downtown office building in the 2300 block of Bryan Street, FBI agents seized what one source described as millions of dollars in computer equipment. Matthew Simpson, the owner of Core IP Networks, said in a letter...

Gov. Mark Sanford said today he would accept the $700 million in federal stimulus money but would not release it unless the General Assembly agrees to pay down debt with state tax dollars. He said he was accepting the money to stop other states from claiming the funds. Sanford has come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as from the public, for his stance against accepting the money. He had until midnight today to accept the funds.

Republican Mark Sanford Has Been One of the Most Outspoken Critics of Obama's Plan. BY PHILIP RUCKER South Carolina's Republican governor will break his political logjam with the White House over stimulus funds today, his aides said, becoming the last governor in the nation to officially seek billions of dollars in federal economic recovery funds. Gov. Mark Sanford will announce at a 1 p.m. news conference that he will comply with today's critical deadline for governors to claim the money allocated by Congress and President Obama in the $787 billion stimulus bill, Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer said. South Carolina, whose...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Wednesday that his party needs to take a fresh approach to government regulations in the wake of the economic crisis that has rattled the U.S. and world economies. In an interview with The Hill, Romney said, “We as Republicans misspeak when we say we don’t like regulation. We like modern, up-to-date dynamic regulation that is regularly reviewed, streamlined, modernized and effective.” . . . . . Romney believes that one way to attract more minorities to the GOP is to pass immigration reform before the next election, saying the issue becomes demagogued by...

Rules for Private Networks Also Proposed. BY JOBY WARRICK & WALTER PINCUS Key lawmakers are pushing to dramatically escalate U.S. defenses against cyberattacks, crafting proposals that would empower the government to set and enforce security standards for private industry for the first time. The proposals, in Senate legislation that could be introduced as early as today, would broaden the focus of the government's cybersecurity efforts to include not only military networks but also private systems that control essentials such as electricity and water distribution. At the same time, the bill would add regulatory teeth to ensure industry compliance with the...

For folks increasingly leery of President Obama’s plan to radically overhaul America’s health-care system, or 17 percent of the nation’s economy, all this could hardly have come at a better time — that is, fiscal troubles aplenty within Repubican Mitt Romney’s brainchild, Massachusetts’ “grand experiment” in “universal” health care. Initiated on Mr. Romney’s gubernatorial watch in 2006, this “experiment” has fallen on hard times, and predictably so. Even though the Bay State commenced its program with a far smaller percentage of uninsured residents than exists nationwide, “RomneyCare” is threatening to bankrupt the state. Budgeted for Fiscal Year 2010 at $880...

***The following are excerpts. It is far better to read the entire commentary (long but good). The graph is scary - it will make sense if you read the whole commentary .*** Last week, the U.S. Treasury Secretary advanced two proposals; one was a call for regulatory reform that is absolutely essential to the resolution of the current financial crisis. The other was a recipe for the insolvency of the FDIC, which would squander public funds to subsidize private speculation in troubled mortgage securities. [snip] Indeed, the only way for the toxic asset sale to increase shareholder equity is if...

Omni National Bank shut down Friday by federal regulators. FDIC expects failure will cost $290 million, more than any other nationwide. BY PAUL DONSKY Omni National Bank in Atlanta, reeling from bad real estate bets, was shut down by federal regulators Friday, becoming the ninth Georgia bank to fail in the past year. Omni, one of the state’s largest community banks with $956 million in assets, posted a $14.5 million loss last year. Moreover, the bank was saddled with $114 million in nonperforming loans at the end of the fourth quarter. Omni’s regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the...

The 79-19 roll call by which the Senate voted Thursday to triple the size of the AmeriCorps and broadly expand incentives for students and seniors to give back to their communities. On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to pass the bill. Voting "yes" were 55 Democrats and 22 Republicans and 2 independents. Voting "no" were 0 Democrats and 19 Republicans.

CLIVE, Iowa - Minutes after Neel Manglik illegally turned right on a red light in the Des Moines suburb of Clive, a video popped up on a computer at an office park outside Scottsdale, Ariz. The $75 citation arrived in the mail weeks later, making Manglik one of the millions of Americans ticketed as part of a growing industry that is making handsome profits for companies that operate video cameras at busy intersections throughout the nation. As more cities sign up and others invest their profits into more cameras, those companies expect increased revenue for years to come. What's less...

Denver has failed to enforce its red-light camera contract, collecting the $75 fines but not collecting the data necessary to determine whether the program actually is reducing red-light running. More than 11,200 tickets were mailed out through November. Denver police officials in charge of the program refused to be interviewed by the Rocky about the problems; Redflex failed to respond to several interview requests and written questions. After stories in the Rocky last spring disclosed that Denver uses the legal minimum three seconds of yellow, despite an engineering formula calling for more, the city agreed to add time at all...

drivers are celebrating after they fought their automated tickets for running red lights and won. This week, a Prince George's County judge threw out more than a dozen red-light tickets taken by a camera on Annapolis Road because the drivers never actually drove through the intersection. Now, transportation officials are demanding the cameras be removed. mobile red light cameras do not comply with federal and state standards. "This program is illegal, it is illicit and it is illegitimate because it's charging people for running red lights they have not run," Townsend said. Last June when the controversial cameras first went...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc, the failed U.S. savings and loan, has sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp for well over $13 billion in connection with the loss of its banking operations, which was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the thrift's former parent accused the FDIC of having on January 23 made a "cryptic disallowance" of its claims, prompting the lawsuit. It also accused the FDIC of agreeing to an unreasonably low price in arranging the a $1.9 billion sale of the banking...

(CNN) — Arizona Sen. John McCain had some harsh words for President Obama's budget, warning in a statement released Friday that the president's proposal is a "threat to the nation." "The Congressional Budget Office report proves that the administration has indeed engaged in a policy of generational theft," said McCain. "The CBO numbers show the reality of the fundamentally flawed assumptions of the president's budget and make clear what it really is: a risky, debt-ridden threat to the nation."

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A government report released by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham suggests the state's Legislature may not be able to override Gov. Mark Sanford if he rejects stimulus dollars for education.

We all should be painfully aware by now that there is nothing held inside the Social Security and Medicare trust funds but a bunch of IOUs. Monies collected from payroll taxes are treated as general revenues and used in the “unified budget.” But how many of us are aware that the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund works in a similar fashion?

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Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner got such a torrent of angry criticism from Republican senators today that by the end of the hearing some Republicans were feeling sorry for him. "Thank you for taking the job," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told him. "I know it's tough."Graham added, "If you're looking for a way to serve the country, join the Marines or go to Treasury. I think they're both very difficult."

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina legislators will see a plan to get around Gov. Mark Sanford's opposition to the federal stimulus money. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman of Florence says he'll introduce a resolution Thursday to allow the legislature to spend the money that Sanford opposes. Leatherman says he isn't happy about the need to use the stimulus money, but says the state has no choice. He says without the stimulus money, key state programs would be cut.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lower tax revenue and massive government spending on the bank bailout pushed the federal deficit to $765 billion in the first five months of the budget year, well on its way to hitting the Obama administration's projection of a record annual imbalance of $1.75 trillion. The Treasury Department also said Wednesday that the February deficit reached $192.8 billion. That's a record for the month and up 10 percent from a year ago, but below analysts' expectations of $205.7 billion.

President Obama on Friday announced he would be drawing down the troop level in Iraq. This was what we had all been waiting for, right? After all, it was dissatisfaction with Bush’s war that kick-started the Democratic resurgence in 2006 and helped the Democrats win overwhelming victories in 2008. But aside from a little chattering here and there, most people’s response seemed to be, “Oh yeah, that war,” before changing the channel to see what’s on “The Tyra Banks Show.” True, Obama still plans to leave 50,000 troops in the country indefinitely. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. policymakers must develop a way to handle the failure of a systemically important, financial conglomerate, possibly modeled after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's procedure for smaller banks, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday. The FDIC has hinted it could take on that job, with Chairman Sheila Bair saying recently that the agency's model for failed banks works well. But she said the FDIC would need more authority and resources to resolve financial conglomerates. The FDIC insures about $4.5 trillion of deposits at more than 8,000 banks. It has the authority to take over an...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she is open to introducing a second stimulus bill, but it's too early to determine the size of such a package and the timing on another major economic measure. “We have to keep the door open to see how it goes,” Pelosi told reporters Tuesday following a House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing on the economy. But Pelosi said she wanted to give the $787 billion stimulus package passed last month time to work before she starts making promises on a second stimulus. Pelosi also accused the Washington media and cable news establishment...

Sen. John McCain said the Obama administration should've let General Motors fold, rather than keeping it on life support. General Motors should hand over the factory keys to a bankruptcy court, two top Republicans said Sunday. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the best thing for the ailing automaker to do would be to go into Chapter 11 to reorganize some of its business agreements and come out stronger than before. "I think the best thing that could probably happen to General Motors, in my view, is they go into Chapter 11, they reorganize, they renegotiate ... the union-management contracts and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators on Friday shut down Freedom Bank of Georgia, marking the 17th failure this year of a federally insured bank, and more are expected to succumb amid a deepening recession. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, located in Commerce, Ga. It had about $173 million in assets and $161 million in deposits as of March 4. The FDIC said the bank's deposits will be assumed by Northeast Georgia Bank, located in Lavonia, Ga. Its four branches will reopen Monday as offices of Northeast Georgia Bank. Besides assuming the deposits of the failed...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – With former presidential rival Sen. John McCain and other congressional critics of government waste by his side, President Barack Obama changed another Bush-era policy Wednesday, announcing a plan to change how the government awards private sector contracts. “It’s time for a government that only invests in what works,” Obama said when calling for new spending guidelines. “And what’s encouraging is that there is broad, bipartisan consensus on behalf of reform.” Obama reserved special criticism for defense contractors, saying that the majority of the waste “comes from influence peddling and indefensible no-bid contracts that have cost American taxpayers...

March 3rd event will bring leading experts from U.S. and abroad to Capitol Hill.Embargoed: February 18, 2009, 6:00 a.m. EST Contact: Ben Edwards Email:Bedwards@cgdev.org, Tel: +1 202 416 0740 Further information available at www.usclimatesymposium.comWASHINGTON, February 17, 2009 - U.S. legislators and business leaders will meet with experts on climate change economics and policy at the Capitol building in March to discuss the challenges and opportunities for U.S. leadership on climate change, it was announced today. U.S. and international policymakers will join climate experts for the one day bipartisan and bicameral event. The cosponsoring Senators to date are Senators Bingaman (D-NM),...

Early tax filers scramble for refunds; most will pay down debt. BY JENNIFER WATERS CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Cynthia Jeanguenat, a professional tax preparer in Virginia Beach, Va., said she was inundated with clients' tax forms in the second week of February. What jumped out, however, was the large number of the usual clients who had filed earlier than in years past. "People are creatures of habit and tend to come in at the same time every year," said Jeanguenat, who is an enrolled agent at Horizons Unlimited. "But some of the folks who already are in I don't normally see...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The worsening U.S. economy prompted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Friday to double its projected U.S. bank failure costs to more than $80 billion over a five-year period ending in 2013. The 25 U.S. bank failures in 2008 cost the agency $18 billion, the FDIC said. Another $65 billion in bank failure costs is expected from 2009 to 2013, it said. On Thursday, the FDIC announced that the number of problem U.S. banks jumped by nearly 50% to 252 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Las Vegas-based Security Savings Bank was seized by the state’s Financial Institutions Division today. The state appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. “We want Nevadans to know that their deposits are safe,” said Financial Insurance Division Commissioner George Burns said in a statement. Security Savings Bank was the 20th largest bank in terms of deposits in Las Vegas, according to In Business Las Vegas' 2009 Book of Business Lists. This is the first bank failure in Nevada this year. “Deposits are now insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per depositor, per type of account ownership. All...

The federal insurance fund that protects most bank deposits is being drained by a sharp rise in bank failures and has dwindled to its lowest level since 1993, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported yesterday. Depositors are not at risk because the fund is backed by the government, but taxpayers could be forced to reach into their wallets if the decline continues. When a bank fails, the FDIC pays up to $250,000 to each account-holder to replace whatever money does not remain in the vaults. The fund is replenished by assessments on banks, but over the last year, much more...

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's budget director said on Thursday that without a shift in policies the U.S. deficit would reach $9 trillion over the next decade. White House budget chief Peter Orszag said the Obama administration's budget outline reflects costs for the war in Iraq and other items that were previously not included in the budget.

Despite the fact that he might have wished he had been the man who just finished his first address to a joint session of Congress as president, Sen. John McCain had kind words for President Obama's address this evening. "The president gave a very effective speech," McCain told Katie Couric on CBSNews.com's presidential webcast following Mr. Obama’s address. "His delivery and the theme of the speech was excellent."Still, McCain said, "now I would like to know how we are going to implement it." "I don't know where Social Security was,” McCain said. “I don't know how you increase all of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain said on Tuesday night he believed an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system was possible this year after President Barack Obama called for such a timetable. In his speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, Obama said that due to rising costs, revamping the healthcare system "must not wait, and it will not wait another year." McCain, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said in an interview after the speech that he felt an accord was reachable this year. "I do think it's...

The pool report by Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post on the Fiscal Responsibility Summit's breakout session on Social Security follows:The session was held in room 350 of EEOB, a large conference room in which participants sat around a rectangular table. At the head of the table, with an American flag on each side of them, were the two administration officials who led this breakout: Lawrence Summers, director of the WH's National Economic Council, and Gene Sperling, counselor for domestic policy at Treasury. An ideological eclectic mix of 24 guests participated (a partial list follows), including senators and House members,...