Free Republic

Goldman retreats from life settlements Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:27pm EST *Goldman decision follows Congressional hearing *Credit crunch crushes exotic securities By Matthew Goldstein NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is quietly backing away from life settlements--- the business of buying life insurance policies from aging Americans in the hopes of collecting on the death benefit. The Wall Street investment bank is ending its involvement with a "mortality index" it launched in December 2007 with high expectations. A Goldman spokesman confirmed the decision. Goldman's QXX index tracks the life expectancy of a group of people aged 65...

OCALA, Fla. -- A Florida judge said a plea deal for a Tampa teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old would "erode public confidence in" schools. Marion County Circuit Judge Hale Stencil has rejected the plea deal for Debra Lafave, 25. The judge said the deal would undermine the credibility of the criminal justice system. Prosecutors and the defense lawyer had urged the judge to accept the deal for the good of the boy. A psychiatrist told the judge the boy suffered extreme anxiety because of intense media coverage of the case and does not want to testify. Lafave...

- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the 2005 Congressional Pig Book, a sweeping compendium of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. Congress spent more tax dollars on pork this year than in any other year in history. For fiscal 2005, appropriators stuffed 13,997 projects into the 13 appropriations bills, an increase of 31 percent over last year’s total of 10,656. In the last two years, the total number of projects has increased by 49.5 percent. The cost of these projects in fiscal 2005 was $27.3 billion, or 19 percent more than last year’s total of $22.9 billion....