Bush Treasury Sec. 'subsidized' his ex-firm with $2.5 billion
President George W. Bush overpaid $78 billion for investments in the nation's largest banks and brokerages, according to a Congressional report released late Thursday.The findings showed that government investment in the banks amounted to a nearly $80 billion subsidy of an industry that seems to have recently excelled at flushing money down the drain.
Ironically, the "subsidy" itself was doled out by Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the former chief executive of investment bank Goldman Sachs. According to the report, Goldman got an effective $2.5 billion subsidy from the Treasury Department.
While at Goldman, Paulson earned upwards of $10 million a year and was the richest member of the Bush Administration at the cabinet level or above.
The largest other purported subsidies were paid to: Citigroup ($9.5 billion), JP Morgan Chase ($4.4 billion) and Morgan Stanley ($4.2 billion).
The second round of bailout financing also added another $10 billion to Citigroup's alleged subsidy, and the second AIG bailout, $25 billion.
By contrast -- the entire amount the US government spend on higher education in 2006 was just over $50 billion -- less than the "subsidies" issued to the banks in the first round.
Click here to see a chart detailing which companies got what -- and at what cost to the US taxpayer (via Pro Publica).
rest http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_overpaid_78_billion_for_bank_0206.html
***********************************************************************************************
January job loss worst in 34 years
January job loss worst in 34 yearsNEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Employers slashed another 598,000 jobs off of U.S. payrolls in January, taking the unemployment rate up to 7.6%, according to the latest government reading on the nation's battered labor market.
The latest job loss is the worst since December 1974, and brings job losses to 1.8 million in just the last three months, or half of the 3.6 million jobs that have been lost since the beginning of 2008.
The loss since November is the biggest 3-month drop since immediately after the end of World War II, when the defense industry was shutting down for conversion to civilian production.
January's job loss was also worse than the forecast of a loss of 540,000 jobs from economists surveyed by Briefing.com
rest http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/06/news/economy/jobs_january/index.htm
********************************************************************************************
Drugs, weapons seized at home owned by high-ranking police official
Apartment complex at 4553 W.56th St. in Chicago where a search warrant was executed at the home of a high-ranking Chicago Police official. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Drugs and weapons were seized last night at a condominium owned by a high-ranking Chicago police official, authorities said. A 28-year-old man, the boyfriend of the daughter of the police official, was taken into custody.
The condominium is owned by Assistant Supt. Beatrice Cuello (lower left), said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. Cuello's daughter lives in the condo with the suspect.
Officers recovered 175 grams of cocaine and four guns in the home, and the arrested man allegedly admitted "criminal involvement," Bond said.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of ammunition and firearms. He was not identified.
"At this time the investigation has revealed the relative had no involvement with the offender's criminal activity," Bond said. No other arrests were made.
The condominium is in the 4500 block of West 56th Street.
rest http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/weapons-drugs-seized-at-police-officials-home.html
***********************************************************************************************************************
As Economy Sheds 600,000 Jobs In One Month, Senate Conservatives Ask: What's The Rush?
Today, the Labor Department reported that the economy lost 598,000 jobs in January, the worst monthly jobs loss since 1974. 1.8 million jobs have been lost in the last three months alone, and U.S. unemployment now stands at 7.6 percent, the highest in nearly two decades.
While President Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing for a recovery and reinvestment plan that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts would create up to 3.6 million jobs by next year, Republicans are stonewalling action to help the economy recover. Even as millions of Americans are losing their jobs, conservative Senators insist that there's no rush to help them:
LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): We do not need any more news conferences. What we need is getting more than 16 people in a room. We need to slow down, take a timeout, and get it right.
ROGER WICKER (R-MS): As Thomas Jefferson reminded Americans in his day — and I quote — "Delay is preferable to error." Let's not rush into doing this the wrong way.
JOHN ENSIGN (R-NV): So we need to act much more responsibly than this bill acts. It's still time. There is no hurry.
TOM COBURN (R-OK): There's no reason for us to hurry up, number one. There's no reason for us not to look at every area of this bill and make sure the american people know about it.
rest http://thinkprogress.org/2009/02/06/gop-senators-no-recovery-rush/
No comments:
Post a Comment