Monday, November 24, 2008

Obama warns economy likely to get worse

President-elect unveils economic team with Geithner as treasury secretary

CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday unveiled his economic team and warned that "the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better."

"I've sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold new ideas — and most of all, who share my fundamental belief that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers," Obama told reporters.

Obama said that recent news "has made it even more clear that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions." Offering a grim prediction, he added, that "most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year."

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Obama makes key Cabinet picks

WASHINGTON - Just over two weeks after Barack Obama won the presidential election, his new Cabinet and economic team are starting to take shape.

Several key appointments, including State and Treasury Department secretaries, appear to be nearly done deals, with Democratic officials confirming Obama's intended nominees.

Hillary Clinton will give up her Senate seat and accept the nomination for secretary of state, The New York Times reported Friday.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

U.S. launches new mortgage aid program

Plan speeds up process of modifying loans held by Fannie, Freddie

NEW YORK - The government and the mortgage industry are launching the most sweeping effort yet to help troubled homeowners by speeding up the process for renegotiating hundreds of thousands of delinquent loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which seized control of the two mortgage finance companies in September, announced the plan Tuesday along with other government and industry officials, including Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage companies organized by the Bush administration last year.

"Foreclosures hurt families, their neighbors, whole communities and the overall housing market," said James Lockhart, the housing finance agency's director. "We need to stop this downward spiral."

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Friday, November 7, 2008

Employers slashed 240,000 jobs in October

Nation’s unemployment rate jumps to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent

WASHINGTON - The nation’s unemployment rate bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were cut, far worse than economists expected and stark proof the economy is deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.

The new snapshot, released Friday by the Labor Department, showed the crucial jobs market quickly eroding. The jobless rate zoomed to 6.5 percent in October from 6.1 percent in September, matching the rate in March 1994.

Unemployment has now surpassed the high seen after the last recession in 2001. The jobless rate peaked at 6.3 percent in June 2003.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

N.Y. faces crushing crisis, governor warns

Economic downturn, Wall Street meltdown could mean $47 billion deficit

NEW YORK - Calling the impact of the national economic crisis and the Wall Street meltdown worse than the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gov. David Paterson said Tuesday that New York faced a mammoth budget deficit of $47 billion over the next four years that may require a 25 percent across-the-board spending cut.

“New York is at the epicenter of an extraordinary financial crisis on Wall Street,” Paterson said at a news conference where he released the state’s mid-year financial reports. “We will have no choice but to take bold and aggressive action to reduce state spending.”

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

200 sex assault cases pass prosecution deadline before LAPD tested DNA kits

The cases are part of a backlog of 7,000 DNA kits that the department has not tested, according to an audit by City Controller Laura Chick. Police say they don't have enough money.

As many as 200 potential sexual assault cases have gone without prosecution because Los Angeles police officials failed to meet legal deadlines to test DNA evidence that might have identified a suspect, according to a city audit released Monday.

The audit was the second critical assessment of LAPD forensic work in as many weeks. A confidential report obtained by The Times last week disclosed shoddy work by the department's fingerprint experts that had falsely implicated people in crimes.

Read full story Los Angeles Times

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Nebraska to rewrite 'safe haven' law

Lawmakers agree to cap child's drop-off age to no more than 3 days old

LINCOLN, Neb. - Stung by the abandonment of children as old as 17 at Nebraska hospitals, the governor and lawmakers struck a deal Monday to rewrite the state's "safe haven" law so it applies only to infants up to three days old.

A rash of drop-offs in recent months, particularly those of teenagers and from out of state, thrust the state into the national spotlight. The law was ridiculed on an episode of "Saturday Night Live" this past weekend.

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