News Headline

Economy Still Weakening

OurFuture.org Staff — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:26:39 -0400

Consumer spending, industrial output and homebuilding are all expected to weaken further, pushing the economy deeper into recession territory. Consumer prices are expected to show the steady and discomforting increases that will keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates again soon.

Mortgage Crisis Hits Prime Loans

OurFuture.org Staff — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:23:43 -0400

About 2.3% of prime loans were 60 days past due in February, the highest level in at least a decade. That's up from 1.4% a year ago. The figures remain relatively small so far. But if they rise further, delinquencies on prime loans — given only to those with good credit — could prolong the housing crisis.

Mortgage Crisis Hits Storage Centeres

OurFuture.org Staff — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:11:25 -0400

As they lose their homes to foreclosure, people are turning to storage centers to store their belongings. But some people cannot keep up with their storage bills any better than they could handle their mortgage payments, and storage companies are auctioning off their property for a pittance.

Gas Prices Send Riders to Transit

OurFuture.org Staff — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:03:37 -0400

With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more U.S. commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead. Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing.

Workers Get U.S. Protections

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:53:42 -0400

Workers in the Mariana Islands will receive the protection of U.S. labor law under a bill signed by President Bush. Debate over whether to extend federal labor and immigration law to the Marianas, in the northwestern Pacific, had been sullied by reports of sweatshop labor and past associations with the lobbying scandal surrounding Jack Abramoff, whose firm was hired by the islands to oppose the changes. The measure creates a federally run guest-worker program in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Bush To Veto Farm Bill

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:49:45 -0400

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said that President George W. Bush will veto the farm bill agreement reached by law makers in Congress. The administration said the farm bill was too costly and failed to deliver the reforms that the administration was seeking. House and Senate negotiators agreed on a $285 billion farm bill that puts more money into public feeding programs and denies one crop subsidy program to the wealthiest Americans.

House Passes Mortgage Bill

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:40:56 -0400

Bucking a White House veto threat, 39 Republicans joined Democrats in supporting an ambitious plan to rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The measure aims to unfreeze mortgage markets by expanding the Federal Housing Administration's reach and strengthening mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It also would create a $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers to try to boost sales and slow plummeting home prices.

Subprime Giant Admits "Mistakes"

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:29:26 -0400

Steve Bailey, chief executive for loan administration at Countrywide Financial Corp., told a Senate panel that the company's employees have made mistakes "from time to time." But he disputed accusations, made by hundreds of borrowers, that the company has sought to collect inflated fees and other payments by filing inaccurate bankruptcy documents. The Justice Department is currently investigating the accusations.

Democrats Seek To Tax Big Oil

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:26:44 -0400

Senate Democrats have called for a temporary windfall profits tax on oil companies and a rollback of $17 billion in oil industry tax breaks as part of an energy package. The proposal also would impose federal penalties on energy price gouging and calls for stopping oil deliveries into the government's emergency reserve.

Paulson Says End Is Near

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:48:06 -0400

According to Hank Paulson, the U.S. Treasury secretary, the credit crisis is entering its later stages, but the process of deleveraging in the financial system still has further to go.