May 24, 2010 11:14 pm
Rasmussen, “Health Care Law”
Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.
Prior to today, weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.
Currently, just 32% oppose repeal.
The new findings include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal of the health care bill and 25% who Strongly Oppose it.
Rasmussen article continues here.
May 24, 2010 11:13 pm
Financial Times, “Anger at White House over oil spill role”
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Anna Fifield
The Obama administration is facing a rising tide of anger against its handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and acknowledged on Sunday that it did not have the technical capabilities to step in and fix the gusher on its own.
Under scrutiny, the White House delivered mixed messages about BP’s role in the Gulf of Mexico disaster. Ken Salazar, secretary of the interior, lashed out against the company at a news conference on Sunday, saying it had missed “deadline after deadline” in attempts to seal the oil well and he was ready to “push [BP] out of the way” if necessary.
BP on Monday acknowledged that it was siphoning less oil than previously estimated from the well. Last week, the company said it was catching up to 5,000 barrels a day, but now says it caught about 2,010 bpd on average. The oil giant said that its next planned effort to contain the spill, which will involve blocking the leak with heavy fluids and then cement, has a 60 per cent to 70 per cent chance of success.
Financial Times article continues here.
May 24, 2010 11:12 pm
The New York Times, “US plans naval exercises with South Korea:Pentagon”
by Robert Pear
About one-third of employers subject to major requirements of the new health care law may face tax penalties because they offer health insurance that could be considered unaffordable to some employees, a new study says.
The study, by Mercer, one of the nation’s largest employee benefit consulting concerns, is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 employers.
It suggests that a little-noticed provision of the law could affect far more employers than Congress had assumed.
The New York Times article continues here.
May 24, 2010 12:45 am
MSNBC (AP), “Senate passes financial reform bill”
by Jim Kuhnhenn
Prodded by national anger at Wall Street, the Senate on Thursday passed the most far-reaching restraints on big banks since the Great Depression. In its broad sweep, the massive bill would touch Wall Street CEOs and first-time homebuyers, high-flying traders and small town lenders.
The 59-39 vote represents an important achievement for President Barack Obama, and comes just two months after his health care overhaul became law. The bill must now be reconciled with a House version that passed in December. A key House negotiator predicted the legislation would reach Obama’s desk before the Fourth of July.
The legislation aims to prevent a recurrence of the near-meltdown of big Wall Street investment banks and the resulting costly bailouts. It calls for new ways to watch for risks in the financial system and makes it easier to liquidate large failing financial firms. It also writes new rules for complex securities blamed for helping precipitate the 2008 economic crisis, and it creates a new consumer protection agency.
MSNBC (AP) article continues here.
May 24, 2010 12:41 am
Reuters, “U.S. drops criminal probe of AIG executives”
by Christian Plumb
The U.S. Justice Department has dropped a probe of American International Group Inc executives involving the credit default swaps that sent the insurer to the brink of bankruptcy and forced a huge taxpayer bailout, lawyers for the executives said on Saturday.
The investigation had centered on AIG Financial Products, which nearly brought down the giant insurer after writing tens of billions of dollars on insurance-like contracts on complex securities backed by mortgages that turned out to be toxic.
The U.S. government stepped in with a $182 billion bailout to avert a bankruptcy filing by AIG.
The criminal probe had focused on whether Joseph Cassano, who ran the financial products unit, and Andrew Forster, his deputy, knowingly misled investors about the company’s accounting losses on its credit default swaps portfolio.
Reuters article continues here.
May 20, 2010 10:40 pm
Fox News (AP), “Senate Passes Financial Overhaul Bill”
Prodded by national anger at Wall Street, the Senate on Thursday passed the most far-reaching restraints on big banks since the Great Depression. In its broad sweep, the massive bill would touch Wall Street CEOs and first-time homebuyers, high-flying traders and small town lenders.
The 59-39 vote represents an important achievement for President Barack Obama, and comes just two months after his health care overhaul became law. The bill must now be reconciled with a House version that passed in December. A key House negotiator predicted the legislation would reach Obama’s desk before the Fourth of July.
The legislation aims to prevent a recurrence of the near-meltdown of big Wall Street investment banks and the resulting costly bailouts. It calls for new ways to watch for risks in the financial system and makes it easier to liquidate large failing financial firms. It also writes new rules for complex securities blamed for helping precipitate the 2008 economic crisis, and it creates a new consumer protection agency.
Fox News (AP) article continues here.
May 20, 2010 10:40 pm
Yahoo! Finance (AP), “Stocks dive, Dow off 376 on world economic worries”
by Tim Paradis and Stevenson Jacobs
Stocks took their deepest plunge in more than a year Thursday as fears grew that Europe’s debt crisis could spread around the world and undermine the U.S. economic recovery. The possibility has been brewing for weeks, but analysts said some investors are just waking up to it.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 376 points, its biggest point drop since February 2009. All the major indexes were down well over 3 percent and are now showing losses for 2010. Interest rates fell sharply in the Treasury market as investors once again sought the safety of U.S. government debt.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week rose unexpectedly and the Greek government’s response to its debt crisis sparked new protests in Athens, but analysts said neither event appeared to set off Thursday’s selling.
Yahoo! Finance (AP) article continues here.
May 18, 2010 8:03 pm
Houston Chronicle, “Texas doctors opting out of Medicare at alarming rate”
by Todd Ackerman
Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable.
Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren’t taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 a year are now ending all involvement with the program. Before 2007, the number of doctors opting out averaged less than a handful a year.
“This new data shows the Medicare system is beginning to implode,” said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association. “If Congress doesn’t fix Medicare soon, there’ll be more and more doctors dropping out and Congress’ promise to provide medical care to seniors will be broken.”
More than 300 doctors have dropped the program in the last two years, including 50 in the first three months of 2010, according to data compiled by the Houston Chronicle. Texas Medical Association officials, who conducted the 2008 survey, said the numbers far exceeded their assumptions.
Houston Chronicle article continues here.
May 17, 2010 10:40 am
Fox News, “BP Tube Getting Over One-Fifth of Gushing Oil, Executives Say”
BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said a mile-long tube has been collecting more than one-fifth of the oil that’s spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a blown-out well.
Speaking Monday on NBC’s “Today” show, Suttles said the tube has been siphoning more than 1,000 barrels a day, or 42,000 gallons. BP has estimated about 5,000 barrels a day, or 210,000 gallons a day, has been leaking out.
He said they hope to be able to collect more oil as they ramp up the effort but they won’t be able to get all of it.
Fox News article continues here.
May 17, 2010 10:38 am
BusinessWeek, “Venezuela’s Chavez orders takeover of iron-makers”
President Hugo Chavez announced Saturday the expropriation of a group of iron, aluminum and transportation companies in Venezuela’s mining region.
Among the expropriated companies is Materiales Siderurgicos, or Matesi, which is the Venezuelan subsidiary of Luxembourg-based steel maker Tenaris SA.
Venezuela’s socialist president said in a televised that his government was going to take over Matesi because “we couldn’t reach an amicable and reasonable settlement with the owners.
BusinessWeek article continues here.
May 17, 2010 10:35 am
Sign On San Diego, “Some in Arizona canceling trips to S.D.”
by Lori Weisberg
San Diego tourism leaders and hoteliers fear they could lose a sizable chunk of business this summer from valued “Zonies” who are so angered by elected leaders’ recent censure of Arizona for its illegal-immigration law that they’re mounting an informal boycott of their own.
The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and several hotels report receiving e-mails and letters from Arizona visitors saying they intend to change their plans to travel here in light of local outcry over their home state’s anti-illegal-immigration stance.
Tourism officials are striking back. In an open letter, they urge Arizona residents to overlook local politics and come to San Diego just as they always have for its mild climate, beaches and attractions. The visitors bureau, in conjunction with the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association, plans to circulate the letter to media outlets and in advertising this weekend in The Arizona Republic.
Sign On San Diego article continues here.
May 15, 2010 10:42 pm
The Wall Street Journal, “Google Says It Mistakenly Collected Data on Web Usage”
by Jessica E. Vascellaro
Google Inc. said an internal investigation has discovered that the roving vans the company uses to create its online mapping services were mistakenly collecting data about websites people were visiting over wireless networks.
The Internet giant said it would stop collecting Wi-Fi data from its StreetView vans, which workers drive to capture street images and to locate Wi-Fi networks. The company said it would dispose of the data it had accidentally collected.
Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research for Google, wrote in a blog post that the company uncovered the mistake while responding to a German data-protection agency’s request for it to audit the Wi-Fi data, amid mounting concerns that Google’s practices violated users’ privacy.
The Wall Street Journal article continues here.
