The Liberty File | National Edition

April 06

I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back?

My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.

April 03

Economy lost 663,000 jobs in March, and unemployment rose to 8.5%, government says. Total jobs lost in recession: 5.1 million.

April 03

Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly embraced President Obama's ambitious and expensive agenda for the nation yesterday, endorsing a $3.5 trillion spending plan that sets the stage for the president to pursue his most far-reaching priorities.

April 02

This past spring, the Social Security Trustees released their annual report on the state of the Social Security and Medicare programs. The report on the state of entitlement programs is rather grim - the combined unfunded liabilities of both programs are a $101 trillion!

This means that to pay promised elderly entitlement benefits to our old folks into the future, we must have $101 trillion in the bank today gathering interest.

April 02

For years, opponents of Social Security reform have told us that there is no need to rush into changing the program because, after all, Social Security is running a surplus today. Well, according to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office, not so much.

CBO reports that the Social Security surplus, originally expected to be $80-90 billion this year and next will shrink to $16 billion this year and just $3 billion next year (essentially a rounding error) as a result of the recession and rising unemployment. And those estimates may be far too optimistic. In February of this year, for example, Social Security actually ran a deficit—spending more than it took in through taxes and interest combined.

April 01

Job losses in the U.S. private sector accelerated in March, more than economists' expectations, according to a report by ADP Employer Services on Wednesday.

Private employers cut jobs by a record 742,000 in March versus a 706,000 revised cut in February that was originally reported at 697,000 jobs, said ADP, which has been carrying out the survey since 2001.

April 01

reland's unemployment rate surged to 11 percent in March from 10.4 percent in February, official data showed Wednesday, as the eurozone nation's recession-hit economy worsens amid a global crisis.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said 173,279 extra people had signed on for benefits on the state's Live Register in the year to March, the largest annual increase since records began in 1967.

The month-on-month increase in the number signing on in March was 16,834.

April 01

Silicon Graphics Inc (SGIC.O), which makes servers and data storage products, filed for bankruptcy protection in a New York court, filings showed.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company listed assets of $390.5 million and total debt of $526.5 million in its Chapter 11 filing.

March 29

The plan would raise $4 billion a year by creating two new tax brackets, the highest one affecting those who earn $500,000 or more. If approved by rank-and-file lawmakers in the Assembly and State Senate, the tax increases would be a major victory for unions and liberal advocacy groups and a signal of the new balance of power in Albany, where Democrats won control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office in last year's election.

...

Mr. Paterson's willingness to accept the new taxes reflects, in part, how rapidly the state's finances are deteriorating. Since proposing his budget in December, projected tax revenues for the fiscal year beginning April 1 have dropped by $3.2 billion, while rising Medicaid caseloads will cost $750 million more than originally projected for this year and next year.

March 29

Residents and other Augusta property owners will not be hit with a property tax increase next year, but will see a reduction in services -- including less frequent trash pickup -- if the city manager's proposed budget is approved.

City Manager William Bridgeo's $50 million budget would result in the same tax rate as last year: $16.70 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. That means the owner of an Augusta home assessed at $120,000 would pay the same $2,004 in property taxes.

March 27

Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve continues to gain momentum. H.R. 1207 now has 46 co-sponsors (as of 3/27/2009)!

If you too would like to see Ben Bernanke squirm and finally discover what the Fed has been up to behind the scenes, call and write your representative and ask that they support the "Federal Reserve Transparency Act H.R. 1207".

March 26

Originally pushed last fall by since-ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the proposal narrowly advanced out of a Senate committee earlier this month. It still must pass the full Senate and House and be signed by Gov. Quinn before taking effect.

Critics call it a money grab by cash-starved municipalities, but the proposal has some powerful backers. Secretary of State Jesse White, Mayor Daley's administration and an array of law-enforcement, municipal and safety groups favor the plan.

Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Decatur), who voted against the measure when it was in a Senate committee this month, said money, not safety, seems to be the motivating factor behind the cameras. Cameras are "used as a cash register for certain areas and certain communities," he said. "I think all these automated systems are a little too Big Brother for people to back," McCarter said.

March 26

The Obama administration is gearing up for an aggressive new push to regulate large financial corporations -- including insurance companies, hedge funds and private-equity firms -- that would wreak havoc on the nation's economy should they fail.

The move, led by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, aims to reverse decades of deregulation that has allowed financial companies especially to operate without any significant federal oversight.

March 24

British consumer price inflation rose unexpectedly to 3.2% year-on-year in February, official data showed on Tuesday, forcing Bank of England Governor Mervyn King to write a letter explaining why it remains so far above the 2% target.

The Office for National Statistics also said retail price inflation, another measure of prices, eased less than expected to stand flat on the year. That was the weakest reading since 1960, but confounded expectations that it would fall into negative territory.

March 24

Analysts said the proposal was an indication of Beijing's fears that actions being taken to save the domestic US economy would have a negative impact on China.

"This is a clear sign that China, as the largest holder of US dollar financial assets, is concerned about the potential inflationary risk of the US Federal Reserve printing money," said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist for HSBC.

March 23

Daimler AG, the owner of Mercedes-Benz, will cede a 9.1% stake to an Abu Dhabi investment firm in a move that shores up its balance sheet and tamps down fear that activist shareholders could push for a strategic shift.

The deal, worth $2.65 billion to Daimler, will set Aabar Investments PJSC as the largest single stakeholder in the Stuttgart-based auto maker, raising the amount of Middle Eastern ownership of the company significantly. When the deal was announced Sunday, Kuwait was the company's largest shareholder, with a stake of about 7.6%.

March 21

The dollar dropped the most against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners since the Plaza Accord almost a quarter-century ago as the Federal Reserve's plan to purchase Treasuries spurred speculation that it's debasing the greenback.

March 20

Deteriorating economic conditions will cause the federal deficit to soar past $1.8 trillion this year and leave the nation wallowing in a sea of red ink far deeper than the White House had previously estimated, congressional budget analysts said today.

In a new report that provides the first independent analysis of President Obama's budget request, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that the administration's agenda would generate deficits averaging nearly $1 trillion a year over the next decade -- $2.3 trillion more than the president predicted when he unveiled his spendi

March 20

The sole reason for the fact that we cannot qualify for refinancing has nothing to do with our own stable financial situations and everything to do with insane government regulations so complicated they defy any attempts to justify or even understand them.

Simply put, if your house is worth more than government regulations say it can be, you are automatically unqualified to apply for refinancing. Nothing else matters. You're just plain out of luck.

March 19

A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar.

Currency specialist Avinash Persaud, a member of the panel of experts, told a Reuters Funds Summit in Luxembourg that the proposal was to create something like the old Ecu, or European currency unit, that was a hard-traded, weighted basket.

March 16

China has no obligation to throw good money after bad. They don't have to treat their money like we treat soldiers in iraq, where we have to keep sending in more so their previous sacrifice won't be wasted.

One alternative is to shift their reserves to renminbi. See, they can buy dollar bonds that depreciate, that are worth less when they come to maturity than they are worth now. Or they can dump the dollars now for whatever they can get, and they're better off.

April 04

FBI agents have raided a Dallas data center, seizing servers at a company called Core IP Networks. The company's CEO has posted a message saying the FBI confiscated all its customer servers, including gear belonging to companies that are almost certainly not under suspicion. The FBI isn't saying what it's after, but there are reports that it's related to video piracy, sparking unconfirmed speculation that the probe is tied to the leaking of Wolverine.

April 03

But the Big Kahuna has escaped.

The Federal Reserve.

"(T)he very people who devised the policies that produced the mess are now posing as the wise public servants who will show us the way out," writes Thomas Woods in Meltdown.

Already in its sixth week on the New York Times best-seller list, this eminently readable book traces the Fed's role in every financial crisis since this creature was spawned on Jekyll Island in 1913.

The "forgotten depression" of 1920–21 was caused by a huge increase in the money supply for President Wilson's war. When the Fed started to tighten at war's end, production fell 20 percent from mid-1920 to mid-1921, far more than today.

Why did we not read about that depression?

April 02

Amid cloak-and-dagger secrecy, the Daley administration is building a backup 911 center at O'Hare Airport to handle emergency calls if a terrorist attack or natural disaster damages Chicago's primary facility in the West Loop, City Hall sources said Wednesday.

Sources said the backup facility will be located in an O'Hare building that houses the airport's communications nerve center.

April 01

UPDATED WITH LINK TO VIDEO

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, cleared the crowd at about 8:30 p.m. The decision brought about loud protests as the crowd was escorted from the chambers by Iowa State Patrol officers.

"This is the most atrocious thing I've seen in the history of the 15 years I've been a lobbyist. Pat Murphy has acted like a jack-booted Nazi," said Ed Failor Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief, a conservative taxpayers' rights group from Muscatine with 50,000 members..

March 31

The court ruled, "Debate on public issues shall be uninhibited [and] wide open. . . . Accusing a public official or public figure of using their political influence to obtain a benefit for others or themselves or favoring their supporters is not defamation."

March 30

It is my hope that the steps I am announcing today will go a long way towards answering many of the questions people may have about the future of GM and Chrysler. But just in case there are still nagging doubts, let me say it as plainly as I can -- if you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors, you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired, just like always. Your warrantee will be safe.

In fact, it will be safer than it's ever been. Because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warrantee.

March 30

During Jan/Feb AIG would call up and just ask for complete unwind prices from the credit desk in the relevant jurisdiction. These were not single deal unwinds as are typically more price transparent - these were whole portfolio unwinds. The size of these unwinds were enormous, the quotes I have heard were "we have never done as big or as profitable trades - ever".

As these trades are unwound, the correlation desk needs to unwind the single name risk through the single name desks - effectively the AIG-FP unwinds caused massive single name protection buying. This caused single name credit to massively underperform equities - run a chart from say last September to current of say S&P 500 and Itraxx - credit has underperformed massively. This is largely due to AIG-FP unwinds.

March 30

Our Colonial ancestors petitioned and pleaded with King George III to get his boot off their necks. He ignored their pleas, and in 1776, they rightfully declared unilateral independence and went to war. Today it's the same story except Congress is the one usurping the rights of the people and the states, making King George's actions look mild in comparison.

March 30

Though efforts to pass a constitutional amendment protecting parental rights have failed in the past, two U.S. legislators are preparing to reintroduce the idea this week; and this time, they say, the effort is backed by more than 60 congressional members.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who introduced a parental rights amendment by himself last year, told the Agence France-Presse that he will be joined by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., on Tuesday as they renew the fight.

March 30

Gulf Onshore Inc (OTCBB: GFON.OB - News) announced today that it has acquired the assets of Cannex Therapeutics and will continue development of its medical cannabis-based pharmaceutical products. Cannex Therapeutics is a privately owned California group founded and operated by Medical Cannabis pioneer and entrepreneur Steven W. Kubby (www.kubby.com). The asset purchase agreement includes all intellectual property rights, formulas, patents, trademarks, client base, hardware and software pertaining to Cannex's pharmaceutical cannabis research & development business.

March 28

Gov. David A. Paterson (D) and legislative leaders on Friday announced an agreement to roll back the state's strict, 36-year-old drug laws, including eliminating tough mandatory minimum sentences for first-time, nonviolent drug offenders.

The "Rockefeller Drug Laws," named after former governor Nelson Rockefeller (R), are among the strictest in the country and for critics have become a symbol of the failure of the "war on drugs," which locked up large numbers of nonviolent drug offenders while having little apparent effect on drug use.

March 28

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on "white people with blue eyes" and said it was wrong that black and indigenous people should pay for white people's mistakes.

Speaking in Brasilia at a joint press conference with Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, Mr Lula da Silva told reporters: "This crisis was caused by the irrational behaviour of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing."

March 28

Alpharetta and Sandy Springs police departments have a new gizmo that mounts on patrol cars and is capable of reading up to 18 to 20 license plates a second, and detecting which ones the police need to stop.

The license plate reader can scan license plates in the hurly-burly of Ga. 400 — going in both directions. It can accurately read license plates of cars going 120 mph in rain, dark, or sunshine.

"It's a great thing," said Alpharetta Public Safety Director Gary George. "Think of Amber Alerts, stolen cars, outstanding warrants."

March 28

Drivers in parts of Monroe County will no longer be able to smoke in their vehicles if a child is present.

County commissioners on Friday approved a smoking ban by a 2-1 vote that prohibits smoking if a child age 13 or younger is also in the vehicle

March 27

The travel bans, which have not been brought in by all banks, have focused on those visiting the US, following the detention there last year of a senior private banker from UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, as part of a federal tax investigation.

The head of the private bank, which itself has no travel restrictions, said: "Today if you are a banker from Switzerland going to the US you have to fear you will be taken in for questioning. I am thinking twice about going to America."

March 26

In response to a controversial report profiling political beliefs of militia members, the Missouri House of Representatives has barred the Department of Public Safety from spending any "state or federal funds for political profiling."

On a voice vote, the Republican-controlled House adopted an amendment to the budget bill for Department of Public Safety, forbidding that state agency from funding reports like the Missouri Information Analysis Center's recent Feb. 20 "modern militia movement" report.

The Department of Public Safety has apologized for the militia report, which links fundamentalist Christians, strict followers of the U.S. Constitution and people who oppose taxes, abortion and illegal immigration as possible members of militias.

March 26

Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random drug testing.

The effort comes as more Americans turn to these safety nets to ride out the recession. Poverty and civil liberties advocates fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse.

March 26

The internet has changed politics - changed it utterly and forever. Twenty-four hours ago, I made a three-minute speech in the European Parliament, aimed at Gordon Brown. I tipped off the BBC and some of the newspaper correspondents but, unsurprisingly, they ignored me: I am, after all, simply a backbench MEP.

March 25

Motorists who miss their license plate frames with favorite slogans or team may soon be able to put them back on their cars.

But they'd best drive carefully.

Legislation that won preliminary House approval Tuesday retains the law imposed last year making it illegal to cover any part of the word "Arizona" on a license plate. Rep. Bill Konopnicki, R-Safford, said he was unable to get colleagues to repeal the statute.

March 23

But where's the outrage about the circumstances that allow this all to happen to begin with? Where is the outrage about the ease with which politicians can expropriate hundreds of billions of taxpayers' funds to do these bailouts?

...

It shows a practically perfect correlation. The more secure private property is in a given country, the more prosperous it is. Countries rated in the top 25 percent in secure and safe private property have on average nine times more income per person than those in the bottom 25 percent.

March 19

"Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime," Richardson said in a statement Wednesday.

He noted that more than 130 death row inmates have been exonerated in the past 10 years, including four in New Mexico.

February 20

Advertisement for "Ron Paul *IS* My President" bumper stickers, t-shirts, mouse pads and related.

April 05

[editor's note: we invaded and set up "democracy" for this????]

Six gay men were shot dead by members of their tribe in two separate incidents in the past 10 days, an official with Iraq's Interior ministry said.

In the most recent attack, two men were killed Thursday in Sadr City area of Baghdad after they were disowned by relatives, the official said.

April 03

The Iowa Supreme Court this morning upheld a Polk County judge's 2007 ruling that marriage should not be limited to one man and one woman.

The ruling, viewed nationally and at home as a victory for the gay rights movement and a setback for social conservatives, means Iowa's 5,800 gay couples can legally marry in Iowa beginning April 24.

There are no residency rules for marriage in Iowa, so the rule would apply to any couple who wanted to travel to Iowa.

April 01

The proposals, in Senate legislation that could be introduced as early as today, would broaden the focus of the government's cybersecurity efforts to include not only military networks but also private systems that control essentials such as electricity and water distribution. At the same time, the bill would add regulatory teeth to ensure industry compliance with the rules, congressional officials familiar with the plan said yesterday.

April 01

The U.S. Justice Department will drop its case Wednesday against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who was accused of seven counts of corruption, NPR reported.

Justice Department sources confirm to FOX News that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided to abandon the case due to prosecutorial misconduct.

April 01

The European Central Bank said Wednesday that it had completed sales of 35.5 tonnes of gold under the terms of a 2004 central bank agreement.

While the ECB did not provide financial details of the sale, with gold prices at around 920 dollars an ounce, the latest sales would have a value on the order of 1.15 billion dollars (870 million euros).

Analysts said they could only speculate on what the money raised might be used for, while noting that the sales were part of a normal procedure.

March 31

The video purporting to show Vice President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley snorting cocaine was preplanned by a man trying to get rich selling the tape, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

The man, who is apparently a friend of Ashley's, even bought the cocaine and the hidden camera, our investigation has uncovered.

March 31

While many restaurants are making the change themselves, a bill in the Maine Legislature proposes to mandate a ban on trans fats.

Rep. David Webster told Maine Public Radio he wants Maine to join a national movement to eliminate the use of trans fat in foods. The Freeport Democrat points to studies that link the consumption of high trans fat foods and cardiovascular disease.

March 31

Authorities say Bennett illegally tapped into the IRS computers about 285 times from May to November 2007 and gathered information allowing her to prepare false 2006 tax returns for six people.

California: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/03/31/us/AP-IRS-Agent-Fraud.html?_r=1&ref=global-home">IRS Agent Admits Cheating on Own Taxes</a><p>

March 31

The Tribune Company, the city's other major newspaper owner, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2008, and with the latest Sun-Times development, both newspapers are now in Chapter 11.

Some newspapers have gone out of business completely or switched to Web-only formats in recent months. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver posted its last edition on Feb. 27, while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer went all online earlier this month.

March 30

and on March 27, 1984, the Maryland Senate had enacted legislation that would let the city condemn the franchise and claim it under eminent domain. With the proposal headed for the state House, Colts owner Robert Irsay felt he had a gun to his head; control of his team was in jeopardy.

March 28

A Connecticut middle school principal has laid down the law: You put your hands on someone -- anyone -- in any way, you're going to pay.

A violent incident that put one student in the hospital has officials at the Milford school implementing a "no touching" policy, according to a letter written by the school's principal.

March 27

A police officer was placed on administrative leave Thursday over a traffic stop involving an NFL player whom he kept in a hospital parking lot and threatened to arrest while his mother-in-law died inside the building.

Officer Robert Powell also drew his gun during the March 18 incident involving Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats in the Dallas suburb of Plano, police said.

"I can screw you over," he said at one point in the videotaped incident. When another officer came with word that Moats' mother-in-law was indeed dying, Powell's response was: "All right. I'm almost done."

March 27

14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography for posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com &mdash; charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.

The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail.

Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child pornography charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site.

March 26

One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago's Rahm Emanuel&mdash;now chief of staff to President Barack Obama&mdash;who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort.

March 24

Remember it is the little invasions to our liberties that open cracks for increased federal power and decreased freedom. "Amendment to prohibit organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist, promote, or deter union organizing." Those in support of this legislation will argue this amendment is limited in scope and is not meant to interfere with the rights of citizens to protest, petition, boycott, or strike in resistance to government proposed laws.

However, the people associated through service under the GIVE Act are considered volunteers, still free citizens, yet it will be unlawful for them to take part in any protests against any legislation. This is as close to a sedition act, a violation of 1st Amendment rights, as has been proposed in recent history. A basic right as a part of our natural, inalienable rights, is to resist government. Our founders not only knew it was a right but it was a responsibility. This legislation begins to break that down significantly.

March 24

In its simplest form, a CDS is just a bet on an outcome. Say Bank A writes a million-dollar mortgage to the Pope for a town house in the West Village. Bank A wants to hedge its mortgage risk in case the Pope can't make his monthly payments, so it buys CDS protection from Bank B, wherein it agrees to pay Bank B a premium of $1,000 a month for five years. In return, Bank B agrees to pay Bank A the full million-dollar value of the Pope's mortgage if he defaults. In theory, Bank A is covered if the Pope goes on a meth binge and loses his job . . . .

what's happening in the Fed amounts to something truly revolutionary &mdash; a kind of shadow government with a budget many times the size of the normal federal outlay, administered dictatorially by one man, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke

March 23

Pima County is trying to seize land belonging to an Avra Valley woman found not guilty in November of breeding pit bulls for dogfighting.

The Pima County Attorney's Office is pursuing civil forfeiture proceedings against two properties &mdash; one in Picture Rocks and the other in Cochise County &mdash; owned by Emily Dennis, who was accused last year of breeding dogs for dogfighting rings.

County officials say that just because Dennis was acquitted of the charges doesn't mean she wasn't breaking the law.

March 23

Police in Michigan say a 15-year-old boy has died after being Tasered by officers who were trying to break up a fight.

A Bay City police news release says officers answered a report of an early morning fight on Sunday. The statement says two males were arguing in an apartment, and one of them "attempted to fight the officers."

Police say officers Tasered him, and his reaction led them to immediately call for emergency medical help. He was pronounced dead at Bay Regional Medical Center.

Deputy Chief Thomas Pletzke tells WNEM-TV police placed one officer on administrative leave.

March 22

tate government is protected from a stumbling economy in at least one way -- the Indiana Toll Road -- thanks to the lease deal that has effectively insulated it from declining traffic and fewer tolls.

The state leased the 157-mile Toll Road to a private consortium for $3.8 billion in 2006 -- money that is nonrefundable no matter how bad the economy gets.

...

If the firms did go bankrupt, the state would resume control of the Toll Road and keep all of the $3.8 billion.

March 20

In case you're not doing the math, the recent major party county and congressional district chair elections mean that the CD 07 Democratic and Republican party chairs and the Marion County Republican Party chair all hail from the same law firm, Ice Miller LLP, and even the same (public affairs) practice group.

March 20

You'll soon need more than your John Hancock to sell your house in Cook County. Homeowners will have to submit their right thumbprint to a notary public to sell their house under a state law that starts June 1.

The law is intended to deter housing fraud, which often involves forging a property owner's signature on a deed and selling the property illegally. Sellers also must provide valid photo identification. The thumbprints will not be public records.

March 19

Under section 6104 of the bill, entitled "Duties," in subsection B6, the legislation states that a commission will be set up to investigate, "Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory servicerequirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."

Section 120 of the bill also discusses the "Youth Engagement Zone Program" and states that "service learning

March 17

That paranoia has allowed East Bridgewater Savings Bank to stand out among a flurry a failing banks, with no delinquent loans or foreclosures on its books, the Journal reported. East Bridgewater Savings didn't even need to set aside in money in 2008 for anticipated loan losses.

But rather than reward Petrucelli's tactics, the FDIC recently criticized his bank for not lending enough, slapping it with a "needs to improve" rating under the Community Reinvestment Act, the Journal reported.

February 20

Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations.The legislation, which echoes a measure proposed by one of their Democratic colleagues three years ago, would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers and is certain to draw fire from businesses and privacy advocates.