Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
UPDATE: Obama Delivers $3.6 Trillion Budget Blueprint
President Barack Obama delivered a $3.6 trillion budget blueprint to Congress Thursday that aims to “break from a troubled past,” with expanded government activism, tax increases on affluent families and businesses, and spending cuts targeted at those he says profited from “an era of profound irresponsibility.” The budget blueprint for fiscal year 2010 is one [...]
Unexpected 667K New Jobless Claims / New-Home Sales Tumble
New jobless claims rose more than expected last week and the number of Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits has topped 5.1 million, fresh evidence the recession is increasingly forcing employers to shed jobs. The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time requests for unemployment benefits jumped to 667,000 from the previous week’s figure of 631,000. [...]
Dem Dispute Delays Mortgage Relief Bill
A dispute among House Democrats stalled legislation Thursday to let bankruptcy judges reduce the principal and interest rate on mortgages for debt-strapped homeowners. The measure, backed by President Barack Obama, is the most controversial part of a broader housing package that had been expected to pass the House this week. It hit a snag after [...]
In President’s Budget Plan, Broad Agenda and a Few Gaps
President Obama’s spending plan is built on the assumption that lawmakers can resolve some hugely contentious issues — and it relies on a few well-worn budget tricks. The request he will deliver to Congress today proposes to provide what administration officials are calling a “down payment” on a major expansion of health care coverage [...]
Apple Director Says No Change In Jobs’ Plans
Steve Jobs may be out of sight, but Apple’s ailing CEO was not far from the thoughts of investors, who are slowly confronting the prospect of Apple (AAPL) without its charismatic, visionary co-founder. At the company’s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, there were more questions than answers about Jobs, who last month said he is [...]
Obama Forecasts The Biggest U.S. Deficit Since WW2 – $1.75 Trillion
President Barack Obama will forecast the biggest U.S. deficit since World War Two in a budget that urges a costly overhaul of the healthcare system and would spend billions to arrest the economy’s freefall. An eye-popping $1.75 trillion deficit for the 2009 fiscal year is projected in Obama’s first budget, according to U.S. officials who [...]
Opinion – The Kindle Swindle? By Roy Blount, Jr.
BEING president of too many well-meaning organizations put my father into an early grave. The lesson in this was not lost on me. But now I am president of the Authors Guild, whose mission is to sustain book-writing as a viable occupation. This borders on quixotic, given all the new ways of not getting paid [...]
Obama Wants To Tax The Rich To Pay For Health care
President Obama will propose further tax increases on the affluent to help pay for his promise to make health care more accessible and affordable, calling for stricter limits on the benefits of itemized deductions taken by the wealthiest households, administration officials said Wednesday.
To Pay for Health Care, Obama Looks to Taxes on Affluent
G.M. Loses $9.6 Billion as Its Struggles Continue
The automaker General Motors said Thursday that its cash reserves were down to $14 billion at the end of 2008, a year when the industry’s worst sales slump in decades nearly forced the company into bankruptcy before the federal government gave it a lifeline. G.M. lost $30.9 billion, or $53.32 a share, in 2008 [...]
Pakistan’s Leader Stirs Fresh Turmoil
When Asif Ali Zardari won the presidency last year, he vowed to unite this fractious country after nearly a decade of military rule. Instead, Mr. Zardari is emerging as a divisive figure at a time when Pakistan faces a rising Islamist insurgency and a stuttering economy. By Matthew Rosenberg and Zahid Hussain for the Wall [...]
