Drugs is really a worldwide problem.............
Violence erupt due to drug related cases...........
Families broke because of drugs.....
Drug Addicted Parents abandon and killed their children.........
People kill people.......
Children gets aborted by drug addicted mothers.......
College students warned about Mexico travel
Drug violence spurs U.S., colleges to issue alerts before spring break
The U.S. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students headed for Mexico for some spring-break partying of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border.
"We're not necessarily telling students not to go, but we're going to certainly alert them," said Tom Dougan, vice president for student affairs at the University of Rhode Island. "There have been Americans kidnapped, and if you go you need to be very aware and very alert to this fact."
More than 100,000 high school- and college-age Americans travel to Mexican resort areas during spring break each year. Much of the drug violence is happening in border towns, and tourists have generally not been targeted, though there have been killings in the big spring-break resorts of Acapulco and Cancun, well away from the border.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Obama team eyes green jobs, insulated homes
Part of the stimulus budget..........
To provide home energy efficiency.........
To provide more jobs........
To help the people have their lives back.........
By providing new job opportunities.......
Obama team eyes green jobs, insulated homes
$16 billion weatherization plan unveiled at middle class task force meeting
President Barack Obama's task force on middle-class issues began its work Friday with a panel discussion on green jobs — and an announcement that the energy and housing departments would work together to spend $16 billion to weatherize homes and create a green industry for home energy efficiency.
Vice President Joe Biden, who chairs the task force, called the weatherization plan a "historic partnership to create thousands of jobs in the retro-fitting and weatherization industry."
The Energy and Housing and Urban Development departments agreed to coordinate home weatherization spending provided by the $787 economic stimulus bill that Obama signed last week.
HUD said it would put up $4.5 billion to renovate and upgrade public housing. The Energy Department will invest $5 billion in weatherization funds; $3.2 billion for a new Energy and Environment Block Grant that cities and states can use to retrofit homes; and $3.1 billion for a program that states can tap into.
The task force also heard from experts on the potential to create and fill green jobs.
Broadly defined as related to improving the environment, green jobs pay up to 20 percent more than other jobs, are more likely to be union jobs and likelier held by men, less so by minorities and city dwellers, according to a task force staff report released at Friday's meeting in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. Green jobs also are largely domestic jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.
$11 billion for smart grid
The $787 billion economic stimulus bill Obama signed last week includes billions to help create such jobs as installing solar panels and building wind turbines, which also is part of his goal to nudge the country away from dependence on foreign oil and toward reliance on renewable forms of energy.
Among the provisions: $11 billion for investments in a smart grid to create more than 3,000 miles of new or modernized high-tech transmission lines; $6 billion for a loan guarantee program to encourage banks to finance green investments; and $500 million for a "green job" training program to be run by the Department of Labor.
It is Obama's belief that such jobs will help raise living standards for middle-class families, who didn't fare well before the current economic downturn set in and are now feeling pinched along with millions of other people who have lost their jobs and homes, and watched retirement and college savings disappear.
Obama announced the panel last month at the White House. Its purpose is to recommend ways to boost the nation's middle class. It also will evaluate new and existing policies to determine whether they are helping or hurting the middle class.
"Quite simply, a strong middle class equals a strong America. We can't have one without the other," Biden said at the time. "It is our charge to get the middle class, the backbone of this country, up and running again."
To provide home energy efficiency.........
To provide more jobs........
To help the people have their lives back.........
By providing new job opportunities.......
Obama team eyes green jobs, insulated homes
$16 billion weatherization plan unveiled at middle class task force meeting
President Barack Obama's task force on middle-class issues began its work Friday with a panel discussion on green jobs — and an announcement that the energy and housing departments would work together to spend $16 billion to weatherize homes and create a green industry for home energy efficiency.
Vice President Joe Biden, who chairs the task force, called the weatherization plan a "historic partnership to create thousands of jobs in the retro-fitting and weatherization industry."
The Energy and Housing and Urban Development departments agreed to coordinate home weatherization spending provided by the $787 economic stimulus bill that Obama signed last week.
HUD said it would put up $4.5 billion to renovate and upgrade public housing. The Energy Department will invest $5 billion in weatherization funds; $3.2 billion for a new Energy and Environment Block Grant that cities and states can use to retrofit homes; and $3.1 billion for a program that states can tap into.
The task force also heard from experts on the potential to create and fill green jobs.
Broadly defined as related to improving the environment, green jobs pay up to 20 percent more than other jobs, are more likely to be union jobs and likelier held by men, less so by minorities and city dwellers, according to a task force staff report released at Friday's meeting in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. Green jobs also are largely domestic jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.
$11 billion for smart grid
The $787 billion economic stimulus bill Obama signed last week includes billions to help create such jobs as installing solar panels and building wind turbines, which also is part of his goal to nudge the country away from dependence on foreign oil and toward reliance on renewable forms of energy.
Among the provisions: $11 billion for investments in a smart grid to create more than 3,000 miles of new or modernized high-tech transmission lines; $6 billion for a loan guarantee program to encourage banks to finance green investments; and $500 million for a "green job" training program to be run by the Department of Labor.
It is Obama's belief that such jobs will help raise living standards for middle-class families, who didn't fare well before the current economic downturn set in and are now feeling pinched along with millions of other people who have lost their jobs and homes, and watched retirement and college savings disappear.
Obama announced the panel last month at the White House. Its purpose is to recommend ways to boost the nation's middle class. It also will evaluate new and existing policies to determine whether they are helping or hurting the middle class.
"Quite simply, a strong middle class equals a strong America. We can't have one without the other," Biden said at the time. "It is our charge to get the middle class, the backbone of this country, up and running again."
U.S. will boost stake in Citigroup to 36%
The government of the United States of America is doing their methods to rescue the Citigroup...
Let's hope that this would work-out.......
Let's hope that the confidence of the investors would be back.....
Let's hope that they would invest again......
For the Economy sake.....
U.S. will boost stake in Citigroup to 36%
The U.S. government will exchange up to $25 billion in emergency bailout money it provided Citigroup Inc. for as much as a 36 percent equity stake in the struggling bank, greatly increasing the risks to taxpayers as voter unhappiness about the broader bailout program rises.
The deal announced Friday by the company and the Treasury Department represents the third rescue attempt for Citigroup in the past five months. It is contingent on private investors agreeing to a similar swap.
The administration decided to restructure the bailout package for Citigroup again in the hopes that converting $25 billion of preferred shares into common stock would give investors more confidence the bank has sufficient capital reserves to withstand mounting losses on its holdings of mortgages and other loans. While the conversion to common stock will dilute current shareholders' investments, a wider equity base could calm investors since there would be more reserves in place to guard against further losses as the economy sours.
Besides a stronger capital base, the company is getting a critical boost to its cash flow as it forgoes its 4 cent annual dividend on its common shares. That is giving Citi an additional $2.18 billion a year.
But the deal does not affect one of Citi's greatest problems, the billions of dollars in failed mortgage-backed securities that still sit on its books. As those investments have fallen in value, they have exacerbated Citi's losses.
The plan comes one day after the Obama administration laid the groundwork in its first budget request for greatly increasing the size of the $700 billion bailout program that Congress passed in October. Administration officials said no decisions had been made yet but suggested the size of the effort could be expanded by as much as another $750 billion.
The swap of $25 billion of preferred shares into common stock will expose the government to the same risks facing other holders of the bank's common stock. Shares of Citigroup and many other financial companies have plunged as the sector undergoes its worst crisis in seven decades.
But the administration is mindful about growing unhappiness among voters and lawmakers in the huge sums that have been provided to the nation's banks, money that so far seems to have done little to stabilize the situation.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, President Barack Obama stressed that the government effort was not aimed at bailing out bank executives who had made bad loans, but instead in getting credit flowing again to consumers and businesses.
"I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions," Obama said. "I promise you — I get it."
The aim of the government's rescue effort is to keep the New York bank holding company alive and bolster its capital as it faces growing losses amid the intensifying global recession. Existing Citi shareholders would see their ownership stake shrink to as little as 26 percent.
Investors appeared disappointed in the deal and expected dilution of their stake, sending shares plummeting 91 cents, or 37 percent, to a new 52-week low of $1.55 in afternoon trading. Stocks tumbled early but pulled off their lows as the Dow Jones industrial average came within 34 points of breaching the 7,000 mark for the first time in more than 11 years.
Underscoring its precarious nature, the company also disclosed that it recorded a goodwill impairment charge of about $9.6 billion due to deterioration in the financial markets.
The Treasury Department said the transaction requires no new federal funds. But it left the door open for Citigroup to seek additional government funding or for the conversion to common shares of the remaining $20 billion in federal bailout money it received late last year. The government currently holds about an 8 percent stake in Citi.
For now, that $20 billion in government funding will be converted into a new class of preferred shares that will be senior to other bank debt and it will continue to pay a yearly 8 percent cash dividend. As part of the deal, the payout for all other preferred shares will be suspended.
Citi will offer to exchange up to $27.5 billion of its existing preferred stock held by private investors at a conversion price of $3.25 per share. That's a 32 percent premium over Thursday's closing price of $2.46.
The Government of Singapore Investment Corp., Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Capital Research Global Investors and Capital World Investors are among the private investors that said they would participate in the exchange.
The conversion will help provide Citi the mix of capital to withstand further weakening in the economy. The stock-conversion option was laid out by the administration earlier this week as an option for providing relief to banks. It gives the government greater flexibility in dealing with ailing banks. It also gives the government voting shares, and therefore more say in a bank's operations.
But common shares absorb losses before preferred shares do, which means taxpayers would be on the hook if banks keep writing down billions of dollars' worth of rotten assets, such as dodgy mortgages, as many analysts expect they will.
On the other hand, common stock in banks is incredibly cheap, and taxpayers would reap gains if the banks come back to health and the stock price goes up.
One of the hardest hit banks by the ongoing credit crisis, Citi has also received guarantees from the government protecting it from the bulk of losses on $300 billion of risky investments. Citi has been especially hit hard by investments in the mortgage market, which began to collapse in 2007.
The deal comes as Citi is in the process of shedding assets and cutting staff as it looks to reduce costs and streamline operations ahead of splitting its traditional banking businesses from its riskier operations. Citi last month reached a deal to sell a majority stake in its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley.
Citi also will reshape its board of directors, Richard Parsons, the bank's chairman, said in a statement Friday. The board, which currently has 15 members, will have a majority of new independent directors as soon as possible, he said.
Three board members in recent weeks have said they would not seek re-election as the company's annual shareholders meeting in April. Two others will reach the mandatory retirement age by the time of the meeting.
Roberto Hernandez Ramirez earlier this month said he would not stay on beyond his current term. Last month, Robert Rubin, a former Treasury secretary who was a longtime Citigroup board member, and Win Bischoff, most recently chairman at Citigroup, announced their retirements from the company.
The goodwill charge announced Friday was added to Citi's 2008 results along with a $374 million impairment charge tied to its Nikko Asset Management unit. The charges resulted in Citi revising its 2008 loss to $27.7 billion, or $5.59 per share.
Let's hope that this would work-out.......
Let's hope that the confidence of the investors would be back.....
Let's hope that they would invest again......
For the Economy sake.....
U.S. will boost stake in Citigroup to 36%
The U.S. government will exchange up to $25 billion in emergency bailout money it provided Citigroup Inc. for as much as a 36 percent equity stake in the struggling bank, greatly increasing the risks to taxpayers as voter unhappiness about the broader bailout program rises.
The deal announced Friday by the company and the Treasury Department represents the third rescue attempt for Citigroup in the past five months. It is contingent on private investors agreeing to a similar swap.
The administration decided to restructure the bailout package for Citigroup again in the hopes that converting $25 billion of preferred shares into common stock would give investors more confidence the bank has sufficient capital reserves to withstand mounting losses on its holdings of mortgages and other loans. While the conversion to common stock will dilute current shareholders' investments, a wider equity base could calm investors since there would be more reserves in place to guard against further losses as the economy sours.
Besides a stronger capital base, the company is getting a critical boost to its cash flow as it forgoes its 4 cent annual dividend on its common shares. That is giving Citi an additional $2.18 billion a year.
But the deal does not affect one of Citi's greatest problems, the billions of dollars in failed mortgage-backed securities that still sit on its books. As those investments have fallen in value, they have exacerbated Citi's losses.
The plan comes one day after the Obama administration laid the groundwork in its first budget request for greatly increasing the size of the $700 billion bailout program that Congress passed in October. Administration officials said no decisions had been made yet but suggested the size of the effort could be expanded by as much as another $750 billion.
The swap of $25 billion of preferred shares into common stock will expose the government to the same risks facing other holders of the bank's common stock. Shares of Citigroup and many other financial companies have plunged as the sector undergoes its worst crisis in seven decades.
But the administration is mindful about growing unhappiness among voters and lawmakers in the huge sums that have been provided to the nation's banks, money that so far seems to have done little to stabilize the situation.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, President Barack Obama stressed that the government effort was not aimed at bailing out bank executives who had made bad loans, but instead in getting credit flowing again to consumers and businesses.
"I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions," Obama said. "I promise you — I get it."
The aim of the government's rescue effort is to keep the New York bank holding company alive and bolster its capital as it faces growing losses amid the intensifying global recession. Existing Citi shareholders would see their ownership stake shrink to as little as 26 percent.
Investors appeared disappointed in the deal and expected dilution of their stake, sending shares plummeting 91 cents, or 37 percent, to a new 52-week low of $1.55 in afternoon trading. Stocks tumbled early but pulled off their lows as the Dow Jones industrial average came within 34 points of breaching the 7,000 mark for the first time in more than 11 years.
Underscoring its precarious nature, the company also disclosed that it recorded a goodwill impairment charge of about $9.6 billion due to deterioration in the financial markets.
The Treasury Department said the transaction requires no new federal funds. But it left the door open for Citigroup to seek additional government funding or for the conversion to common shares of the remaining $20 billion in federal bailout money it received late last year. The government currently holds about an 8 percent stake in Citi.
For now, that $20 billion in government funding will be converted into a new class of preferred shares that will be senior to other bank debt and it will continue to pay a yearly 8 percent cash dividend. As part of the deal, the payout for all other preferred shares will be suspended.
Citi will offer to exchange up to $27.5 billion of its existing preferred stock held by private investors at a conversion price of $3.25 per share. That's a 32 percent premium over Thursday's closing price of $2.46.
The Government of Singapore Investment Corp., Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Capital Research Global Investors and Capital World Investors are among the private investors that said they would participate in the exchange.
The conversion will help provide Citi the mix of capital to withstand further weakening in the economy. The stock-conversion option was laid out by the administration earlier this week as an option for providing relief to banks. It gives the government greater flexibility in dealing with ailing banks. It also gives the government voting shares, and therefore more say in a bank's operations.
But common shares absorb losses before preferred shares do, which means taxpayers would be on the hook if banks keep writing down billions of dollars' worth of rotten assets, such as dodgy mortgages, as many analysts expect they will.
On the other hand, common stock in banks is incredibly cheap, and taxpayers would reap gains if the banks come back to health and the stock price goes up.
One of the hardest hit banks by the ongoing credit crisis, Citi has also received guarantees from the government protecting it from the bulk of losses on $300 billion of risky investments. Citi has been especially hit hard by investments in the mortgage market, which began to collapse in 2007.
The deal comes as Citi is in the process of shedding assets and cutting staff as it looks to reduce costs and streamline operations ahead of splitting its traditional banking businesses from its riskier operations. Citi last month reached a deal to sell a majority stake in its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley.
Citi also will reshape its board of directors, Richard Parsons, the bank's chairman, said in a statement Friday. The board, which currently has 15 members, will have a majority of new independent directors as soon as possible, he said.
Three board members in recent weeks have said they would not seek re-election as the company's annual shareholders meeting in April. Two others will reach the mandatory retirement age by the time of the meeting.
Roberto Hernandez Ramirez earlier this month said he would not stay on beyond his current term. Last month, Robert Rubin, a former Treasury secretary who was a longtime Citigroup board member, and Win Bischoff, most recently chairman at Citigroup, announced their retirements from the company.
The goodwill charge announced Friday was added to Citi's 2008 results along with a $374 million impairment charge tied to its Nikko Asset Management unit. The charges resulted in Citi revising its 2008 loss to $27.7 billion, or $5.59 per share.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Obama signs Stimulus Bill into LAW
I do hope that this stimulus bill would do good on the economic crisis.....
The Economy really needs innovations......
This Crisis should be put to an end.......
Maybe not now, but I do hope SOON.....
I do HOPE and PRAY everything would work out....
President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus bill Tuesday, marking the passage of one the biggest pieces of economic legislation in history.
The Economy really needs innovations......
This Crisis should be put to an end.......
Maybe not now, but I do hope SOON.....
I do HOPE and PRAY everything would work out....
President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus bill Tuesday, marking the passage of one the biggest pieces of economic legislation in history.
DENVER - Racing to reverse the country's economic spiral, President Barack Obama signed the mammoth stimulus package into law Tuesday and readied a new $50 billion foreclosure rescue for legions of Americans who are in danger of losing their homes.
There was no recovery yet for beleaguered automakers, who were back in Washington for more bailout billions.
General Motors Corp. said it was closing plants, Chrysler LLC said it was cutting vehicle models and both said they were getting rid of thousands more jobs as they made their restructuring cases for $5 billion more for Chrysler and as much as $16.6 billion more for GM. The United Auto Workers union said it had agreed to tentative concessions that could help Detroit's struggling Big Three.
Anything but reassured, Wall Street dove ever lower. The Dow Jones industrials fell 297.81 points, closing less than a point above their lowest level in five and a half years.
Sober tone over victoryObama focused on the $787 billion stimulus plan, an ambitious package of federal spending and tax cuts designed to revive the economy and save millions of jobs. Most wage-earners will soon see the first paycheck evidence of tax breaks that will total $400 for individuals and $800 for couples.
The stimulus package was a huge victory for Obama less than one month into his presidency. But he struck a sober tone and lowered expectations for an immediate turnaround in the severe recession that is well into its second year.
"None of this will be easy," he said. "The road to recovery will not be straight. We will make progress, and there may be some slippage along the way."
Still, he declared, "We have begun the essential work of keeping the American dream alive in our time."
Underscoring energy-related investments in the new law, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden flew separately to Denver where the president signed it at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science before roughly 250 people including alternative energy business leaders. Earlier, the pair examined solar panels on the museum's roof.
On to housing rescueOn Wednesday, Obama will outline another big piece of his recovery effort — a $50 billion plan to help stem foreclosures — in Arizona, one of the states hardest hit by the mortgage defaults that are at the center of the nation's economic woes.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner mentioned the housing program last week as he rolled out a wide-ranging financial-sector rescue plan that could send $2 trillion coursing through the financial system. Obama is expected to detail how the administration plans to prod the mortgage industry to do more in modifying the terms of home loans so borrowers have lower monthly payments.
More than 2.3 million homeowners coast-to-coast faced foreclosure proceedings last year, an 81 percent increase from 2007. Analysts say that number could soar as high as 10 million in the coming years, depending on the severity of the recession.
In Denver, Obama said the stimulus package had received broad support in Washington and elsewhere, though Democrats pushed it to passage with only three Republican votes in the Senate and none in the House.
One of the biggest public spending programs since World War II, the new law is designed to create jobs in the short term and to boost consumer confidence to battle the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. It also makes down payments on Obama's health care, energy and education goals.
'Beginnings of the first steps'Taking the long view, Obama cast the law as just "the beginnings of the first steps" to jerk the country out of a crisis he inherited from GOP President George W. Bush.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, asked by reporters, would not rule out another stimulus in the future, though he said a sequel was not in the works "at this point." He added, "The president is going to do whatever he thinks is necessary to get our economy moving again."
The nation's distressed economy has dominated Obama's first weeks in office.
While laying the groundwork to address woes in the auto, financial and housing sectors, Obama spent some of his political capital lobbying hard for the stimulus package that the Democratic-controlled Congress approved last week. Obama has essentially pinned his political future on his prescriptions for the ailing economy, going so far as to raise the possibility of a one-term presidency if he fails.
There's no guarantee that Obama's enormous marshaling of resources and multi-pronged approach will stunt the economic freefall, much less produce jobs or bring prosperity. The only thing certain is that Obama is on track to boost a federal debt that stands at $10.7 trillion.
Clearly mindful of that, Obama said: "We will need to do everything in the short term to get our economy moving again" as well as "begin restoring fiscal discipline and taming our exploding deficits over the long term."
As he spoke in Denver, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC were racing to complete plans detailing how they would repay government loans and restructure their operations to remain viable. Detroit's third major automaker, Ford Motor Co., has not requested government help.
GM submitted a dire plan to the Treasury Department, saying it would try to borrow up to $16.6 billion more from the government on top of the $13.4 billion it has received. The plan includes cutting 47,000 more jobs and closing five more U.S. factories.
Chrysler said it needed $5 billion more to survive on top of the $4 billion in government loans it received in December. It said it would cut 3,000 jobs and three vehicle models as part of its restructuring plan.
The United Auto Workers union said it had reached a tentative deal with Chrysler, GM and Ford to modify its contracts with the automakers to help them endure.
As a White House task force prepared to oversee the companies' restructuring, presidential spokesman Gibbs said the administration had not closed the door to a government-backed bankruptcy for the companies.
GM said it had considered bankruptcy, but the only credit available to finance a reorganization would be from the government and that could cost as much as $100 billion.
As for the stimulus plan, Obama contends it will create or save 3.5 million jobs. Critics, mostly Republicans, contend it is filled with wasteful spending and provisions that won't boost the economy.
Recession victims will get extended unemployment benefits and help with health care coverage, as well as more food stamps and job training opportunities. States will get cash to prevent them from cutting aid for schools and local governments. Billions are slated for road and bridge construction, mass transit, high-speed rail and national parks.
Middle-income and wealthy taxpayers will be spared from income tax increase that would otherwise hit them. First-time home buyers, new car buyers, college students, poor families with several children and people who make their homes energy efficient also will get breaks.
The measure also includes money for three top items on the president's agenda — expanding computerized information technology in the health care industry, creating "green" jobs Obama says will help wean the country off foreign oil dependence, and improving the quality of kindergarten through 12th grade education.
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