Month: July 2012

Ed DeMarco, Top Housing Official, Defies White House

HUFFINGTON POST:  …In the letter sent Tuesday to Congress, DeMarco said that projected benefit to taxpayers is $500 million in the best case, and that most of this aid would go to homeowners who haven’t made a mortgage payment in more than a year… “This could give borrowers who are current on their mortgages a […]

Romney fails to impress

ALJAZEERA:  …The former Massachusetts governor’s first stop was in the UK, where he managed to earn the ire of the city’s mayor, Boris Johnson, after Romney said he had heard “disconcerting” reports about the city’s preparations to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Then in Israel, another long-time US ally, Romney said that the country’s […]

Congressional leaders reach budget deal

From the FINANCIAL TIMES: …News of the six-month funding deal came in statements from John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, and Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate majority leader. The budget deal does not resolve the bigger issue of the so-called “fiscal cliff” looming at the end of the year, when Congress will face a series of difficult and costly budget decisions.

Postal Service To Default On $5.5 Billion Payment

HUFFINGTON POST:  …The agency’s failure to make good on a $5.5 billion payment toward retiree health benefits comes as no surprise, and the default won’t have any immediate effects on the postal service’s day-to-day operations, the agency assured in a statement. But the missed payment — reportedly the first of its kind in the post […]

Financials show liquor board not as profitable as state claims

PENNSYLVANIA INDEPENDENT: Pennsylvania’s politicians may be saddling the state-owned liquor monopoly with obligations that it can’t long fulfill. As two separate GOP privatization plans — one in the House and one in the Senate — lay in wait, public documents make clear that the state has consistently overestimated how much the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, […]

High Court Weighs In on Police Taking DNA

WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Supreme Court on Monday signaled its interest in resolving a clash over the constitutionality of laws that authorize police to take DNA samples from people who have been arrested but haven’t been convicted of a crime… Chief Justice Roberts suggested the odds of the Supreme Court considering the case were good, […]

Syrian army pounds Aleppo, rebels claim successes

REUTERS: Syrian helicopter gunships and artillery pounded two key areas of Aleppo on Tuesday, extending the army’s campaign to control the country’s biggest city, but rebel fighters said troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had been forced to retreat. Heavy gunfire sounded from the Salaheddine district in the southwest of the city, where rebels denied […]

Official says India’s power grid fails for second day

From USA TODAY / AP: …grids collapsed, leaving more than 600 million people without government-supplied electricity in one of the world’s biggest-ever blackouts. Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in New Delhi. Electric crematoria stopped operating, some with bodies half burnt, power officials said. The […]

Bloomberg’s Breastfeeding Program, ‘Latch On NYC,’ Wants Hospitals To Change Baby Formula Protocol

From the HUFFINGTON POST: Starting in September, Mayor Bloomberg’s push to encourage breastfeeding will incorporate a new program urging hospitals to keep baby formula under lockdown. The New York Post reports new mothers will not be denied formula, but if requested, they’ll receive a mandated talk from staffers and nurses on why they should opt out.