Posts from — February 2010

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, suggested Friday the organization might one day be called on to provide countries with a global reserve currency that would serve as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.

“That day has not yet come, but I think it is intellectually healthy to explore these kinds of ideas now,” he said in a speech on the future mandate of the 186-nation Washington-based lending organization.

via Head of IMF Proposes New Reserve Currency – ABC News.

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Democrat Charles Rangel says he will not step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee even though the ethics committee found that he violated House rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean.

Rangel said Friday that the ethics report “exonerates” him because it says there is no evidence that he knew the trips were sponsored by corporations. The report said his staff knew who paid for the trips.

Rangel of New York said he truly doesn’t understand why the committee admonished him.

via Rangel says report ‘exonerates’ him, will stay on.

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The ethics committee’s decision on Rangel’s trips resolves just a small part of the ethical controversy in which he’s caught up. The ethics committee is still investigating a variety of issues related to Rangel’s personal finances, including his use of a rent-stabilized apartment, his fundraising on behalf of a research institute bearing his name, and his failure to declare hundreds of thousands of dollars on income and assets on annual financial-disclosure reports.

via Charlie Rangel ruling puts Nancy Pelosi in a jam – John Bresnahan – POLITICO.com.

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The sales decline in January marked the third straight monthly drop following decreases of 3.9 percent in December and 9.5 percent in November.  January’s weakness was evident in all regions except the Midwest, where sales posted a 2.1 percent increase. Sales were down 35 percent in the Northeast, 12 percent in the West and almost 10 percent in the South.

The drop in sales pushed the median sales price down to $203.500. That was down 5.6 percent from December's median sales price of $215,600, and off 2.4 percent from year-ago prices. New home sales for all of 2009 had fallen by almost 23 percent to 374,000, the worst year on record.

via New home sales hit record low in January – Yahoo! Finance.

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Healthcare advocacy groups are looking to the White House proposal and next Thursday’s summit to shore up public support, and Democratic votes, in the push to get comprehensive legislation to Obama this year.

“As soon as the president and (congressional Democratic) leadership are totally together on substance and a strategy, I think the votes will be there,” said Ron Pollack, who heads the Families USA healthcare advocacy group.

The administration, congressional Democrats and advocacy groups have been turning up the rhetorical heat on health insurers that have in recent weeks announced huge premium increases against the backdrop of sizable profits and growing numbers of uninsured people.

“The premium increases are a powerful reminder that the healthcare problems are not going away,” said David Kendall, a senior health policy advisor at centrist think tank Third Way.

via Obama to spell out new healthcare plan – Yahoo! News.

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“I used to think it would take a great financial crisis to get both parties to the table, but we just had one,” said G. William Hoagland, a former adviser to the Senate Republican leadership on fiscal policy.”These days, I wonder if this country is even governable.”

via November’s consequence: A paralyzed government,, by Patrick Buchanan

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The US must fix its growing debt problems or risk a new financial crisis, Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, warned on Tuesday, adding a mounting deficit could spur inflation.

Mr Hoenig said that rising debt was infringing on the central bank’s ability to fulfil its goals of maintaining price stability and long-term economic growth. “Stunning” deficit projections were putting political pressure on the Fed to keep interest rates low, infringing on its independence at the risk of inflation, he said.

via FT.com / US / Economy & Fed – Lone voice warns of debt threat to Fed.

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Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Monday expressed doubts about the usefulness of more sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference in the Saudi capital that the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions demands a more immediate solution than sanctions…

…The Saudi minister also said efforts supported by the U.S. to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons must apply to Israel.

“Sanctions are a long-term solution,” the Saudi minister said. “But we see the issue in the shorter term because we are closer to the threat,” referring to Iran. “We need immediate resolution rather than gradual resolution.”

via Saudi official questions new sanctions on Iran – Yahoo! News.

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David Cameron:”If I am elected for as long as I am prime minister the United Kingdom will never join the euro.”

via Greece debt bailout: EU leaders split over euro crisis | Mail Online.

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The original bill had won support from across the political spectrum, from President Barack Obama as well as conservative Republicans in the Senate, offering the promise of a rare bipartisan package in a Congress that has been gripped by partisan fights. To get that support, however, the package had morphed into a 361-page grab bag of provisions that included extending benefits to the unemployed and tax breaks for businesses.

Now, the bipartisan agreement is off.

via My Way News – Senate Dems ax bipartisan jobs bill.

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