The Nightowl Newswrap

It's mid-December - you know what that means... It's time to nominate your favorite small-market blog(s) for a Monkeyfister award! ... progressive... Consumers need help with debt: The Federal Reserve on Thursday will vote on sweeping reform of the credit card industry that would ban practices such as retroactively increasing interest [more...]

Date: 2008-12-14 17:02:06

Blog posts (14) | Videos (5)
 

Citigroup (C) And The Senate: The Myth Of Saving The Mortgage Market

Citigroup (C) ... , saying banks that have accepted federal aid should be doing more to help homeowners wrestling with debts they can't pay." There is a great deal of evidence, some of it from the federal government [more...]

Date: 2009-01-08 11:22:10

How Official Economic Numbers Have Deceived Us

Following up on my post earlier today about the difference between unemployment and underemployment, ... measurements help determine interest rates, federal interest payments on the national debt, and cost [more...]

Date: 2008-12-07 16:00:57

Buying toxic mortgages: Hank and Ben made it sound good

Remember how brilliant an idea Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S ... a market for the debt, the Treasury would help with "price discovery" -- that is, other investors would see ... the banks yet 2) low enough to eventually pay off for taxpayers. But Bernanke, for one, sure did [more...]

Date: 2008-11-13 02:50:51

A short note on a payroll tax "holiday"

By TigerHawk at 1/13/2009 09:13:00 AM Should we immediately pump money into the economy via a payroll tax holiday? ... will save most of the money or use it to pay down debt, rather than spend it or invest it an actual project ... debt. Why will it help (more than a little) to move yet more liabilities on to the federal [more...]

Date: 2009-01-13 14:13:00

Starving the Unemployed

During the Bush administration, the federal debt ” nearly doubled,” going from $5.7 trillion to $10.6 trillion ... policy. Many denied that government could help, government is always the problem, never the solution ... of us were so worried about has now come to pass. Because of the high levels of government debt [more...]

Date: 2009-01-09 01:44:44

Krugman: Fed mortgage rate help is a good idea

Krugman:Mortgage rates have dropped a lot in recent weeks, which is a good thing. But there’s still a huge spread between mortgage rates and rates on federal debt ... s not nearly enough to turn the economy around, but it could really help the economic recovery package. [more...]

Date: 2008-12-27 04:00:01

Key Bank's "One-Two Punch"

Last week, we described how Key Bank has partnered with dozens of unlicensed and unaccredited trade schools to help thousands of students take on ... . Key Bank has apparently been able to avoid forgiving borrower debt at these defunct schools ... discharging borrowers' debt has been to intentionally disregard the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's [more...]

Date: 2008-12-17 20:20:04

Banks Agree to Wipe Out Up to 40 Percent of Credit Card Debt But Watch Out.

Credit card lenders include Discover Financial Services LLC, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co ... with the help of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Service Roundtable to start the process of creating a debt solution, other than [more...]

Date: 2008-10-31 15:51:17

Clearer Tax Laws, Help for Struggling Taxpayers Urged

The seemingly endless reams of complex federal tax laws and regulations need to be simplified, ... Code New York Times: Gentler Tax Laws Urged on Debt Default CNNMoney: A Kinder, Gentler IRS? Wall ... on financially struggling taxpayers: "1) Make greater use of collection alternatives when economic [more...]

Date: 2009-01-09 17:03:22

The Federal Government may be counting on Middle America's spending to shore up the economy, ... accounts. In the past few months, we've begun paying down debt and putting money aside for a rainy day ... , there's no ladder tall enough to help them see over the top. Some have ended up in this position [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 14:26:27

IRS Plan to Help Distressed Homeowners Falls Short

The Internal Revenue Service has announced a process that is supposed to make it easier for financially distressed homeowners to refinance a ... in the property above and beyond the mortgage debt plus enough to cover the tax debt, the IRS is able ... mortgage or sell a home by providing options when there is a federal tax lien blocking [more...]

Date: 2009-01-07 14:59:28

FTC Helps With Your New Years Resolution to Manage Debt

Information from the Federal Trade Commission to Help You Manage Debt: Knee Deep in Debt Having trouble paying your bills? ... , consider these options: realistic budgeting, credit counseling from a reputable organization, debt consolidation, or bankruptcy. Debt negotiation is yet another option. How do you know which [more...]

Date: 2008-12-30 17:45:34

TARP II Demands Real, Thorough Debate

On Monday, President Bush made a request on behalf of the incoming administration to release the second half of the $700 billion that Congress ... when we are just about to begin consideration of a $1 trillion stimulus plan. The last thing we need is more debt upon debt ... the federal government should help do that. But as we consider spending another [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 19:20:26

14 Results