Warren Buffett tells FBN's Liz Claman that S&P's downgrade of the US's credit rating "doesn't make sense" and will not prompt him to sell Berkshire Hathaway's large holdings in Treasuries.
From Fox News
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, August 05, 2011
BREAKING NEWS: S&P Downgrades Credit Rating Of United States
For the first time in its history, the United States has seen its pristine credit rating downgraded, as Standard & Poor's cut the rating to AA-plus from AAA Friday night.From Fox News
Crime Solvers Press Release
The Salisbury Police Department is actively investigating these two incidents. Crime Solvers is asking anyone with information to come forward using the anonymous tip line at 410-548-1776.
Crime Solvers routinely pays cash rewards in amounts up to $1,000.00 for information that leads to an arrest. Callers in this case who provide information, even anonymously, will be eligible for a cash reward.
BREAKING NEWS: S&P Reportedly Downgrades U.S. Debt
Credit rating agency S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating from AAA, the Associated Press reports.
From Fox News
From Fox News
Pelosi’s Energy Savings Program Evaporates
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's four-year effort to "Green the Capitol" is officially no-more, having been dumped into an existing energy-savings program on the Hill in a move that Republicans say will save more money, eliminate redundancy and promote collaboration.
In response, some Democrats are crying foul, saying the move reflects the low priority that energy savings is for Republicans.
Home Ownership Hits Lowest Level Since 1965
Last Friday, the Census Bureau reported that the percentage of people who owned a home had dropped to 65.9% during the second quarter -- its lowest level since the first quarter of 1998 and a far cry from the high of 69.2% reached in late 2004.
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Great Quote
The dollar represents a one dollar debt to the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve banks create money out of thin air to buy government bonds from the U.S. Treasury … and has created out of nothing a … debt which the American people are obliged to pay with interest.” —
Public Input Sought On Assateague Island’s Future
ASSATEAGUE -- With anticipated climate change and the associated sea level rise, Assateague Island officials are taking a proactive approach to planning for the future of the barrier island with a wide variety of alternatives on the table. Assateague National Seashore officials are currently working on a new General Management Plan (GMP) for the barrier island for the next few decades and are seeking the public’s help in a series of workshops in the coming weeks.
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Rep. Andy Harris Signs FAA Reauthorization Bill As Presiding Officer
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Andy Harris presided over the House session as the designated Speaker Pro Tempore, and signed two bills, including the controversial FAA reauthorization extension bill. The bill temporarily restores the agency’s authorities and is expected to be signed later today by President Obama.
“The FAA and the aviation industry are a vital part of the American economy, and the House recognized that by sending this reauthorization over to the Senate weeks ago. I’m glad that the Secretary finally took the time to read the bill to discover that it specifically gave him the authority to waive the controversial parts of the bill, thus paving the way for Senate approval. It is unfortunate, however, that we had to furlough tens of thousands of workers in the interim, and that the Senate and the Administration remain unwilling to cut wasteful government spending like the $3,720 individual airline ticket subsidy for each passenger at the Ely, Nevada airport,” said Rep. Harris. “Eventually, we have to bring permanent common sense accountability to Washington and get wasteful spending like this under control if we ever hope to control our federal debt and deficit.”
Today, the Senate passed the FAA extension which the House previously approved over two weeks ago on July 20th.
New York's 'Rent Is Too Damn High' Candidate Says He's Being Evicted For Low Rent
Jimmy McMillan, the New York man who ran for governor on the "Rent is Too Damn High" ticket, says he is being thrown out of his Manhattan apartment because the rent is too low, the New York Post reported Friday.
McMillan — known as much for his trademark white wraparound moustache and goatee as he is his populist political views — told the newspaper he pays $872.96 for a rent-controlled apartment he's had since the 1970's.
"I've been here since 1977, and they want more money!" McMillan told the Post. "It's about 'My Rent is Too Damn Low.'
Even The Long-Lived Smoke, Drink And Don't Exercise
Is living clean the key to living long? Maybe not, says a new study by Yeshiva University's Institute for Aging Research, which shows that people who made it to the ripe age of 95 were just as likely as their shorter-lived peers to engage in the kinds of lifestyle habits that researchers deem unhealthy: eating fried foods, drinking, smoking and failing to exercise.
"They're as bad as everyone," says lead researcher Nir Barzilai. "The centenarians were telling us terrible stories about their life habits."
Fannie Mae to Taxpayers: We Need Another $5.1 Billion
Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said it would ask for an additional $5.1 billion from taxpayers as it continues to suffer losses on loans made prior to 2009.
The largest U.S. residential mortgage funds provider on Friday also reported a second-quarter net loss attributable to common shareholders of $5.2 billion, or 90 cents per share.
Postal Service Warns Of Default, Bleeds Money
USPS posts net loss of $5.7 billion for nine-month period
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service posted a net loss of $3.1 billion in its third quarter and warned again it would default on payments to the federal government if Congress did not step in.
Total mail volume for the quarter that ended June 30 fell to 39.8 billion pieces, a 2.6 percent drop from the same period a year earlier, as consumers turn to email and pay bills online.
The mail carrier, which does not get taxpayer funds, has struggled to overhaul its business as mail volumes fall. It has said personnel costs weigh heavily and is facing a massive retiree health benefit prepayment next month.
Border Agents Accused Of Making Drug Smugglers Eat Marijuana
(CNN) -- Two Border Patrol agents in Arizona are accused of forcing suspected drug smugglers to eat marijuana and strip down to their underwear before being told to flee into the desert.
A federal grand jury in Tucson indicted Dario Castillo, 23, and Ramon Zuniga, 29, with five counts of civil rights violations. Castillo faces an additional charge of tampering with a witness.
Genetically Engineered, Glow-In-The-Dark Beagle Created By South Korean
A glowing beagle is definitely on the list of things we never expected to see.
But South Korean scientists seem to have made it a reality in hopes of finding cures for diseases such asAlzheimer's and Parkinson's, according to Reuters. While genetically engineering a puppy to glow iscontroversial to say the least, the project aims to help researchers identify possible side-effects of certain treatments that could occur in humans.
Don't Fight Bet On The Fed
The era of quasi-religious belief in "Don't fight the Fed" is drawing to a close; the Fed has been revealed as significantly less omnipotent and powerful than previously imagined.
Many observers expect the Federal Reserve to bail out the stock market next Tuesday with an announcement of QE3, another round of "monetary easing" to reinstall the trade in risk assets. If they do, it will fail. The basic reason it will fail is that the Fed's credibility has fallen below a critical threshold. Put another way, the quasi-religious trust in the Fed's infallibility and power to single-handedly reverse global markets has been eroded by reality: QE2 was a monumental failure.
Here's a couple of things to understand about the Fed before you "buy the bounce when they announce QE3."
1. Though nominally independent, the Fed is a political construct. The idea that public opinion and political support have no influence on the Fed is wrong; the Fed's failure to revive the economy while squandering trillions of dollars propping up banks and Wall Street bonuses was not lost on the political class. Though nobody's talking about it, the Fed's abject failure to revive the real economy has greatly diminished its political range of maneuver.
Rumor has it that the word has already gone out to the Fed not to intervene with additional trillions to prop up Europe.
2. The consensus view is the Fed has either engineered the stock market drop to give it a free hand with QE3, or it will be "forced to do something" to combat the implosion of its pet fix to the broken economy, the "wealth effect" of rising stocks.
What these views miss is the Fed is now in a no-win endgame where its best move is to minimize the damage to what's left of its own reputation and credibility. The worst move here would be to double-down on QE3, because if it failed to goose global markets in a sustained fashion, then the Fed's remaining credibility and "magic" would vanish in a puff of smoke.
Chairman Ben Bernanke telegraphed this in his recent testimony to Congress, in which he basically stated that the Fed had done all it could and there was little more it could do other than wave a dead chicken and chant a few old incantations. Though he dutifully repeated the standard reassurances, i.e. "There is always more monetary easing we can do," he was careful to lower expectations that such easing would accomplish anything.
His testimony was that of someone setting up CYA in a major way. (CYA = cover your behind from recrimination when things head south.)
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Many observers expect the Federal Reserve to bail out the stock market next Tuesday with an announcement of QE3, another round of "monetary easing" to reinstall the trade in risk assets. If they do, it will fail. The basic reason it will fail is that the Fed's credibility has fallen below a critical threshold. Put another way, the quasi-religious trust in the Fed's infallibility and power to single-handedly reverse global markets has been eroded by reality: QE2 was a monumental failure.
Here's a couple of things to understand about the Fed before you "buy the bounce when they announce QE3."
1. Though nominally independent, the Fed is a political construct. The idea that public opinion and political support have no influence on the Fed is wrong; the Fed's failure to revive the economy while squandering trillions of dollars propping up banks and Wall Street bonuses was not lost on the political class. Though nobody's talking about it, the Fed's abject failure to revive the real economy has greatly diminished its political range of maneuver.
Rumor has it that the word has already gone out to the Fed not to intervene with additional trillions to prop up Europe.
2. The consensus view is the Fed has either engineered the stock market drop to give it a free hand with QE3, or it will be "forced to do something" to combat the implosion of its pet fix to the broken economy, the "wealth effect" of rising stocks.
What these views miss is the Fed is now in a no-win endgame where its best move is to minimize the damage to what's left of its own reputation and credibility. The worst move here would be to double-down on QE3, because if it failed to goose global markets in a sustained fashion, then the Fed's remaining credibility and "magic" would vanish in a puff of smoke.
Chairman Ben Bernanke telegraphed this in his recent testimony to Congress, in which he basically stated that the Fed had done all it could and there was little more it could do other than wave a dead chicken and chant a few old incantations. Though he dutifully repeated the standard reassurances, i.e. "There is always more monetary easing we can do," he was careful to lower expectations that such easing would accomplish anything.
His testimony was that of someone setting up CYA in a major way. (CYA = cover your behind from recrimination when things head south.)
More
Mo. Teachers Protest Facebook Crackdown
Law proposed after investigation found 87 Missouri teachers lost licenses because of sexual misconduct
COLUMBIA, Mo. — As they prepare lesson plans for fall, teachers across Missouri have an extra chore before the new school year begins: purging their Facebook friend lists to comply with a new state law that limits their contact with students on social networks.
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Commission: John Edwards' Campaign Must Repay $2M
Auditors found the former N.C. senator did not itemize more than $4 million in loan payments
WASHINGTON — Federal officials say former presidential candidate John Edwards must repay more than $2 million to the U.S. Treasury.
In a final report released Friday, the Federal Election Commission unanimously approved an internal audit that said Edwards' campaign understated its cash on hand and overstated its expenses.
Auditors also found that Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, did not itemize more than $4 million in loan payments as part of his 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination. Audits are required for federal campaigns that accept public financing.
Edwards' campaign committee now has 90 days to make a payment to the Treasury or 60 days to ask the FEC to review its decision.
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