Credit unions bailed out

(Wall Street Journal) - Two years after the peak of the financial crisis, the federal government swooped in to stabilize a crucial part of the credit-union sector battered by losses on subprime mortgages.

Regulators announced Friday a rescue and revamping of the nation's wholesale credit union system, underpinned by a federal guarantee valued at $30 billion or more. Wholesale credit unions don't deal with the general public but provide essential back-office services to thousands of other credit unions across the U.S. The majority of retail credit unions are sound, but they will have to shoulder the losses through special assessments over the next decade.

(Full story)

'Unpaid pay czar' got 6-figure salary

(WorldNetDaily) - Contrary to press reports that he would not be compensated, uncovered Treasury Department documents reveal President Obama's pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, received a $120,830 annual salary.

The documents were obtained by the public interest group Judicial Watch in a Freedom of Information Act request filed July 20.

(Full story)

Federal workers make twice as much as workers in private sector

(USA Today) - At a time when workers' pay and benefits have stagnated, federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn, a USA TODAY analysis finds.

Federal workers have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years in a row. The compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade.

Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available.

(Full story)

U.S. to train 3,000 offshore IT workers

(Information Week) - Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $22 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia.

Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and business services to American companies looking to take advantage of the Asian subcontinent's low labor costs.

(Full story)

When politicians make sense

Congressman Ron Paul discusses the business cycle and government contributions to our economic turmoil.

Millions of stimulus dollars spent on signs

(ABC) - As the midterm election season approaches, new road signs are popping up everywhere – millions of dollars worth of signs touting "The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act" and reminding passers-by that the program is "Putting America Back to Work."

On the road leading to Dulles Airport outside Washington, DC there's a 10' x 11' road sign touting a runway improvement project funded by the federal stimulus. The project cost nearly $15 million and has created 17 jobs, according to recovery.gov.

However, there's another number that caught the eye of ABC News: $10,000. That's how much money the Washington Airports Authority tells ABC News it spent to make and install the sign – a single sign – announcing that the project is "Funded by The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act" and is "Putting America Back to Work." The money for the sign was taken out of the budget for the runway improvement project.

(Full story)

National debt soars to highest level since WWII

(USA Today) - The federal debt will represent 62% of the nation's economy by the end of this year, the highest percentage since just after World War II, according to a long-term budget outlook released today by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Republicans, who have been talking a lot about the debt in recent months, pounced on the report. "The driver of this debt is spending," said New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. "Our existing debt will be worsened by the president's new health care entitlement programs…as well as an explosion in existing health care and retirement entitlement spending as the Baby Boomers retire."

(Full story)

Obama appeals to Congress for $50 billion in emergency aid

WASHINGTON (Fox News) - President Obama is pressing Congress to approve emergency aid money to support economic recovery and help avoid widespread layoffs of public workers, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

Congressional leaders received a letter from the president asking for almost $50 billion for distribution to state and local governments, saying that increased spending is "urgent and unavoidable," the Post reported. The money would protect the jobs of teachers, police and firefighters.

(Full story)

Tea Party protesters want MORE government spending

(NPR) - Tea party activists demonstrated outside the Kennedy Center on Thursday while President Obama addressed NASA workers. The protesters accused the president of not providing NASA with a clear direction and a specific mission.

(Full story)

Congress could skip budget blueprint this year

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress could forego trying to approve a budget blueprint this year, a move that could avert a divisive spending battle but complicate efforts to close the record budget deficit.

After the bruising battle to pass healthcare reform, Democratic leaders are assessing whether their members have the stomach for another tough vote before the November congressional elections.

(Full story)

'Housewives' star calls on Congress for arts funds

WASHINGTON (AP) - "Desperate Housewives" actor Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Orson Hodge on the series, urged lawmakers Tuesday to increase arts funding, saying he got his start performing in community theaters that received federal grants.

MacLachlan joined hundreds of arts advocates on Capitol Hill to press Congress for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, even as federal deficits could trigger budget cuts.

(Full story)