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September 12, 2012
A Sad Day For Teabaggers !
"A government report shows that rules in Obama's health-care law saved consumers $2.1 billion in premiums last year. It shows that states are using the law to their advantage, experts say."
"In Florida and Virginia, 49 percent of likely voters supported Obama, and 44 percent Romney. In Ohio, 50 percent supported Obama, and 43 percent backed Romney. Obama won all three states over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008, but Florida especially would be a crucial win for Romney.
Obama has a 49 percent approval rating in Florida and Virginia, and 50 percent approval in Ohio, among likely voters."
"Republicans howled on Thursday when the Federal Reserve, at long last, took steps to energize the economy. Some were furious at the thought that even a little economic boost might work to benefit President Obama just before an election. It is going to sow some growth in the economy, said Raul Labrador, a freshman Tea Party congressman from Idaho, and the Obama administration is going to claim credit.
The reputation of the stimulus is meticulously restored from shabby to skillful in Michael Grunwalds important new book, The New New Deal. His findings will come as a jolt to those who think the law failed, the typical Republican assessment, or was too small and sloppy to have any effect.
On the most basic level, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is responsible for saving and creating 2.5 million jobs. The majority of economists agree that it helped the economy grow by as much as 3.8 percent, and kept the unemployment rate from reaching 12 percent.
The stimulus is the reason, in fact, that most Americans are better off than they were four years ago, when the economy was in serious danger of shutting down.
But the stimulus did far more than stimulate: it protected the most vulnerable from the recessions heavy winds."
"Home resales rose in August to their highest rate in more than two years and groundbreaking on new homes also climbed, signs that a budding housing market recovery is gaining traction."
"Iranians are reeling under tough economic sanctions imposed by Western countries since the start of the year over the Islamic Republic's pursuit of its nuclear program, which Washington says is a drive to develop a weapons capability."
"Stocks were up on Wednesday as investors used the recent pullback from a rally that took markets to five-year highs as a buying opportunity.
"One of the things we look at is housing, and, after today's data, it seems to be stabilizing," said Anthony Conroy, head trader for BNY ConvergEx, an affiliate of the Bank of New York, in New York.
"We have so much money on the sidelines that stocks will continue to rally for weeks, maybe even months. The recent pull-back was a buying opportunity."
"It is the agency's biggest-ever "disgorgement" agreement associated with position limits and among the biggest civil fines, according to a review of a dozen such enforcement measures since 1995. It is the first against a Chinese firm.
The action is the latest sign that the CFTC is cracking down on excessive speculation harder than ever following years of political uproar over soaring grain and energy prices. Even tougher limits on commodity markets come into force next month amid the first big wave of Dodd-Frank financial reforms imposed following the 2008 financial crisis.
"If there was any question that we would vigorously enforce the new limits that go into effect in less than three weeks, I think these settlements speak for themselves," CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton said in an emailed statement."
"Pay-to-play refers to cash or other contributions made to officials to influence the award of lucrative public contracts.
In what the SEC described as its first "pay-to-play" case involving contributions other than cash, Goldman settled without admitting or denying the charges."