Archive for April, 2010

More than two thirds of Americans who’ve been unable to sell their home and buy one that better fits their needs have cut back on household expenses such as food, entertainment and clothing in order to pay their mortgage, a survey released Tuesday shows.

Homeowners who have fallen on financial hard times have made other sacrifices and lifestyle changes: About a third have downsized to a smaller home or delayed expanding their family as planned.

Responsible homeowners do what they need to do to save their home. Believe me, I know.

A trio of former Washington Mutual officials and a trove of documents on Tuesday portrayed a pattern of breakneck loan-making and alleged fraud at the biggest U.S. bank ever to fail.

Former CEO Kerry Killinger defended WaMu’s actions at a Senate hearing and insisted the government should not have seized it at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008.

Killinger argued that WaMu had adequate capital and shouldn’t have been shut down and sold for a “bargain” price of $1.9 billion. The bank “should have been given a chance to work its way through the crisis,” he testified at a hearing by a Senate panel.

At the time they closed I had three “collectors” calling me, three times (each) per day, trying to tell me I owed three times as much as I really owed. Yeah, their math was bad. Since they closed, I have received one phone call, and that was a wrong number.

If their math was that bad with my account, I can’t imagine what they may have done with people’s mortgages.

California officials say former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson has failed to pay $493,000 in personal income tax.

Anderson is on the annual list of delinquent taxpayers released Monday by the California Franchise Tax Board.

The 42-year-old actress is currently competing on the television show “Dancing With the Stars.”

Wow. I wonder how she got that far behind? Her assets must have been a little top-heavy.

It sounds good, but when will the administration learn you cannot fix things by adding more rules and regulations?

Drivers will have to pay more for cars and trucks, but they’ll save at the pump under tough new federal rules aimed at boosting mileage, cutting emissions and hastening the next generation of fuel-stingy hybrids and electric cars.

The new standards, announced Thursday, call for a 35.5 miles-per-gallon average within six years, up nearly 10 mpg from now.

Pretty soon there will be set guidelines for taking a dump.

23,000 steps backward, 6,000 steps forward. PROGRESS!

Private employers unexpectedly shed jobs in March, dampening hopes about the strength of the recovery two days before the more closely watched government payrolls report.

In addition, U.S. Midwest business activity expanded less than expected in March while a gauge of New York City business conditions fell, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

U.S. private employers cut 23,000 jobs in March, missing expectations for an increase in jobs, but the decline was slightly less than the losses in February, according to the data by a payroll processing company.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the recovering economy moves closer to generating more jobs.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless benefit claims dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, nearly matching analysts’ estimates. It’s the fourth drop in five weeks.

If you were one of the 6,000 people, or the 1.9 people out of every 100,000 who found work this month, CONGRATULATIONS!