Until recently, Canada’s vast forests vacuumed up carbon dioxide. Now that process has been thrown in reverse. Or at least that is what some experts think. Click on the citation below to read the rest of the story.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Canada’s carbon sink has sprung a leak | csmonitor.com
Omnibus bill’s hidden item: a Democratic rift | csmonitor.com
While earmarks continued in the omnibus bill there was something very different, precedence of a different sort was changed. You see:
The Senate often forces the House to accept the Senate’s version of a bill. But on the omnibus bill, Representative Pelosi reversed Congress’s historic pecking order – and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with apparent reluctance permitted it.
Will this resurrection of lower chamber power continue? To read the entire story, click on the citation below:
Omnibus bill’s hidden item: a Democratic rift | csmonitor.com
Cruelty charges against 2 dropped - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
New states attorney handles this infamous case quite differently. Click on the citation below:
Cruelty charges against 2 dropped - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
Sam’s Club may join the Stimulus plan: Wal-Mart Plans to Market System for Digital Health Records - NYTimes.com
This is quite amazing—the one company whose stock has been going up during these dark days, knows how to use the stimulus plan. Click on the citation below to connect to the story:
Wal-Mart Plans to Market System for Digital Health Records - NYTimes.com
Banks’ Bondholders May Be Next to Share Bailout Pain (Update3) - Bloomberg.com
Bailout stockholders?—Bailout bondholder?—Bailout both?
Banks’ Bondholders May Be Next to Share Bailout Pain (Update3) - Bloomberg.com
Robert Reich's Blog: Is Obamanomics Conservative or Revolutionary?
There are two ways to see Obamanomics.
The first, much preferred by the White House, is as a set of initiatives so modest as to hardly merit a raised eyebrow. Yes, steps must be taken to deal with the current economic crisis. But assuming the economy recovers next year, Obama's budget projects that government spending by the end of the decade will drop to around 22.5 percent of GDP, which is about where it was under Reagan…..
To continue reading Mr. Reich’s comments, click on the following:
Senator Durbin’s Office Reaction to Report of $500 Million Error in FutureGen Cost Estimate
Southern Illinois sulfur coal may have a chance yet. Emphasis supplied by Senator Durbin’s Office
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Joe Shoemaker, spokesman for Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), made the following statement after recent news that a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found the Department of Energy (DOE) made a half-billion dollar error in its estimate of the total cost for the FutureGen project.
“We always knew the DOE’s logic was flawed; now it turns out their math was wrong, too.”
During a hearing of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water in May 2008, Durbin questioned the grounds on which the DOE pulled support for the FutureGen project in Central Illinois in order to pursue an alternative plan. He pressed former Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman to explain the escalating costs that the DOE cited in their decision.
After the hearing, Durbin explained his interaction with Bodman: “FutureGen was the flagship project of the President’s clean coal program. The project is our best hope for building and operating a near-zero emission, coal-fired power plant. Yet, after five years of progress, the Department of Energy is objecting to its own project. I am not satisfied with Secretary Bodman’s explanation of cost being the reason for pulling the plug on this important project.”
Freddie Mac Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2008 Financial Results - News Archive - Freddie Mac--$30,700,000,000 negative equity=$30,800,000,000 from US Treasury
Here is the press release which told news media that $30.8 billion being requesting from the US Treasury.
As a result of the fourth quarter 2008 net loss and mark-to-market effects on the company’s accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (AOCI) related to unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities, the company’s stockholders’ equity (deficit) totaled $(30.7) billion at December 31, 2008. Pursuant to Treasury’s funding commitment under the Purchase Agreement, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has submitted a request to Treasury for funding in the amount of $30.8 billion. The company expects to receive such funds in March 2009.
For the actual financial statements go to:
Freddie Mac Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2008 Financial Results - News Archive - Freddie Mac
More states see double-digit jobless rates -- chicagotribune.com
The U.S. unemployment rate, released last week, rose to 8.1 percent in February, the highest in more than 25 years. Some economists predict the U.S. jobless rate will peak at 11 percent or higher by the middle of 2010.(see page 2 of this article). Click on the citation below:
More states see double-digit jobless rates -- chicagotribune.com
Illinois Unemployment for January was 7.9%.
While the state's unemployment is up significantly from the 5.8 percent level of one year ago, Illinois is still better off than some other states as the nation's economic crisis deepens.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released separately Wednesday morning, four states had double-digit jobless rates in January: 11.6 percent in Michigan, where the auto industry's woes are taking a heavy toll; 10.4 percent in South Carolina; 10.3 percent in Rhode Island and 10.1 percent for California.
Below are the just released numbers from Illinois Department of Employment.
Northwest Herald | New FOIA finds local supporters
Will a new and improved Illinois Freedom of Information Act make a difference? Click on the citation below to connect to this story:
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