According to The New York Times and the The Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department is set to announce its plan for troubled assets early next week. For further details click on any the blue colored links>
This Time I’m Not the One Calling It a Subsidy « The Baseline Scenario
Unmarried childbearing increased to historic levels in 2007 for women aged 15-44. An estimated 1.7 million babies were born to unmarried women in 2007, accounting for 39.7 percent of all births in the United States – an increase of 4 percent from 2006. Unmarried childbearing has increased 26 percent since 2002 when the recent steep increases began. Click on the following for this government report:
Very interesting article because there are so many numbers going in various directions. Read the article and ask yourself is there really any cut at all here? Only two employees were cut to 32 hours beginning some date in the future and everyone received a 3% raise retroactive to November 30—the beginning of the county’s fiscal year. That appears to be a very favorable contract to the workers ( three years of 3% increase) based upon December 2009 inflation figures of 0.1%.
Boone County Board OKs contract to shorten workweek - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star
March 19, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rich Carter
(815)356-9800
Manzullo Introduces $5,000 Vehicle Voucher Bill to
Bolster Auto Sales, Put Americans Back to Work
[WASHINGTON] Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL) today introduced legislation to give Americans a $5,000 voucher to purchase a new vehicle, stimulating our struggling automobile manufacturing industry and putting millions of Americans back to work.
The New Automobile Voucher Act of 2009 (HR 1606) would provide a one-time, $5,000 electronic voucher from the U.S. Treasury at the point of sale of a new vehicle. After 6 months, the voucher would drop to $2,500 and would expire on Jan. 1, 2011, or until the $75 billion authorized funding is exhausted. The voucher could only be used on vehicles valued at under $50,000 and could be combined with existing tax incentives for new vehicle purchases.
The automobile industry and its suppliers account for 13 million American jobs, 20 percent of all U.S. retail sales, and billions of dollars in state and local sales taxes. The drop in U.S. vehicle sales from 16 million in 2007 to 13 million in 2008 to a projected 8 million in 2009 has been one of the leading causes of America’s economic downturn and huge job losses.
“We will not have a lasting economic recovery unless we revive our struggling motor vehicle industry, which employs 13 million Americans and is the largest manufacturing sector in the United States,” Manzullo said. “This legislation will give Americans the incentives and the confidence they need to start buying vehicles again, which will bolster automobile manufacturing and sales, put millions of Americans back to work, and restore the tax revenues our state and local government need to continue providing services to the people
Some relief for the other autoworkers—those not part of the Big Three—What is the ratio? Are there three of four workers producing parts for each assembler on the assembly line?
Well this ought to tell you something about awards. Of course this has only to do with “presentation” not actually budgeting; but have we really been presented with a quality analysis of the state’s financial situation? This award was discovered by Cal Skinner over in Crystal Lake. Take a look at Cal’s blog, he has the award citation to the State of Illinois from the GFOA: http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2009/03/this-is-joke-right.html
Here is a graph regarding the effect on interest rates. However the value of our dollars is also falling.
Click on the following to read the rest of the story.
Fed Will Inject $1 Trillion More Into the Economy - NYTimes.com
This has also affected the 10 year Treasury rate. It is down .5%. That rate set the rate for many loans. See the story in the Chicago Tribune, click below: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-fed-recession-mar19,0,2197458.story
