60K drop off unemployment claims in past week; 1.260 million in past year

Initial Claims did precisely as expected: it improved even as it deteriorated: why - the media headline will blast: "Initial Claims Decline by 6K" because last week's number of 387K was just revised to 392K.

That what actually happened was a miss of baseline expectations, in that claims would drop to 385K is irrelevant. Just as it is irrelevant that next week, today's 386K number will be revised to 390K. And the media manipulation song and dance revisions will continue. More importantly, and continuing the 99 week cliff issue, 60,000 people dropped off initial and extended claims in the past week. In other words, 1.260 million people have fallen off extended benefits in the past year: people who no longer collect any form of unemployment benefits. Surely they have all "found jobs." Read more >>

Pending Sales of U.S. Homes Decrease by Most in a Year

The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes fell in April by the most in a year, indicating the U.S. housing recovery remains uneven.

The index of pending home resales dropped 5.5 percent following a revised 3.8 percent gain the prior month, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 42 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for no change in the measure.

Mortgage rates at record lows failed to sustain the pace of demand as some buyers may have waited for home prices to decline further. Limited access to credit and persistent foreclosures still weigh on housing, adding to concern it will remain a source of weakness for the world’s largest economy. Read more >>

Food Stamp Rolls Continue to Rise

More people tapped food stamps to pay for groceries in September as the recession and lackluster recovery have prompted more Americans to turn to government safety net programs to make ends meet.

Some 42.9 million people collected food stamps last month, up 1.2% from the prior month and 16.2% higher than the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nationwide 14% of the population relied on food stamps as of September but in some states the percentage was much higher. In Washington, D.C., Mississippi and Tennessee – the states with the largest share of citizens receiving benefits – more than a fifth of the population in each was collecting food stamps. More...

Forget the blithe media hype; economy's in a tailspin headed for depression 2.0

Image by MHorama via Flickr

The crash of the leading indicators

dailykos.com

Before you have a finished product you have a commodity, and before that commodity becomes a finished product it has to be shipped to market. That's why the Baltic Dry Index is a leading indicator.

The index of freight rates on international trade routes fell 38 points, or 2 percent, to 1,902 points today, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. Today’s drop was the 31st straight decline. That’s the longest since the 34 sessions to Aug. 15, 2001, according to Baltic Exchange prices. Charter rates for all types of ships tracked by the exchange fell.
"We don’t see anything in the next two to three weeks that’s going to turn the market around," Guy Campbell, head of dry bulk at Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker, said by phone.

While the Baltic Dry Index hasn't fallen nearly as far as it did in 2008, it is falling faster than it did in 2008. It has collapsed by over 50% since May.

• gjohnsit's diary :: ::
• 
  

The leading index that catches even more attention is the ECRI Leading Indicators.

The ECRI weekly leading indicators have dropped to minus 7.7%. There has been no case since its existence when a recession didn't take place if this indicator fell to minus 10%. This doesn't mean that it has to fall that low, a recession is still very likely if it even gets close. Falling below zero and staying in that range for any period of time also signals a recession. In the 2007, the recession began three months after this indicator turned negative.

That was last week's news. Today the ECRI Leading Indicators dropped to negative 8.3%, a 44-week low and slightly below the level it was when the Great Recession started.

Other leading indicators are building permits and housing starts, both of which collapsed last month. Mortgage applications have dropped 40% to their lowest levels since 1997.

Housing starts fell 10 percent to a 593,000 annual rate last month, the lowest level this year, from a revised 659,000 pace in April that was less than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Building permits, a sign of future construction, unexpectedly declined to a one- year low. Single-family home starts suffered the biggest drop since 1991.

The most traditional, historical leading indicator has been the monetary supply. So let's look at the largest monetary measurement still being used - the MZM.

The June employment numbers showed a decline in hourly earnings and average workweek, both considered leading indicators.
Not surprisingly, consumer expectations also fell along with their paychecks.

Just 23 percent now say the economy is getting better, down from 33 percent in May...

Meanwhile the double-dip denials are getting louder and more hysterical. In fact, the economists of the world are nearly universal in denying the possibility of a double-dip at the moment. Even bears such as Roubini and Rogoff say that it won't happen.
I find that strange when so many indicators are rolling over and nearing levels that virtually assure a double-dip. Either these indicators are wrong, or the collective body of economists are about to lose what little credibility they have left.

Pending Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Plummets 30%

Buy, consume, spend. Recovery is right around the corner. (Image via Wikipedia)

Remember, 1 in 3 U.S. home sales in the first quarter was a foreclosure property, and foreclosures accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales in the first quarter of 2010.

From Bloomberg:

The number of contracts to purchase previously owned houses plunged in May by more than twice as much as forecast after a homebuyer tax credit expired.

The index of pending home resales dropped 30 percent from the prior month, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The drop was the biggest in records dating to 2001 and compared with a 14 percent decrease forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

The decline shows that the industry at the center of the financial crisis remains vulnerable in the absence of government support. A stabilization in housing will depend on gains in incomes and employment that may stem foreclosures and give Americans the confidence to start buying again.

The depressed state of the American public seems to be a surprise to the government

John Crudele
Hey Washington! Economy has us very worried

Come real close to the page. I want to whisper a secret in your ear.

Pssst . . . Americans are not happy.

You already know that, of course, because you are a regular, communicative human being who lives in the real world.

You go to the supermarket and hear other shoppers complain about the cost of putting food on the table. And you listen to neighbors bitch about job prospects.

You even notice that the price of gasoline and home heating oil hasn't gone down despite all that's wrong with the economy. The laws of supply and demand, which would have you believe we'd be paying about $1 a gallon for gasoline right now, have been repealed by Wall Street's speculators.

Your kids are getting an expensive education that you fear will be worthless because they'll never be employed anywhere, much less in their chosen field.

And you are probably avoiding the doctor because even if you are lucky enough to be covered by insurance, the co-payment on the prescription will mess up the family budget for a month.

You know all this. It has you worried.

Yet the depressed state of the American public seems to be a surprise to people who run the country. Not a total surprise, mind you, because politicians are clearly worried about being kicked out of office, which would mean they'd have to find a real job in a weak economy.

But these politicians and the Wall Street folks still happily pulling down the big bonuses were clearly not ready for the news last week about the complete, utter, total, absolute and unqualified miserableness of the public.

To recap: the Conference Board, a private, unbiased research organization, reported that its consumer confidence index fell horribly to 46.0 in February from 56.5 last month. And I checked -- there was no statistical fluke that could have caused such a startling drop.

Some fools even tried to dismiss that figure as a reaction to the weather, meaning the lack of blizzards in the months ahead should make everything alright again.

Then, ABC News reported that its Consumer Comfort Index plunged to the minus-50 mark and now hovers just four points from its record low.

The Conference Board survey is particularly interesting because it's broken up into two components.

The "Present Situation Index" -- meaning, how's your life today? -- dropped nearly six points to 19.4. But the "Expectations Index" of how those surveyed believe the economy will be six months from now declined a whopping 13.5 points.

Holy crisis!

Even with the stock market still bubbling and media trying its damnedest to convince us at least a million times a day that there's an economic recovery, the American public isn't buying it.

Worse, we've become a clinically depressed nation that doesn't think the situation will ever get better.

OK, so what's really going on?

Well, this is what you get when the government lies to people and when those in elected office believe their own fibs.

At this point in my rant I have to go back over a lot of things I've already written about -- like government reports on economic growth that mislead, and employment surveys from Washington that fudge the truth and inflation claims that insult the intelligence of even the most dim-witted among us.

But the public's bad mood also has to do with expectations. Promise people improvement and they expect you to deliver. Deliver too little and they are going to be angry.

Has the economic situation improved over the past year? Sure.

In late 2008, politicians of both parties with their eyes on winning (or in the case of the Republicans, keeping) the White House managed to bring the nation's banking system to the brink of failure. That'll happen when you utter the words 'brink of failure' enough.

It is one of those statements that's self-fulfilling.

The economy has stabilized since then, helped greatly by the fact that some wealthy people feel wealthier because of an unbelievable snap back by the stock market during 2009. (And by unbelievable in this context I mean that what happened shouldn't be believed as either legitimate or sustainable.)

But the economic data that is being cheered hasn't really been that great.

For instance, as I've said before, the growth in the nation's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, which was widely described as impressive, really wasn't. Most of the 5.9 percent an nualized gain came from a re building of inventories by companies and a make-be lieve drop in inflation.

It's been estimated that just 1.7 percent of the increase came from consumer spending, the biggest factor in the economy. Most of the rest of what was manufactured is sitting in warehouses.

And if you understand what the word annualized means in this context, there's less to cheer about.

When you divide that annualized 1.7 percent consumer spending into the four quarters of the year, you see there was only slightly more than an 0.4 percent expansion in the final four months of 2009.

So, Americans aren't happy. What a surprise!

White House legalizing MARTIAL LAW

Image via Wikipedia

Chuck Baldwin
Council Of Governors Takes Shape

Regular readers of this column will doubtless recall my recent column in which I reported on the new Council of Governors (CG) that President Barack Obama has created. See my column at:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2010/cbarchive_20100119.html

Well, Obama’s CG is quickly beginning to take shape. According to the Associated Press (AP), “President Barack Obama has selected Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to serve on an advisory council for defense and national security issues.

“Nixon was one of 10 governors named Thursday [February 4, 2009] by Obama to the newly created Council of Governors.”

The 10 governors (and one of them is not even a State governor) selected by Obama are:

*Governor James Douglas (R-Vermont) *Co-chair
*Governor Chris Gregoire (D-Washington) *Co-chair
Governor Brad Henry (D-Oklahoma)
Governor Jay Nixon (D-Missouri)
Governor Martin O’Malley (D-Maryland)
Governor Janice Brewer (R-Arizona)
Governor Bob McDonnell (R-Virginia)
Governor Michael Rounds (R-South Dakota)
Governor Beverly Perdue (D-North Carolina)
Governor Luis G. Fortuno (R-Puerto Rico)

As I have already written, the creation of a CG should be of serious concern to all liberty loving Americans. That more of us are not as concerned as we should be can be traced to the mistaken belief that the American people have nothing to fear from an overreaching federal government. This is pure folly! As I have said many times, we have far more to fear from Washington, D.C., than from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, or any other potential terrorist state. It is Washington, D.C.,–and Washington, D.C., alone–that has the power, opportunity, and propensity to squash our freedom and sell us into tyranny.

As Kurt Nimmo reports, “In other words, with the stroke of a pen, Obama significantly increased the ongoing effort to federalize the states and take control of the National Guard in violation of the now more or less moribund Posse Comitatus Act. Posse Comitatus was effectively annulled by the 2006 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act. The act provides the president with power to declare martial law under revisions to the Insurrection Act and take charge of United States National Guard troops without state governor authorization. Parts of the act were repealed in 2008.”

See the report at Infowars.com:

http://tinyurl.com/council-gov-nixon

What most Americans fail to realize (thanks to a national propaganda press corps that refuses to reveal the conspiratorial machinations of America’s ruling class, which, by and large, is totally disconnected from–or unaccountable to–elected officeholders: especially those in Congress) is that the subdivision of the United States into a 10-region country (thereby minimizing or even negating the sovereignty and authority of the 50 independent and autonomous states) goes all the way back to the Richard Nixon administration.

In response to pressure from the United Nations, President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order #11647 on February 10, 1972, which carved up the United States into 10 “standard Federal regions.”

For the doubters out there, Wikipedia has a rather detailed web page mentioning the federal 10-region breakdown of the United States.

See the Wikipedia entry at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_States

See the map at:

http://tinyurl.com/US-std-fed-regions-map

Still not convinced? Try a casual web search of the 10 US regions and you will quickly discover that each major federal agency, such as the EPA, OSHA, DOT, FEMA, etc., has their agency already divided into these 10 regions. As an example, here is the official district map for FEMA:

http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/regions.shtm

Commenting on the creation of the 10 “super” regions initiated by President Nixon, CuttingEdge.org director David Bay very astutely said, “This regional system is also apparently a military structure.” This is a very insightful observation, because I’m sure this was said long before President Obama took office, yet, that is exactly what his CG accomplishes. It grants federal executive power to these 10 governors–with the specific responsibility of providing leadership and direction to the National Guard and related homeland military activities. And is it any coincidence that the number of governors appointed to this new CG is exactly 10? Even more telling is the fact that the 10 governors come from each US region (the governor of Puerto Rico represents Region 2), except for Region 5, and guess what? Region 5 is President Obama’s region!

Now, get this: the only region that has two governors represented on the CG (making up for Region 5’s lack of a representative–who will be Obama himself, no doubt) is Region 3. And put this in your pipe and smoke it: the two governors from Region 3 are from Maryland and Virginia, which are the two states that border Washington, D.C. But all of this is mere coincidence, right?

See the map on the EPA web site at:

http://www.epa.gov/region4/landrevitalization/images/us-regions.gif

So, here is the list of the Council of Governors, as it coincides with the respective 10 regions. If you know anything about what is going on, you should easily be able to see the logic of how and why these governors were selected. Obviously, the two basic criteria would be 1) The location of necessary government infrastructure, facilities, personnel, etc., combined with 2) The compliant attitude and overall disposition of the governor selected. Here is how it looks:

Region 1: Governor Douglas of Vermont
Region 2: Governor Fortuno of Puerto Rico
Region 3: Governor O’Malley of Maryland and Governor McDonnell of Virginia.
These are necessary, as these are the two border states of Washington, D.C.
Region 4: Governor Perdue of North Carolina
Region 5: President Barack Obama of Illinois
Region 6: Governor Henry of Oklahoma
Region 7: Governor Nixon of Missouri
Region 8: Governor Rounds of South Dakota
Region 9: Governor Brewer of Arizona
Region 10: Governor Gregoire of Washington State

And while it is true that President Jimmy Carter revoked President Nixon’s “Federal Regional Council” (what Nixon’s Executive Order created in 1972) in 1979, the concept never died. It was merely incorporated into other Executive Orders. And there can be no question that President Obama’s CG certainly builds on Nixon’s initial “Regional Council” model.

Neither is it a coincidence that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is included in the list of 10 governors appointed to the CG. Why? Does anyone remember the MIAC flap in the State of Missouri last year? I sure do, because I (along with Ron Paul and Bob Barr) was listed in the MIAC report as being a potential dangerous militia member or terrorist. And anyone who supported or voted for the three of us was similarly maligned in the MIAC report. Plus, the report also targeted people who opposed any of the following as being potential dangerous militia members:

The New World Order
The United Nations
Gun Control
The violation of Posse Comitatus
The Federal Reserve
The Income Tax
The Ammunition Accountability Act
A possible Constitutional Convention (Con Con)
The North American Union
Universal Service Program
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Abortion on demand
Illegal immigration

Remember, this was an official Missouri State Police report that was distributed to all Missouri State law enforcement officers. And Governor Jay Nixon authorized and strongly defended the MIAC report!

Later, of course, Governor Nixon and other State leaders were forced to withdraw the report, due to immense public pressure from both the citizens of Missouri and angry Americans all across the country.

I have a web page set aside with all the pertinent information regarding the MIAC fiasco, including the most recent updates, at:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/MIACreport.html

Plus, here are my previous 3 columns regarding the MIAC report:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090317.html

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090324.html

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/cbarchive_20090327.html

Now we learn that President Obama has appointed this very same Governor Jay Nixon to the newly formed Council of Governors. Doubtless, Nixon’s support for the MIAC report brought him into the good graces of this Marxist President, who, in his inaugural address, pledged to “remake America.” Without a doubt, the newly established Council of Governors is helping Obama do just that.

Of course, the big question is not, Is America being “remade”? It most certainly is–and it started long before Obama moved into the White House. The question is, Will this “remade” America be something we can live with?

U.S. metropolitan areas with jobless rates above 15% increased in November

Cable News Network
The number of U.S. metropolitan areas with jobless rates above 15% increased in November, according to government figures released Tuesday, despite the biggest one-month drop in the national rate in more than three years.

The Labor Department said 17 of 372 metropolitan areas surveyed suffered unemployment rates of at least 15% last month, up from 15 metro areas in October.

National unemployment improved to a seasonally adjusted 10% in November from the 26-year high of 10.2% hit in October. The rate had climbed for 12 out of the previous 13 months before November. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the national rate to edge up to 10.1% when the Labor Department releases its December jobs report Friday.

Three areas in Michigan posted jobless rates higher than 15%, including Detroit. The city wrecked by the collapse of the auto industry continued to lead the nation's areas of 1 million people or more with the highest unemployment rate in November at 15.4%.

California's Inland Empire, including Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario, ranked second to Detroit among larger areas with an unemployment rate of 14.2% in November.

El Centro, Calif., held its place as the metropolitan area with the highest unemployment rate at 29.2%, down from an upwardly revised 31.9% in October.

The second highest rate was in Yuma, Ariz., at 21.1%, a drop from 23.3% in October.

Jobless rates were higher than 10% in 125 metropolitan areas in November, up from 123 in October.

Overall, 143 cities in the Labor Department report had unemployment rates above the non-seasonally adjusted national figure of 9.4%, while 229 reported jobless rates below it.

The three metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates in November were all in North Dakota, with Bismarck at 3.4%, followed by Fargo and Grand Forks at 3.7%.

Large cities with the lowest jobless rates were New Orleans and the Washington, D.C. metro areas, each at 6.1%. Oklahoma City followed close behind with an unemployment rate of 6.4%.

Congress Allowed To Use Inside Info To Invest in Stocks

wgrz.com
For a group often criticized for being out of touch with what's happening on Main Street, some argue Congress seems to be deeply in touch with what will soon happen on Wall Street, especially when compared to the average investor.

"If the question is -- are they using information that they're picking up in Congress to beat the market? The answer is absolutely," said Dr. Alan Ziobrowksi, a professor of economics at Georgia State University.

This may surprise you, but it's perfectly legal for both members of Congress and their staff to use inside knowledge about upcoming legislation to play the stock market.

For example, let's say Congress is quietly preparing to pass a bill that helps the dairy industry. Before the public is aware of Congress's intentions, our elected leaders and their staffer can invest in dairy companies that stand to benefit from the bill. Then, they can pass the bill and watch the stock take off. Critics call it a form of legalized insider trading.

For those of you wondering whether scenarios like that really happen, five years ago Dr. Ziobrowksi studied the stock market investments on United States Senators. He discovered they were beating the market averages by 12 percent a year.

ZIOBROWSKI: That's actually about twice as high as the abnormal profits made by insiders, corporate insiders -- which is an extraordinary amount of money.

REPORTER: Is there any way to explain how they made those profits other than the fact that they may have had advance knowledge of what would happen to those companies?

ZIOBROWSKI: Uh, no. Frankly... These guys are way outside the margin of accident.

Critics of Congressional investment practices point to a recent transaction made by Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. In September of 2008, when the economy was on the brink of collapse, the U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the Federal Reserve went to Capitol Hill to privately brief Boehner and other congressional leaders. At the time, one of the greatest economic dangers the country was deflation. One day after that meeting, records show Congressman Boehner pulled his money from a fund tied to inflation.

"It says to me he picked up some information and he tried to save himself a lot of money by dumping it as soon as he could," Dr. Ziobrowksi said. "And again, though, technically speaking, there is absolutely nothing illegal about that."

But if you're not a member of Congress, or not lucky enough to work for one, buying and selling stocks based on information not available to the public can be a crime. Just ask Martha Stewart, who went to prison for lying to investigators about that very topic.

Even corporate CEOs play by tougher rules than Congress. When a CEO or a company officer buys or sells stock in their company, of which they have inside information, they have to publicly disclose that transaction within two days. Members of Congress report their stock transactions once a year.

"Well, it's really a double standard between what we in the corporate world have to adhere to and what people in government have to adhere to," said Amherst-based investor Tony Ogorek of Ogorek Wealth Management.

There also are concerns about conflicts of interest. After all, members of Congress could be voting on bills that directly or indirectly affect the companies they're invested in.

"I think the worse danger of course is that they're going to be passing and lobbying legislation on the basis of what's good for their portfolio rather than what's good for you and I," Dr. Ziobrowski said.

For three years, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter (D-Fairport, NY) has been trying to stop the practice.

"Well, the only reason it's legal is because it had never been declared illegal," Slaughter said.

In 2006, Slaughter introduced a bill known as The Stock Act, which would ban Congress and its members from using their inside knowledge of upcoming legislation to make money.

REPORTER: How big of a problem has this become?

SLAUGHTER: We don't know the real scope of it. We just knew that there was a point in time when it seemed to be pretty apparent.

According to Slaughter, when the market was soaring a few years ago, Congress discovered some of its staff members were using their government-owned computers to play the stock market during work.

"The first apparent piece of that came when there was some legislation about asbestos removal, and what we were going to do about it," Slaughter said. "And there was a senate bill that we were waiting for that sort of collapsed. The next morning, the stock on asbestos went through the roof, and there was no question that they had had some kind of prior notice that this was going to happen."

As powerful as Slaughter has become on Capitol Hill. Her cause has gained little momentum; however, she has found an ally in Senator Charles Schumer, who supports even tougher rules that would ban members of Congress from trading any stocks.

REPORTER: Why do you think this measure has not passed or gained any traction so far in Congress?

SCHUMER: I suppose there are Senators and Congressmen who would be affected by it and don't like being told they shouldn't do it. But you know what? You want to trade a lot of stocks? You want to own a lot of stocks? Don't be a Congressmen or Senator. No one is forcing you to run for office.

It's not uncommon for members of Congress, who are paid a base salary, to leave office a lot wealthier than when they arrived. We sifted through the financial disclosure forms for as many Western New York members of Congress - past and present - as we could find. Most did not directly own any company stock or had their money tied up in special funds whose investments they did not control.

We did, however, discover that former Buffalo Congressman John LaFalce, who rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange before he retired in 2002, was heavily invested in the market while in office, even while he served as the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.

LaFalce declined an on-camera interview, but told 2 On Your Side, "I always stayed away from banking stocks and (any) stocks within the jurisdiction of my committee."

We found nothing to suggest LaFalce traded based on knowledge unavailable to the public. But in a body as big as Congress, with its massive staff, Slaughter is convinced that the practice of insider trading continues in Washington, D.C.

"We have no business doing that," Slaughter said. "What we're there for is writing legislation to benefit everybody in the United States of America. We are not there to make it possible for somebody to make any money what(so)ever on that information."

To some, it is a frightening prospect at a time when Congress has never had as much financial control over Wall Street, and perhaps inside knowledge of what will happen next in the market.

Slaughter said she is going to try to attach her bill banning Congressional insider trading to a bigger bill that regulates the credit card industry. She believes that could make it more difficult for her colleagues to vote against it.

Nearly 38 Million on Food Stamps - a Record

Alan Bjerga
A record 37.2 million people, or about one out of every eight Americans, received food stamps in September, as the recession drove a surging jobless rate, according to a government report.

Recipients of the subsidy for retail-food purchases climbed 18 percent from a year earlier, according to a statement posted today on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Web site. Participation has set records for 10 straight months.

The government boosted food aid as unemployment soared, heading to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October. The jobless rate cooled to 10 percent last month, the Labor Department said on Dec. 4.

“We’ve been working to get that money out the door” to families that need assistance, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said last week in an interview.

Nevada had the biggest increase in food-stamp participation rates from a year earlier, surging 54 percent, followed by a 46.5 percent jump in Utah, according to the USDA. Texas had the most recipients at 3.1 million, followed by California with 2.9 million and New York with 2.6 million.

Recipients increased in every state and the District of Columbia, except Louisiana. Because of a sharp rise after Hurricanes Ike and Gustav in 2008, the number of people in Louisiana getting food stamps fell 65 percent in September from a year earlier. Gains of more than 30 percent from 2008 were reported in 18 states.

35 Million Budgeted

About 35 million people are expected to receive food stamps each month through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, according to the budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress in May.

“In this economic time, SNAP has been essential,” Merrigan said. The participation rate of state residents who are eligible for food stamps varies widely, the USDA said last month in a report based on 2007 data.

In Missouri, about 100 percent who were eligible that year took advantage of the program, the highest rate in the nation, followed by residents of Maine and Michigan, at 91 percent and 89 percent, respectively, the USDA said. Wyoming’s participation rate of 47 percent was the lowest in fiscal 2007, followed by California and Idaho at 48 percent and 50 percent, according to the study.

Nationwide, participation in the food-stamp program was 66 percent of those eligible for the aid in 2007, the USDA said. The department has budgeted for a rate of 68 percent in the current 2010 fiscal year.

“We know of a lot of people who are SNAP-eligible who are not participating in the program,” Merrigan said. “We are working with states to improve participation.”

Desperate Retailers Offer to Buy Used Goods in Cash for Clunkers Spin

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

MARK GLOVER
McClatchy News
It sounds surreal, but it's true: Private industry is rushing to adopt the marketing strategy of the federal government.

Companies of all stripes are now putting their own spin on the government's ``cash for clunkers'' program, offering trade-in deals on furniture, computers, appliances, hearing aids and just about every other item that can be sold.

Their motivation is simple -- the possibility of big sales in short order. ``Cash for clunkers'' generated about 700,000 new car sales during its run from July 27 to Aug. 24 and had thousands across the nation ready to exchange their old clunker for a shiny new car and a less overwhelming debt.

Page through any newspaper or surf the Web. It's hard to miss the replicated theme in ad after ad. It is all over the media. A simple Google search of ``cash for'' possibilities turned up scores of clunker promotions being offered by businesses from coast to coast.

The clunker mimics included: ``cash for laptops, cash for cells, cash for couches'' and even ``cash for appliances.''

Hollywood Eyes recently held a ``cash for clunker eyeglasses'' trade-in. People were able to get $25 off a new pair of glasses if they donated their old ones. The store is giving their specs to a local Lions Club, which refurbishes and distributes them to needy Central Americans.

``Even if people don't come in the store, they look at our clunker sign in the window and laugh,'' said manager Daniella Bonilla. ``People are happy to get any kind of discounts these days.''

The national Sephora beauty store chain also had a two-week ``cash for beauty clunkers'' event, giving customers $10 off a purchase of $50 or more if they brought in five old items.

"A lot of people took advantage of it,'' said Krystal Killion, one of the managers at Sephora in Fort Lauderdale's Galleria Mall. The clunker cosmetics ``went to the junkyard,'' she said, ``just like the clunker cars did.''

HANDBAG TRADE-IN

Dillard's also recently held a Handbag and Watch Trade-In Event. Through Nov. 1, lightly used, clean handbags, wallets and watches were being exchanged for store discounts, which ranged from $15 to $50 depending on the value of the donated item. The collected items were donated to local charities.

Babies R Us and Men's Wearhouse also recently offered similar promotions.

Jumping on the ``cash for clunkers'' bandwagon is a smart move, according to some analysts.

"It's a cool new marketing strategy, and ``cash for clunkers'' worked. This is a great strategy for getting people's attention,'' said Mike Gatti, executive director of the Washington-based Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a division of the National Retail Federation.

Gatti said the enormous publicity generated by ``cash for clunkers'' works to the advantage of companies offering clunker-like programs.

CASH FOR GOLD

But in truth, there are already South Florida businesses willing to buy or even consign used items for store credit or cash on the spot.

Across from the Dillard's store at the Miami International Mall, signs at CR Jewelers announces it's willing to ``buy your gold and diamonds.'' The price offered depends on the purity of the gold or diamonds.

``If gold is broken, dirty or in poor condition, it does not matter because the jewelry will be melted,'' said Donald Weinburg, an employee. ``Broken jewelry is just as good as new.''

CR Jewelers uses its ``cash for gold'' program to draw in new shoppers and build relationships with customers, according to Weinburg.

``With the economic situation as it is, people find themselves short on money for necessities like rent and utility bills,'' Weinburg said, ``so trading outdated or unwanted jewelry for cash helps lessen the severity of the recession.''

Plato's Closet, in Pembroke Pines, offers ``cash for clothes'' every day. Representatives at Plato's Closet buy lightly used clothes, shoes, purses, belts, hats, jewelry and movies that appeal mostly to younger shoppers.

The computerized prices offered are based on style, condition and brand. All the merchandise in stock comes from items people have brought into the store.

Steven Munzer, the franchise owner, guarantees customers will find themselves ``spending a fraction of what they would spend in the mall' for used items that are clean, in good condition and are top-name brands.

CASH FOR MUSIC

In Miami Beach, Uncle Sam's Music buys used CD's, records and music supplies in their original cases or sleeves.

Lisa Teger-zhen, who is in charge of the buying operation, recommends calling beforehand because the store can only buy a specific number of items per day.

But during the tough economy, Teger-zhen said Uncle Sam's offers an inexpensive alternative for music fanatics. ``There are tons and tons of people who are broke right now and need to get in the right position,'' she said.

CASH FOR BOOKS

Is your house crowded with books you no longer read -- or collectibles and antiques? Julius Ser, who opened Fifteenth Street Books in Coral Gables in 2001, may have a solution.

The shop, which specializes in used books and rare collectibles, may be interested in your excess.

``Whatever we feel we like, we buy,'' said Ser. The shop's main interests, however, are books dealing with art, Latin America, first editions or fiction -- and antiques.

Prices are set depending on rarity of the book, genre and condition. You can also pick up extra reading material at Fifteenth Street Books for as low as $1 per book.

So look around your home. Clean out all the overflowing drawers and bookshelves and make cash on the spot. Or better yet, remember the adage: out with the old and in with the new or semi-new.

Pelosi Confuses Washington with Hollywood

Pelosi warns of violence. "I think we all have to take responsibility for our actions and our words. We are a free country and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we have to carefully balance," she said.

"I saw,"-- she said, choking back tears -- "I saw this myself in the late seventies in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening and it gave--it created a climate in which violence took place."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/17/pelosi-warns-of-violence_n_289999.html

How pathetic. Nancy is confusing Washington with Hollywood, but wait, there's really no difference now is there? She'd love to substitute America's collective disgust of government with the Race Card. Deep down she senses the impeding collapse of the Federal Government and loss of power.

42% US Voters Say People Randomly Selected from Phone Book Better Than Congress

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Bankers and politicians are among the most despised people on Earth for a reason. Even people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than a Congress bought and sold to the highest corporate bidder.

Rasmussen Report
Forty-two percent (42%) of U.S. voters say a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that an identical number (42%) disagree, but 16% are not sure.

Last fall, just 33% thought the random group could do as good a job. Today, Republicans by a two-to-one margin believe that the phone book sample would be better than the current Democratic-controlled Congress. Democrats, by a similar margin, have the opposite view. A slight plurality of those not affiliated with either major party say the randomly selected group would do a better job.

Polling released earlier today showed that most Republican voters believe that their representatives in Congress are out of touch with GOP voters.

If they could vote to keep or reject the entire Congress, most Americans would vote to get rid of all the legislators and start all over again. Additionally, just 29% are even somewhat confident that Congress knows what it’s doing when it comes to the economy.

Despite these reviews, more than 90% of Congress routinely get reelected every two years. One explanation for this phenomenon frequently heard in Washington, D.C. is that “people hate Congress but love their own congressman.” But, 50% of voters say 'rigged' election rules explain high reelection rates for Congress.

Interestingly, though, when it comes to their own representative in Congress, just 44% of voters say he or she is about the same as them ideologically.

Other recent polling found that just 22% believe Congress has a good understanding of the health care reform legislation currently being considered. Voters tend to think that they understand the legislation better than Congress and about as well as Obama.

Florida 19th State to Borrow Unemployment Money

Olga Pierce, ProPublica

Florida has become the 19th state to borrow money to keep unemployment benefits flowing after the trust fund ran dry.

So far the state has borrowed $45 million, but officials estimate that it will have borrowed $1.2 billion by the end of the year.

As we detailed earlier this year in our series with public radio's Marketplace, states operate their own unemployment insurance systems [1] with little federal control over benefit levels and how well they choose to finance their systems. Like many states, Florida requires employers to pay unemployment insurance tax only on the first $7,000 of each employee's income -- the federal minimum, which has not been updated since 1983.

Because of the stimulus bill, states have until January 2011 to pay back their loans with no interest. But if Florida's balance is not repaid before then -- a process that in many states has necessitated business tax increases or benefit cuts -- Florida will face tens of millions of dollars of interest payments that must be repaid from its general fund, taking money away from other state priorities. Is your state's trust fund in danger of running out? See our interactive map.