KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Friday March 4 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

How a Whistle-Blower Conquered Countrywide - (www.nytimes.com) Such was the lesson learned by Michael G. Winston, a former executive at the Countrywide Financial Corporation. Mr. Winston spent three years in a legal battle against Countrywide, the once-mighty mortgage giant, and its current owner, Bank of America, contending that he was punished and pushed out for not toeing the company line. On Feb. 4, he won: a jury in California awarded him $3.8 million in damages. “It is the littlest of Davids beating the biggest of Goliaths and taking two of them on at once,” Mr. Winston said. “This is the story of somebody who tried to set a company right. But it was frightening to them for me to shine the light from the inside out.” Mr. Winston’s story provides a glimpse into how business was done at Countrywide at the height of the subprime craziness — and how assiduously Angelo R. Mozilo, the company’s fallen leader, worked to quash dissent in the ranks. Mr. Winston had the audacity to question Countrywide practices. Mr. Mozilo was not pleased and, before long, Mr. Winston was marginalized and later dismissed.

Homeownership loses its luster - (www.latimes.com) Meredith Carr and Vince Melamed of Brentwood are just the sort of couple real estate agents have always counted on to buy a home. Melamed is a successful keyboardist and songwriter who wrote hits including Trisha Yearwood's "Walkaway Joe," and Carr is a freelance editor. They owned a home in Nashville, but when they moved to Los Angeles last year they decided they did not want to tie up their money in real estate, or be on the hook for home repairs and upkeep. "I never want to let the mortgage stand in the way of a business decision," Melamed said. "I don't want to be in a position where I want to buy a piece of equipment but I can't because all my money is tied up in the house."

House Blocks Health-Overhaul Funds in Budget-Cutting Plan - (www.bloomberg.com) The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives votedto cut at least $61 billion in federal spending this year, setting up a budget confrontation with Democrats that threatens a government shutdown. After more than 90 hours of debate, the House decided 235- 189 yesterday to send the measure to the Senate. Members adopted changes that will make agreement with the Senate difficult, including a ban on funds for President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul and for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions. The measure would block regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions, for-profit colleges and the Federal Communications Commission’s “net neutrality” Internet rules. Senate Democrats already have said they won’t accept the cuts in the $1.2 trillion spending bill, and Obama’s budget office has threatened a presidential veto. With Congress out of session in the coming week, lawmakers have little time to work out their differences. Current spending authority ends March 4, and without a new plan the government will shut down.

JPMorgan Says Lehman Left It `Goat Poo' Collateral - (www.bloomberg.com) Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. tricked JPMorgan Chase & Co. into holding onto collateral that the bankrupt investment firm internally described as “goat poo,” according to a court filing by JPMorgan. JPMorgan was stuck with Lehman’s worst securities backing $25 billion of loans as Lehman was sold to Barclays Plc in September 2008, JPMorgan said in its filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Lehman described the collateral as “toxic crap” and “goat poo” to be scattered “in other people’s backyards,” JPMorgan said. “Only later was JPMorgan able to determine that the position in which it unexpectedly found itself was the result of collusion and deception” by Lehman and Barclays, JPMorgan said. The accusations appeared in amended counterclaims against Lehman in its lawsuit against JPMorgan. Both companies are based in New York.

12K State Workers Could Be Fired Without Budget Deal, Wisconsin Governor Warns - (www.foxnews.com) If changes aren't made to the benefit contributions paid by Wisconsin's nearly 300,000 public sector employees, about 10,000-12,000 workers will lose their jobs, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warned Sunday. "I don't want a single person laid off in the public nor in the private sector and that's why this is a much better alternative than losing jobs," Walker told "Fox News Sunday." "If we're going to be in this together, (cut) our $3.6 billion budget deficit, it's going to take a whole lot more than just employee contributions when it comes to pensions and health care," Walker said. "But it's got to be a piece of the puzzle because as I saw at the local level, it's like a virus that eats up more and more of the budget if you don't get it under control." President Obama, whose group Organizing for America, has bused in some of the nearly 70,000 protesters outside the state capitol on Saturday, last week called the bill "an assault on unions." Under the governor's proposal, unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay organized. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be approved by referendum.

OTHER STORIES:

G-20 Agrees on Yardsticks for Imbalances as U.S. Seeks Leverage on Yuan - (www.bloomberg.com)

House passes sweeping cuts to domestic programs - (finance.yahoo.com)

G-20 reach compromise deal on imbalances - (finance.yahoo.com)

Threat Of Shutdown Looms Large Over Budget Debate - (www.npr.com)

Bernanke Defends U.S. Policies - (online.wsj.com)

US in deadlock over budget - (www.ft.com)

Rift lowers hopes of G20 breakthrough - (www.ft.com)

Bernanke says foreign investors fuelled crisis - (www.ft.com)

Regulators close 4 Ga., Calif. banks; 22 in 2011 - (finance.yahoo.com)

U.S. drops criminal probe of former Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo - (www.latimes.com)

Pricing Power in the Grocery Aisle - (online.barrons.com)