KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com
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California Republicans Cave, Completely - (www.businessinsider.com) Nothing says "government waste" quite so succinctly as California's Community Redevelopment Authorities. Blogger Mickey Kaus describes them as follows: "hideous eminent domain projects that benefit big developers (and the pols they then support). If there’s a failed liberal Great Society idea, this is it." One of Governor Jerry Brown's best ideas for closing California's budget gap was his call for the abolition of Community Redevelopment Authorities. He put it to a vote in the California State Assembly. With one honorable exception, the entire Republican delegation in the California State Assembly rejected the governor's proposal. Steve Greenhut, who covers these stories better than anyone, fills in the details: Redevelopment was started in 1945 as a means to upgrade decrepit urban areas, but in the ensuing years the state’s now-nearly 400 active redevelopment agencies have become horrific abusers of eminent domain. They routinely take private property from homeowners and small business owners and give it to developers on the cheap. Redevelopment has become a “tool” by which government agencies grab more tax revenues. They subsidize big-box stores and auto malls — it’s about luring sales taxes, not about upgrading blighted areas. Government officials don’t care whose rights they erode in the process of gaining more money for government.
No Relief Likely for Muni Bonds - (online.wsj.com) With last week concluding the slowest quarter for municipal-bond issuance in 11 years, attention is shifting to when borrowers will come back. If they ramp up soon, it won't be pretty, say bankers and portfolio managers, who say demand remains weak. "Even if [supply] were to pick up, I'd like for there to be demand, but personally I don't foresee it," says Michael Marz, vice chairman of First Southwest Co., a Dallas-based investment bank specializing in public finance. That outlook could bring dreary results to holders or sellers of municipal bonds, as well as governments and other public borrowers hoping to tap the municipal market for construction projects and other finance needs. On the bright side, opportunistic investors seeking a high yield from borrowers are more likely to get what they want. Lately, neither individual nor large investors in the U.S. municipal-bond market are showing much appetite for such bonds, which began to dive in late 2010 and, after regaining some ground, suffered more price pressure in March.
Fed's Low Interest Rates Crack Retirees' Nest Eggs - (online.wsj.com) Forrest Yeager, a 91-year-old resident of this seaside community, had been counting on his retirement savings to last until he died. The odds are moving against him. With short-term bank CDs paying less than 1%, the World War II veteran expects his remaining $45,000 stash to yield just a few hundred dollars this year. So, he's digging deeper into his principal to supplement his $1,500 monthly income from Social Security and a small pension. "It hurts," says Mr. Yeager, who estimates his bank savings will be depleted in about six years at his current rate of withdrawal. "I don't even want to think about it." Mr. Yeager is among the legion of retirees who find themselves on the wrong end of the Federal Reserve's epic attempt to rescue the economy with cheap money. A long spell of low interest rates has created a windfall worth billions to banks, mortgage borrowers and others it was designed to benefit. But for many people who were counting on their nest eggs, those same low rates can spell trouble. Mr. Yeager's struggle highlights a nagging dilemma facing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The longer the central bank keeps interest rates low to stimulate the economy, the more money it pulls out of the pockets of millions of savers.
Wall Street Trader Falls To His Death From Upper East Side Apartment In Tragic Accident - (www.businessinsider.com) A Wall Street trader fell to his death from his Upper East Side apartment last night. He was leaning out the window to smoke a cigarette, slipped and fell from the fifth story, the New York Post reports. 31-year-old Keith Mastronardi was head of exotic derivatives at an India-based firm called Vyapar Capital Market Partners. He was found dead at about 10:30 pm in the courtyard behind his apartment building on 74th street, according to the Daily News. His wife, who was at home with the couple's three children at the time of the accident, was taken from the apartment building on a stretcher. "Sources said Mastronardi had been drinking and had been trying to open a window to let smoke out of the apartment when he fell," the News reported. "An attendant at a neighboring parking lot said he was startled by the sound of Mastronardi hitting the ground and went running for cover."
Former CIA Analyst: Obama Has Backed Himself Into A Corner In Libya And Will Have To Admit Defeat Or Send In Ground Troops - (www.businessinsider.com) Fromer CIA analyst, and head of the Osama Bin Laden team from 1996 to 199, Michael Scheuer spoke to CNN about the situation in Libya. He was candid about the nature of the rebel groups fighting Qaddafi, and about the choices the U.S. faces.
· 0:45 The President has sent in the CIA to find out exactly who he's dealing with.
· 1:00 Libya has sent many young men to Islamic insurgencies; those who don't get killed go home; The core of the rebels is probably made up of these people.
· 2:30 You're only able to vet the people in the opposition as much as they are willing to talk to you. Those that are pro-democracy will talk, others will not.
· 3:00 The better solution was "never go at all." We're apparently going to try to train and arm the resistance, which takes time. "The President is putting himself into a corner where his only option is ground troops."
· 3:50 The choice may come down to admitting a mistake, or putting ground troops in. Nation's don't like admitting mistakes.
OTHER STORIES:
Spain’s Deficit Fight Risks Setback as Zapatero Quits Election - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan Tankan Signals Concern Confidence Will Keep Sliding - (www.bloomberg.com)
Government shutdown looms over talks as crunch time for 2011 budget nears - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Fed Answers Brazil-China-Germany Axis Over QE2 With U.S. Growth - (www.bloomberg.com)
Largest US dealer expects Japanese auto shortage - (finance.yahoo.com)
Fukushima Crisis Worse for Nuclear Power Industry Than Chernobyl, UBS Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Wall Street Trading Revenue Seen Falling 4th Straight Quarter - (www.bloomberg.com)
Japan to Release Low-Level Radioactive Water Into Ocean - (www.nytimes.com)
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