ECB
Cuts Key Rate to Record Low to Fight Deflation Threat - (www.bloomberg.com) The
European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low after a
drop in inflation to the slowest pace in four years threatened its mission to
keep prices stable. Policy makers meeting
in Frankfurt today reduced the main refinancing rate by a quarter point to 0.25
percent. The decision was predicted by three of 70 economists in a Bloomberg
Newssurvey. The ECB kept
its deposit rate at zero and trimmed the marginal lending rate to 0.75 percent.
ECB President Mario Draghi will
hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. The ECB now has just one more
quarter-point cut left before reaching zero, increasing the likelihood of
unconventional tools such as quantitative easing or a negative deposit rate if
prices slow further or the economic recovery stalls. Euro-area inflation is
less than half the ECB’s target and unemployment is at the highest level since
the currency bloc was formed in 1999.
Dem
Senator Challenges Sebelius: 'Why Not Just Shut Down' Obamacare Website and 'Do
It Right'? - (www.mediaite.com) At the beginning of Wednesday morning’s
Senate Finance Committee hearing on Obamacare, Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)
openly expressed his disappointment with the rollout of the healthcare law thus
far and challenged Health & Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius on
why they don’t just temporarily shut down the Healthcare.gov website in order
to finally “get it right.” “Many people think that the site should be shut down
until it’s totally fixed,” Baucus began his questioning. “Why just keep limping
along? Why not just shut it down and put it together in the way that it should
be put together. Many have pointed out that your one-off fixes tend to have
unintended consequences somewhere down the road.” “Every day when there’s a
story of someone didn’t get on, there’s a blank page, or a security problem,”
he continued with a chuckle, “that’s a bad media campaign. It’s negative, it
hurts, it doesn’t help you.” He asked: “So why not just have one bad story:
Shut it down, fix it, and everything’s working? [...] Why not just get it done
right? [...] Why not shut down and do it right?”
Cash-strapped
Greece protests against further austerity - (www.rt.com) Public and private services have shut down
across Greece as unions hold a 24-hour general strike against additional
austerity cuts in the recession-plagued country. Protests are taking place as
Athens holds talks with its ‘troika’ of creditors. Wednesday's strike disrupted
public transport, halted ferry and train services, shut down state-run schools
and left state hospitals and the ambulance service functioning with emergency
staff, the Associated Press reports. Dozens of flights were cancelled or
rescheduled as air traffic controllers walked off the job for three hours from
noon in support of the action. "Workers, pensioners and the unemployed are
going through an endless nightmare," Reuters quoted a port workers
statement. "The government and the troika are destroying this
country."
If
Obamacare fails, taxpayers get to bail out the insurers – (www.washingtonexaminer.com) Obamacare's federal website is a mess,
creating massive obstacles to enrollment in the law's health insurance exchange
plans. Those taking President Obama's advice to apply by phone or by mail will
fare little better, as their information must still be fed through the same
glitchy computer system that is holding up everyone else. The website isn't the
only problem, as things are only slightly better in the states that run their
own websites. In Kentucky, less than 20 percent of the newly insured (or 4,832)
have actually purchased plans – the rest will enter the taxpayer-funded
Medicaid program. In Maryland, exchange enrollment (3,186 as of Oct. 25) is a
tiny fraction of new Medicaid enrollment (more than 80,000). Worse, the Free
State's exchange lost steam in week three, selling about 33 percent fewer plans
than it had in week two. On Oct. 23, someone discovered a possible reason for
Washington State's extraordinary enrollment rate up to that point. A computer
error caused applicants to be told (wrongly) that they would pay little or
nothing for their new coverage. The state must now go back and give thousands
of enrollees the bad news – and convince them to re-enroll.
Dems
on edge over Obamacare - (money.cnn.com) Video!!: More than a dozen Senate Democrats
face off with the President, urging him to get the exchange system up and
running.
Obamacare
sticker shock? - (www.money.cnn.com) Video!! An internal war room document
obtained by CNN details worries over limited options in HealthCare.gov.
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