America Bails Out A Thankless World 12/02/2010 – Investors Business Daily
Turns out the Fed had over a dozen emergency programs operating beginning in 2007-08, one of them lending close to $9 trillion to Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and other troubled institutions, often at the comical interest rate of 1%. Foreign banks got much of the Fed's emergency credit. They included Britain's Barclays — which on a single day in September 2008 apparently received nearly $48 billion. Others whose palms were greased include the Landesbanken and Deutsche Bank of Germany, UBS of Switzerland, BNP Paribas of France and Dexia of Belgium, not to mention the South Korean government-owned Korean Development Bank. Read complete article at  http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/555577/201012021902/America-Bails-Out-A-Thankless-World.htm

Economy has sent executives to jobs down corporate ladder

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-12-03-lesserjobs03_CV_N.htm?csp=hf

For Tottering States, Bankruptcy Could Be The Answer (How To Defeat The Public Union Mafia Alert)
Michael Barone Nov 29, 2010

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2634258/posts

Time Magazine ….. The War on Secrecy (Cover)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034276,00.html

Congress passes 15-day funding bill

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State of Connecticut facing Multi Billion Budget Deficit

From the Republican American Newspaper:

Connecticut faces a fiscal crisis unlike any other in its history. In the fiscal year that begins July 1, the state expects to face a budget deficit of as much as $3.6 billion. The next fiscal year, the deficit could reach $3.5 billion. These shortfalls greatly exceed the $246 million deficit in 1989-90, just before the enactment of the state income tax.  

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2010/12/03/opinion/524767.txt

State of Connecticut Deficit Panel Fails to Include Cuts to State Employee Wages or Benefits  State panel targets big savings in health care, but avoids worker concession debate   By Keith M. Phaneuf  The legislative panel charged with improving state government efficiency tentatively endorsed more than $250 million in new cost-cutting measures, particularly targeting health care for the poor and elderly. But it avoided one of the largest pieces of the budget: pay and benefits for state employee http://ctmirror.org/story/8574/state-panel-targets-big-savings-health-care-avoids-worker-concession-debate

State employee wage info and more….   

Top 50 Base Pay vs Actual Pay

Visit the Yankee Institute for More Information on State and Local Spending on Public Employee Salaries, etc.   http://ctsunlight.org/

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As Congress debates extending tax cuts for the rich, this morning we learned Unemployment Rate Hits 9.8%, Highest Since April

and

Unemployment benefits have started running out for an estimated

2 million Americans. 

http://www.turnto23.com/east_county/26003002/detail.html

and

Federal workers rage over President Obama's two-year wage freeze

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/11/30/2010-11-30_fed_workers_rage_over_wage_freeze.html

National Debt: $13.7 Trillion

Deficit This Year: $1.3 Trillion

Americans Split on Extending Tax Cuts

Deficit panel's plan goes down to defeat  Erik Wasson  12/03/10 10:45 AM ET  http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/131841-deficit-panel-votes-down-plan

Highlight of Deficit Commission Proposal http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/01/national/w074522S61.DTL

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Connected Appointee Gets Immediate Raise - Hartford Courant

Nov 30, 2010 | By JON LENDER, jlender@courant.com, http://articles.courant.com/2010-11-30/news/hc-mandyck-salary-1201-20101130_1_democratic-gov-elect-dan-malloy-jodi-rell-jackie-mandyck

Congressional Proposal Would Seek Greater Disclosure on Funded Status From Public Pensions (Chris Panteli / Global Pensions) http://www.globalpensions.com/global-pensions/news/1929942/proposals-seeks-disclosure-public-funds

More on Pensions at http://www.pensiontsunami.com/

Honeywell Warns on Pension Costs  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704312504575618484198035098.html

The Coming Property Tax Cliff Means More Bad News for Municipal Finances Nov 27, 2010  By MICHAEL PANZNER See full article from DailyFinance: A recently updated Federal Reserve staff working paper, "The Housing Crisis and State and Local Government Tax Revenue: Five Channels," notes that property tax collections "have been surprisingly resilient" during the financial crisis and downturn. That's in sharp contrast to the steep drops seen in other municipal revenue streams, as shown in the following chart from their study:  http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/the-coming-property-tax-cliff-means-more-bad-news-for-municipal/19731199/

Towns want to cut schools, Some municipalities hope to end required spending levels  Republican American Newspaper, For years, Connecticut's cities and towns have been required to set their school budgets at or above the previous year's level. Towns can spend the same on schools, or they can spend more, but they cannot spend less. That has become a difficult requirement in the midst of an economic downtown that has pushed unemployment rates past 9 percent and has choked traditional municipal revenue streams, such as investment income, interest and real estate transaction fees. Now, some municipalities are preparing to push for a suspension of that fiscal line in the sand known as the Minimum Budget Requirement. This would open the door to big cuts in education spending. Continued at …. http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/524765.txt

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`Real Bad' Cash Jam May Force Michigan Towns to Borrow or Default by March Bloomberg  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-30/property-tax-collection-plunge-may-make-michigan-towns-borrow-or-default.html