Charles Antonucci, the former head of Park Avenue Bank, was arrested by the U.S. federal government on charges of stimulus fraud, regarding misuse of TARP funds.
The privately owned, Park Avenue Bank, recently collapsed and was seized by federal regulators, who now allege Antonucci stole $6.5 million dollars in TARP money, to fund a lavish lifestyle.
U.S. President Barack Obama
Two days ago it was announced, new U.S. home sales declined to its lowest levels on record for the month of January 2010. Today, it was reported the sale of preexisting homes in America fell to record low numbers as well, as people are having great difficulty unloading their properties, with a lack of eligible buyers.
This is not good, as it will create more foreclosures, with 2009 establishing a recor
However, some banks are still swooping in on mortgages attached to homes with a significant amount of equity and charging excessive, exorbitant penalty and legal fees, in trying to maximize profits.
In one such case, a property was valued at double the amount the bank is owed and a devastated homeowner bulldozed the property rather than let the bank auction it off.
RELATED ARTICLE
New Home Purchases In America Hit Record Low
U.S. Economy: Sales of Previously Owned Homes Unexpectedly Fall
February 26, 2010, 12:52 PM EST - Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly dropped 7.2 percent in January to a seven-month low, indicating a lack of job growth is undermining government incentives to bolster the housing market.
The decline to an annual pace of 5.05 million, reported today by the National Association of Realtors in Washington, was the second-largest on record after December’s 16.2 percent plunge. A separate report showed the economy grew at a 5.9 percent pace last quarter, faster than initially estimated...
http://www.businessweek.com
U.S. President Obama's global bank tax is picking up speed and shall apply to financial institutions doing business in America, in the event it passes in Congress.
This would be an appropriate move. The nation needs the tax dollars, as do all countries touched by the financial crisis that began in the U.S. corporate sector.
Additionally, said tax money should not be included in "pay as you go" or immediately used on new programs. The money should go towards reducing national debt. When the nation is in a better financial place, the government can then look at MODERATE spending.
Global Bank Tax Gaining Steam - Brown
Published: February 11, 2010 - LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the world's top economies were close to agreeing an international levy on banks and that a deal could be thrashed out during a G20 summit in June, the Financial Times reported.
In an interview published on Thursday, Brown said he believed backing for a global bank tax had gained momentum since U.S. President Barack Obama called for a fee to be levied on major U.S. financial institutions last month...
U.S. foreclosure rates have spiked yet again, proving not enough is being done by the government and banks, to help home owners out of a national rut.
U.S. Foreclosure Filings Surpass 300,000 for 11th Month in Row
February 11, 2010, 12:46 PM EST - Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings rose 15 percent in January from a year earlier and exceeded 300,000 for the 11th consecutive month as modification programs failed to keep delinquent borrowers in their homes, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
A total of 315,716 properties received a notice of default, auction or bank seizure last month, or one in 409 households, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a statement. Filings fell 10 percent from December.
Bank seizures, also known as real-estate-owned or REOs, may rise to a record 3 million this year, RealtyTrac said last month. About 66,000 delinquent loans out of a targeted 4 million by 2012 were permanently modified as of Dec. 31 under the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, according to the Treasury Department. About 787,000 mortgages are in trial programs that change loan terms, the Treasury said Jan. 19.
“It’s almost inevitable that modifications will fail,” Michelle Meyer, New York-based U.S. economist for Barclays Capital Inc., said in an interview. “Over the next several months, we should see REOs increase at an accelerated pace.”
Foreclosure filings also fell in January of last year from December, only to rise in subsequent months, RealtyTrac said.
U.S. President Barack Obama
Has the U.S. economy really improved. Banks and other U.S. businesses are still closing in record numbers, Americans still can't find work and today it was announced, due to a revision, the economy has lost 825,000 more jobs.
The current government plans are not working. The government needs to change course, before it's too late and the damage becomes a way of life, stuck in a cycle you can't get out of.
U.S. May Lose 824,000 Jobs as Employment Data Revised: Analysis
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg Multimedia) -- The U.S. may lose 824,000 jobs when the government releases its annual revision to employment data on Feb. 5, showing the labor market was in worse shape during the recession than known at the time.
Click here for a Bloomberg Multimedia interactive visual analysis of the economy’s job losses.
http://www.bloomberg.com
Unemployment rises in most metro areas
Feb 2, 2:40 PM (ET) - WASHINGTON (AP) - Unemployment rose in most cities and counties in December, signaling that companies remain reluctant to hire even as the economy recovers.
The unemployment rate rose in 306 of 372 metro areas, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The rate fell in 41 and was unchanged in 25. That's worse than November, when the rate fell in 170 areas, rose in only 154 and was unchanged in 48.
The metro employment numbers aren't seasonally adjusted and can be volatile. Many of the increases were due to seasonal factors...
http://apnews.myway.com
The Obama Spell Is Broken
Unlike this president, John Kennedy was an ironist who never fell for his own mystique.
The curtain has come down on what can best be described as a brief un-American moment in our history. That moment began in the fall of 2008, with the great financial panic, and gave rise to the Barack Obama phenomenon.
The nation's faith in institutions and time-honored ways had cracked. In a little-known senator from Illinois millions of Americans came to see a savior who would deliver the nation out of its troubles. Gone was the empiricism in political life that had marked the American temper in politics. A charismatic leader had risen in a manner akin to the way politics plays out in distressed and Third World societies.
Professor Fouad Ajami's opinion piece garnered over 400 comments. He visits the News Hub to discuss his views and offer rebuttals to criticism.
There is nothing surprising about where Mr. Obama finds himself today. He had been made by charisma, and political magic, and has been felled by it. If his rise had been spectacular, so, too, has been his fall.
