Obama’s Plan to Eliminate 121 Federal Programs Faces Significant Opposition

President Barack Obama sent lawmakers a budget package today (Thursday) that proposes to shrink or eliminate 121 federal programs and save almost $17 billion in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. But the budget plan contains cuts that will face vigorous opposition in Congress and fierce resistance from special interest groups.

The package of proposed reductions fills in the fine print of a $3.55 trillion budget outline approved by lawmakers in April that contains Obama’s top agenda items, including a healthcare overhaul, a push for renewable, clean-energy sources and changes in education funding.

The President wants to cut or end a number…

Federal Government Grants AIG a New Bailout Package

American International Group Inc. (AIG) got a $150 billion government rescue package – almost double the initial bailout deal of less than two months ago and the largest ever granted to a private U.S. company – as the ailing insurer continues to burn through its cash at an accelerating rate.

The New York-based AIG will get $40 billion of new capital from the U.S. Treasury Department’s $700 billion bailout package, to help offset the damage wreaked by four consecutive quarterly losses, including a third-quarter deficit of $24.5 billion that the company announced yesterday (Monday), Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. Federal Reserve also is slashing an…

Bernanke’s Stimulus Support Sends U.S. Stocks Soaring

U.S. markets soared yesterday (Monday) after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke endorsed another domestic stimulus package, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first close above 9,000 in four consecutive trading sessions.

At the close in New York, the blue-chip Dow had gained 413.21 points (4.67%) to close at 9,265.43. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 58.74 points (3.43%) to close at 1,770.03. And the broader-based S&P 500 Index racked up a 44.85-point (4.77%) gain to close at 985.40.

In testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday, Bernanke said that due to the poor economic outlook, additional government assistance could be…

Five Reasons Why the $700 Billion Banking Bailout Will Translate into $250 Oil

I’ve been predicting record oil prices for a number of years now, so when crude oil prices recently plunged from their record highs, I warned investors and consumers that the decline was nothing more than a temporary respite.

But now it’s clear that the fallout from the $700 billion banking bailout pact will virtually guarantee that my prediction will come true.

As the curtain closed on the third quarter yesterday (Tuesday) – leaving many investors worried that the long-feared "Super Crash" was imminent – crude-oil futures were staring at their first decline in seven quarters and their biggest quarterly decline in 17 years,…

Fed Signals Next Move Will be a Hike in Rates, But Timing Remains Uncertain

The next move from the U.S. Federal Reserve will be to increase the Federal Funds rate, although the timing of that hike remains to be decided.

“A number of participants worried about the possibility that core inflation might fail to moderate next year unless the stance of monetary policy was tightened sooner than currently anticipated by financial markets,” according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Aug. 5 meeting released yesterday (Tuesday).

The FOMC voted to slash interest rates seven times from 5.25% last September, before voting to hold steady at the current 2.0% rate at the last two…