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““SEC. 1338. Housing Trust Fund. “(a) Establishment and purpose.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’) shall establish and manage a Housing Trust Fund, which shall be funded with amounts allocated by the enterprises under section 1337 and any amounts as are or may be appropriated, transferred, or credited to such Housing Trust Fund under any other provisions of law. The purpose of the Housing Trust Fund under this section is to provide grants to States for use— “(1) to increase and preserve the supply of rental housing for extremely low- and...

FUNDS FLEE MORGAN, GOLDMAN FOR JPMORGAN By ZACHERY KOUWE and KAJA WHITEHOUSE Last updated: 2:36 pm September 19, 2008 Posted: 4:31 am September 19, 2008 The JPMorgan Chase CEO is seeing the coffers of the bank he runs being filled with "billions of dollars a day" coming from hedge funds that have pulled their cash from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, according to several large hedge-fund managers and other Wall Street sources. The flood of new business has actually caused a bottleneck at the banking giant, as the prime brokerage unit scrambles to quickly conduct due diligence and credit checks...

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2008 – President Bush today signed a $162 billion supplemental bill that principally will fund U.S. military operations abroad. Bush thanked congressional leaders of both parties for agreeing to provide what he described as “vital funds” to men and women in uniform serving in harm’s way. “I appreciate that Republicans and Democrats in Congress agreed to provide these vital funds without tying the hands of our commanders and without an artificial timetable of withdrawal from Iraq,” he said. The bill takes shape as Iraq experiences the lowest levels of violence since March 2004. The legislation also...

The hedge-fund business -- among the most reliable fortune-producing machines in recent years -- is going through a shakeout. ...Managers of hedge funds -- private partnerships that cater to wealthy individuals and institutions and are less regulated than, say, mutual funds -- like to think of themselves as a unique breed, capable of racking up big profits from opportunities that ordinary investors overlook. But in fact their profession is tracing the path of other businesses, whether autos or computers, that enjoyed rapid growth, led by aggressive entrepreneurs, before confronting deep challenges. And just as, say, eBay Inc. and Yahoo Inc....

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2008 – With Congress preparing to return from its Memorial Day recess, President Bush used his weekly radio address this morning to urge lawmakers to pass various pieces of pending legislation. Here’s what the president had to say about two defense-related issues: War funding: “Congress needs to pass a responsible war funding bill that puts the needs of our troops first, without loading it up with unrelated domestic spending. Our troops in Afghanistan are performing with courage and honor, delivering blows to the Taliban and al-Qaida. Our troops in Iraq have driven al-Qaida and other extremists...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryMay 31, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week Congress will return to Washington after its Memorial Day recess. I hope Members of Congress return rested, because they have a lot of work left on important issues and limited time to get it done. Congress needs to pass a responsible war funding bill that puts the needs of our troops first, without loading it up with unrelated domestic spending. Our troops in Afghanistan are performing with courage and honor, delivering blows to the Taliban and al...

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2008 – U.S. lawmakers have informed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that they expect to pass the remaining $108 billion of the fiscal 2008 budget by their Memorial Day recess on May 24, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said at a Pentagon news conference today. Video Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell briefs the press on issues ranging from the supplemental budget proposals before Congress to the situation in cyclone-damaged Burma, May 6, 2008. Defense Department photo by Cherie Cullen   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday to...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – Office of Management and Budget officials today urged Congress to act quickly on the White House’s request for $102 billion in supplemental funding to cover military operations in the war on terror through fiscal 2008, which ends Sept. 30. If Congress doesn’t act by the Memorial Day recess on the fiscal 2008 supplemental budget request, the Defense Department may have to begin furloughing civilian employees by the end of June, OMB officials said. The White House sent a $70 billion fiscal 2009 supplemental budget request to Congress on May 2 to carry the war effort...

John McCain is abandoning any hope of catching the Democrats in fundraising.Based on new financial disclosure reports released Sunday, and interviews with his finance team, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee will instead accept taxpayer money to finance his general election and share other costs with the Republican National Committee. The strategy will allow McCain to stretch his campaign dollars by splitting the cost of television advertising and other campaign activity with the RNC. But the decision also puts the Arizona senator at risk of being badly outspent – even with RNC help – by a Democratic nominee who will be...

** EXCERPT ** ALBANY — Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Gov. Eliot Spitzer used campaign funds in connection with his meetings with prostitutes, including payments for hotels or ground transportation, three people with knowledge of the investigation said. Prosecutors have asked the governor’s lawyers about the travel arrangements for three trips, including his Feb. 13 rendezvous with a prostitute at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. The United States attorney’s office in Manhattan has also asked about the governor’s use of car services during trips to Washington. The governor’s lawyers have begun consulting with a campaign finance expert who has long...

WASHINGTON – The next time a San Diego sheriff's deputy arrests a man who tries to steal a car, hauls him to a county detention center, starts asking questions and discovers he's in the country illegally, here's what will happen: The tax-supported district attorney's and public defender's offices will handle his case, a tax-supported judge will preside if it goes to trial, he'll spend an average three weeks in the local jail at $100 each day, a state prison could house him for years at $121 a day, and tax-funded probation officers will follow his progress. Only after that will...

...During the past four years, the developing countries have run an aggregate current account surplus of nearly $2.5 trillion. In 2008 alone, the surplus will probably exceed $625 billion. These huge surpluses provided the global financial system with the excess liquidity that funded America's burgeoning current-account deficit and depressed bond yields four years ago. The decline of long-term interest rates encouraged America's residential property boom and spawned the reckless lending for subprime mortgages. This process -- of surplus savings in developing countries influencing financial behavior in industrial countries -- has now made a complete circle with Abu Dhabi, Singapore and...

Few Americans have heard of credit default swaps, arcane financial instruments invented by Wall Street about a decade ago. But if the economy keeps slowing, credit default swaps, like subprime mortgages, may become a household term. Credit default swaps form a large but obscure market that will be put to its first big test as a looming economic downturn strains companies’ finances. Like a homeowner’s policy that insures against a flood or fire, these instruments are intended to cover losses to banks and bondholders when companies fail to pay their debts. The market for these securities is enormous. Since 2000,...

A SENIOR British defence official has warned the armed forces are headed for a "train crash" because the Government is starving them of funds as two separate coronial inquests found shortages of equipment were to blame for the deaths of British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a confidential presentation to colleagues at a meeting in the Ministry of Defence to discuss budget cuts, a senior defence equipment capability manager said spending had been so severely pruned that vitally needed equipment was simply unaffordable. He also warned that the Government risked "mortgaging the future" of national defence. The meeting, one...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today urged Congress to provide the remaining balance of President Bush’s fiscal 2008 supplemental funding request for the global war on terror, saying the delay in funding is damaging the Defense Department’s operations at home and abroad. “Delay is degrading our ability to operate and sustain the force at home and in theater and is making it difficult to manage this department in a way that is fiscally sound,” Gates said at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The Department of Defense is like the world’s biggest supertanker....

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2008 – It is imperative for Congress to quickly approve $102.5 billion in fiscal 2008 emergency supplemental funding earmarked to finance the global war on terrorism, a senior Defense Department official said here today. “We need that money as soon as possible so there is no disruption to our warfighting efforts and not a disruption to our soldiers’ lives, both in the field and their families at home,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters during a news conference. “It is imperative that we get that money as soon as possible,” Morrell reiterated. President Bush requested $189.4...

Got a phone call earlier today from the RNC. A nice young lady reminded me Hitlery had raised $100 Million and we needed to defeat her. She asked if I was a strong Republican. "yes!" I answered. Asked if I could give some money for the cause. I told her I would give to a conservative candidate, but if we nominate John McCain, I couldn't donate. She said she hoped I'd still support the nominee, even if I didn't agree with them on every issue....and that is when I lost it. Not totally...I was nice, and I told her I...

January 28, 2008 - - The Granholm administration today announced that nine Michigan elementary and middle schools will receive more than $1.6 million in federal "Safe Routes to School" funding for safety improvements and education programs that will encourage students to travel safely between home and school. "We want to protect the health and safety of our Michigan children," said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. "This program offers our children encouragement and opportunities to walk or bike to school. These schools are to be commended for the neighborhood and community-building efforts they accomplished in developing action plans and pursuing these grants...

WASHINGTON -- Two years ago, the U.S. Congress pressured the Arab emirate of Dubai to back out of a deal to manage U.S. ports. Today, governments in the Persian Gulf, China and Singapore have snapped up $37 billion of stakes in Wall Street, the bedrock of the U.S. financial system. Lawmakers and the White House are welcoming the cash, and there is hardly a peep from the public. This is no accident. The warm reception reflects millions of dollars in shrewd lobbying by both overseas governments and their Wall Street targets -- aided by Washington veterans from both parties, including...

The Federal Reserve, confronted with a global stock sell-off fanned by increased fears of a recession, cut its target for the federal funds rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.5%, the biggest single move it has made on interest rates since a three-quarter percentage point increase in November 1994. The Fed, in a departure from recent tradition of moving rates at regularly scheduled meetings of policy makers, took the action week before its scheduled January 29-30 meeting "in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth." (Read the Fed's statement.1) It hinted...

Obama gives away 'questionable' fundsJanuary 20, 2008 WASHINGTON—Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama is giving charity more than $40,000 in past political contributions linked to Chicago real estate developer and fast food magnate Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who is facing federal corruption charges, his campaign said Saturday. The contributions are from seven individuals who contributed to Obama's House and Senate campaigns. None of the money was for his current presidential bid. "Recent public information has called into question contributions to the Obama campaign from a donor and fundraiser," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement Saturday. "It is the policy and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2007 – The $70 billion in emergency funds approved this week by Congress has sidestepped the need for the Army to send out furlough notices for now, but that money won’t last long, the Pentagon’s top official said today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listen to a reporter's question during a briefing at the Pentagon, Dec. 21, 2007. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “There will be no furlough notices sent out in the...

Komal Sri-Kumar, chief global strategist at the TCW Group, a Los Angeles fund management firm, expects a quarter-point cut when Fed policy makers meet Tuesday. That would be best for the economy and stock prices, he says...“If there is no change, then the stock market tumbles,” he said. A half-point cut may prompt a relief rally in stocks, he said, although it may also ensure that “the dollar will take one more tumble.” That could force the Fed to start raising rates later to defend the long-enfeebled currency...“The Fed will have to walk a narrow walk and cut rates by...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2007 – Congress needs to act soon to approve emergency funding for troops in the war on terror, President Bush said here today. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Bush said Congress’ first priority before breaking for the holidays should be to provide troops the money they need for the fights in Iraq and Afghanistan. The president said “we’re seeing the benefits of success” brought about by the Iraq strategy. “This month, more of our troops will return home as a result of the success we’re seeing in Iraq. People are coming home,” Bush said....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2007 – If Congress does not come through with a supplemental bill President Bush will sign, money for defeating the largest killers of American personnel in the war on terror will run out Dec. 1, a senior official said here today. Retired Army Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, told Pentagon reporters that the organization will have to stop funding new initiatives and just maintain operations. “We’re out of (funding) new stuff now; we’re going to have trouble sustaining current contracts after the first of December,” Meigs said. The...

Lobbyists Hillary Clinton (D) $517,525 John McCain (R) $314,840 Mitt Romney (R) $215,775 Christopher J. Dodd (D) $211,575 Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) $206,300 Bill Richardson (D) $122,050 Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D) $111,810 Fred Thompson (R) $72,800 Barack Obama (D) $70,249 Duncan Hunter (R) $30,900 John Edwards (D) $21,500 Sam Brownback (R) $17,225 Mike Huckabee (R) $3,664 Tom Tancredo (R) $250

The roller-coaster career of maverick trader Victor Niederhoffer took a sharp downturn after losses mounted and a key investor withdrew money from his firm, demonstrating how the market's recent volatility has shaken even some veterans. Mr. Niederhoffer's hedge-fund firm, Manchester Trading LLC, ran into difficulties a decade after Mr. Niederhoffer lost most of his personal savings when his previous hedge fund collapsed. Last month, Mr. Niederhoffer's largest hedge fund, Matador Fund Ltd., was liquidated after suffering losses of more than 70%, according to people close to the matter. Adding to Mr. Niederhoffer's problems, according to a person close to the...

IF FAITH IS A STAUNCH BELIEF THAT requires neither proof nor evidence, then the stock market has it in spades. All of that faith lately is placed in the government's monetary policy. Come Tuesday, investors believe, quite fervently, that the Federal Reserve not only will cut interest rates, but will lower borrowing costs enough to breathe new life into the ailing U.S. economy. So resolute is that trust that it remains unshaken in the face of yet more worrying signs. U.S. industrial production ticked up just 0.2% in August...,market continues to slip. But economic weakness can only appeal to the...

DELHI: Top private-equity and hedge fund managers made more in 10 minutes than average-paid US workers earned all of last year, according to a new study from two research groups. The 20 highest-paid fund managers made an average of $657.5 million, or 22,255 times the US average annual salary of $29,500, said the study, released on Wednesday by Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy. The study cited data from the US Labor Department and Forbes magazine. “The fact that these pay levels for fund managers are so out-of-sight is going to drive up pay at...

ap.org is link only.STORY

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2007 – Troops serving at remote sites overseas can look forward to better connection with their loved ones at home, thanks to the success of a fundraising gala here last night by the SemperComm Foundation. Country music star Chely Wright and her band perform at the SemperComm Foundation’s annual gala to raise funds to supply morale-boosting communications and entertainment equipment, software and services troops at remote posts. Photo Cpl. Earnest J. Barnes, USMC  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The event, which included a dinner, concert by country music star Chely Wright and silent and live...

NEW YORK - Investors pressing companies to say more about the possible financial effects of global warming haven't found an ally in large mutual funds. While global climate change appears to be drawing more attention in the United States from lawmakers and businesses, no large mutual fund companies voted in 2006 to support shareholder resolutions seeking added disclosures about the possible financial effects of global warming. The 28 investment houses that run the country's 100 largest mutual funds either abstained from or opposed the handful of resolutions that reached a vote last year, according to data compiled by Institutional Shareholder...

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2007 – President Bush yesterday once again called for Congress to send him a clean emergency war-spending bill that does not include tacked on funding measures and a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. Without the supplemental funds requested by the White House in early February, military officials will be compelled to shift money around to fill expenditure disparities, Bush said during his weekly radio address to the nation. “In the next few days, our military leaders will notify Congress that they will be forced to transfer $1.6 billion from other military accounts to make...

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2007 – One of our greatest blessings as Americans is that we have brave citizens who step forward to defend us, President Bush said during his weekly radio address today. “Every man or woman who wears our nation’s uniform is a volunteer, a patriot who has made the noble decision to serve a cause larger than self,” Bush said the day before Easter. “This weekend, many of our service men and women are celebrating the holidays far from home.” Noting that men and women in uniform deserve the gratitude of every American, Bush stressed military members...

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2007 – Further congressional delay in forwarding an appropriate emergency war spending bill to the White House will damage military readiness and morale as well as endanger the nation, President Bush told reporters today at a White House news conference. “Congress’s failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines, and others could see their loved ones headed back to the war sooner than they need to,” Bush said. That scenario is “unacceptable,” Bush said,...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2007 – Army reserve-component training and equipment reset will be immediately affected if an emergency supplemental funding request isn’t signed into law by April 15, Defense Department officials said here today. Further, there will be serious repercussions for deployed servicemembers if the supplemental funding isn’t approved by May 15, the officials said. Both the Senate and House bills have passed bills that provide the funding but contain amendments that call for combat troops to be out of Iraq on a certain timetable. President Bush has vowed to veto any bill containing these provisions. During his weekly...

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Fifty-three mutual funds in China reported operating profits of 49.96 billion yuan (6.46 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006, thanks to the country's bull markets. Their net incomes totaled 22.28 billion yuan, while paper profits reached 27.69 billion yuan, according to the annual reports of 53 mutual funds that launched by ten fund management firms. The record operating profits were seven times greater than the seven billion yuan earned in 2005 by all 206 mutual funds under 46 fund management companies in China. The country experienced a fund investment frenzy last year as investors transferred their...

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury officials have met North Korean diplomats to try to work out the transfer of funds frozen in a Macau bank and smooth the way for the resumption of disarmament talks, the U.S. embassy said on Tuesday. The delegation, led by Daniel Glaser, met the officials late on Monday in Beijing to discuss implementation of a deal in which $25 million was to be released into a North Korean account at the Bank of China. The funds were frozen after the United States declared Macau's Banco Delta Asia a "willing pawn" in North Korea's illegal financial...

Even as the cost of addressing disrepair in the state parks tops $1 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to take back money that had been earmarked for the backlog. The list of deferred maintenance items in the 278 state parks, including several in the Bay Area, now includes nearly 8,000 leaky roofs, broken water lines, faulty sewer systems, brush fire hazards and other problems. A full 10 percent of the backlog — $123 million worth — is at Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay, where buildings from a military installation dating to the Civil War and a later...

Saudis hold 10 for 'terror funds' The Iraqi insurgency has had funds from Saudis, a US report says Ten people have been arrested in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of funding terror-related activities, the interior ministry has said. The arrests follow evidence in a high-level US report that Saudi Arabia has been a source of funding for the insurgency in Iraq. Nine Saudis and a foreign national resident in the country were held in three raids in Jeddah and Medina. It is unclear if the 10 have links to al-Qaeda, the ministry said. They were arrested for collecting money for "suspicious...

Millions of dollars in US rebuilding funds have been wasted in Iraq, US auditors say in a report which warns corruption in the country is rife.A never-used camp in Baghdad for police trainers with an Olympic-size swimming pool is one of the examples highlighted in the quarterly audit. Billions of budgeted dollars meanwhile remain unspent by Iraq's government. The report comes as President Bush is urging Congress to approve $1.2bn (£600m) in further reconstruction aid. The audit by Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (Sigir), is the latest in a regular series of updates to Congress. Budgeting...

Israel will transfer $100 million within the next couple of days to a "transparent" bank account that will be controlled by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday night. The $100m. is part of more than $500m. in PA tax revenue that Israel has collected on behalf of the PA but refused to turn over since Hamas took control of the PA government last spring. Olmert promised Abbas at a meeting on December 23 that he would transfer the funds, as part of what was widely seen as an effort to strengthen...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats yesterday said their party might deny funding for President Bush's expected call this week for a troop surge in Iraq if he doesn't meet their demands for detailed consultations and congressional debate on military strategy. "If the president chooses to escalate the war, in his budget request we want to see a distinction between what is there to support the troops who are there now. The American people and the Congress support those troops. We will not abandon them," the California Democrat said during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation." "But...

The EU's second highest court has overturned a freeze on the funds of an Iranian group which was on the EU's list of banned terrorist organisations. The People's Mujahideen of Iran was added to the list four years ago, and its funds were frozen. On Tuesday the European Court of First Instance ruled that the EU did not sufficiently justify its decision on freezing the funds. The People's Mujahideen has always protested at its inclusion on the list. The opposition group says it has renounced violence since 2001. The People's Mujahideen, which is in exile from Iran, is also on...

Israelis seize Palestinian funds A Jordanian-owned bank in Nablus was among those targeted Israeli troops have raided a bank and the offices of money-changers in West Bank towns, confiscating funds they say were intended to fund militants. The army said it seized almost $1.5m (£0.8m) in raids on premises in Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm and Ramallah. The money had mostly come from Syria and Iran and was intended for Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, the army said. Palestinian sources have said that millions of dollars, documents and files were "stolen" in the raids. At least eight currency exchange offices and a...

The Republican committee working to retain GOP control of the House has $36 million in the bank going into the final stretch of the congressional campaign. Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said his organization raised $8.5 million last month in a concerted effort to gain a financial edge over its Democratic counterpart. The money in hand puts the committee $10 million ahead compared to the same period prior to the 2004 election. At a news conference with reporters, Reynolds said the fundraising places his committee ahead of a pace he had set at...

Nigeria: Presidency - Obasanjo Did Not Authorise Diversion of FundsThis Day (Lagos) Posted to the web September 15, 2006 Kola Ologbondiyan Lagos The Presidency yesterday reacted to Vice President Atiku Abubakar's claim that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as organisations where President Olusegun Obasanjo has interests benefited from the controversial MOFAS Account at the Abuja branch of defunct Trans International Bank (TIB). Besides, it said, the President did not authorise diversion of public funds to any individual or organisation. "Obasanjo has never directed or forced any individual or organization to make donations to any of the many associations...

US accused of bid to oust Chávez with secret funds * Millions of dollars given to opposition, claim critics* Venezuelan groups' details hidden from list Duncan Campbell Wednesday August 30, 2006 The Guardian (UK) The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez. Photograph: Tengku Bahar/AFP/Getty The US government has been accused of trying to undermine the Chávez government in Venezuela by funding anonymous groups via its main international aid agency. Millions of dollars have been provided in a "pro-democracy programme" that Chávez supporters claim is a covert attempt to bankroll an opposition to defeat the government. The money is being provided by the...

<p>CARACAS, Venezuela -- The Associated Press filed a request under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act last year seeking documents from the U.S. Agency for International Development detailing its funding of non-governmental organizations in Venezuela.</p> <p>The AP sought USAID contracts for grants to groups in Venezuela since January 2004. About nine months after the AP's request, USAID released 132 grant contracts, totaling some 1,600 pages, for 2004 and 2005.</p>

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Legislators have approved $155.3 million to lure yet another California biotechnology institute to Florida. The Burnham Institute for Medical Research, based in the San Diego area, now is deciding whether to build its 175,000-square-foot facility in Port St. Lucie or Orlando. "This is the beginning of us becoming the premier research state in the nation, if not the world," state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, said Thursday after the Legislative Budget Commission's approval of the funds. The commission meets periodically when the Legislature isn't in session to make certain state financial decisions that can't wait until the...