Swipe Monster: Housing crisis w/ Are you an enemy of the state?

Going to start doing some news roundups here when appropriate to highlight news stories that may have been overlooked.

Housing crisis

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), notes that Congress’ proposed solution to the housing crisis is one that gives aid to banks and shafts low-income renters.  Pull quote:

Congress has shown little interest in ensuring the new guarantee prices reflect fundamentals, making it likely many of the people “helped” under the program will end up facing foreclosure a second time. However, to make matters worse, they came up with the idea of financing the plan by taking away a stream of funding that had been dedicated to help low-income renters.

That’s right; Congress wants to take away money from low-income renters to help bankers that made bad loans in the housing bubble. As we all know, when the banks are in trouble, it is not the time to talk about the free market.

Read Low-Income Renters to Pay for Housing Bailout.

Are you an enemy of the state?

Satyam Khanna of Think Progress reveals that 8 million Americans have been targeted under a very Orwellian program. Pull quote:

 According to a senior government official…”There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. 

Read Govt. May Have Massive Surveillance Program For Use In ‘National Emergency,’ 8 Million ‘Potential Suspects’

 

 

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