Central Banks Announce $180 Billion Credit Line To Encourage Lending
In a move aimed at easing a worldwide credit crunch,
the U.S. Federal Reserve announced this morning their decision to
pump $180 billion into a consortium of central banks that will, in
turn, provide new lines of credit to firms who would otherwise face
tougher borrowing terms. Some global markets -- from Asia and Europe to
U.S. futures -- got an initial bounce from the decision. But it remains
to be seen if short-term lending strategy will do enough to help Wall
Street recover from this week's historic losses.
'The Big Three' Hit The Hill, Hat In Hand
Chief executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler met with Democratic
leaders on Capitol Hill yesterday asking for $25 billion worth of
government loans to prop up the struggling auto industry. The
execs took pains to distinguish themselves from other major
institutions who have also recently looked to the government for
financial help. Detroit wants to tap into yet-to-be appropriated loans
already authorized by Congress to facilitate the production of more hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles.
Does McCain Know Who The Spanish President Is?
In an interivew this week with a Spanish-language radio station, John McCain was asked about how his White House would receive Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. As Talking Points Memo concludes, his answer revealed that he "either doesn't know who the Prime Minister of Spain is, thinks Spain is a country in Latin America, or possibly both."
Blagojevich A No-Show At Doomed State Parks, Historic Sites
Gov. Rod Blagojevich will no doubt take some
lumps today following an AP report that notes he's never
visited or held official events at any of the 11 state parks or 13
historic sites that he targeted for closure this fall to help shore up
a $2 billion state budget deficit.
Despite Mix-Up, State Stands By Student Test Score Results
State officials knew there would be issues when they released
standardized test scores this year, in part because immigrant children were required to take the test in English for the first time under
stricter No Child Left Behind requirements. They ultimately had to recalculate one million scores due to changes in the form of the test. But today state board of
education officials are standing by the results, which show
gains among both elementary and high school students.
More County Borrowing On Tap
Anyone who thought that a decision to raise the Cook County sales tax rate to the highest in the nation would solve the beleaguered body's
financial woes, well, thought wrong. Commissioners voted yesterday to
give the county's chief financial officer Donna Dunnings blanket
authority to refinance roughly $3 billion in existing debt and to take
on an additional $740 million worth of new debt.
Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user BirdFreak.com.
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