Mortgage rates for the past 52 weeks, at a glance (AP)

Skip to navigation ? Skip to content ? By The Associated Press The Associated Press ? Thu?Jan?19, 10:48?am?ET

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a record low of 3.88 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's just below the previous record of 3.89 percent reached one week ago. Here's a look at rates for fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages over the past 52 weeks.

Current week's average Last week's average 52-week high 52-week low

30-year fixed 3.88 3.89 5.05 3.88

15-year fixed 3.17 3.16 4.29 3.16

5-year adjustable 2.82 2.82 3.92 2.82

1-year adjustable 2.74 2.76 3.40 2.74

All values are in percentage points.

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

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Copyright ? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mortgage_rates_glance

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House to reject debt limit increase. Why that doesn't really matter.

The House is voting Wednesday on a resolution disapproving of a request by President Obama to raise the national debt limit by $1.2 trillion. But the issue actually was resolved last summer.

The House returns this week to a vote on a resolution to reject President Obama?s request to raise the national debt limit, now 15.24 trillion, by $1.2 trillion ? the final element of a debt ceiling agreement that Congress approved on Aug. 1.

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At first glance, Wednesday?s vote would seem to reopen the most toxic debate of this Congress,?which took the nation to the brink of the first-ever default on the national debt last summer.

But, by design, Wednesday?s vote will be more theatrical than practical. Even if the House votes, as expected, to reject the president?s request, the measure still has to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate and avoid a presidential veto ? both highly unlikely outcomes. The special treatment of the issue was part of the political compromise last summer that prevented default while allowing the president to raise the debt limit and allowed Republicans to disapprove.

?This is all preordained,? says Stan Collender, a longtime federal budget analyst with Qorvis Communications in Washington. ?The debt ceiling increase had to happen, and this allows Republicans to vote against it.?

In effect, Washington has built itself a buffer heading into the 2012 elections. The big partisan clashes on spending and the debt limits were settled in Congress last year. The federal government is now funded until Oct. 1, the start of a new fiscal year. With this week?s expected hike in the debt limit, the federal government should have enough room for borrowing through the November elections.

In December, a lame-duck Congress will have to grapple once again with toxic issues, including expiring Bush tax cuts and perhaps another hike in the debt limit.?But for now, with the threat of a default or government shutdown off the table, both Democrats and Republicans have more scope for rhetorical warfare.

House Speaker John?Boehner launched the new session with a broadside on the Obama administration?s ?leadership failure? on the national debt.

?The vote itself is an indictment of the administration?s reckless spending binge that has driven America?s economy down a disastrous fiscal path and hurt job creation at a critical time for middle-class families and small businesses,? he said, in a statement.

Since President Obama took office, the national debt has increased some $4.6 trillion, ?the most rapid increase in debt under any US president,? he adds. Current federal debt now exceeds the US gross domestic product, and the US is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends.

In response to critics, the president has said that stimulus spending was essential to keep the nation out of a deeper economic slump ? and, moreover, that the need to raise the debt limit was the result of congressionally authorized spending and that Congress should take responsibility for its own decisions.?

At a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, House Democratic whip Steny Hoyer called the debt-ceiling disapproval vote ?a charade.?

Even the conservative Club for Growth, which sees itself as a watchdog on fiscal conservative issues, blasted House Republicans for ?self congratulatory press releases? expressing outrage over the debt ceiling hike after the vote, when, in fact, 174 House Republicans and 28 GOP senators voted to give President Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling effectively on his own.

?The hypocrisy of many of these so-called ?tea party conservatives? will be on full display,? Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller said in a statement Tuesday.

To date, the Club for Growth is only running campaign ads against three GOP lawmakers for not being conservative enough on fiscal issues: Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan and Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania.

President Obama formally requested that Congress raise the national debt limit in a letter to Speaker Boehner on Jan. 12.? ?Further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments,? he wrote.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/NEKpAI5jNb0/House-to-reject-debt-limit-increase.-Why-that-doesn-t-really-matter

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SCOTUS holds the fate of Medicaid (Politico)

Two cases before the Supreme Court have the potential to effectively do what Republican lawmakers have tried and failed: transform Medicaid into a block grant program for states with few enforceable federal rules about how they provide health coverage for the poor.

That outcome may not be the most likely scenario. But legal experts say no one can predict what the high court will do ? particularly because many were surprised that the Supreme Court agreed to consider the Medicaid portion of the big multistate challenge to President Barack Obama?s health reform law in the first place.

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Should the courts rule against the Obama administration and back the states? contention that Medicaid expansion under the health reform law is unconstitutional, it would severely limit Washington?s ability to tell the states: If you want the federal Medicaid funds, you have to follow the federal Medicaid rules.

And that outcome ? federal money but few federal strings attached ? would be much like the block grant approach that Republicans have periodically attempted, most recently in last year?s House budget.

The second Supreme Court case, arising from a dispute over California Medicaid payment rates to health care providers, could give states even more latitude to run their programs by limiting individuals? right to argue in court that a state Medicaid policy violates federal law.

The federal health reform case has gotten more attention than the California pay dispute, but the Medicaid aspect has been overshadowed by the fight over the individual health insurance mandate. But last week, the 26 states challenging the law filed a brief arguing that Congress exceeded constitutional limits by telling states how to run their Medicaid programs. The health law requires expansion of Medicaid to populations not previously covered starting in 2014, although the feds are picking up the tab in the first years and most of the cost for several years thereafter.

The other case, Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California, was argued in October. The court will decide whether individual Medicaid beneficiaries and providers can sue California for cutting payment rates to the point that they say violates federal rules.

Should the court make sweeping rulings in both cases, legal experts say federal law will no longer have much power to bind state decisions on Medicaid, including who?s eligible, what benefits are covered and how much to pay providers. In short, it would become a lot like a block grant.

Under that scenario, ?the program is fried,? said Washington and Lee law professor Tim Jost, who argued for upholding the health reform law?s Medicaid provision in a recent New England Journal of Medicine essay. ?It ceases to be Medicaid as we know it.?

?Medicaid could go the way of the dodo,? agreed Harvard Law School?s I. Glenn Cohen, author of another NEJM piece that argued the opposite ? that the court should block Medicaid expansion.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71570_html/44213297/SIG=11mjavfo4/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71570.html

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UK unemployment rate hits 17-year high of 8.4 pct (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's unemployment rate spiked to 8.4 percent in November, its highest level since 1995, official figures showed Wednesday.

The figure is up from last month's 8.3 percent and follows a run of fairly downbeat economic news.

The Office for National Statistics also said there were 2.7 million people out of work in the three months from September to November. That is the highest figure since 1994.

Unemployment is rising as the British economy has flatlined in the wake of the debt crisis in the euro area, which has dented economic confidence, and as the government continues with its deficit-reduction program.

The statistics office also found that pay growth remains relatively muted as high unemployment keeps a lid on wages.

Analysts expect unemployment to continue to rise

"Public sector staff cuts will be accompanied by private sector job losses, as companies focus on cost-cutting in the face of what many are expecting to be a challenging year ahead," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at financial data company Markit.

The report came a day after some rare good news, a sharp drop in the U.K.'s consumer prices inflation rate from 4.8 percent to 4.2 percent. But that too was a measure of a tough year ahead; retailers contributed to the improved inflation rate by slashing prices in December to lure customers.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_economy

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Feisty Sarkozy shrugs off French credit downgrade (AP)

MADRID ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy bluntly declared Monday that a harsh downgrade by Standard & Poor's of France's formerly top-rung debt rating "changes nothing" for the eurozone's No. 2 economy.

Sarkozy, in a snippy exchange with a journalist at a Madrid news conference, suggested that a solid investor demand for a French debt auction Monday and a reaffirmation from rival ratings agency Moody's of France's triple-A sovereign debt had offset S&P's much-publicized downgrade.

"We have to react to this with calm, by taking a step back," he told reporters during a visit with Spain's new prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. "At the core, my conviction is that it changes nothing."

The S&P downgrade Friday ? which Sarkozy's own finance minister called "bad news" ? came just 100 days before the president faces what is expected to be a tough re-election campaign.

The news conference began combatively when Sarkozy refused to answer a question about whether France's downgrade would affect its ability to lead Europe out of the crisis ? and if the move prompted the postponement of a crisis summit for him and the leaders of Germany and Italy next week.

Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have taken the lead in proposing solutions to the crisis and major decisions are often hashed out at their meetings ahead of European summits.

"You don't have the latest information," Sarkozy retorted to a reporter who asked about the downgrade and the summit. Sarkozy refused to answer even after the reporter rephrased his question twice.

The French leader later confirmed that the three-way summit would take place in February and downplayed the S&P downgrade, but never gave a clear answer as to why the summit was rescheduled.

Sarkozy did manage to win much-needed political support from Rajoy ? notably for his pet project for a financial transaction tax that could help ailing European state coffers get out of the red.

France, which has long enjoyed relatively low borrowing costs and had S&P's top-tier AAA rating uninterrupted since the mid-1970s, on Friday was the largest of nine eurozone members hit by S&P downgrades ? dropping one notch to AA+. The agency also kept a negative outlook on French state debt.

Analysts said Sarkozy's denial that the downgrade meant much was wishful thinking.

"The fact that there is a negative outlook, it means that there is a probability ? a quite high probability ? of further downgrade in 2012, 2013," said French economist Norbert Gaillard. "So it's bad news for France."

But in a vindication of sorts for Sarkozy, France sold euro8.6 billion ($10.9 billion) in short-term debt on Monday. The yields ? or the interest rates charged by investors on the debt ? fell, a sign investors still see the country as a good bet.

Spain was also hit by an S&P downgrade, from AA- to A+, but Rajoy said that blow and downgrades for other European nations shouldn't be seen as a sign they will have trouble emerging from the financial crisis.

Rajoy's Socialist predecessor also supported the financial transaction tax, but Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was ousted from office by Spaniards angry about the country's hurting economy and high unemployment.

The European Commission has estimated that the tax could raise as much as euro57 billion ($72.2 billion) a year, funds that could be used to help reduce the substantial budget deficits crippling European economies.

Moody's cited France's economic strength as a reason for affirming its top rating, but said bleak growth prospects in France and the region present "risks to the French government's fiscal consolidation plans."

Moody's said it would again review French debt later in the first quarter as part of a broader look at sovereign debt within the EU ? meaning a decision is likely close to France's two-round presidential vote in April and May.

Sarkozy's challengers for the presidency ? including Socialist nominee Francois Hollande ? have seized on the S&P downgrade as evidence that his policies are wrong-headed and ineffective.

It will be a bruising election battle for Sarkozy, a dynamic leader who has a strong international profile but is widely disliked at home. Leftists say he has coddled the rich, while many of those who supported him in his 2007 campaign say he hasn't fulfilled his promises.

And Hollande is currently leading in the polls.

___

Angela Charlton and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris, and Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_financial_crisis

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Americans Elect Hires Communications Professional to Manage ...

A Roll Call Jobs listing at the end of December 2011 has since been filled, but thanks to the wonders of Internet cache I can bring back its screen capture to you:

Americans Elect has hired a crisis management professional, someone who will ?advise and implement crisis communications plan? and with ?experience in crisis communications?. It will be interesting to see how Americans Elect?s communication strategy will shift in response in the coming weeks.

One piece of advice: try actually talking to us. Americans Elect?s silence on a variety of matters is only an invitation to seek answers elsewhere.

Source: http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2012/01/17/americans-elect-hires-communications-professional-to-manage-crisis/

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A bit late, winter grips Midwest and Northeast

Snowplow drivers were out in force overnight in Chicago, where temperatures plummeted. The storm could drop up to a foot of snow on parts of Ohio along Lake Erie before moving east.

Many Americans' first real taste of winter this season blew through the Midwest and Northeast on Friday, leaving ski resort operators giddy, delaying commuters and air passengers, and forcing pedestrians along the East Coast to button up against biting winds.

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The storm blanketed the Upper Midwest before slowly swirling to points east. Snowplow drivers were out in force overnight in Chicago, where temperatures plummeted. It could drop as much of a foot of snow on parts of Ohio along Lake Erie before plodding on.

In a typical year, such a storm would hardly register in the region. But atmospheric patterns, including the Pacific phenomenon known as La Nina, have conspired to make this an unusually icy winter in Alaska and have kept it abnormally warm in parts of the lower 48 states accustomed to more snow.

In Buffalo, worse than the accumulation of 5 inches ? moderate by regional standards ? were 25- to 35-mph winds that blew the snow in blinding sheets.

"We go from no snow to a blizzard," said Courtney Taylor of Lewiston, north of Buffalo, holding on to keep her fur-lined hood up.

For Steve Longo, a 47-year-old chiropractor from Wauwatosa, Wis., the wait to try out the cross-country skis he got for Christmas was excruciating. He and a friend wasted no time hitting the trails at Lapham Peak, about 25 miles west of Milwaukee.

"I wasn't worried," Longo said. "I was just anxious."

The storm annoyed commuters, and authorities said it caused hundreds of traffic accidents and at least three road deaths ? two in Iowa and one in Missouri. And while some lucky grade-schoolers cheered an unexpected day of sledding, hundreds of would-be air travelers had to scramble to come up with a Plan B.

High winds delayed flights Friday, as the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend began, heading to large East Coast airports including Philadelphia; Newark, N.J.; New York's LaGuardia; and Boston.

Officials said the strong winds also were a factor in bringing down a huge billboard onto the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn, tying up traffic for hours.

The National Weather Service said up to 36 mph winds were blowing through Central Park, and forecasters expect Saturday to be windy as well.

Blowing snow appeared to factor into a mishap at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, where the nose gear of a plane on a flight arriving from Atlanta rolled from the runway onto grass and got stuck. No one was injured.

While the dry weather has been an unexpected boon to many cash-strapped communities, which have saved big by not having to pay for plowing, salting and sanding their streets, it has hurt seasonable businesses that bank on the snow.

The arrival of blustery weather had Vermont's ski industry celebrating. The King Day weekend is one of the most important moneymaking weekends of the season.

The snow finally enabled the state's snowmobile organization, the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, to start opening some trails.

"We are absolutely giddy, stoked, and the phones are ringing off the hook," said Jen Butson, a spokeswoman for the Vermont Ski Areas Association. "It's what we've been hoping for. Our snow dances have paid off."

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Carla K. Johnson in Chicago, Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee and Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/M-54in-wWcw/A-bit-late-winter-grips-Midwest-and-Northeast

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