Key Vote: Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009

Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009

- Vote Passed (230-193, 11 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill intended to bolster security at chemical plants. It now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

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Key Vote: Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act

Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009

- Vote Passed (403-12, 18 Not Voting)

The House gave final approval to this bill extending unemployment benefits and tax credits for some homebuyers and businesses, sending it to the President. The President signed it on Friday.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

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Key Vote: H.R. 2847 As Amended.; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

- Vote Passed (71-28, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate completed its work on this $64.9 billion legislation funding the Justice Department, Commerce Department, National Science Foundation and related agencies and programs. The House and Senate will now go to conference to work out differences between their versions of the bill.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

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Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

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Key Vote: Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009

Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009

- Vote Passed (331-92, 9 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would move the date credit card companies would have to comply with new credit card regulations from February 22, 2010 to December 1, 2009. The Senate has a similar bill, though it is unclear whether it will take action on either bill.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009

Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009

- Vote Passed (98-0, 2 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this bill that would extend unemployment benefits in states with a jobless rate over 8.5% and tax credits for some homebuyers and businesses. The bill was sent back to the House for final approval.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

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Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

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Hunger hits one in seven Americans

In 2008, 14.6% of U.S. households, equal to about 49.1 million people, "had difficulty providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources" said USDA. The families, which the USDA calls "food insecure," went to food pantries, enrolled in anti-hunger programs and ate less varied diets.

The numbers are a significant increase from 2007, when 11.1% of U.S. households suffered from "food insecurity."

New Push to Make FL Highways Safer

The FHP says commercial vehicles were involved in over 16,000 crashes in 2008, leaving 343 people dead.

Also in 2008, officials with the DOT's office of Motor Carrier Compliance (MCC) inspected over 126,000 vehicles, and took 18,000 off the roads for safety reasons.

Thousands of Rape Kits Wait to be Tested

Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports that they have 452 pending sexual assault kits awaiting testing. Of those the lab says 165 cases have been there longer than the average turnaround time of 111 days so they are considered to be "backlogged".

Jacksonville Sheriff's office says they don't know how many tested or untested kits they have in storage, "Our property storage facility does not track which kits have been sent for processing and which kits have not. There is no report available with this information."

Feds ignored Medicare scam warnings for years

For three years, the federal agency in charge of preventing Medicare fraud repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors over three years - mostly under the Bush administration - but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters, according to records provided to The Associated Press by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley's office.

A July 2008 warning said organized crime had infiltrated the system and was costing more than $1 million dollars for each phony Medicare provider license the crooks obtained. The letter got no response, Grassley said.

He and other critics said lack of oversight in the federally administered program is part of an estimated $60 billion a year in Medicare fraud.

Error results in funding shortfall for Jacksonville port dredging project

A dredging project that will benefit cargo ships calling on Jacksonville’s Talleyrand port faces a multimillion funding shortfall because a federal survey incorrectly calculated the amount of material that would have to be dredged.The Army Corps awarded a $46 million contract this year for dredging a 5.3 mile stretch of the St. Johns River leading up to Talleyrand.

But it could cost an estimated $18 million more to do the work, Army Corps project manager Steve Ross said today.

He said the contractor has continued to do the dredging and the Corps is working to get money so the work will finish as scheduled by September 2010. Based on the estimated cost increases, the Army Corps would need $2.5 million from the Jacksonville Port Authority to help cover the overruns, he said.

He said the Corps has corralled additional federal money but still would need another $3.5 to $4.5 million in federal dollars to close the funding shortfall.

Jury Awards Quadriplegic Man $25 Million

A jury has awarded a former gymnastics coach more than $25 million for an incident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Shane Downey was using a piece of tumbling equipment at North Florida Gymnastics and Cheerleading on June 2, 2000, when he fell and broke his neck.

The jury decided the business was 100% negligent for not supervising Downey as he was using the equipment.

The total award of $25.5 million is primarily to cover medical expenses.

Acorn and the Housing Bubble

All agree that the bursting of the housing bubble caused the financial collapse of 2008. Most agree that the housing bubble started in 1997. Less well understood is that this bubble was the result of government policies that lowered mortgage-lending standards to increase home ownership. One of the key players was the controversial liberal advocacy group, Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

The watershed moment was the 1992 Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act, also known as the GSE Act. To comply with that law's "affordable housing" requirements, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would acquire more than $6 trillion of single-family loans over the next 16 years.

Congress's goal was to force these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to purchase loans that had been originated by banks—loans that were made under the pressure of another federal law, the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), to increase lending in low- and moderate-income communities.

From 1977 to 1991, $9 billion in local CRA lending commitments had been announced. CRA lending by large banks increased dramatically after the affordable housing mandate was in place in 1993, growing to $6 trillion today.

As a result of congressional and regulatory actions, the percentage of conventional first mortgages (not guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration or the Veteran's Administration) used to purchase a home with the borrower putting 5% or less down tripled from 9% in 1991 to 27% in 1995, eventually reaching 29% in 2007.

Fannie and Freddie acquired $1.2 trillion of loans from banks and other lenders from 1993 to 2007. This amounted to 62% of all such conventional home purchase loans with a down payment of 5% or less that were originated nationwide over the same period.

Fannie and Freddie also acquired $2.2 trillion in subprime loans and private securities backed by subprime loans from 1997 to 2007. Acorn and the other advocacy groups succeeded at getting Congress to mandate "innovative and flexible" lending practices such as higher debt ratios and creative definitions of income. And the serious delinquency rate on Fannie and Freddie's $1.5 trillion in high-risk loans was 10.3% as of Sept. 30, 2009.

This is about seven times the delinquency rate on the GSEs' traditional loans. Fifty percent of the high-risk loans are estimated to be CRA loans, with much of the remainder useful to the GSEs in meeting their affordable-housing goals.

The flood of CRA and affordable-housing loans with loosened underwriting standards, combined with declining mortgage interest rates—to 5% in 2003 from 10% in early 1991—resulted in a massive increase in borrowing capacity and fueled a house price bubble of unprecedented magnitude over the period 1997-2006.

Jacksonville City Council actions

Issue: City Council salaries
What it means: The council is expected to deny a bill introduced by Councilman Art Shad that would cut salaries in half from $45,000 for council members and $60,000 for the council president. Shad says the pay is too high for part-time employees. Bill No. 2009-645
Action: Denied, 16-1

Issue: Tentative budget process
What it means: The council is expected to pass an ordinance that would create a tentative budget process that would precede the formal budget process that begins in mid-July. The bill would require the mayor to supply projected revenues and expenditures to council members by May 1, and the council must provide feedback by June 30. Bill No. 2009-701
Action: Approved, 17-0.

Issue: City elections
What it means: Councilman Jack Webb is asking to withdraw a bill that would have started the process of moving city elections to fall 2011. The move wouldn’t save any money but would allow city leaders to transition in January, months ahead of the summer. Council members have indicated they want to let voters weigh in. Bill No. 2009-716
Action: Withdrawn, 17-0.

Issue: Sports complex renovations
What it means: There will be a public hearing and vote on a bill that would funnel additional bed-tax dollars to help fund maintenance at the sports complex. Now that the Prime Osborn Convention Center renovations are complete, the $5 million a year in bed-tax revenue it receives can be redirected. Bill No. 2009-817
Action: Approved, 15-0.

Fed rule will limit overdraft fees charged by banks, credit unions

The Federal Reserve released a long-awaited rule Thursday requiring banks and credit unions to get consumers' permission before charging steep fees to pay debit card and ATM overdrafts.

The final rule, which comes amid intense congressional scrutiny of bank overdraft practices, will take effect by July 1, 2010, for new customers and Aug. 15, 2010, for existing customers. The Fed released a preliminary rule on debit card and ATM overdrafts late last year, but didn't say then if it would require banks to get consumers' consent before signing them up for these programs.

Bundled payments a way to cut health costs: study

One of the best ways to control U.S. healthcare spending is to pay doctors, hospitals and other health providers a single set fee for treating all aspects of a surgical procedure or a chronic disease such as diabetes, researchers said on Wednesday.

Although such a "bundled payments" approach does not figure in current U.S. healthcare reform legislation, it would go a long way to controlling costs, the team at the non-profit Rand Corporation said.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that bundled payments could save the U.S. healthcare system about a billion dollars a year but the Rand team said broadening the approach, already used by Medicare in some areas, could save more than that.

Prime Time's Top-Earning Men

In an industry hammered by changing viewer habits and dwindling advertising dollars, the 50-year-old Brit and his Fox juggernaut American Idol continue to score record ratings and big money. Though the singing competition's viewership has slid in recent years, it still managed to round out last season with an average weekly audience of 27 million, making it the most-watched series in prime time. And like Cowell's fellow top earners, the host you love to loathe has found several avenues to cash in, including judging, producing and music publishing. His total haul between June 1, 2008, and June 1, 2009: $75 million.

At No. 2 is the real-estate mogul turned reality show host Donald Trump, who banked an estimated $50 million from his similarly vast collection of entertainment ventures this year. (Earnings are calculated before taxes, management fees and other costs; voice-only actors were omitted from the list.)

Fellow Idol-er Ryan Seacrest lands at No. 3 on the list, earning a cool $38 million during the 12-month period.

Rounding out the top five are TV actors Charlie Sheen and Steve Carell, who earned an estimated $21 million and $20 million, respectively.

Health Insurance Profits: Not So Outrageous After All?

A cursory glance at third-quarter earning results from major insurers could put the lie to the "they're not money trees" defense: WellPoint late last month reported a net income of $730.2 million, less than last year but better than expected. UnitedHealth, Aetna, Humana and Cigna all saw double-digit percentage increases in their profits. The latter three all reported earnings above $300 million each, while UnitedHealth's third-quarter earnings were just north of $1 billion.

But the companies' profits still represent a miniscule percentage of the $2.5 trillion Americans spend every year on health care.

"Insurance company profits in the large picture have very little to do with the overall rising cost of health care," said health care expert Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Carroll and others pointed out that the profit margins the health insurance companies report -- often below 5 percent -- pace some industries and lag behind many others.

"From a net margin basis, it's not that much," said Steve Shubitz, an analyst at Edward Jones. "The bottom line is any business needs to make money. That's why you're in business."

Used cars in high demand, command premium prices

Used vehicles prices jumped an average of 16 percent in October compared with a year ago, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive information Web site.

Leading the rise are minivans such as Sharp's, up 27.1 percent. The Web site shows increases for 14 of 15 vehicle categories, with the only decline being a 1.6 percent drop in the price of mid-sized cars.

The dramatic increase stems from basic economic principals, said Joe Spina, analyst for the California-based Edmunds.com. "Used car supply is down, and demand is up," he said.

The supply has diminished for several reasons, Spina said. One is because many vehicle manufacturers cut their leasing programs several years ago, meaning there are fewer vehicles coming off lease and entering the used market.

Another reason is the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program, which gave consumers an incentive of up to $4,500 to trade in older vehicles for new ones. Those older vehicles were destroyed, meaning nearly 700,000 vehicles that could have ended up in the used car market were eliminated.

And finally, new car sales are down — especially after the clunkers program ended in August, so fewer customers are trading in their used cars.

Meanwhile, demand is up because many traditional new car shoppers are now considering used because of the economy, Spina said.

Study: Jacksonville Among Most Dangerous Cities For Pedestrians

Transportation for America ranks four Florida cities among the most dangerous for walking.

The most dangerous cities in the 2007-2008 year were Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville. They were followed by Memphis, Raleigh, Louisville, Houston, Birmingham and Atlanta.

The report found cities are spending less than 1.5 percent of total federal funds on pedestrian safety, despite the fact that pedestrians currently make up 11.8 percent of traffic deaths.

The group said 43,000 Americans have died this decade while walking along streets; it has consistently ranked Jacksonville among the worst for walker safety.

Report: 237 millionaires in Congress

As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress.

Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.

CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million.

All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center’s 2008 figures.

Senators’ estimated median reportable worth sunk to about $1.79 million from $2.27 million in 2007. The House’s median income was significantly lower and also sank, bottoming out at $622,254 from $724,258 in 2007.