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The Detection and Deterrence of Mortgage Fraud Against Financial Institutions: A White Paper, Produced by the July 13 24, 2009 FFIEC Fraud Investigations Symposium. “This White Paper is intended to raise the awareness of and assist examiners in identifying various mortgage fraud schemes perpetrated against financial institutions. The White Paper also provides best practices …
“There was a $1 trillion gap at the end of fiscal year 2008 between the $2.35 trillion states had set aside to pay for employees’ retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises, according to a new report released by the Pew Center on the States. The shortfall, which will have to …
LLRX.com – FOIA Facts: Why the Wait? Requesters who are new to using the FOIA statute often complain that they have filed a request within the last month but haven’t receive their documents yet. FOIA expert Scott A. Hodes explains that the congressional budgeting process does not specifically provide FOIA operations within an agency a …
Follow up to previous postings on the Bush Administration Torture Memos, significant new documents were made public by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., who posted the following document library on February 19, 2010: DOJ Report on Bush Administration Interrogation Memos and Related Documents [note: several of these documents are redacted] Memorandum for the …
“In a new White Paper, the national nonprofit consumer group Center for Justice & Democracy explores how the weakening of investors and borrowers legal rights since the 1990s has compounded deregulation and lax regulatory enforcement led to the recent economic collapse. In Legal Abandon: How Limiting Lawsuits Led To The Financial Collapse And What To …
New York Times: Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs: “Every downturn pushes some people out of the middle class before the economy resumes expanding. Most recover. Many prosper. But some economists worry that this time could be different. An unusual constellation of forces some embedded in the modern-day economy, others unique to this …
FHFA Working Paper 10-1: Estimating Median House Prices, Andrew Leventis, Senior Economist, Office of Policy Analysis and Research Federal Housing Finance Agency, February 2010. “Nondisclosure laws and other factors have hindered the production and release of median home price in many areas across the country. This paper attempts to fill the gaps and develops a …
Follow up to related postings on obesity in America, this new study: Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2008. Katherine M. Flegal, PhD; Margaret D. Carroll, MSPH; Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD; Lester R. Curtin, PhD. JAMA. 2010;303(3):235-241. Published online January 13, 2010 (doi:10.1001/jama.2009.2014). “Herein we report the results from the latest National Health …
WSJ: The Digital Dictatorship Evgeny Morozov on the myth of the techno-utopia. – “It’s fashionable to hold up the Internet as the road to democracy and liberty in countries like Iran, but it can also be a very effective tool for quashing freedom…For example, while the American public is actively engaged in a rich and …
News release: “Real average hourly earnings was unchanged from December 2009 to January 2010, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. A 0.2 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was offset by a 0.2 percent increase in average hourly earnings for all employees. Real average weekly earnings …
News release: “The Obama Administration today released details of an over $400 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which will bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities across America. The initiative was announced today in Philadelphia by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The two cabinet …
New York Times: “In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its 92-page report on the investigation into anthrax-laced letters that left five dead in 2001. The report describes evidence pointing to Bruce E. Ivins, a biodefense expert who killed himself in 2008. Included here is the F.B.I.’s …
