US Maximum Wage, Gov Trashes US Dollar, Russia

1) Administration Seeks Increase in Oversight of Executive Pay We have a minimum wage; we’re about to have a maximum wage… WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said. …The new rules will cover all financial institutions, including those not now covered by any pay rules because they are not receiving federal bailout money. Officials say the rules could also be applied more broadly to publicly traded companies, which already report about some executive pay practices to the Securities and Exchange Commission.   WHAT?!?!!?!?!?!? See: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/politics/22regulate.html?_r=1 2) Two corporate credit unions taken over by government WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators on Friday seized control of two large institutions that provide wholesale financing for U.S. credit unions, a move they say was needed to stabilize the credit union system. The National Credit Union Administration said it has taken over and put into conservatorship the two corporate credit unions, U.S. Central Federal Credit Union, based in Lenexa, Kan., and Western Corporate Federal Credit Union, in San Dimas, Calif. U.S. Central has about $34 billion in assets while Western Corporate, known as WesCorp, has an estimated $23 billion in assets. A conservatorship enables the government to operate a financial institution. Corporate credit unions provide financing and investment services to the much larger population of retail credit unions. Some of the 28 corporate credit unions in the U.S. have sustained steep losses on paper from the depressed value of the mortgage-linked securities they hold. See: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-corporate-credit-unions-apf-14707022.html 3) Dollar Rally Crumbles as Fed Ramps Up Printing Press March 19 (Bloomberg) -- The rally that pushed the dollar to the highest levels since 2006 is in danger of crumbling as the Federal Reserve starts buying Treasuries and ramps up its purchases of mortgage debt, adding to a flood of greenbacks.  “The implications of today’s Fed decision are unambiguous,” currency strategists at Citigroup Inc. wrote in a research report within a half hour of the Fed’s decision yesterday. The dollar “should weaken,” they said.  Fed policy makers said yesterday they plan to buy up to $300 billion of U.S. government bonds and step up purchases of mortgage bonds, expanding the central bank’s balance sheet by as much as $1.15 trillion. The extra supply of dollars threatens to overwhelm investors just as the budget deficit swells. See: http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afRBNPiWNYeY&refer=home 4) Russian planes again fly over U.S. Navy ships U.S. military officials said that in both cases, U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighters met up with the Russian aircraft about 70 nautical miles from the U.S. ships and flew alongside them until they left the area. On both days, U.S. aircraft tried contacting the Russian planes on international air frequency radio channels, but the Russian pilots did not respond, officials said. The last time Russian planes flew over a U.S. Navy ship was February 2008, when two Bears flew 2,000 feet over the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz south of Japan. Russian long-range flights skirting U.S. or other nations' boundaries have also been common over the last year. See: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/us.russia.planes/index.html?iref=mpstoryview 5) Source: 'Several' Missing Somali-Americans Back in U.S. After Overseas Terror Mission Many of the Somali-American men who were recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group overseas have returned to the United States, according to a source familiar with an FBI investigation into the matter — but the FBI still has not revealed publicly if it is pursuing arrests in the case. See: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509839,00.html 6) US commanders say US ready for any NKorean missile WASHINGTON (AP) — Two top American military commanders say the United States is "fully prepared to respond" to North Korea's planned rocket launch next month, calling it a threat to U.S. security. The comments come as North Korea reportedly prepares for what the U.S. believes will be a long-range missile test in early April. See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gJe29dzr3Xp0pPHuipQs51_jBmYQD9715QCO0