More Bank Shakedowns, US to Borrow 50% of Spending, Military Spending Cuts, Obama Popular Among Arabs

"The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."  "Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies!" Both quotes: Thomas Jefferson 1) Banks Won Concessions on Tests …When the Fed last month informed banks of its preliminary stress-test findings, executives at corporations including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. were furious with what they viewed as the Fed's exaggerated capital holes. A senior executive at one bank fumed that the Fed's initial estimate was "mind-numbingly" large. Bank of America was "shocked" when it saw its initial figure, which was more than $50 billion, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. At times, frustrations boiled over. Negotiations with Wells Fargo, where Chairman Richard Kovacevich had publicly derided the stress tests as "asinine," were particularly heated, according to people familiar with the matter. Government officials worried San Francisco-based Wells might file a lawsuit contesting the Fed's findings. See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124182311010302297.html 2) US to borrow 46 cents for every dollar spent WASHINGTON – The government will have to borrow nearly 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year, exploding the record federal deficit past $1.8 trillion under new White House estimates. Budget office figures released Monday would add $89 billion to the 2009 red ink — increasing it to more than four times last year's all-time high as the government hands out billions more than expected for people who have lost jobs and takes in less tax revenue from people and companies making less money. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090512/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_budget 3) Fannie Loses $23 Billion, Prompting Even Bigger Bailout Fannie Mae reported yesterday that it lost $23.2 billion in the first three months of the year as mortgage defaults increasingly spread from risky loans to the far-larger portfolio of loans to borrowers who have been considered safe. The massive loss prompts a $19 billion investment from the government to keep the firm solvent, on top of a $15 billion investment of taxpayer money earlier this year. The sobering earnings report was a reminder of the far-reaching implications of the government's takeover in September of Fannie Mae and the smaller Freddie Mac. Losses have proved unrelenting; the firms' appetite for tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer aid hasn't subsided; and taxpayer money invested in the companies, analysts said, is probably lost forever because the prospects for repayment are slim. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/08/AR2009050801558.html 4) STIMULUS WATCH: Early road aid leaves out neediest WASHINGTON (AP) — Counties suffering the most from job losses stand to receive the least help from President Barack Obama's plan to spend billions of stimulus dollars on roads and bridges, an Associated Press analysis has found. Although the intent of the money is to put people back to work, AP's review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide reveals that states are planning to spend the stimulus in communities where jobless rates are already lower. …Altogether, the government is set to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest. See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5guNAb2By3sueeeMXl9bWidVIwh1wD983T6D00 5) Obama Threatens to Yank Calif. Stimulus Funds The Obama administration is threatening to rescind nearly $7 billion in federal stimulus money earmarked for California if the state does not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers. The cuts were pushed by Republican legislators as the state sought to close a $42 billion budget shortfall, while Democrats argued that the healthcare program is a cheaper alternative to nursing home care.  Reversing the reduction requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and would therefore require GOP support, the Times observed. See: http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_california_funds/2009/05/08/212353.html 6) Al-Qaeda pipeline through Syria reactivated WASHINGTON (AFP) — A Syrian pipeline used by Al-Qaeda in Iraq to smuggle Islamic fighters into Iraq has been reactivated after a short lull, The Washington Post reported. The newspaper said the revival of the transit route that officials had declared all but closed comes as the administration of President Barack Obama is exploring a new diplomatic dialogue with Syria. See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jrgtybYsoXZpH3bTCR-UvgexTLng 7) Military Recruiting Faces a Budget Cut Obama Plan Would Spend 11% Less Citing the Pentagon's recent success in meeting its manpower needs, the Obama administration is proposing to cut the Defense Department's budget for recruiting by nearly $800 million, or 11 percent, for 2010. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/10/AR2009051002172.html 8) Obama more popular than U.S. among Arabs: survey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's popularity in leading Arab countries far outstrips that of the United States… See: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE54920M20090510 9) Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody's movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday. However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was "more than a little troubled" by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by police and private individuals. As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights -- even if the drivers aren't suspects. See: http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-ap-wi-gps-police,0,5867383.story