| Finger pointing over bond insurer crisis
Leading the witness list was New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who told lawmakers that the cascading financial woes facing troubled bond insurers "threaten serious problems well beyond" Wall Street. "The problems in this market will affect many average Americans," Spitzer said. "It will affect the cost of college loans. It will affect museum budgets. It will affect state and local taxes." Executives from bond insurance firms Ambac (ABK) and MBIA (MBI) also testified before the House Financial Services Committee panel. The hearing was marked by finger-pointing - with the bond insurers themselves, insurance regulators and short-selling investors who bet on the insurers' fates among those targeted for blame. Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Services announced Thursday that it had downgraded bond insurer FGIC to 'A3' from 'AAA.' Moody's cited the company's weakened capital position and its exposure to the mortgage market.
Phillies' closer Lidge says his knee is healthy
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Somewhere in Haddonfield, N.J., sits a suburban house with a ballplayer's wife and a 3-year-old daughter. It's a nice place, Brad Lidge says. Safe, quiet and comfortable, yet not so big that his wife gets lost when he is on the road. Lidge is happy with it. But know this: He's renting. "Maybe we'll buy it next year,'' the 31-year-old closer said, a wry grin creeping across his face. "We'll see what happens.'' Yes, the stakes surrounding Lidge's performance this season are as high as the elevations in his native Colorado, and he acknowledged it by arriving 3 full days before the first official workout of this Phillies spring training. He is in a contract year, with a surgically repaired right knee, coming off a disappointing end to his 6-year career in Houston.
Bush Proposes Social Security System that Tilts Toward Poorest ...
Although still lacking details, tonight the President said he would favor a system that tilted Social Security benefit payments in the future toward the lowest income retirees. He suggested this might be the bottom 30 percent. (Below is the text of the speech and question and answer session with Social Security highlighted in yellow) "If you work hard and pay into Social Security your entire life, you will not retire into poverty," he said. According to the Associated Press, while Bush was still speaking White House officials handed out written material saying the type of change he had in mind could be accomplished with a "sliding scale benefit formula." That would mean lower payments for future retirees of middle and upper incomes than they are currently guaranteed a fact Bush himself did not mention in his 60-minute session with reporters.
Bowden bond would upgrade buildings
Patrons of an independent school district in west Tulsa County will vote next month on a bond issue that would bring more classroom space, a new library and gym and other upgrades.
A vote for the $2.5 million issue is scheduled for March 4, said Allen-Bowden Superintendent Penny Haynes.
The school, 7049 Frankoma Road, is an independent district with about 400 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade.
Included in the bond issue are a new gymnasium and a new classroom building that would include a library, Haynes said.
The existing gym and library would be repurposed, she said.
The current gymnasium facility, Haynes said, is lacking in space and has no air-conditioning.
The new gymnasium, which would be about twice the size of the existing gym, would be more suitable for students and visitors alike, with a doubled seating capacity and nice stage, Haynes said.
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