‘‘(D)(i) A prohibition on such TARP recipient paying
or accruing any bonus, retention award, or incentive compensation
during the period in which any obligation arising
from financial assistance provided under the TARP remains
outstanding, except that any prohibition developed under
this paragraph shall not apply to the payment of longterm
restricted stock by such TARP recipient, provided
that such long-term restricted stock—
‘‘(IV) For any financial institution that received
financial assistance provided under the TARP equal
to $500,000,000 or more, the prohibition shall apply
to the senior executive officers and at least the 20
next most highly-compensated employees, or such
higher number as the Secretary may determine is in
the public interest with respect to any TARP recipient.
‘‘(iii) The prohibition required under clause (i) shall
not be construed to prohibit any bonus payment required
to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract
executed on or before February 11, 2009, as such valid
employment contracts are determined by the Secretary or
the designee of the Secretary.
"These kinds of irresponsible budgets — and inexcusable practices — are now in the past. For the first time in many years, my administration has produced a budget that represents an honest reckoning of where we are and where we need to go."
BY DAVID SMILEY
dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com
The hope that drove thousands to sleep outside overnight in Fort Lauderdale to apply for subsidized housing turned to outrage Saturday morning as throngs were sent home empty-handed, even though some applications were still available.
Authorities were stocked with 3,000 housing applications at the Robert P. Kelley building on West Sunrise Boulevard and Northwest Fifth Street.
But more than 5,000 arrived hours earlier than expected and began pushing against metal guardrails and police when an announcement came that there were not enough documents to go around.
''There are no more applications,'' a Fort Lauderdale police officer called out over a megaphone at 8:15 a.m. ``Your presence here is a waste of your time.''
In fact, 200 applications were still available when officials sent everyone home, according to Tam English, executive director of the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority.
That infuriated those who showed up at the advertised 7 a.m. opening only to learn they were too late.
''What kind of mess is this?'' said Betty Outlaw, who arrived about 6:45 a.m. with two nieces. Unemployed and living with her sister, Outlaw stood in line anyway.
''Every one of us is struggling,'' she said. ``Cheap rent would help a lot. I feel like they tricked us. Don't put our hopes up and then step on us.''
English said Saturday afternoon that he should have expected the large crowd.
''If I had to do it all over again I'd do it different,'' he said.
Thousands of men, women and children in line began jostling for better positions before sunrise. One person was arrested for trespassing, according to Sgt. Frank Sousa, a police spokesman. Three people suffered minor injuries and one pregnant woman, reporting labor pains, was taken to a hospital, said Fort Lauderdale city spokesman Matt Little.
''A larger crowd than anticipated showed up,'' said Sousa. ``If it would have continued it would have provided for an unsafe environment due to the amount of elderly and children present.''
SECTION 8 SUBSIDY
The applications are part of the federal Section 8 subsidy program in which applicants with low incomes spend only 30 percent of their monthly wages on housing. The housing authority pays the remaining rent.
English said the Department of Housing and Urban Development will pick 2,500 of the filled-out applications, which will then be assigned a number at random during a lottery. The first on the list will likely be called in three to six months. The last could wait more than two years.
He said it has not been decided how or whether the remaining applications will be made available.
Veronica Lindsay was one of thousands who arrived before midnight.
Walking away from the center with a gold-colored voucher in hand and a lawn chair slung around her shoulder, the 25-year-old cosmetologist and mother of two said she can't afford the $1,200 monthly rent on her apartment.
While she said it may seem a little excessive to wait 10 hours in 55-degree temperatures for a chance simply to make a waiting list, the potential of finding cheaper housing made enduring the hectic line worth it.
''There is always hope,'' she said.
For many, optimism turned to frustration as the night wore on.
SPORADIC SCUFFLES
By 5 a.m., people began to push and shove, leading to scuffles, according to Olivia Fears, a Bradenton woman who drove to Fort Lauderdale Friday night.
''I didn't know the line would be like this,'' she said, tucking an application into her purse as officers warned that someone may try to steal the document. ``I'm relieved, but I'll feel better when I get a letter that I have been accepted.''
After the crowd left, Northwest Fifth Avenue was littered with McDonalds bags, Gatorade bottles, strollers, plastic lawn chairs, coolers and comforters -- enough to fill three dumpsters, English said.
Teddy Jacobs, a 27-year-old, unemployed Miami Gardens man stood across the street without an application and watched in disappointment.
''It was crazy,'' said Jacobs, who along with his wife and their 2-month-old baby, is basically homeless. ``People were pushing. I thought it was unorganized.''
We wanted to take a moment to write to you to tell you about the events that unfolded in Washington late last week regarding the Democrat's stimulus package. Senator Brownback voted against Senate passage of the stimulus package.
You can hear audio of Brownback's Senate floor statement regarding the stimulus bill by clicking here or by visiting the web site.
This is what Brownback had to say about the bill: "I voted against the stimulus bill because a huge increase in government spending is not the answer our economy needs. There are some good provisions in this bill, but not nearly enough to outweigh the overwhelming bad. This stimulus package threatens to be the beginning of our next bubble – a big-government bubble, where we try to use debt and leverage to spend our way into prosperity. We are considering an amount of spending that, even when adjusted for inflation, far outstrips the New Deal, the Louisiana Purchase, the Marshal Plan or the Moon Race."
The stimulus package, passed by both the House and Senate, has a $787 billion price tag. It is the single biggest increase in the deficit in American history. The bill increased the debt limit to an all-time high of $12 trillion, and represents 5.5% of the GDP.
"The hastily constructed bill being labeled as stimulus is not a good plan to help our economy weather the recession. It is a highly leveraged, speculative bet on larger government and massive long-term spending as a cure for our economic troubles. This is the largest spending bill ever and it's been done in the most rushed fashion I've ever seen. In conference, the bad parts of the bill got bigger and the good parts got smaller."
"In the history of the Republic, the largest stimulus package we've had was 1.5% of GDP; this bill is over 5.5% of GDP, although most of this bill isn't stimulus, it's simply big-government spending. There is only $76 billion in actual stimulative tax cuts in this bill, out of $787 billion; less than 10% of this bill offers true stimulative tax cuts. With this spending plan we are using a speculative bet on government, using our children's future as leverage."
If you have any questions or comments about the Stimulus Bill, please feel free to call one of our offices listed below and voice your opinion.
By KAREN MATTHEWS | Associated Press Writer
February 18, 2009
NEW YORK - A New York Post cartoon that appears to link President Obama to a violent chimpanzee drew criticism Wednesday on media Web sites and from civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton…
The cartoon refers to Travis the chimp, who was shot to death by police in Stamford, Conn. on Monday after it mauled a friend of its owner.
It links the chimp to Obama, who signed his administration’s economic stimulus plan on Tuesday…
Col Allan, editor-in-chief of the New York Post, released a statement defending the work.
"The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington’s efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."
Sharpton called the cartoon "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys." He said the Post should clarify what point the cartoon was making…
OBAMA: Solving this crisis will require more than resources. It will require all of us to step back and take responsibility.
"We know that even if we do everything we should, this crisis was years in the making, and it will take more than weeks or months to turn things around.
But make no mistake:
A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future. Millions more jobs will be lost. More businesses will be shuttered. More dreams will be deferred."
$1,000,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary for the manufacturing of advanced batteries authorized under section 136(b)(1)(B) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 13 17013(b)(1)(B)).
Provided further, That not less than $140,000,000 shall be available for climate data modeling.
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