Foreign spigot off for US consumers As US public attention shifts from the Olympics to running mates and the celebrity "news" de jour, the infrastructure beneath your house is termite-infested. Just beneath the nicely painted exterior and behind all the new appliances, doubt is boring through the beams, gnawing at the studs.

29 States Faced Total Budget Shortfall of at Least $48 Billion in 2009 At least 29 states plus the District of Columbia, including several of the nation’s largest states, faced an estimated $48 billion in combined shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2009 (which began July 1, 2008 in most states.)  At least three other states expect budget problems in fiscal year 2010.

Lehman Collapse Spurs Call for Credit Clearinghouse Banks may accelerate efforts to move trading in the $62 trillion credit-default swaps market through a central clearinghouse or to an exchange after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the credit downgrade of American International Group Inc.

The AIG Crisis, By the Numbers As the fate of American International Group is decided in a complicated dance that includes the Federal Reserve, J.P. Morgan Chase and the governor of New York, the markets are scavenging for perspective and information on the massive insurer. Deal Journal tracked down some key numbers that offer a view into AIG, how much it has, how much it owes and what it could sell.

Fed Said to Reverse Stance, Consider AIG Loan Package The Federal Reserve is considering extending a ``loan package'' to American International Group Inc., the insurer facing a cash shortage, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Inflation Data Show Food Prices Soaring The Consumer Price Index increased at an annualized rate of 7.2% in April, before seasonal adjustments, the Labor Department is reporting.

Consumers Use Rebate Checks for Bills and Gas MIAMI — The federal government is showering households with tax rebates to spur spending and invigorate a troubled economy. But many Americans are so consumed with debt and the soaring price of gasoline that they are opting to save the money or use it to pay bills, according to surveys, sales data and interviews with people from Florida to California.

U.S. Taxpayer to Pay for Georgia’s Wrecked Economy WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is exploring ways to assist Georgia's economy including how global financial institutions can help limit economic damage caused by the conflict with Russia, a senior U.S. Treasury official said Friday

U.S. banking giant switches billions in debt to Britain to avoid paying corporation tax for 50 years Investment bank Merrill Lynch may not have to pay UK tax for decades.

The Inscrutable meets the Unknowable In 2010 Roth conversion year rolls around. The beneficiary of a Roth IRA, 401-k or 403-b will pay no taxes under current law. What does this mean politically? That’s currently unknowable. The reason it is unknowable is one you, my readers, are acquainted with. Capital flight from the future taxing of retirement accounts has been a thriving industry on the web for years: “Buy Costa Rican Real Estate”; “Off Shore Banking” and “Protect Your Capital with ETFs”

Oil's Rapid Rise Stirs Talk of $200 a Barrel This Year Oil's historic ascent from $100 to nearly $150 a barrel in just six months is lending weight to a far grimmer prediction: Crude could reach $200 a barrel by the end of the year.

California town creates parking havens for homeless Every night at dusk in this wealthy California coastal town, Barbara Harvey puts down food for her golden retrievers, Phoebe and Ranger, and watches as they go for their evening walk.	Middle East Countries About To Abandon Sinking Dollar Kuwait de-pegged its currency from the dollar last year. Now Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are considering following suit.
Greenspan says U.S. economy on brink of recession JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned on Tuesday the U.S. economy was “on the brink” of a recession.	Iraq war costs may reach $2.7 trillion The costs on American taxpayers may reach $2.7 trillion by the time the Iraq war ends, according to a Congressional testimony.
The Next Real Estate CrisisThe American homeowner must feel like one of those characters in an old cartoon who has just been hit by a falling piano. After dusting himself off and touching the large bump on his head, he probably doesn't expect another piano to be dangling overhead. But he'd be wrong.	NO To The Paulson-Bernanke Derivatives Scam BailoutWASHINGTON DC -- The grand theft bailout now being rammed through Congress by Treasury Secretary Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, and other officials of the Bush regime with the help of accomplices Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and other parliamentarians is a monstrosity for the ages, combining every hideous feature of monetarism, elitism, oligarchism, and sheer feckless incompetence. It is to all intents and purposes a national suicide note of the United States of America, a contract with the devil that absolutely guarantees irrevocable national decline. For any person of goodwill there can be only one impulse at the present moment, and that is to stop this bailout -- to block it, to sabotage it, to bottle it up, to load it with killer amendments, and to do everything legally possible to stop this insane design from going through.