Daily News Channel
Citigroup chief financial officer Ned Kelly was trying to explain an aspect of the bank’s better-than-expected first-quarter results on Friday morning when star analyst Meredith Whitney interrupted him. “Could you dumb that down for me?” she asked. It was the question of the week.
Puerto Rico’s Gov. Luis Fortuno on Tuesday outlined a plan that would cut spending by $2 billion per year and slash government payrolls by what could be more than 30,000 workers, or 10 percent of the government’s work force. “It’s up to us to confront the bitter reality that the government is bankrupt,” he said in a televised address
President Obama pledged Monday to cut the nation’s $1.3 trillion deficit in half by the end of his first term. He identified exploding health-care costs as the chief culprit behind rising federal deficits during a bipartisan “fiscal responsibility summit” convened to discuss ways to restore fiscal stability without deepening the recession. Meeting with the congressional leadership of both parties, as well as a range of business, academic, financial and labor leaders, Obama warned that the country cannot continue its current rate of deficit spending without facing dire economic consequences.
President Obama is reaching across party lines Monday to host a bipartisan "fiscal responsibility summit" as the government tackles the seemingly contradictory tasks of controlling a soaring federal deficit while spending the country’s way out of a deep recession. The summit is intended to be the starting point for a “frank discussion” on the long-term fiscal problems facing the country, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday
Kansas leaders Wednesday ended a standoff that had delayed tax refunds and state paychecks by agreeing to borrow $225 million from various state accounts, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office said. Republican lawmakers approved moving money into the state’s main account to pay the bills after budget cuts agreed to by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, spokeswoman Brittany Stiffler said
California lawmakers were told to bring their toothbrushes and prepare for a long day Tuesday, with the goal of passing a budget as the state faces a $42 billion deficit and 20,000 layoff notices were set to go out to state workers Tuesday.