© Rueters 2009  A new government insurance program that would help the elderly and disabled stay in their homes is headed for passage in the U.S. Senate's sweeping healthcare revamp despite doubts about its viability and cost.  The measure has not received the intense scrutiny focused on a proposed government-run medical coverage plan, which has been jettisoned from the the Senate's healthcare bill and is unlikely to be restored in final legislation. But the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, which was championed by the late Senator Edward Kennedy, is a significant program that supporters say is long overdue and critics say could add to ...
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© Streetinsider.com 2009 There is growing interest from investors for a chance to get in on a $1.1 billion package of commercial real-estate loans that had been given out by failed banks.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has received more than a dozen bids for the package of loans held by several defunct banks including the Franklin Bank, IndyMac Bank, and others according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.The FDIC continues to hold a substantial amount of real-estate loans that continues to grow as more banks fall victim to the current economic climate. This package that is gaining interest would hardly put a dent into the FDIC's total holdings.Once the deal is done, th ...
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© Billings Gazette 2009 State and local governments would be forbidden from imposing a tax on real estate sales and transfers under a proposed 2010 constitutional initiative ballot measure submitted Tuesday by the Montana Association of Realtors. The group turned in the proposal to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch’s office, which kicks off a state review of the proposal. “Ranchers and farmers, homeowners, retirees and small business already pay property taxes,” said Dennis Iverson, a former legislator and immediate past president of Montana Association of Realtors. “Real estate transfer taxes are nothing more than double taxation of property. A real e ...
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© CNN 2009 Simmering liberal angst over the Senate health care bill threatened to boil over Thursday as a critical labor union threatened a new fight over provisions that were dropped to attract more moderate supporters.  The warning came shortly after a top Senate progressive indicated he is not prepared to back the bill as currently drafted.  Senate Democratic leaders also faced continuing problems with social conservatives in their ranks. A key moderate continued to warn that Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill does not do enough to bar taxpayer-funded abortions. Read more ...
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This week the House passed legislation that would set national standards for notifying potential victims of identity theft when their personal information that is stored electronically is improperly exposed. Under the bill, HR 2221 (Rush D-IL) businesses that hold consumers' personal data would be required to notify individuals within 60 days when their personal information has been breached. However, covered businesses would be exempt from the notification requirements if they determine there is no "reasonable" risk of identity theft. Businesses utilizing encryption technology are also deemed to be exempt from notification requirements. The bill also requires the Federal Trade ...
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During 2008, a harsh bill was introduced that would change the taxation of the carried interests that general partners might have in a real estate partnership. Under current law, those interests are taxed at capital gains rates (currently 15%). The legislation changed the rule so that carried interests in real estate partnerships (and many other investment arrangements, as well), would be taxed as ordinary income. The 2008 bill was incorporated into a larger bill and did pass the House in 2008. The Senate never took up the underlying bill. During the week of December 9, a significantly modified, but still very harsh, version of the carried interest changes passed the House. The provision did ...
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Under current law, the cost of making improvements to leased space may be recovered over 15 years. This rule will expire as of January 1, 2010, however, unless Congress acts to extend it. If Congress were to fail to extend it, the cost recovery period would revert to 39 years, with the improvements being treated as part of the cost of the underlying real property. The House of Representatives has passed HR 4213, a bill that extends this and dozens of other expiring provisions on a mostly party-line vote of 241 - 186. The bill is "paid for" by changing the tax treatment of real estate partnership carried interests from capital gains rates (currently 15%) to ordinary income treatment ...
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© WSJ 2009 Senate Democrats gathered at the White House on Tuesday for a final appeal on health-care legislation, with President Barack Obama urging them to overcome intraparty disagreements on key parts of the measure.  "It's clear that we are on the precipice of an achievement that's eluded Congresses and presidents for generations," Obama said after the session. "We simply cannot allow differences over individual elements of this plan to prevent us from meeting our responsibility to solve a longstanding and urgent problem for the American people."  The meeting comes as Democrats appear ready to drop a proposal to let people between ages 55 a ...
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Governor Jan Brewer is expected to call Arizona legislators back to work for a one-day special session tomorrow to work on the state's budget crisis.  Agenda items for the special session could include spending cuts and special-election ballot measures to both temporarily raise the sale tax and loosen voter-approved spending mandates.  The special session would be the fourth this year on the state's fiscal troubles. The most recent, held in November, produced $452 million spending cuts and other budget changes that lowered the projected shortfall in the current fiscal year to $1.6 billion. ...
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© CBSNews.com 2009  President Obama, in an interview that aired Sunday on "60 Minutes," said the Senate is well on its way to passing a health care bill before Christmas. Meanwhile, on CBS News' "Face the Nation," Sen. Joe Lieberman said he agrees -- if his fellow Democratic caucus members are willing to throw out their latest public option compromise. The Democrats' latest plan to unify their party around the health care bill may thus be falling apart - and Republicans are hardening their resolve against the overall bill. As Congress heads into a midterm election year, the days that can feasibly be spent on health care reform are beginning to run s ...
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