BBB Warn Scams Credit Card Fees and Interest Rates
The Better Business Bureau today is warning consumers that starting next month, banks will be increasing credit card rates and fees "before a new set of laws designed to protect consumers will go into effect in February." The new set of laws refers to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Ac that Pres. Obama signed May 22, 2009.
"BBB Warn Scams Credit Card Fees and Interest Rates"
Massachusetts Credit Card Issuers Interest Rates
Massachusetts' top securities regulator said on Thursday he has asked some of the nation's biggest credit card issuers to provide data on whether they adjusted interest rates in the last months.
"Massachusetts Credit Card Issuers Interest Rates"
Consumer Credit Card Interest Rate Increases Banned
The U.S. Congress passed new laws last spring cracking down on banks' ability to hike interest rates. Starting Feb. 22, a consumer's rate won't be hiked just because a cell phone bill was paid late. In fact, a bank won't be able to raise rates, even if a consumer is late paying a credit card bill, until 60 days have passed.
In addition, monthly statements will clearly indicate how long it would take for a consumer to pay off his balance making only minimum payments. But the new laws give wiggle room for rate hikes when it comes to so-called variable-rate cards, which offer interest rates based on a financial indicator, such as the prime rate, which rises and falls with the health of the U.S. economy.
"Consumer Credit Card Interest Rate Increases Banned"
New Consumer Credit Card Rules
Consumers scored a few unexpected victories in a set of Federal Reserve rules issued earlier this week.
The Fed issued 1,155 pages of rules Tuesday telling banks how to comply with new laws regulating credit cards that go into effect on Feb. 22. In a handful of cases, in which the law was unclear, federal regulators used their discretion to go a step further to protect consumers.
"New Consumer Credit Card Rules"
The U.S. Jobs Lost Forever New Job Creations
http://www.ahorre.com/dinero/jobs/careers/good_paying_jobs_no_college/ - Good Paying Jobs No 4 Year College Degrees Required
The downturn that started in December 2007 delivered a body blow to U.S. workers. In two years, the economy shed 7.2 million jobs, pushing the jobless rate from 5% to 10%, according to the Labor Department. The severity of the recession is reshaping the labor market. Some lost jobs will come back. But some are gone forever, going the way of typewriter repairmen and streetcar operators.
Many of the jobs created by the booms in the housing and credit markets, for example, have likely been permanently erased by the subsequent bust.
"The tremendous amount of economic activity associated with housing, I can't see that coming back," says Harvard University economist Lawrence Katz. "That was a very unhealthy part of the economy."
"The U.S. Jobs Lost Forever New Job Creations"
China Computer Hackers Human Rights Activist
http://www.ahorre.com/dinero/jobs/careers/good_paying_jobs_no_college/ - Good Paying Jobs No 4 Year College Degrees Required
Google Inc. will stop censoring its search results in China and may pull out of the country completely after discovering that computer hackers had tricked human-rights activists into exposing their e-mail accounts to outsiders.
"China Computer Hackers Human Rights Activist"
The New Jobs from Obama Stimulus Plan
http://www.ahorre.com/dinero/jobs/careers/good_paying_jobs_no_college/ - Good Paying Jobs No 4 Year College Degrees Required
President Barack Obama is trumpeting a new White House estimate that his top economist calls "stunning": His stimulus plan has already created or saved up to 2 million jobs. The analysis is part of the administration's quarterly report to Congress on the controversial $787 billion package of spending and tax cuts he signed weeks after taking office.
"The New Jobs from Obama Stimulus Plan"
Disabled Renters National Fair Housing Alliance
Thousands of renters with disabilities are poised to get extreme home makeovers thanks to a major settlement ending a federal lawsuit against a development company run by the sons of GOP donor and San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos.
"Disabled Renters National Fair Housing Alliance"
Brazilian Immigrants need US Jobs or Going Home
When Leonardo Nakao’s flight from Brazil landed in Boston at 1:30 a.m., he didn’t have to search long for a job. By 5 a.m., he was pumping gas at a suburban service station. It was July 4, 2000, and Brazilian immigrants were enjoying a star-spangled boom.
More offers poured in. In his first week in the United States, Mr. Nakao got seven calls about jobs to fill the two days he wasn’t working. He was soon earning $1,000 a week. Then, two years ago, the global recession hit. Work got more strenuous, and the value of the dollar had fallen relative to Brazil’s real, slashing the value of the $400 a month he sent to his family in Brazil.
"Brazilian Immigrants need US Jobs or Going Home"
Illegal Immigrants from Brazil and Mexico
More Mexicans say country is in bad shape
"Our survey clearly shows that Mexicans are pretty unhappy with direction of their country," says Richard Wike, the associate director of the Global Attitudes Project that carried out the Pew study.
Their number one concern? Crime. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed say it is a "very big" problem, followed by economic issues (75 percent) and illegal drugs (73 percent). Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed, in face-to-face interviews that took place in late May and early June, say the country is on the wrong track – up ten percentage points from the year before – and 69 percent say the economy is in bad shape.
"Illegal Immigrants from Brazil and Mexico"