For those who can qualify at their local bank or real estate office, current mortgage rates mean low interest loans. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

People looking to purchase a home can get some low interest loans if they act soon. Current rates on mortgages are beginning to rebound from record lows, so there’s no time like the present. The only snag might be qualifying for financing.

Low interest rate mortgage loans available

Banks want to get anyone they can get to buy a home, or at least anyone who can qualify for the financing. Higher credit scores are usually required these days, though that isn’t always the case. People looking to get low interest loans for purchasing a home are better off acting sooner rather than later. Current rates on bank loans for homes are at all time lows for fixed rate mortgages, according to USA Today. The market rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage is currently at 4.77 percent, down from 4.86 percent from a few weeks ago. The market rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage is 4.13 percent. The 15 year fixed mortgage rate is down from 4.20 percent a few weeks ago.

Rebound from record lows

If there is a time to get a loan for a home, it’s now. Mortgage rates are rebounding after epic lows, as the housing industry took a downward turn over the course of 2010. Fewer people were buying homes after tax credit expired, and fewer people felt confident enough to buy, despite values being slightly down from Arizona to Alabama and all points in between. The market rate for 30-year fixed hit 4.17 percent in November of 2010, the lowest interest rate in 40 years. The rate for 15-year fixed home finance loans hit 3.57 percent in November, the lowest since 1991. Those who can come up with the instant cash for a down payment should do so soon.

Rates will rise eventually

The adage “What goes up, must come down” and vice-versa applies to a lot of things. Buying low and selling high is what many homeowners aim to do, and with mortgage rates so recently having been at record lows, there’s no time like the present.

Sources

USA Today

The Social Security Administration just closed a loophole that some wealthy people exploited for a quick payday at everyone's expense. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Recently, Congress closed a loophole in Social Security that some people were exploiting for a quick payday. The loophole allowed the well off to get more instant cash out of the system than they would have otherwise. The government was not amused and closed the loophole.

Quick payday loophole in Social Security

Some people are creative when it comes to getting a quick payday. One way some people figured out how to was the Social Security administration, according to USA Today. People can file for Social Security benefits at age 62, but they get reduced benefits as long as they receive them. The loophole was that a person could withdraw their application to receive benefits and refile for benefits at full retirement age. They would get the full benefit they were entitled to, only if they repaid the quick cash they had already received. Essentially, some very wealthy people were getting low interest loans, in fact no interest loans, from the government.

Social Security Administration end scheme

Financial advisers had known about this and some told seniors to exploit this loophole. Social Security checks would go into savings, until they withdrew their request for benefits and refiled for benefits at full retirement age after repaying the government. The Social Security Administration figured the scheme out and put a halt to it. A retiree now has to file an application to cancel benefits within 12 months of originally receiving them. There had been no set window prior to the rule change. The scheme, while crafty, takes present and future money out of the pool for people receiving benefits. It isn’t as if the SSA can get payday loans if it needs them.

Social Security only way for some to subsist

Social Security is the only way some people are able to keep a roof over their head. There is some debate over whether it should exist, but it is hard to get past the fact that since Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid were launched, life expectancy and standards of living for seniors drastically improved in the United States.

Sources

USA Today

Payday loans can be cheaper than the few alternatives there are. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

There have been claims that payday loans come with too high a price. However, payday loans are actually cheaper than the alternatives. For instance, a payday loan can be far cheaper than paying the minimum payment on credit cards. A cash advance on a credit card can build a lot of interest over time. A short term loan from a payday lender can be far lower than the interest on an overdraft charge. It also goes often unmentioned that banks and credit unions don’t all offer a payday loan type product because they can’t afford to.

Low interest loans compared to overdraft

Say a person goes into overdraft thanks to a debit card policy that automatically allows the overdraft at the point of sale or the ATM and charges a fee even if it’s only over by $1. If that customer incurs a $35 overdraft charge to borrow just $1, which is paid off the next day, that fee works out to 1,277,500 percent interest. A common charge of $35 per overdraft is the fee assessed by Wells Fargo and Bank of America, two of the world’s largest banking organizations. That makes payday loans some incredibly low interest loans compared to overdraft fees.

No viable alternative

Banks and credit unions don’t have a real alternative for payday loans — for a reason. They can’t afford to. A study by Victor Stango revealed that not only were credit unions not able to offer lower prices on payday products and break even or profit, they were also hampered by not having hours or locations as convenient as payday lenders. Only 6 percent of all credit unions nationwide offered any sort of personal loan alternative to payday loans. Banks and credit unions also have more stringent requirements. There aren’t many loans for bad credit available at mainstream institutions.

Predators or innovators

The thing about payday lenders is that they went into a market where no one else would go.  Not only that, they succeeded. As result, they get called predatory lenders. Read more facts and statistics in the new payday lending industry report on Personal Money Market.

Some people who got homebuyer tax credits owe the IRS, as their credit was no refund. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

One of the few things that helped to prop up an anemic housing market was the homebuyer tax credit from the government. The way it worked was that a person that bought a home could get some fast cash from Uncle Sam as a gift for doing their part in stimulating recovery, under certain conditions. A fair portion of those people are going to have to pay that credit back, as the initial tax credit offered for a purchase of a home was no credit; those refunds were essentially low interest loans.

Quick cash from Washington

When the recession began, it hit the housing market like a hurricane. Foreclosures shot through the roof, prices and available capital for home finance loans plummeted. Almost right away, part of the initial stimulus programs was a homebuyer tax credit. In 2008, qualified buyers could deduct the lesser of $7,500 or 10 percent of the purchase price from their income taxes. In 2009, the credit was extended but augmented to a refund, rather than a deduction. The hitch is that the deduction from the initial tax credit, according to CNN, was not just a break on the tax bill. It was a loan.

Due to the IRS in 15 years

Those who claimed the tax credit have 15 years to pay it back. There are 950,000 people who owe for the low cost loans, according to the Internal Revenue Service. However, the IRS does not know exactly who owes and who doesn’t, and is investigating inaccurate and fraudulent paperwork. Among the discrepancies is that there were tax credits filed for people who are dead. There were 1,326 homebuyer tax credits claimed by people listed as deceased by the Social Security Administration, but over 500 were tossed out.

The worth of the stimulus

The effectiveness of the stimulus programs has been questioned rigorously in the past months. Rightly so; the mortgage modification program hasn’t been very successful, and the bonus that 950,000 or more people believed they were getting for a home purchase has to be paid back. There is also the question of whether these people would have bought homes had they known they weren’t really getting a tax break.

Sources

CNN

The Federal Reserve won't send interest rates on emergency loans skyrocketing anytime soon. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Throughout the recession, the Federal Reserve has kept overall interest rates hovering near zero, in order to keep deflation or further inflation from taking place. The 12 regional Federal Reserve Bank directors recently met, and one of the items for discussion was concerning the discount rate on emergency loans. A discount rate is basically the interest rate the Federal Reserve charges on loans to banks, and lately loans lent to banks have been low interest loans. Two Federal Reserve branches wanted rates raised, as recovery is too slow to justify the low rate.

Federal Reserve is keeping rates low

Part of the monetary policy that the Federal Reserve has been pursuing is keeping interest rates low, even on bank loans. Essentially, the bet is that if banks need to borrow money, the access to liquid capital is there and breathing room for a strained banking and finance industry is assured. However, signs of recovery are beginning to show, even though there is every indication that growth in the economy is going to be more modest than hoped, but that a return to more normal conditions seems to be under way.

Two Fed banks want higher rates

According to Bloomberg, directors of two of the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks asked for a slight raise of the discount rate for emergency loans to banks, but by less than one percentage point. The rationale is that recovery is slow, but is occurring, and therefore it is best to raise the rates sooner rather than later. Currently, a fast cash loan from the Fed comes with an interest rate of 0.75 percent. Not only that, but fewer banks are actually borrowing these days.

It won’t happen

It is only the Federal Reserve banks of Kansas City and Dallas that want higher rates, and the raise in mind was slight. It also wasn’t adopted. Bank rates will probably hold low for some time.

Sources

Bloomberg

Real estate may be a veritable desert, but there are some signs of life. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The housing market in the past year has been a series of small hits and big misses. Banks, buyers, sellers and real estate agents alike are awaiting a return to at least some decent activity. Some signs of life are beginning to show. There was a recorded uptick in the number of new mortgage applications for purchasing a home. Not only that, but applications for loan modification dropped a little bit. However, applications to modify existing loans into low cost loans, or at least lower cost, are still the bulk of mortgage activity, which is significantly low.

New mortgage applications increase

The number of mortgage applications for the purchase of a new home has increased. The Mortgage Bankers Association recorded an increase of 6.3 percent in applications for a purchase, according to Reuters, which is the first significant increase since May of this year. However, it isn’t exactly great news. An increase is an increase, but the number of applications turned in to loan lenders for a home loan is at record low levels. Mortgage loan applications rates are down about 40 percent since May 2009.

Modifications are the bulk of activity

The vast majority of mortgage applications are still for mortgage modification. Applications for a modification dipped 3.1 percent, a slight decrease since May of this year, but modification applications made up almost 82 percent of all mortgage applications. Currently, mortgages of nearly any configuration are low interest loans, as the rate for 30-year fixed mortgages is at 4.5 percent, a 20 year low. The MBA started calculating these statistics in 1990, and the current rates are nearly the lowest they have ever been. The low rates make for a great opportunity to refinance. However, since finance loans are so much harder to access, it is difficult for many to reap the benefits.

Little stimulated

The stimulus seems to not have worked. As the tax credit only managed to temporarily propped up home sales, and the federal refinance program barely works, it seems that the recovery to housing must come from below. More people will need to be working for housing as an industry to have a chance.

Sources

Reuters

Even the golfing and country club crowd runs into financial trouble. Image From Wikimedia Commons.

Recessions take a toll on every social class, believe it or not. Some of the wealthiest of the wealthy do pay cash for everything and carry very low debt loads. However, some wealthy people simply take out way bigger bank loans. Some people would rather risk debt and disaster to have the biggest house and flashiest car, and it is showing. Foreclosures on large properties are increasing, as even the wealthy lack the instant money to pay the mortgage. Even rich people could use loan modification.

Recessions affect even the rich

There have been some high profile tumbles for some incredibly wealthy people. Just look at Nicolas Cage; he wound up losing more than one property, among them a $35 million mansion which was foreclosed. The home is listed for only $11.5 million. Granted, millionaires aren’t worried about their credit scores. That said, too much debt is bad. People should aim to have the fewest encumbrances, even of low interest loans, as possible at a time. Remember also that banks can sue delinquent homeowners for the difference in foreclosure sales. Three families from the “Real Housewives” series nearly lost their homes. Jim and Alexis Bellino, from the “Orange County” show of that series had to get mortgage modification after they defaulted.

Aren’t rich people supposed to be good with money?

According to ABC, the Los Angeles County area has exploded with foreclosures on incredibly expensive properties. In fact, the number of foreclosed on properties worth $1 million or more in that area has gone up 300 percent since April of this year. However, it isn’t so much that rich people are careless with their money. In fact, it’s the opposite. People who are more plugged into the realm of finance know that there’s a time to cut your losses and walk away.

Is real estate still a good investment?

The question of whether real estate is a good investment is becoming more pertinent. Plenty of people put a lot into houses for years, even decades, only to lose more than half that value thanks to the market tanking.

Sources

ABC

Paying Mercedes rates on a Mercury budget? Look into auto loan refinancing. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Some people might be led to believe that loan modification is just for mortgages, but that really isn’t the case. You can refinance your auto loans, too. In fact, right now could be a better time than ever to refinance car loans, as rates for car loans are lower than they have been in a while. You can turn your car loans into low interest loans if you refinance at the right time.

Refinancing not only for mortgages

You can refinance a car loan just like you can get mortgage loan modification. In fact, the rates available for car loan refinancing are low enough right now that you may not be able to afford not to refinance your car. According to the Washington Post, auto loan rates are trending lower. Lenders are looking to lend, and dealerships are looking to sell. However, bear in mind that there’s a difference between a loan you get from a bank and one from a dealership. Loans from a dealership often carry higher rates because they’re trying to make more money as the middle man between you and the bank.

What’s the catch?

There is, as there always is, a small catch. Auto loans are tied to your credit score; the higher your score, the lower the rate. So auto loans for bad credit may not be able to be refinanced or even modified. The same article in the Washington Post puts high credit score auto loans at 5.7 percent, but those for low credit score borrowers are as high as 18.5 percent. There are also fees and conditions imposed by each individual lender, so make sure you do your homework.

To refi or not refi?

Well, this is available more for people with great credit, rather than for those who aren’t. Also, you want to be careful of who advertises loan modification. The fastest growing type of scam around is the loan modification scheme, so make sure you know who you’re doing business with before you commit or hand over any cash.

Further Reading

The Washington Post

Low mortgage rates doesn't mean you can get a mansion for pennies, but you can score a sweet deal with low interest loans. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

If you’re looking at buying a home, right now is the time to do it. There are, unfortunately, a lot of foreclosed properties on the market at discounted prices. Not only that, but a lot of people are looking to sell. There is also a lot of inventory to move. As luck would have it, mortgage interest rates for 30 year fixed mortgages are at an all time low. So if you want to get low interest loans for a home, now is the time. You may never even need mortgage modification at prices this low.

Mortgage rates hit record low

Currently, the interest rates on 30 year fixed rate mortgages are at the lowest point they have ever been on record. Freddie Mac has kept track of the data since 1971, and the current market interest rate for 30 year mortgages dropped this week to 4.36 percent from 4.42 percent, according to Bloomberg. Granted, these are low cost loans compared to several years ago, but the rates are not exactly on short term loans. After all, it is for a 30 year mortgage. The rate for 15 year fixed mortgages is at 3.86 percent. At this rate, 30 year mortgages will be at that rate by Thanksgiving.

Plenty of inventory to move

As of right now, there is a greater supply of homes on the market than there has been since 1983. The real estate market has a 27 year all time high supply of homes for sale. However, that usually means that fewer people are buying. According to Reuters, home resales are at a 15 year low, and more people are getting refinancing if they can. The unfortunate corollary to all this is that getting credit from money lenders is harder than ever, and the era of unchecked loans for bad credit for purchasing a home is completely over.

Buy low and sell high

However, if you have the credit and a down payment ready, this is the time to buy. In the right area, you could actually get into a sweet house for half the cost you normally would pay. At these rates, you may never need to refinance or even have to think about mortgage modification.

Further Reading

Reuters

Bloomberg

To keep an agricultural disaster like the Dust Bowl from happening, the USDA is lending emergency loans to farmers. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The weather this summer has been detrimental to farmers in the lower Midwest. Areas in and around Kansas City were officially declared a disaster area after flash flood damage, and the U.S.D.A. has announced it will do all it can to help. Emergency loans will be made available for any farmers in certain areas that need some advance cash because of damaged crops. They will have several months to file for the loans. The loans will be incredibly low interest loans. Excessive rainfall and a brutal tornado season have caused extensive damage throughout the Midwest.

Heavy summer

Extensive rainfall has occurred throughout the Midwest. Many stormfronts from the Gulf region to the Great Lakes have wreaked havoc, such as the Oklahoma tornadoes and the Milwaukee floods. Areas around Kansas City have been heavily damaged as well. The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared six of seven counties in the Kansas City, Mo., metro area natural disaster areas, and those counties could use some cash now to help rebuild.

Farms experience extensive damage

Farmers in the region had the summer crops were severely affected by weather throughout the year. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, wind, rain, and flash flood damage has wrecked a good portion of this summer’s crops, and emergency loans will be made available. Farmers who wish to take out these low cost loans can file for loans through the Department of Agriculture. The interest rate will be set at 3.75 percent, and the amount can be up to 100 percent of losses. People can borrow money in amounts up to $500,000. Aside from the six counties around Kansas City, there are 55 counties in Missouri and 47 counties in Oklahoma that have been declared disaster areas due to extreme weather in that area.

Mother Nature can take a toll

It has been said more than once that Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress. Too much rain and wind can wreak havoc in agricultural areas, and that can leave farmers — the people who make sure we all can eat — in need of quick cash that is harder to come by these days.

Further Reading

Kansas City Business Journal

Take out smaller low interest loans while you can

If you catch your repairs before they turn into a major job, you can afford to take out smaller, low interest loans. Plan ahead before you take out the loan, however, as you may not be able to afford to pay it back. Determine your budget before deciding on how much to take out. Look at how much you can afford, taking into account the fees. If the amount of work that needs to be done cannot be handled all at once, then decide how much work can be reasonably done with the money you can afford to take out. Maybe $100 is all you can afford, so do not take out more than that. Even if you can afford to pay back a loan of up to $500, be sure to weigh out the pros and cons first.

What to do next

After calculating how much money you need, the next step is to apply for a low interest loan. Clicking the convenient little green button is the first step to applying. You will go to a secure application form, which will then be sent to a lender. Once they review your information, you will hear back regarding their decision. All this should happen within a few minutes once you submit your information. Should you be approved, your money will be in your bank account within a few hours. Then you can get started on those home repair projects.

When all is said and done…

After your projects are complete, it will be time to pay the piper. Your low interest loan will come due before you know it. Even if it is an installment loan, the payments must be paid on time. Late fees, even with low interest loans, can eat away at your budget further. Take the time to pay them back as soon as possible.

Get Low Interest Loans | Start HERE

If you are lucky enough to live in the path of the space shuttle landing, you could get quite the show. Image from Flickr.

NASA this morning announced that the space shuttle landing originally scheduled for this morning, April 19, was “scrubbed.” With two canceled landing attempts, the space shuttle landing will be attempted again tomorrow. The first attempt will be at 7:34 a.m. in Florida, and if needed the second attempt will aim for Edwards Air Force Base in California. Ideally, the space shuttle landing will be in Florida tomorrow morning, which will eliminate the necessity of low interest loans to pay for shuttling the space shuttle across the country.

Space shuttle landing show

This space shuttle landing will provide an airshow that is very rare. The path of the space shuttle landing will be visible from British Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Anyone under the landing path should be able to see the streak of the landing space shuttle for up to a full three minutes. Take a break from your research into secured loans and go outside to take a look if you are in the path.

Space shuttle landing may be in California

The two scrubbed space shuttle landing attempts on Monday morning were canceled because of clouds over Florida. The low, thick clouds would have blocked visibility for the space shuttle landing. Because the space shuttle is basically a giant glider when coming in for a landing, it is very important that there is good visibility for the crew to be able to safely land the space shuttle.

Space shuttle landing leaves only three missions

Once this space shuttle landing of Discovery is completed, there will be only three space shuttle landings left. This mission, as well as the three planned missions after it, were focused on upgrading and re-supplying the International Space Station. After the Discovery space shuttle is retired, NASA will be moving into other areas, including developing a program and craft designed to land on Mars. The Russian space program will shoulder the burden of shuttling astronauts, cosmonauts, and supplies to the International Space Station until further plans are made.

Watch reports of the space shuttle landing

Sources:

Associated Press at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8gpZRl3t8mV2RxsVjIuPU75dJeAD9F676T80
WNCT

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is considered "the world tree." (Photo: ThinkStock)

Earth Day AND activities for kids? That’s a win-win situation for environmentalist parents. But for kids to truly appreciate the fun that can be had on Earth Day (April 22), it helps if mom and dad understand where Earth Day comes from and what it’s about. According to USA Today, this is the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day. Back in 1970, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who was an environmentalist at heart, proposed that April 22 be set aside as a day to honor the planet and efforts to protect its precious resources. The idea caught on, and later that year, Congress authorized the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to police environmental pollution.

Earth Day activities for kids should be achievable

Earth Day activities for kids should mirror the call the EPA has issued to all Americans to commit to five actions that will keep our environment safe. Whether one of yours is applying for payday loans online rather than creating paperwork in a store is up to you.  Five actions may not seem like much at first, but think about what would happen if everyone followed their five actions diligently. The world would be a cleaner place, for Earth Day and every other day. It’s easier to focus on a few actions rather than a long list, which makes similarly targeted Earth Day activities for kids much less overwhelming. It also makes it much cheaper for parents, to the point that low interest loans are unnecessary.

Speaking of activities, here are your five actions for the kids

Thanks to Main Street, here are your “five actions,” your Earth Day activities for kids:

1. Sort recyclables. Ideally, you live in an area with curbside recycling pickup. Even if you don’t, there are likely places where you can take your recycling products. Separate plastic bottles from aluminum cans and show kids the recycling symbols on the bottom so they know what it means to be green. Teach them young so that it becomes a way of life — not a sometimes project.
2. Don’t throw away jars. Glass or plastic, those jars can be used to hold pencils, your favorite beverage, flowers, pennies, small toys or even that kind of sticky goo kids get out of vending machines. Kids can even decorate the jars!
3. Join the energy patrol. At home, at school or anywhere else, saving water and electricity go a long way toward saving the environment and saving money. Formulating good ideas is great to include in your Earth Day activities for kids.
4. Spring cleaning – make it a game! Cleaning up the house and garage doesn’t sound like fun at first, but if you challenge your kids to find new ways to use old products, it gets them more involved and thinking green. Here are some ideas to get kids started with household recycling, courtesy of the UK site Recycle This.
5. Make an Earth Day crossword. If your child loves solving puzzles, make an Earth Day activities for kids-themed crossword to help them flex their language muscles. Or use this one, courtesy of the EPA.

Have a Happy Earth Day on April 22!

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HR departments are busy

A recent poll by the Society for Human Resource Management suggests that the HR people who don’t respond to your resumés aren’t unsympathetic, they’re overwhelmed. In the past few years, HR departments have had plenty of layoffs and downsizings of their own. According to SHRM, since 2007 the average HR department has decreased from 13 to 9.2 employees. That means the average workload for the average HR worker has increased by 30 percent from the days when a written response to a solicited resumé was the norm.

HR workers know what it’s like

HR workers know firsthand what unemployed job-hunters are going through. In a separate survey, SHRM found that of the HR professionals who were out of work in 2009, 85 percent of job losses resulted from layoffs, 47 percent of workers looked for work for six to 12 months, and 27 percent had been looking for more than a year. Among the HR workers who found positions in 2009, 49 percent said they liked their new jobs less than their old ones.  Add pay cuts to the mix, and chances are good that HR personnel are better candidates for payday loans than ever before.

HR departments are ‘black holes’ for resumés

Given such a high level of job dissatisfaction, it’s safe to say that many HR personnel are overworked. With more than 14 million unemployed people looking for jobs, businesses are inundated with applications and resumés. Your submission – however carefully you crafted it and whether or not the company solicited it – is buried in a pile somewhere, and HR personnel are hard-pressed to give it individual consideration. The same thing can be said for interview follow-ups. Job candidates today get as far as the interview stage, feel that things went well, and then never hear from the company again. It’s discouraging — it may even border on inexcusable — but it’s not personal.

Bypass the HR department

When it comes to job-hunting with record-high unemployment rates looming in the distance, there’s nothing wrong with knocking on every door. So do a little research and try the back door. Check web sites or call the company to get names and contact information of the department head and hiring manager for the job you’re interested in. Then, whether or not you send your resumé to the HR department, send it directly to those people.

Your resumé is just a checklist for HR purposes

HR personnel sort through hundreds of applications and compare candidate qualifications to a checklist of job requirements. After about 10 seconds, if all the boxes on the list aren’t checked, your resumé disappears forever. Doubtless, department heads and hiring managers are busy people, too, but they aren’t looking at stacks of resumés every day, and they may see things in your application that an HR person does not. Many times, what company executives really hope to find cannot be expressed in a list of job requirements.

Get your resumé into the right hands

1. Be patient: Wait a few days after sending your resumé.
2. Be brave: Pick up the phone and call the people you sent your resumé to.
3. Be confident: Ask to schedule a meeting.

You need a job, right? Without one, you can’t even get low interest loans. Give your hard-earned qualifications and job experience the recognition they deserve by getting your resumé into the right hands.

Code Red, Dorothy! Get in the cellar, because the health care bill may pass this week!

The United States Senate is quickly approaching a vote on the current rendition of the health care bill, and tensions are reaching the boiling point. According to Talk Radio News Service, Tea Party Patriots staged a “Code Red” rally in Washington, D.C. in which Republican speakers like Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann assured their faithful that that Republicans are winning the debate. However,  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has gone on record as saying that a health care bill will pass the House “in a week.” If Republicans are going to “kill the bill,” they may need a last-second Hail Mary, a la Doug Flutie.

Code Red Republicans may need some Flutie-esque luck

I use the Flutie football analogy here because of something columnist George Will once said about football. He said it encapsulates two of the worst things about America: violence and committee meetings. Tea parties – as well as their counter-”patriot” equivalents – offer ample servings of both, so long as we remember that the dissemination of hate is a form of violence. That makes up for those rallies where physical violence actually fails to occur or people simply forget to bring their assault weapons. Hopefully they know that low interest loans are great for firearm safety courses.

Is there evidence in the numbers of Wall Street as to what direction the wind is blowing? Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” seems to think so. Cramer believes the current health care bill will pass, and that it will cost America dearly. We’re talking deeper recession dearly. “We have to wonder if this is one of those occasions, like in 2008, where the market doesn’t see the coming catastrophe. Or perhaps the market sees any resolution as positive,” he writes for RealMoney.

Jim Cramer sees the floodgates opening

Cap and trade, card check unionization and immigrant amnesty are on the way, claims Cramer. He cites Wal-Mart’s “inability to move even on its dividend boost” as a sign that union pressure may invade even the Walton corporate sanctuary. To pay for it all, where do you think the money will come from? Cramer says higher tax rates, including capital gains and dividend tax rates, by 2011. The massive projected costs of the current health care bill will “put the double-dip recession back on the table,” in Cramer’s estimation.

Meanwhile, Democrats are preparing to deal with Code Red tea parties

Doug Thornell, the National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), sent an e-mail to “Freshman and Sophomore House Democrats” regarding “Tea Party etiquette.” Their concern is decorum, while Republicans are bracing for impact. Do you know where your fast cash loans are, in case the economic winter deepens?

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewaliferis/ / CC BY-ND 2.0)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KllrtnisU0

Sure, it's fish, but do you know what kind of fish? Image from Flickr.

Most people have never heard of, much less seen a Hoki fish – at least, not until it’s blended, breaded, and on a bun. However, this ugly little fish has been the center of a very big environmental controversy. Two of sustainability’s biggest players are locked head-to-head, one saying the Hoki fish is environmentalism’s equivalent of low interest loans, easy to get and easy to replace. The other side claims Hoki fish are more like same day payday loans – easy to get, but sometimes very difficult to justify.

Hoki Fish is just part of your fish stick

When you go to your favorite burger joint, you’ll most likely see a fishwich, fillet-o-fish, or fishstick option. While at one point these sticks of fishy flavor were entirely whitefish cod, they rarely are anymore. Cod supplies have been dropping for years – in 2006, scientists actually called for a complete ban. Instead of one fish, fish fillets are usually a blend of Hoki fish, pollock, and other whitefish. Once caught, these fish are sent to factories where they are blended with each other, pressed into shapes, breaded, frozen, and sent off to end up on your plate.

Defining Hoki Fish’s sustainability

The issue with Hoki fish comes when examining questions of sustainability. Two of the world’s largest environmental groups that deal with fish, the World Wildlife Fund and Marine Stewardship Council disagree on the issue of Hoki fish. The World Wildlife Fund has stated that they believe the Moki is being over fished, and asked for the Marine Stewardship Council to remove the “sustainability certification” from Hoki fish. The Stewardship Council, however, certified Hoki fish as “sustainable” for the next five years. The New Zealand government has chosen to remain fairly neutral – they have not officially declared Hoki fish as “over fished” but they did reduce the allowable catch from 275,000 tons to 100,000 tons.

This Hoki fish story has happened before

Though the Hoki fish was originally chosen because it was thought to be sustainable, this story has played out in the past. McDonalds alone uses over 100 million pounds of various white fish each year. Originally, the majority of McDonalds fish sandwiches used Orange Roughy, but when that fish was found to be very slow-growing and long-living, they switched to Hoki fish as a “sustainable” substitute.

Hoki Fish’s future shrouded in darkness

As one of the largest consumers of white fish on the planet, McDonalds has stated sustainably goals that are supposed to take precedence over even cost. The larger issue, however, is how to feed the growing appetite for fishy flavor in our diets while protecting the thousands of species in the oceans. Sustainable fishing practices coupled with fish farms are a good place to start. Until there are worldwide standards for sustainability, however, the Hoki fish’s future will be as dark and murky as its underwater home.

Best overall vehicle

Despite Toyota’s recent recall disasters, the influential magazine has named the Toyota Lexus 460L best overall vehicle. With gas mileage of 24 on the highway and 16 in the city, the full-size luxury sedan scored 99 on Consumer Report’s 100-point scale. The $70,925 price tag means that you’ll probably need a loan to buy one of these cars, even if you have plenty of cash now for a down payment.

Best family sedan

Top honors in the family sedan category went to the Nissan Altima which may be good news if your payday cash doesn’t always flow like wine . The Altima carries a manageable price tag, somewhere in the range of $19,900 $29,600, and gets reasonable gas mileage, too (32 hwy, 23 city).

Best small sedan

The Hyundai Elantra SE took the award for best small sedan. Priced at a mere $17,845 that plenty of people could finance with just a small loan, the Elantra gets decent gas mileage (34 hwy, 26 city) and comes equipped with electronic stability control, a proven life-saving feature not available on many other small cars.

Best sporty car

The Volkswagen GTI, a turbocharged version of the VW Golf hatchback was named best sporty car. Without completely sacrificing gas mileage (31 Hwy, 21 City) and without a price so high that you need your own personal money lender ($23,465-$24,070), the four-cylinder engine offers 200-horsepower and performance –oriented suspension.

Best small SUV

The Subaru Forester came out on top in this category, with fairly impressive fuel economy (27 hwy, 20 city) and a moderate price range of $20,295 – $28,495. Consumer Reports temporarily suspended its recommendation for the Toyota Rav4 as its top choice in this category following the manufacturer’s recall and stop-sale order, but it’s back now and affordable with the help of a good loan company.

Best family SUV

With its roomy interior, easy ride and responsive handling, the Chevrolet Traverse took the prize for best family SUV. With a fairly steep price range of $29,224 to $39,985, the Traverse offers less-than-optimum gas mileage (24 hwy, 17 city) and may not be the best automobile choice for if you already need money now.

Best green car

Not surprisingly, for the seventh year in a row the Toyota Prius took the prize in the green car category. The price of the new redesigned version remains reasonable $21,400 – $28,070 and at 48 hwy, 51 city its gas mileage is hard to beat. Described by the magazine as safe, reliable, and easy to handle, sales of the Prius were not interrupted by the recent recall, allowing it to remain on the Consumer Reports top-10 list.  It shouldn’t take credit counseling to figure out that this car makes good financial sense.

Best sports sedan

The Nissan Infiniti G took the title in the sports sedan category the fourth year in a row. Priced between $33,250 and $40,400, the Infiniti G offers agility and luxury with plenty of power and gas mileage of 27 hwy/19 city.  Not a bad choice, especially if you qualify for low interest loans.

Best family hauler

Yes, “family hauler” really is the name given to this category, and the winner is a microvan, the Mazda5. With gas mileage of 28 on the highway and 22 in the city, this small and maneuverable family hauler (I just really like saying that again) is economically priced between $17,995 and $23,005.  If you’re already a candidate for cheap payday loans and need to buy a car, this is a model to consider.

Best pickup

Stripped down at $20,850 or souped up at $41,775 20, the Chevrolet Silverado offers the fuel inefficiency typical of even less worthy pickups (20 hwy, 15 city), plus optional interior comforts and a measure of dependability. If you’re in the market for a pickup but find yourself short of cash today, a basic version of the Silverado may be just the ticket to debt survival.

For those of you who have never heard of this, it definitely bears repeating. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (aka “Garbage Island“) will eventually destroy the Pacific Ocean. That damper upon our vast ecosystem will be yet another thing that will eventually kill us, probably before our sun goes red giant or a hyper nova, Oort Cloud or other falling object can do the dirty. But I’m no expert on astronomical disasters. I just hype/hawk low interest loans.

Hocking up our lives in the North Pacific Gyre

North of Hawaii, west of North America and much bigger than Texas sits a plastic reminder of how wasteful the human race has become. It used to be that what was sucked into the North Pacific Gyre would biodegrade. Put wonderful plastic has changed that. It will eventually break down, but just into smaller pieces that are easier for ocean life to swallow. And that ocean life, in controlled numbers, will eventually hit our dinner tables!

It’s people at sea dumping their waste, right?

Not according to VICE. They report on VBS.TV that 80 percent of what’s found on Garbage Island comes from land disposal. Shampoo bottles, birthday balloons, those rings that hold six-packs together and all things plastic manage to migrate there. Much of the waste has been floating on Garbage Island for years. Now water samples indicate that it’s all turning into a chemical soup, which is more good news for everything that lives and breathes. Let’s get those cleanup projects going already. Launch it into the sun if we can’t nuke it all on Earth. Sure, it’ll cost more than all the low interest loans on the planet, but we need to protect life at all costs. Everything else is just for show.

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