Stimulus to Stimulate Homebuyers’ Bottom Lines

Janes, if you were going to buy something big this year, what would it be?  If you said a house, you’re in luck, and we do mean luck.  The Senate has approved a measure to give you a $15,000 tax credit if you buy a home in 2009.
Here’s the fine print:

The credit is $15,000 OR [...]

Hey, what’s under that TARP?

If you feel like the Toxic Asset Relief Program, aka “the TARP”, aka the “bailout”, has been long on zeros and short on details, help is on the way.
The Treasury Department has begun posting the TARP contracts that the government signed with banks, AIG, GM and Chrysler on its web site as a part of [...]

Obama Signs first law, Lilly Ledbetter Approves

President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law this morning, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  Just to jog your memories:

The bill is named after Lilly Ledbetter (at left with Obama), a former Goodyear employee who sued the company after she learned she had been paid less than men at the plant who had [...]

100 Days in 100 minutes: Day 8

Janes, welcome to our newest feature, “100 Days in 100 Minutes,” when we tell you what  President Barack Obama has done after each of his first 100 days.  By our count, today is Day 8, and in a minute, here’s what happened:

Obama went to the House to sell his stimulus package to reluctant House Republicans;
He [...]

Fair Pay Act Passes the Senate, Only Men Vote No

Janes, we here at CJP are strictly non-partisan and not overly girly, but we couldn’t help but notice that the only senators who voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act yesterday were Republican men.   All of the Republican women, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Lisa Murkowski, plus Arlen Specter, voted yes.  [...]

Obama: “Act boldly, act now.”

In his speech today, Barack Obama called for “dramatic action as soon as possible” to rescue the economy from where it’s heading (i.e. down the tubes). Obama said the cost would be “considerable,” that America got here because of “profound irresponsibility,” and that we must “act boldly and act now.”
He calls for:

Massive government [...]

The CJP Meltdown Survival Guide, with Anya Kamenetz

Gals, this week we interviewed Anya Kamenetz (at left), Yahoo’s financial columnist and author of “Generation Debt,” about what Janes need to do to weather the economic meltdown.  
Even though we’ve all been distracted by Rod Blagojevich’s shenanigans this week, the Am-Ex bill is still waiting for you to pay up, so we asked Anya about [...]

Big 3 on the Hill, on the Ropes

Janes, if you love your Jeep, Saturn or Volvo, close your tender ears.  Otherwise…from the Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington today, we’ve learned:

The companies combined are asking for access to $34 billion in loans and financing;
All three CEOs not only drove themselves to D.C. (two said they switched off with a friend), they’ll be [...]