Over 146 millions live in poverty in US

A man looks through the trash in New York City. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215860.html

Nearly 1 in 2 Americans have now fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income, a report by the US Census Bureau says.

Based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau more than ninety seven million Americans are considered to have low-income, defined as between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level.

Another 49.1 million Americans live below the poverty line, meaning 146.4 million Americans, or 48 percent are considered low-income or poor, Associated Press reported on Thursday.

The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs. The new method raised the number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from 104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans that was officially reported in September.

The new data shows that children were most likely to be poor or low-income - about 57 percent, followed by seniors over 65.

Meanwhile Hispanics topped the list at 73 percent, followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites.

Among low-income families, about one-third was considered poor while the remainder - 6.9 million - earned income just above the poverty line.

The US recession began in 2007. More than a year after the recession officially ended in 2009, the US unemployment rate remains above 9 percent, and the poverty rate rose to 15.3 percent in 2010 from 14.3 percent in 2009.

The “incredibly unequal top-down distribution of wealth” in the US has formed an elite group who controls most aspects of the country's affluence, according to analysts.

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement emerged on September 17 in the financial district of New York City to protest at a number of issues including the wars in the Middle East, US financial crisis, rising poverty, soaring unemployment, and high bonuses for Wall Street executives.

Anti-Wall Street protests intensify

Protesters at the Port of Oakland in California, Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/208338.html

Anti-corporatism protests have intensified in the city of Oakland despite increasing crackdowns by police forces who have arrested over 80 demonstrators.

The clashes have left at least six activists injured, when California police used tear gas and flash-bang grenades in order to force protesters out of a vacant building. At least three police officers were among the injured.

The violence comes one day after thousands of protesters occupied downtown Oakland in a general strike against the current economic conditions of the US, as well as police brutality.

Earlier, the Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest of US ports, was officially closed after workers staged a walkout.

Oakland protests are being held in support of the nationwide 'Occupy Wall Street' movement, which evolved in New York on September 17 in protest at 'corporate greed' and high-level corruption.

The rallies gained momentum in Oakland after security forces hit Scott Olsen, a former US Marine and an Iraq war veteran, with a tear gas canister, giving him a fractured skull and causing him to be hospitalized.

The movement has now spread to major US cities in spite of mass arrests by the police as well as other countries, including Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal.

US Postal Service nears default

US Postal Service mailboxes are seen awaiting disposal Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011, in San Jose, Calif

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197536.html

The United States Postal Service, which has long lived on the financial edge, is on the brink of a default as it lacks cash to make its payments.

The agency may have to shut down entirely this winter if it’s not able to make a USD 5.5 billion payment, The New York Times reported.

Congress needs to take emergency action to stabilize the service's finances and prevent its collapse.

“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. “If Congress doesn't act, we will default.”

This is while, the agency is considering cost-cutting measures including laying off 120,000 workers - nearly one-fifth of the agency's work force - to ease its deficit which will reach USD 9.2 billion this fiscal year.

The service needs congressional approval to overturn job protections and go ahead with its planned layoffs.

Powerful labor unions are angry with the move and have vowed to take action against it.

US unemployment crisis deepens

US employers did not add any net workers in August.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197060.html

The US economy takes another turn for the worse as newly released official statistics show that the jobless rate in the country has remained unchanged over the past month.

The US Labor Department said on Friday that employers had added no jobs in August and that the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent, AFP reported.

The new information shows that August is the first month of zero job growth in the United States since 1945.

The Labor Department data also revealed little change in the private sector, the last hope for jobs growth amid layoffs by revenue-strapped government companies.

Analysts had already lowered their expectations for job growth, estimating a net average of 70,000 in August -- below the 100,000 needed to support a steady unemployment rate, Briefing.com reported.

Ron Paul: US 'out of money' and 'bankrupt'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/196604.html

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says the U.S. is "out of money" and the country is "bankrupt". The Texas Congressman made the comment in an interview with Fox News Chris Wallace on Friday.

Paul was talking about the lack of efficiency at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"We've conditioned our people that FEMA will take care of us and everything will be OK. But you try to make these programs work the best you can. But you can't just keep saying, Oh, they need money. We're out of money. This country is bankrupt," he said.

The congressman urged President Barack Obama to “quit that war in Libya that is undeclared and unconstitutional.”

“Bring those troops home, save two billion dollars. Put a billion against the deficit and tide our people over.”

FACTS & FIGURES

The U.S. Treasury is borrowing $4.22 billion per day, adding to the current debt. Real Clear Politics

A U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress forecasts that the U.S. debt will rise to $19.6 trillion by 2015. Reuters

Together with interest on the national debt, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are on course to consume the entire federal budget as soon as 2025. Orlando Sentinel

The U.S. debt deal would raise the debt ceiling by at least 2.1 trillion dollars and cut spending of roughly 2.4 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. CNN

'Tahrir-style occupation planned in US'

David Swanson (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196561.html

Organizers of the October 2011 Movement in the United States have planned to occupy Freedom Plaza in the capital, in a move similar to “the occupation of Tahrir Square,” Press TV reported.

“We are going to occupy Freedom Plaza in the middle of Washington DC, the name of which is very similar of course to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, and from there we are going go to expand to shut down offices, buildings, streets, hallways, to nonviolently, strictly nonviolently resist what our government is doing,” said David Swanson, a member of the movement, on Monday.

In an interview with Press TV, Swanson further said that the occupation, that is set to begin on October 6, coincides with the “ten year mark in the war in Afghanistan that they have now suggested may continue for another 13 years or so.”

The aim of the occupation is to raise taxes for the wealthy and corporations, end the wars the country is engaged in and to protect the social safety net by strengthening Social Security and Medicare amongst others.

Moreover, Swanson added the occupation will continue until the group believes that they “have achieved some movement in the right direction, some success, some reversal of the course that our government is on.”

The occupation is being organized at a website called october2011.org.

The movement further explains it has been inspired by the courageous and nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Greece and Spain.

US emerging as 'food-stamp country'

Using food stamps have become very common in many parts of the United States

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195278.html

The United States has gradually become a food-stamp nation as high costs and lower wages make the lives of average citizens more challenging.

According to a recent report published by Reuters on Monday, there are over 46 million people in the US living on food stamps, which means that about 15 percent of the country's population can only afford their living expenses through government handouts.

The figure indicates a 74-percent rise in the number of food stamp recipients since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession hit the US, leading to mass job losses.

About 40 percent of American recipients of supplemental nutrition assistance are those households that have at least one wage earner but could still hardly afford monthly rent and utility payments.

The maximum amount a family-of-four can receive in monthly food stamps is $668, which can only be used to purchase food.

In May 2011, a third of all the people in the state of Alabama were put on food coupons. Many of them were those that were hit by a series of devastating tornadoes.

The United States Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a program that provides assistance to low- and no-income people and families living in the US.

Gold hits record as dollar dips

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195288.html

As concerns grow about a slowdown in the global economy, fears of the depreciating dollar value have led to an unprecedented increase in gold price.

The price of gold crossed the $1,900 per ounce mark for the first time, the state-run BBC reported Tuesday.

The price of the precious metal rose by one percent to $1,911.46 an ounce in early Asian trade.

Fears of a meltdown in US economy as well as an economic crisis in Europe have increased the demand for gold in global markets, leading to a rise in the price of gold.

This comes as analysts say that the price of the yellow metal could further increase.

They say that demand for gold has been increasing based on speculation that the US Federal Reserve may inject more fiat money into the market in an effort to boost the country's economy.

They say that a new stimulus injection of liquidity into the market means that the United States will have to print more money and that the US dollar will further weaken.

"The underlying driver of gold prices is the depreciating US dollar value," Colin Whitehead of Fat Prophets told the state-run BBC.

"So the more money they print, the stronger gold gets," he added.

Feds gave $1.2 trillion in secret loan to banks

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/195207.html

The Federal Reserve gave $1.2 trillion in secret loans to banks during the financial crisis, from August 2007 until April 2010. This is in addition to the TARP bailouts which were publicly known. Economicpopulist.org

The $1.2 trillion peak on Dec. 5, 2008 was almost three times the size of the U.S. federal budget deficit that year and more than the total earnings of all federally insured banks in the U.S. for the decade through 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Economicpopulist.org

HIGHLIGHTS

The largest borrower was Morgan Stanley, which received as much as $107.3 billion, while Citigroup took $99.5 billion and Bank of America $91.4 billion. Politico

By comparison, TARP, a $700 billion bank bailout fund that was passed by Congress in late 2008, gave $45 billion each to Citigroup and Bank of America, and only $10 billion to Morgan Stanley. Politico

The Fed also lent heavily to foreign banks that were struggling to fund themselves: Almost half of the Fed's top 30 borrowers, measured by peak balances, were European firms. They included Royal Bank of Scotland, Switzerland's UBS and Belgium's Dexia. Latimesblogs.latimes

A former Justice Department official, Robert Litan who has in the past served on a commission looking at the causes of the Savings and Loan crisis, is quoted by Bloomberg as saying 'These are all whopping numbers. You're talking about the aristocracy of American finance going down the tubes without the federal money.' Economicvoice

FACTS & FIGURES

The money was loaned by the Fed in an attempt to grow the U.S. economy after the crash of 2008. According to Bloomberg research, the $1.2 trillion amounts to more money than all federally insured banks earned in the last decade. Shortnews.com

The Federal Reserve claims that it has not lost money on these emergency loans, and that in fact it has netted $13 billion in interest from these programs from August 2007 through December 2009. Politico

The Fed, under Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, initially refused to disclose which banks had sought financial help during the crisis, asserting that publishing the information could trigger a run on the institutions by branding them as troubled. Latimesblogs.latimes

Bloomberg had filed a Freedom of Information act in 2008 to find out the details on these loans. They finally won to be presented with 21,000 transactions and massive amounts of data to crunch. economicpopulist.org

'US July jobless rate up in 28 states'

The US says that the country's unemployment rate increased in more than half of its 50 states in July.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195106.html

New figures indicate that the US unemployment rate increased in more than half of the country's 50 states last month as the nation is gripped by economic crisis.

The US government said the jobless rate jumped in 28 states and the nation's capital, Washington, in July, VOA reported.

The US economy produced 117,000 new jobs in July, but that was a smaller monthly number than earlier in the year.

About 14 million workers are still unemployed, with millions more working part-time or at lesser jobs than they would like.

The US economy is in a critical situation as the country's national unemployment rate is stuck above 9 percent.

The Labor Department said two western states - California and Nevada - recorded the highest unemployment rates, 12 percent or more. The lowest total - 3.3 percent - was in the midwestern state of North Dakota.

Amid reports of another recession for the US, Wall Street stocks have suffered four weeks of losses because of investor insecurity.

US President Barack Obama is currently on vacation despite the economic hardships of the country.

US preparing for unrest, martial law: Ron Paul

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/195046.html

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says that the federal government is preparing for civil unrest and martial law in the United States.

Ron Paul has recently said that H.R. 645 (The National Emergency Centers Establishment Act) could lead to Americans being incarcerated in detention camps during a time of martial law, Infowars reported on August 20.

“Yeah, that's their goal, they're setting up the stage for violence in this country, no doubt about it,” responded Paul.

The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645, first introduced in January 2009, mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill.

The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations.”

The bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse.

The legislation was referred to committee and did not proceed any further, but it was not rejected in a vote and can be re-introduced at any time in a new session of Congress.

In the aftermath of the UK riots, police departments in the United States are being trained to deal with rioting and civil unrest.

Back in 2008, U.S. troops returning from Iraq were earmarked for “homeland patrols” with one of their roles including helping with “civil unrest and crowd control.”

In December 2008, the Washington Post reported on plans to station 20,000 more U.S. troops inside America for purposes of “domestic security” from September 2011 onwards, an expansion of the militarization of the country in preparation for potential civil unrest following a total economic collapse or a mass terror attack.

The United States has continuity of government plans in place should martial law be declared by the President. However, the details of those plans have been so tightly guarded that even Congressman and Homeland Security Committee member Peter DeFazio (D - OR), who has the necessary security clearance, was denied access to view the material when he requested to do so back in July 2007.

“I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack,” DeFazio told the Oregonian at the time, adding, “Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right.”

Congressman Paul has warned about preparations for martial law before, telling the Alex Jones Show, “They're putting their back up against the wall and saying, if need be we're going to have martial law.” Infowars.com

US stock markets wind up a losing month

A woman walks past a Wall Street building in New York (stock photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194799.html

US stock markets have ended on their fourth straight weekly loss amid growing concerns that America is looking at a double-dip recession.

On Friday, Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.57 percent, the NASDAQ sunk 1.62 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 1.50 percent, AFP reported.

For the week, the Dow Jones ended down at 4 percent, the tech-heavy NASDAQ lost 6.6 percent and the S&P 500, a bellwether for the American economy, dropped 4.7 percent.

US markets have not seen greater losses over a four-week period since March 2009.

Most traders left the market before the weekend on growing fears of another US recession and a destabilization of Europe's financial system.

Closing on Friday, London's FTSE fell by 1.01 percent, Frankfurt's DAX slid 2.19 percent and Paris's CAC slumped by 1.92 percent, adding to the losses from Thursday.

European markets dropped to near two-year lows amid concerns about the continent's debt crisis - Greece, Ireland and Portugal have already received bailout packages from the European Union.

Asian markets also took steep dives with Tokyo falling 2.51 percent, Sydney shedding 3.51 percent and Seoul losing 6.22 percent.

Signs that the global economy is slowing have made investors pessimistic about the future.

US regulators close down 3 more banks

US regulators shut down three more banks in Florida, Georgia and Illinois

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194784.html

US regulators have shut down three more banks in the US states of Florida, Georgia and Illinois, bringing the total number of bank foreclosures in the country this year to 68.

On Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) seized Lydian Private Bank in Palm Beach, Florida, with approximately USD 1.70 billion in assets and USD 1.24 billion in deposits, First Southern National Bank of Statesboro, Georgia, with USD 164.6 million in assets and $159.7 million in deposits, and First Choice Bank of Geneva, Illinois, with USD 141 million in assets and USD 137.2 million in deposits, Reuters reported.

Sabadell United Bank has agreed to assume all the deposits and assets of the Florida bank. Heritage Bank of the South is assuming all the deposits and assets of the Georgia bank, while Inland Bank & Trust is to assume all the deposits and assets of the Illinois bank.

Bank failures in the United States in 2011 illustrate the problems of small community banks, many of which are hard hit by the country's sluggish economy and their exposure to the troubled commercial real estate market.

Most of the banks that have failed so far this year have had less than USD 1 billion in assets.

According to the FDIC, the total number of bank failures was 157 in 2010, 140 in 2009, 25 in 2008 and just three in 2007.

Quick Facts: US Debt and Revenue

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/194734.html

Estimates show that the United States federal debt will reach nearly $15.5 trillion by the end of 2011. The debt can be broken down into two parts: debt held by the government and debt held by the public.

Debt Held by Government Accounts

Debt held by government accounts represent balances in the federal government's accounts -- primarily trust funds -- that accumulate surpluses. Trust funds for Social Security, Medicare, Military Retirement and Healthcare, and Civil Service Retirement and Disability account for almost all of the total debt held by government accounts. GAO

Debt held by the government includes federal deficit which amounts to $1.65 trillion and total government spending that amounts to $3.8 trillion. Total spending includes:

1) Pensions: $0.8 trillion

2) Healthcare: $0.9 trillion

3) Education: $0.1
4) Defense: $1 trillion
5) Welfare: $0.5 trillion
6) Protection which includes police services, law courts and prisons: $61billion

7) Transportation: $95 billion
8) General government which includes executive and legislative organs as well as general services: $33 billion

9) Interest: $206 billion

Debt Held by Public

The Debt Held by the Public is all federal debt held by individuals, corporations, state or local governments, foreign governments, and other entities outside the United States Government less Federal Financing Bank securities. Types of securities held by the public include, but are not limited to, Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, TIPS, United States Savings Bonds, and State and Local Government Series securities. Treasury Direct

Current U.S. federal debt held by the public is nearly $10 trillion. CS Monitor

According to the Treasury, in May 2011, around 47 percent of the debt held by the public was held outside the U.S. Congress.org

At the end of 2010, U.S. individuals held 12 percent of the public debt, the Federal Reserve held 9 percent of the public debt, and pension and retirement funds, mutual funds, and state and local governments totally held 32 percent of the public debt. CS Monitor

Federal Government Revenue (2011)

Total Direct Revenue: $2.2 trillion which includes

1. Income Taxes: $1.2 trillion
a. Individual Income Tax: $1trillion
b. Corporate Income Tax: $200 billion

2. Social Insurance Taxes: $800 billion
a. Old Age Survivors Insurance
b. Disability Insurance
c. Hospital Insurance
d. Unemployment Insurance
e. Employee Retirement Insurance
f. Railroad Retirement Insurance

3. Ad-valorem Taxes: $130 billion

Ad valorem taxes can be property tax or even duty on imported items. Property ad valorem taxes are the major source of revenue for state and municipal governments.

4. Business and Other Revenue: $80 billion

Source: U.S. Government Revenue

Federal Deficit

Total Revenue: $2.2 trillion - Total Spending: $3.8 trillion = Federal Deficit: $-1.6 trillion

Source: U.S. Government Revenue

Dow drops 172 points

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194754.html

The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 172.93 points, one day after it dropped over 400 points and rattled world markets.

On Friday, the Dow closed at 10,817.65, a decline of 1.57 percent.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones plummeted 419 points, and over the three days from August 17 to 19, it has dropped 588.28 points or 5.16 percent of its value.

Lack of economic news made investors uncertain, although the possibility of a further deterioration of the US and Europe economic recession over the weekend compelled many traders to get rid of stocks and other risky assets before the market closing, AP reported.

"These things usually break out over the weekend and then you have a mad dash Monday to react to them," said Mike McGervey, the head of McGervey Wealth Management.

Other stock markets had larger drops than stock markets in the US, as European banking stocks fell to near an 18-month low.

Earlier in the day, London's FTSE and Germany's DAX were down over three percent, while France's CAC 40 was down by 1.9 percent, Japan's Nikkei dropped 225 points, markets in Taiwan hit a 14-month low, China's Shanghai Composite index lost 25 points, South Korea's Kospi shed 116 points, and India's Sensex lost 328 points.

Bank of America cutting 3,500 jobs this quarter

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/194684.html

Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs this quarter according to an internal memo, as the biggest U.S. bank grapples with its $1 trillion problem-loan portfolio and growing economic concerns.

The job cuts at Bank of America, expected to be completed by the end of September, are the latest in a series of lay-offs across the global finance industry.

Executives at the bank are still discussing the possible range of cuts, but one person familiar with the situation said at least 10,000 jobs are likely to be eliminated as part of a wider review, the Wall Street Journal said in a report.

Bank of America had around 280,000 employees at the start of 2011, according to its annual report. Chicago Tribune

FACTS & FIGURES

Somewhere between 15 and 27 million people, depending on how you figure it, remain unemployed. ABC

The official jobless rate in the United States is over 9 percent. Econpost

In fact, when unemployment is measured according to the formula that was used when President Bill Clinton took office, it is actually around 20%. Free Republic

Companies slashed 8.5 million jobs during the worst recession since the Great Depression. Washington Post

Weekly US jobless claims hit 408k

New claims for unemployment insurance benefit rises in US

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194528.html

New claims for unemployment benefits in the US have escalated beyond the official 400,000 forecast as the world's largest economy struggles with a failing economy.

The number of workers claiming benefits rose by about 9,000 to reach a weekly total of 408,000 in the week ending August 13, the US Labor Department said in a Thursday report.

The new figure topped the average analyst estimate of 400,000 benefit claims.

"This was a slightly larger increase than expected, a reminder that the labor market has yet to break into sustained improvement," said Sara Kline at Moody's Analytics.

Currently the unemployment rate in the United States stands at 9.2 percent, the worst level since President Ronald Reagan was in office in the 1980s.

However, when measured according to the formula that was used when President Bill Clinton took office in 1993, the unemployment rate is around 20 percent.

Last month, following weeks of bipartisan dispute, the Republican-controlled Congress approved a USD 2.1 trillion deficit-cutting plan over the next decade for raising Washington's borrowing limit, just hours before a pending US default.

Both Republicans and Democrats have promised that the cuts will create new jobs, and that the economy will improve.

But economic experts have warned that the new austerity measures will in fact be worse for the already sluggish US economy.

Biden visits China amid US debt crisis

US vice president Joe Biden (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194394.html

Vice president Joe Biden has arrived in Beijing in an attempt to restore China's lost confidence on US economy, amid concerns over the US ability to manage its debt and deficits.

Biden will meet with top Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice-President Xi Jinping.

China is the largest foreign holder of the US debt wanting USD 1.2 trillion.

Biden tries to reassure Chinese government that US is committed to tackling its financial challenges, and also outlining the aspects of debt reduction plan agreed by congress.

Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama voted in favor of a bipartisan plan to raise the debt ceiling of the United States in exchange for spending cuts, just hours before the first ever government default in US history.

China's state news outlet reflected Beijing's dismay at the US debt crisis in a highly critical commentary, calling the US "addiction to debt" irresponsible and demanding that America live within its means.

Moreover, Dagong Global Credit Rating Company, China's top ratings agency, slashed the US credit rating from A+ to A, following a US credit downgrade by Standard and poor's, one of the world's major credit rating agencies.

Chinese state-run media have criticized the US handling of its debt crisis, calling it irresponsible.

Biden's trip to China is the first by a high-level US official since the start of the US economic crisis

Republicans rebuff Obama tax hikes

Republican House Speaker John Boehner (right) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (left)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194386.html

Top Republican lawmakers have rejected the US President Barack Obama administration's appeal for tax hikes on the rich and wealthy people.

House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor say the worst thing Washington can do for economy is raise taxes on the people we need.

"The worst thing Washington can do for our economy is raise taxes on the people we need to start hiring again," Cantor said.

In a USA Today opinion page, they also called for cuts to government-backed health and retirement programs.

This comes as a newly created Congressional committee faces a late-November deadline for recommending one-and-half trillion dollars in deficit cuts over ten years.

In a final deal reached to avoid a default this moth, President Obama signed legislation that did not include tax increases.

But the embattled president, whose job approval ratings have slumped, has said he will renew his push for such measures.

China warns against US military spending

A US jet fighter used in the intervention in Libya

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193192.html

China has lashed out at the United States for military intervention in other countries, saying such acts can endanger the US economy.

Beijing warned Washington that military meddling abroad could also “seriously impede stable development of the global economy,” the British daily newspaper Morning Star reported, citing a commentary issued by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

China currently owns more than $1 trillion of the US Treasury bonds which finance Washington's spending and the US government debt crisis has put China in hot water.

Last month, a Chinese top general Chen Bingde connected the US financial concerns to its military budget.

The US House of Representatives approved a 649-billion-dollar military spending bill for the 2011 fiscal year on July 9. The approved bill excludes funds for US nuclear programs or military construction which will add another $33 billion in later bills.

China has urged the US to change its policies of interference and domineering actions which are dragging down its economy.

"Now is the right time for the US, trapped in economic hardship, to reflect on its domineering thinking and deeds," Chinese state media Xinhua said.

The US has increased its military spending by 81 percent since 2001, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

US Rep. Barney Frank, a senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, confirmed on Monday that military spending in the “biggest reason” for the US credit rating downgrade.

Standard & Poor credit agency has lowered the rating of the US government to AA+ from AAA.

China has repeatedly criticized the US over the debt crisis. Officials in Beijing say a failure by Washington to control the astronomical debt could put the lives of millions of families within and beyond the US borders in danger.