Student Loan Reform

Cited:  ABC News

Many critics of President Obama’s health care reform bill started yelling, “government takeover exclamation.”  But Republicans only focused on the main event and not on another part of the legislation that more precisely fits their sentiment.  The president may have secured a victory on health care, but the House bill actually took him closer to delivering the promised reform the college student-loan system.

If a final piece of legislation before the Senate is approved, millions of students will get their federal loans directly from the Department of Education. In other words, the federal government would sweep aside private competitors in the biggest change to the federal student-loan program since its creation in 1965. It’s a legitimate government takeover.

So where’s all that outrage now? The thing is, the government already runs much of the student-loan industry. For decades under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, the government has handed out subsidies to large banks and companies like Sallie Mae that lend money to student borrowers and collect it from them. In addition, the federal government has been obligated to cover up to 97% of any defaulted loan, effectively eliminating risk for lenders. Figuring that money could be saved by cutting out the middleman, Congress created the Direct Loan program–in which money goes from the Education Department to students–in 1993. The programs have been in competition with each other since then.

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Until now. Gone will be the subsidies, and gone will be the FFEL program. As of July 1, all new student loans will go through the Direct Loan program. The savings–an estimated $61 billion over 10 years–will be used to shore up and increase the need-based Pell Grant program by $36 billion and invest in community colleges. While the Administration has reason enough to crow about the proposed measures, it has had to scale back some of its bigger plans. An earlier version of the bill would have invested an additional $20 billion and offered even more substantial financial-aid increases. As it stands, $13.5 billion will be used to stem Pell Grant shortfalls resulting from the increased number of students forced back to college by the ailing economy. And a plan to raise the maximum Pell amount to almost $7,000 per year by 2020 has been replaced with one that maxes out at about $6,000.

With his first major piece of education legislation out of the way, Obama will likely move on to K-12 matters later this year as he attempts to rework the unpopular No Child Left Behind law. But before then, members of Congress (and America’s students) are going on spring break.

“Education. Health care. Two of the most important pillars of a strong America grew stronger this week.  These achievements don’t represent the end of our challenges; nor do they signify the end of the work that faces our country.  But what they do represent is real and major reform,” Obama said.

The student lending overhaul ends the current program that subsidizes banks and other financial institutions, allowing students instead to borrow directly from the federal government. The bill, which first passed the House in September, also would greatly expand the Pell grant program for low-income students. The reforms also aim to revitalize community colleges and increase support for minority-serving institutions and historically-black colleges.

“Year after year, we’ve seen billions of taxpayer dollars handed out as subsidies to the bankers and middlemen who handle federal student loans when that money should have gone to advancing the dreams of our students and working families,” Obama said. “But this time, we said, would be different.  We said we’d stand up to the special interests, and stand up for the interests of students and families.   That’s what happened this week.  And I commend all the senators and representatives who did the right thing.”

The legislation would save an estimated $61 billion over 10 years. Universities that participate in federal lending have just a few months, until July 1, to switch their financial aid systems to the new “direct lending” program. Starting in 2014, the legislation will also cap a graduates’ annual student loan repayment at 10% of their income.

Republican opponents of the legislation have denounced it as yet another “government takeover,” and the banks, not surprisingly, have lobbied hard against this switch.

A community college in Northern Virginia had the privilege of being chosen by the President as a place he will sign the fixed reconciliation bill into law that will highlight the education reforms

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My Take: I am always a day late and a dollar short.  It always seems that I always miss the good stuff in life.  I would’ve loved only had to pay 10% of my income on my student loans!  Well, at least the younger crowd will get a better education.  They might actually be able to afford childcare as they go to school.  So many young ladies going to college find it difficult to find licensed daycare that is affordable.

At least the extra money may help schools purchase dry erase boards and desks.  I understand that many colleges now use display cases in their classrooms that help educate students.  They might also be able to inspire more sponsors to purchase column padding for the schools to advertise on.  One thing I know many community colleges need is bleacher enclosures to protect them.  It’s not fun when you get a splinter in your rear end.

Seriously, it is a good thing that more young people will get an education they deserve and not be financially strapped when they finally graduate.  Most parents today, cannot afford to help their kids with tuition, especially with the economic crisis in full bloom.

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LA Fashion Market Optimistic But Cautious Part 2

Cited: Apparel News

“Fall is a very important market even though business is different. Buyers are still more cautious and not frivolous in their buys, but there is a sense of confidence,” said Kathy Walker of the Kathy Walker Sales showroom at The New Mart.  She also stated that traffic was up but the overall mood was positive at the market.  Market orders at the showroom leaned toward Immediates and Summer wear.

Trends for Fall and Winter are a continuation of the laid-back, casual styles that were popular for Spring and Summer. “There weren’t any big, new must-haves. Buyers continued to want sexy, casual styles,” Walker said. That means lots of military-inspired items, body-conscious leggings and skirts, casual slouchy knit tops, and pops of novelty on outerwear. Holly McNally, showroom manager of Showroom Seven in the Cooper, agreed. Cotton tunic tops that have performed well from Odd Molly were again on buyers’ lists, as were leather leggings from Twenty Cluny and sequined tops from Sweet Robin. Nanushka, a contemporary line from Budapest, sharpened its price points by about 10 percent, McNally said.

Mona Sangkala, the leasing manager at the Cooper Design Space, said attendance was notably up from the same market last year, with majors and many international stores shopping.

Bodies in showrooms and priced-to-sell goods didn’t always earn orders, however.  Huy Dang of the Standard showroom in the Cooper building said there are simply too many markets spreading buyers’ budgets and attention too thin.

Order writing at Brighte

Fashion and accessories show Brighte got mostly good marks from its vendors.

Mark Schulman, a vendor representing New York–based contemporary label Zoa, said his business at the most recent Brighte improved compared with its performance at the Brighte show in March 2009. He also said retailers were more willing to spend money. It requires faith in the economy to pay for inventory that will be delivered more than 90 days later, he said, and 80 percent of orders he took during the most recent Brighte were for deliveries scheduled from May to August. The other 20 percent of his orders were for Immediate deliveries.

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During his 2009 trade shows, 50% of the orders Schulman took were for Immediates.

Schulman also said a tough economy may be a blessing in disguise for the fashion vendors because it forces retailers to make a decision on what inventory they’re going to purchase. “They know what they can sell and what they cannot sell,” he said.

David Sadot, owner of New York–based contemporary line Basix Black Label, said business was up slightly compared with the Brighte show in January 2010. He saw retailers from Japan and the United Kingdom. Other retailers reportedly browsing the show were E Street Denim of Chicago, TNT of Toronto and National Jean Co. in New York.

Although many of the show’s vendors complained retail traffic was light, Aziza Chorsi, importer of brands Kokomarina and Sarah Pacini, said her business was good.

Among the retailers shopping the show were representatives from Amazon.com, Aritzia, Beams, Belk, Bettina Duncan for Fred Segal, Big Drop, Bluefly.com, Brothers, Clutch and Diane Merrick, according to organizers.

Newness key at Gerry, Lady Liberty and 824

Showrooms with new lines fared the best at the Gerry Building, the Lady Liberty Building and the 824 Building.

At the Boutique Lingerie show in the Gerry Building, Allure from New Mexico and California stores Purrmission in Santa Barbara, Romantiques in Los Gatos, Chadwicks of London stores in San Francisco and Camouflage from Santa Cruz were in attendance.

Samantha Chang, producer of the Boutique Lingerie show, designer and showroom rep, said that “business is still soft” in lingerie. Though buyers continue to fax and e-mail replenishment reorders for basics, most are not shopping the market for new fashion brands. Though there were few new buyer faces, exhibitors met with their key existing accounts.

This was the first time Layla L’obatti, showed her Modal/Lycra lounge and sleepwear line, Between The Sheets, and high-end silk line, Layla L’obatti for Between The Sheets, in Los Angeles. L’obatti grew up in Upland, Calif., but now lives in New York, where she manufactures the line. Between The Sheets’ Modal/Lycra leggings and tunic-length tops and ribbed silk/Modal/Lycra wrap cardigans fit right in with the Angeleno style of contemporary-cut lifestyle clothing.

Trevor Riewer, a buyer for Greta in Beverly Hills, shopped the Renée Cohen showroom in the Gerry Building for Alberto Makali’s leather pencil skirts and “jean-type leggings.” Riewer had his eye on “glitz and glamour” and “something with something on it” to entice “Forever 40s”– age customers shopping for special occasions.

In the Lady Liberty Building, Kristen Aguilera of The Park showroom saw a steady stream of buyers from opening to closing to write Nicole Richie’s line, Winter Kate. “She was in the showroom for two days. That really helped the buyers,” Aguilera said. Aguilera added that Winter Kate is about “triple in sales” from last season.

Heidi Pettit of the Vie Showroom showed a selection of brands in The Penthouse showroom focused on responsible design. San Francisco–based Mr. Larkin balanced classically beautiful architectural design with hints of trend, such as oversized shoulders on a jacket.

At the T+A Showroom in the 824 Building it seems the military looks are trending in the outerwear category.  According to Alfred Davis, he saw it just as many buyers at the LA market as he did in Las Vegas the previous month.  Buyers were enticed to revisit the showroom with the addition of new lines such as Chambers, Kanvis, Kr3w and Han Cholo.

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My Take: All I have to say about passion is that it is not the clothes that make the person; it is the person that makes the clothes!  A good example of this is the modern T shirt designs.  Depending on the style of the T-shirt, the body shape the person who wears it actually makes it stand out.  Tee shirt designers today understand this and design their shirts in such a way that they become works of art.

There is one form or fashion that is strictly on what a person likes and not what they wear.  That is interior decorating.  That is mainly a person’s vanity and how much they want to show off their home.  Take for example the average, everyday tablecloth.  Do you realize how many varieties there are as well as the difference in the prices?  You can go into Wal-Mart and buy a tablecloth for about $5.  But if you want a linen tablecloth or even table runners that will make your guests eyes pop out, you could spend hundreds of dollars on just one table runner.  Let’s not even get into curtains!

Let’s get back to the T-shirt!  It is strange to think that the infamous T-shirt started out as nothing more than a plain white undershirt.  Now, the T-shirt is become a fashion statement!  T-shirt started to change in the 60s with tie-dying and then came the funny t shirts.  Now you can find offensive and rude T shirts everywhere.  Not to mention T-shirts that actually advertise products for various companies around the world.

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Genetically Altered Rice Causes Lawsuits

Cited:  AP

About 20 years ago, researchers at Ghent University in Belgium started a project that should have been a good thing for farmers.  That project was to create a string of rice that was strong enough to withstand popular herbicides to kill weeds in the rice paddies.

The scientists were so successful that Bayer CropScience, part of the German chemical giant that makes and markets the Liberty herbicide, eventually bought the company that the university scientists formed.

Now lawyers for Bayer CropScience are in an Arkansas courtroom, fighting the latest of several lawsuits claiming the company hurt rice farmers rather than helping them. Bayer has already lost three suits over the past five months, with more trials to come.

Growers in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas filed lawsuits against Bayer for hurting their sales after genetically altered rice escaped a Louisiana test plot. Bayer faces judgments of $4.5 million so far in the three cases it lost.

Two key things happened since the early 1990s. Concerns grew about foods marketed directly to consumers that were raised using genetically altered seeds. And the experimental, Liberty-resistant strain of rice — called Liberty Link — got loose and made its way into the stream of commercially marketed rice.

The announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in August 2006 that traces of Liberty Link rice had been found in the nation’s rice supply was not welcome news to rice farmers.

No nation has approved genetically modified rice for the marketplace. Rice futures plummeted by $150 million immediately afterward. European nations quit accepting shipments of rice from the U.S. that hadn’t been extensively tested to show they weren’t contaminated. Japan banned all American rice.

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“In August, you’re at the end of the line as far as your options — you’re basically 30 days from harvest,” said Willie Oxner of Brinkley, Ark., recalling what happened that year. “There you are sitting with a crop, if the people who are taking it don’t know what they’re going to do, you’re in a panic.”

Oxner, a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit against Bayer over Liberty Link, said his 2006 rice crop brought in about half of what he had been expecting — $3 to $4 a bushel rather than $6 to $7 a bushel. Beyond that, he said, was the turmoil of not knowing if he would be able to sell it at all.

“For quite a while, there was no indication that the rice would even be (marketable) — the scare and the unknown, it was like a wildfire,” he recalled. “It built up steam and went from bad to worse.”

The effects were felt across the Southern rice belt and even in California, which grows little of the long-grain rice raised in the South, and where no Liberty Link contamination was found.

There was “a really significant amount of confusion” and demands from overseas customers for facilities to be cleaned and for costly testing of export shipments, said Kirk Messick, senior vice president of Farmers Rice Co-op in Sacramento, Calif. Those testing requirements are still in place.

“Our export customers didn’t want (it),” he said. “Immediately we had requirements for … testing for nearly all of our export market.”

“We still today … have to answer questions. There were a lot of hidden costs.”

Those costs come off the top of prices that farmers get.

In addition to compensation for the lower price of their crops in 2006, some farmers are seeking punitive damages. Earlier this month, jurors in Augusta, Ark., awarded $500,000 in punitive damages. In the Lonoke County case, the dozen plaintiffs are also seeking unspecified punitive damages.

That suit claims Bayer was not only negligent in its handling of Liberty Link rice, but acted with malicious intent by not announcing the contamination as soon as it learned of it. The suit says Bayer knew of the contamination as early as January 2006, before that year’s crops were sown.

Bayer attorney Dick Ellis said in court last week that the company acted responsibly in its handling of the experimental rice and if the farmers suffered any damages, they were minimal.

“It had some impact, but it was a small impact and didn’t last very long,” Ellis said.

He also disputed the effect of the European reaction, saying Europe was not a large market and that exporters quickly found new markets for the rice that would have gone there.

While some other major U.S. food crops, such as soybeans, corn and canola, are grown with genetically altered seeds, Liberty Link rice has never been approved outside of test plots in the U.S.

Why there was such an outcry over the rice, and the issue persists, may stem from rice’s place on the dinner table, while people don’t consume soybeans directly, said Steve Linscombe, director of the rice experimental station in Crowley, La. — where the Liberty Link tests were carried out.

“Countries (were) uncertain about their economic future (and) focused on feeding their population,” Coats said.

According to an economist with University of Arkansas Extension Service, Bobby Coats, the contamination of crops with Liberty Link started amidst global economic turmoil that started in 1997.  It also prompted many countries to be more protective of their agricultural sectors.

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My Take: My question is very simply, is Liberty Link rice bad to eat?  If not, the only problem I see is government approval.  That approval should come from the FDA and I wonder why they haven’t approved it yet.  Do they need to go through the Los Angeles court reports of the cases?  I doubt that very much.  Once the FDA approves the rice, it should improve the rice market considerably.

An LA California court reporting service must have had a lot of work for these lawsuits.  Big companies should not mess with family income, especially farmers.  Farmers may not have to worry about office workstations, but they do need to worry about feeding their families.  That crop is what feed their families and if they can’t sell it, they go hungry and worst-case, they lose their farm.

Farmers may not worry about office supplies but they do worry about their crops because it is their livelihood.  Messing with a person’s livelihood can be dangerous.  And it looks like Bayer is getting into dangerous territory.

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Proposed New SS Card May Cause More Problems

Cited: Time

New York Democrat Chuck Schumer and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham believe that a national identity card could resolve the heated debate over immigration reform.  Recently, they presented a blueprint of an immigration bill to President Barack Obama that included a proposal to issue a biometric ID card.  This ID card would contain various physical data such as fingerprints or even retinal scans and would be given to all working Americans.

The “enhanced Social Security card” is being touted as a way to curb illegal immigration by giving employers the power to quickly and accurately determine who is eligible to work. “If you say [illegal immigrants] can’t get a job when they come here, you’ll stop it,” Schumer told the Wall Street Journal. Proponents also hope legal hiring will be easier for employers if there’s a single go-to document instead of the 26 that new employees can currently use to show they’re authorized to work.

But with a congressional skirmish over comprehensive immigration reform on the horizon, skeptics from the left and the right have raised numerous concerns about the biometric ID — some of which pop up every time a form of national identification is proposed, and some that hinge on the shape this plan ultimately takes.

The sheer scale of the project is a potential problem, in terms of time, money and technology. The premise of using a biometric employment card (which would most likely contain fingerprint data) to stop illegal immigrants from working requires that all 150 million–plus American workers, not just immigrants, have one. Michael Cherry, president of identification-technology company Cherry Biometrics, says the accuracy of such large-scale biometric measuring hasn’t been proved. “What study have we done?” he says. “We just have a few assumptions.”

Schumer estimates that employers would have to pay up to $800 for card-reading machines, and many point out that compliance could prove burdensome for many small-to-medium-size businesses. In a similar program run by the Department of Homeland Security, in which 1.4 million transportation workers have been issued biometric credentials, applicants each pay $132.50 to help cover the costs of the initiative, which so far run in the hundreds of millions. “This is sort of like the worst combination of the DMV and the TSA,” says Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the ACLU, an organization that has traditionally opposed all forms of national ID. “It’s going to be enormously costly no matter what.”

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Lynden Melmed, former chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, says the pace of expanding the program is crucial. He believes that issuing the cards on a rolling basis and viewing them as “the next version of the driver’s license” makes the idea of a nationally issued biometric ID seem much less daunting. “I think that there is a risk in overreaching too quickly,” he says.

Another potential issue is whether the card will result in people being wrongfully denied work. The average person isn’t equipped to determine whether two fingerprints are a match — even FBI fingerprint experts have their off days, as when they incorrectly implicated a Portland, Ore., attorney in the 2004 bombings in Madrid — which means employers would be relying on an automated system. And that, as well as the fingerprinting process itself, invariably leads to some small number of mistakes.

In testimony given at a Senate immigration hearing in July 2009, Illinois Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, who has led the drive for immigration reform in the House, pointed out that an error rate of just 1% would mean that more than 1.5 million people — roughly the population of Philadelphia — would be wrongly deemed ineligible for work. “This is no small number,” he said, “especially in this economy, where so many workers already face extraordinary obstacles to finding a job.” Dean Pradeep Khosla, founding director of Carnegie Mellon’s cybersecurity lab, estimates that the error rates of computerized systems would likely be less than 2% (and could be less than 1%) but says they can never be zero. Civil-liberties advocates, citing the secret post-9/11 no-fly lists that innocents couldn’t get their names removed from, worry about whether those mistakenly put on the no-job list will ever be given the chance to correct the information.

Many skeptics also worry about false positives that come not from the computer but from counterfeits or employers looking to bypass the system. “It’s naive to think that this document won’t be faked,” Calabrese says. “Folks are already paying $10,000 to sneak into the country. What’s a couple thousand more?” In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Schumer and Graham said the card would be “fraud-proof” and that employers would face “stiff fines” and possibly imprisonment if they tried to get around using it. But Cherry half-jokes that someone could falsify such an ID in 15 minutes, and Khosla says that while current technology makes fingerprints the most feasible biometric marker to use, they’re also one of the easiest to steal.

Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, believes that keeping biometric information out of a centralized database is “the biggest challenge.” Otherwise, she says, the prospect of having millions of fingerprints on hand would be too tempting for the government not to abuse. In their op-ed, the Senators said the information would be stored only on the card.

Although the card is being presented as existing solely for determining employment eligibility, “it will be almost impossible to say that this wealth of information is there, but you can only use it for this purpose,” Coney says. “Privacy is pretty much hinged on the notion that if you collect data for one purpose, you can’t use it for another.” Calabrese expresses worries that this ID will become a “central identity document” that one will need in order to travel, vote or perhaps own a gun, which Melmed calls “mission creep.”

“People are waiting to see something in writing,” Calabrese says. “But the idea doesn’t fill people with a warm, fuzzy feeling.”  Because of general government mistrust many dismissed privacy concerns rather than legitimate technical issues.  Before the “social acceptance debate” over biometric cards can even begin, Melmed believes that the practical issues will have to be addressed first.  Both actually rely on details that the Senators have not yet presented.

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My Take: Isn’t this something the government has been trying to get in the works for years, a national ID?  Now they want to make it so that the card holds personal information?  I can just see the future, instead of needing iPod repair, people will need their Social Security card repaired.  Wait a minute that repair service will need to be certified by the federal government!  Or will we just have to go to Social Security office?

I suppose they will have to have Los Angeles data centers on the west coast and New York data centers on the East Coast dedicated to Social Security cards just to hold the information cards contained.  They will probably have a colocation New York as backup.  When the guy who does PlayStation repair will change his profession and start repairing Social Security cards.

But, it just might create jobs for load testing products and those products would be Social Security cards.  They will newly US software test to make sure that the software works roughly and they will need people to do that as well.

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2 Wall Street Banks Now Face Discrimination Lawsuit

Cited: ABC News

It is never easy to balance work and family or anyone, especially Wall Street and family.  To Wall Street banks now face discrimination complaints from two women that claim they were discriminated against in their jobs.  Both are seeking financial compensation after losing their jobs after taking time off to have children.

Charlotte Hanna, a former Goldman Sachs vice president in the human resources division, claimed she was demoted after having her first child and fired while on maternity leave for her second child.

Dorly Hazan-Amir, an associate at Citigroup’s asset finance division, claimed she was treated poorly after announcing her pregnancy and demoted after returning from maternity leave.

“Working mothers on Wall Street not only have to contend with the newfound obligations of caring for their child, but must also overcome the stereotype and biases that they are unable to do both,” said Douglas Wigdor, the lawyer representing Hanna and Hazan-Amir.

Mommy-Tracked

In her suit, Hanna claimed that she was “mommy-tracked” into positions that hurt her earnings potential and professional growth after she had her first child and took advantage of a Goldman Sachs program that allowed her to work three days a week.

At the time, the suit claimed, she was demoted from her position as the head of her department and moved from her private office into a cubicle. Then, while on maternity leave with her second child, she was allegedly told her position had been eliminated only to discover later that another employee had been hired to take over her duties.

“I was shocked to learn that I was being fired while I was on maternity leave,” she told ABC News.com via e-mail. “I wanted to continue my career at Goldman but, unfortunately, they do not view a woman who has had a child as a productive employee.”

Goldman Sachs said Hanna’s case is without merit.

“Ms. Hanna was treated very fairly throughout her employment at the firm, and we are very proud of the programs and initiatives we have in place to support working mothers,” a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman said.

To the firm’s credit, it has often been recognized for its efforts in hiring women and bringing mothers back into the fold. The firm was named by Working Mother magazine last year as one of the best 100 companies to work for, based partly on the “Returnship” program it launched a few years ago to help women who have left their jobs “ramp” back onto their careers.

‘Butt of Jokes’

Hazan-Amir’s case is slightly different. She complained about a long-standing “boys club” culture at Citi and claimed that supervisors have discriminated against her because of her gender since the beginning of her tenure. When she became pregnant, the attitude of her bosses reportedly worsened, she claimed.

One manager allegedly asked her whether she planned to be a “career mom” or a “mom mom,” which Hazan-Amir said was inappropriate because it implied she had to choose between career and family.

Rough Relationship

Another manager allegedly told her if she wanted to continue to work in the group, she would have to put her career first and her family second, she said.

“My pregnancy became the butt of jokes in the office as my male co-workers discussed setting up a pool to discuss how much weight I would gain as a result of my pregnancy,” she said.

Citigroup did not return a call for comment.

Women and Wall Street have always had a rough relationship. Dozens of other complaints and lawsuits have been brought against banks over the years, from women all along the pay scale.

Morgan Stanley famously settled two suits for more than $100 million in 2004 and 2007, brought by thousands of female employees claiming they were denied promotions and equal pay because of their gender.

Smith Barney  paid out $33 million in a similar suit two years ago.

Neither company admitted wrongdoing.

“Employers have become more savvy, so they often don’t say blatantly discriminatory things to women, but there are many cases of more subtle forms of marginalization,” said Dina Bakst, co-president of A Better Balance, a New York-based non-profit that advocates for women’s rights.

While firms often have programs to help parents balance their responsibilities, women sometimes say the programs feel like a dead-end.

“Many women feel they are mommy-tracked and penalized for taking that path,” Bakst said.

Nina Godiwalla, a former investment banker at Morgan Stanley who is writing a book about her experience as a woman in banking, said life for Wall Street mothers can be difficult.

“Breaking into that culture as a woman is really about you becoming as closely as possible one of the guys,” said Godiwalla, author of “Suits: A Woman on Wall Street.”

Mothers often felt pressure to prove their loyalty to the bank, she said, by participating on conference calls right before giving birth, or showing up at work the day after delivering.

Changing Tide?

“When you’re that person who says, ‘I’m taking three months off for my kids,’ then suddenly your loyalty is in question,” she said.

Women who want to start a family often decide to leave the financial business altogether, or opt for less stressful careers at regional banks or small investment funds.

But Hanna and Hazan-Amir said they are unwilling to let go without a fight.

“I want other women who have had children to know that they have done nothing wrong and that they are not alone,” she wrote in the e-mail. “Many do not want to stand up and fight against a big company like Goldman. Hopefully, when others see what I did, they too will have the courage to fight back.”

Hannah stated that she would like her old job at Goldman Sachs back.  Hazan-Amir still works at Citi.

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My Take: What is it about male-dominated careers that make men so self-conscious that they fear a woman will take their place?  Women do not fear men taking their place!  I suppose that is one reason why New York sexual harassment lawyers are hired mostly by men and a Manhattan discrimination lawyer is needed by woman.

There are so many weird things men do, that women do not.  I have seen men pay cash for junk cars so that they can beef them up in their spare time.  You do not see a woman go out and buy junk cars just to beef them up, although some have done it.  The same thing can go for car racing.  Not many women are known for racing cars.  That is one male-dominated career.

Maybe some of these guys should do what women do.  Go home, run a nice hot bubble bath and light some wickless candles and enjoy the aromatherapy that goes with them.  I highly recommend the these candles because they are wickless and you don’t have to put up with all that melted wax.

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Housing Market Raising Economic Recovery Hopes

Cited: Reuters

In March, US consumer confidence rebounded as home prices rose in January for the eighth straight month according to a closely watched housing index.  This has bolstered the hopes of many for sustainable economic recovery

Housing Market

The consumer data also showed a slight increase in optimism about the labor market. It comes ahead of a key government nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday that is expected to show the economy added jobs in March.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said on March 30 its index of consumer attitudes rose to a reading of 52.5 in March from an upwardly revised 46.4 in February.

The median of forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters was for a March reading of 50.0.

The expectations index rose to 70.2, from a revised 62.9. The present situation index rose to 26.0, the most since May 2009, up from a revised 21.7 in February.

This consumer report will “add credence to the economic recovery school of thought,” said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management in New York.

“It’s logical that with the economy improving and stocks going up consumer confidence would improve,” he said. “The real question is what happens next year after the stimulus is removed, but in the short-term this is good news.”

On Wall Street, stocks .DJI .SPX initially rose on the news, but later turned negative as shares of financial and energy companies slipped. U.S. Treasury prices erased initial losses as stocks fell, although they remained under pressure as investors prepared for a fresh supply announcement.

The dollar extended gains against the yen, rising briefly above 93 yen for the first time in nearly three months as the strong consumer data bolstered views that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates ahead of its European or Japanese counterparts.

For those people who already own their homes and are doing long form taxes . . . One New York tax preparer service encompasses nearly every aspect of financial life.  They are experienced in all matters of accounting and taxation, IRS problem resolution, estates and trusts, business formation, financial planning and investment, real estate and business sales as well as income tax.  Today’s tax laws are so complicated that filing a relatively simple return can be confusing. It is just too easy to overlook deductions and credits to which you are entitled. Even if you use a computer software program there’s no substitute for the assistance of experienced New York income tax accountants.

Consumers assessment of the labor market improved, according to the Conference Board. The “jobs hard to get” index declined to 45.8% from 47.3%, while the “jobs plentiful” index increased to 4.4% from 1.0%.

The U.S. Labor Department will release its monthly employment report on Friday. A Reuters survey of economists forecast that employers added 190,000 jobs in March, largely driven by hiring for the 2010 census, after cutting 36,000 positions in February.

That would mark only the second time payrolls have increased since the recession started in December 2007. The health of the labor market will be a key determinant of when the Fed will start raising benchmark interest rates, currently near zero.

“The confidence number should boost expectations for Friday’s jobs number because historically the labor differential, which is the difference between jobs plentiful and jobs hard to get, has a strong correlation with the unemployment rate,” said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT in New York.

Lien cautioned, however, that the forecasts for payrolls are “very high and I believe that there is strong risk of a disappointment.”

Separately, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price indexes released on Tuesday showed prices of U.S. single-family homes rose in January. And the annual rate had its best reading in almost three years, although the year-over-year reading still showed a small decline in prices.

The S&P composite index of 20 metropolitan areas unexpectedly rose by 0.3% in January, seasonally adjusted, matching the December increase.

On an unadjusted basis, prices declined 0.4% in January. S&P has said that foreclosures can skew the seasonal adjustments.

The median forecasts from Reuters surveys were for a 0.3% drop for the adjusted index and a 0.2% decline for the unadjusted index.

According to David Sloan, economist for 4CAST Ltd in New York, “It looks like there is an underlying recovery in house prices going on. The numbers are in line with market expectations and a bit stronger than my expectations and I would say, broadly speaking, this is quite encouraging for the housing market.” said David Sloan, economist with.

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My Take: My question is, will it continue?  If it does that means that more Upper Nyack NY homes will sell and more Eagan MN homes for rent will be rented.  Maybe people will even start working on their Denver basement remodeling that they have been dreaming about.

I know that Nyack NY real estate is absolutely gorgeous and I would love to be able to afford to purchase some.  However, I live in Arizona and I cannot see moving way across the country just because a home I would love to own is available.  Most my family and friends are on this side of the country.

I recently told a friend in Minnesota that they should contact one of the Maple Grove MN property management companies to see if they could get a house.  Property management companies can help people when they are looking for a home.  You might even find one at a lower rate that needs Littleton CO basement finishing.

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Pre-Existing Conditions Can Start at Birth

Cited: ABC News

The parents of Houston Tracy, 12-year-old boy who has survived a rare birth defect, being tube and open heart surgery, found out that the term “pre-existing condition” can apply the moment a person is born.  Now they are waiting to see if their battle with the insurance company will be successful.

“When he came out, he made one little cry and he didn’t really cry much,” said Houston’s father, Doug Tracy, 39, of Crowley, Texas.

Tracy cut the umbilical cord and watched the hospital staff clean his son. But before his wife Kim Tracy, 36, could touch their son doctors got worried. “We could tell there was something wrong by the way they [the doctors] were acting,” Doug Tracy said.

Houston’s skin wasn’t turning a shade of pink like most newborns because, somehow, his blood wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Doctors rushed Houston, with Tracy riding by his side, in an ambulance to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Within hours the Tracy family would learn their son was born with a heart condition called d-transposition of the great arteries, meaning the primary aorta and pulmonary arteries are transposed where they should meet the heart. Doctors wanted to operate within days to save his life.

“In Houston’s case he would not have survived had he not gotten the care,” said Dr. Steve Muyskens, pediatric cardiologist at Cook Children’s Medical Center, who treated Houston. “Most children with this [would] have demise within days to months in life.”

Muyskens explained that with the aorta and pulmonary arteries switched the system creates two separate pools of blood — a small amount that travels from the heart to the lungs and back to the heart and another pool of blood that travels from the body to the heart and back out without ever reaching the lungs for oxygen.

“The red blood just circles on one side and blue blood circles on the other,” Muyskens said. All of Houston’s organs, including his heart, would soon die without red blood.

Even if doctors could stabilize a child with Houston’s heart condition they would only have a short window to operate.

One Surgery Could Save a Life

“The Gold standard is surgery — arterial switch procedure,” said Dr. Daphne Hsu, division chief of pediatric cardiology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “The procedure has to be done before the child is 1 month old, because then the heart starts to change and adjust to the circulation, and the pressure in the heart drops.”

Houston was born on Monday, March 15. By Friday that week, doctors operated successfully. Muyskens expects Houston will have a normal life, and likely won’t even need medications.

“Everybody’s nicked named him Rocky around there because he’s a fighter,” said Tracy.

But by March 24, the Tracy family formally heard their son was denied health insurance.

“We don’t have health coverage on ourselves because it’s too expensive these days and because of the economy,” Doug Tracy said. The couples are small business owners and would have to buy individual policies, which they have for their other children Cooper, 4, and Jewel, 11.

Doug Tracy said the family had no idea there was something wrong with Houston before he was born.

“Prenatal, every doctor visit was perfect, his heart beat was fine,” he said. But Tracy said he called Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas twice in preparation of Houston’s birth, and he asked if they could get a policy on his son before he was born.

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“They said we can’t do that because he wasn’t born yet, but as soon as the baby’s born go online and fill an application out,” he said. Doug Tracy applied for Houston’s insurance March 18, and the first month’s premium of $267 was charged to his credit card, he said.

“Wednesday, the 24, is when I got a letter of decline — they declined it the day after the [health insurance] bill was signed,” Doug Tracy said.

Yet the provision in the health insurance reform act that prohibits health insurance companies from denying coverage to children with a pre-existing condition will only take effect six months after the bill was signed into law.

Family Searches for Insurance Coverage

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas declined a phone interview with ABCNews.com about procedures to enroll newborns and their policies in light of the new health care reform act.

But the company was willing to e-mail a prepared statement.

“We share the public’s concern for this child and for uninsured children across our state. As you may know, federal privacy laws prohibit me from releasing any information about members or potential members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas [BCBSTX],” Margaret Jarvis, senior manager of media and public relations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, wrote in an e-mail.

Jarvis said Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas would automatically cover newborns of parents who already had a policy with them for 31 days. After that time parents could opt to include their baby on their plan whether or not the child had health issues.

“For children whose parents are not BCBSTX members, who want child-only coverage, we offer individual policies, beginning at the age of 60 days,” wrote Jarvis. “BCBSTX has spoken with the father of this child, and we are exploring all available alternative coverage options.”

“I don’t hate them [Blue Cross and Blue Shield], they’ve done well for my other two kids,” Doug Tracy said. “I just want them to do the right thing.”

The Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool is an alternative family found to get their child coverage.  This policy will cost $277 a month, only $10 more than the premium on the policy he tried to get for his son through Blue Cross and Blue Shield.  However, he is just a little bit confused since he still has to go through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas to get the new insurance coverage of Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool.

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My Take: I do not understand!  How can something you were born with be considered a pre-existing condition when your insurance company starts your policy at birth.  There is no way you can call it a pre-existing condition unless something is discovered during pregnancy.  There is one example I can think of that occurs at birth that is not a pre-existing condition and that is a cleft palate.

Any Tallahassee FL plastic surgeon can tell you that this is not a pre-existing condition.  I know that some insurance companies have tried to call this cosmetic surgery and is not covered, but it is not just cosmetic surgery it is reconstructive surgery that requires cosmetic surgery.  You can talk to Pensacola plastic surgeon and keep the same answer, it is not cosmetic surgery.

It is a wonder that the insurance companies have not refused to pay for weight loss products prescribed by a doctor because obesity is a pre-existing condition.  They should’ve made this new law effective immediately.  Then when a doctor prescribes colon cleansers for someone who needs to lose weight, it’s not refused because it is a pre-existing condition.

I can understand them refusing to pay for something like herbal Viagra because you can buy it over the counter.  In fact, safe impotence treatment, nowadays, can be done with herbal remedies and the insurance company has nothing to say about it.  But get real, a burst the fact is a pre-existing condition, how ridiculous can you get?

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Relax Drug Laws for Marijuana

Cited: Newsweek Web Exclusive

A section of San Diego is called “Old Town”.  However, it is not like the nine block area in downtown Oakland that is called by locals “Oaksterdam”.  This area at one time was filled with vacant storefronts and now it is a pot utopia where everything moves just a little bit more slowly than in the rest of the world.  This is where medical marijuana is legal.  There is the Blue Sky Coffeeshop, which is a pot dispensary where getting a cup of coffee may take 20 minutes but picking up a sack of “Purple Kush” that is neatly wrapped in a brown sack only takes about five minutes.  Then just down the street you’ll find the “Bulldog Café”, which has back room where the sounds of “Dark Side of the Moon” are heard through a thick haze of smoke.  You will also find a glass-blowing shop amongst these storefronts or you can get artful bongs.  Then you have Richard Lee who operates the fabled pot school known as Oaksterdam University.

At 47, Lee is a kind of unofficial Buddha to the pro-pot movement. He has transformed a neighborhood and brought thriving new businesses to Oakland’s downtown. Now, as the sponsor of an initiative that was approved this week by the California secretary of state—to appear on November’s ballot—Lee hopes the rest of California will join Oakland as a kind of trailblazer in the fight for marijuana legalization. If approved by voters, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act would make California the first state in the nation to make pot legal, allowing Californians 21 and older to grow and possess up to an ounce. And in much the same way Oakland has embraced the medical-marijuana industry, the law would pave the way for local jurisdictions to tax and regulate the marijuana trade—a concept that, with the California state government billions in the red, even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said should be up “for debate.” “People are no longer outraged by the idea of legalization,” former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown wrote in a recent op-ed. “And truth be told, there is just too much money to be made both by the people who grow marijuana and the cities and counties that would be able to tax it.”

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron has estimated that the cost to the country of cannabis prohibition is $13 billion annually, with an additional $7 billion lost in potential tax revenue. With that in mind, Oakland voters became the first in the nation earlier this year to enact a special cannabis excise tax—$18 for every $1,000 grossed—that the city believes will generate up to $1 million this year. Lee hopes legalizing marijuana on a state level would do the same, only on a much larger scale. “The reality,” he says, “is that we’re creating jobs, improving the city, filling empty store spaces, and when people come [here] they can see that.”

California has allowed for medical-marijuana use since 1996. But “medical” is something of an open joke in the state, where anyone over age 18 with a doctor’s note—easy to get for ailments like anxiety or cramps, if you’re willing to pay—can obtain an ID card allowing access to any of the state’s hundreds of dispensaries, or pot shops. “You can basically get a doctor’s recommendation for anything,” one dispensary worker told Newsweek. Federal law, of course, still forbids the cultivation and possession of marijuana. It was banned, over the objections of the American Medical Association, in 1937. But in February of last year, Attorney General Eric Holder stunned critics when he announced that the Department of Justice would cease raiding medical-marijuana dispensaries (in California and elsewhere) that had been authorized under state law. Obama’s newly appointed drug czar, R. Gil Kerlikowske, has since condemned legalization, in a speech to police chiefs in San Jose earlier this month.

You’d think it might make California users nervous—except that the drug czar does not have the legal authority to enforce drug laws. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy did not return Newsweek’s calls for comment, but experts say the reality is that the federal government doesn’t have the resources, or the desire, to go after each and every Californian who is operating within their local laws. Federal punishment for marijuana possession of up to an ounce is harsh: up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Under California law, the same crime is a misdemeanor—subject to a measly $100 fine. “We already have the Justice Department saying they’re not going to interfere with practices that are in compliance with state law,” says Paul Armentano, the deputy director of NORML, a pro-pot lobbying group. “That statement was made in reference to medical marijuana, but there’s no reason to think the approach to recreational use would be any different.”

The arguments against the passage of this kind of law are easy to list: that it glamorizes pot use, promotes a gateway drug, leads to abuse. And though studies show the health effects of marijuana are fairly mild in comparison to drugs like heroin, cocaine, or even alcohol, there are still risks to its consumption. Heavy pot users are more likely to be in car accidents; there have been some reports of it causing problems in respiration and fetal development. And, as the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, put it recently, there are a number of medical professionals, and many parents, who worry that the drug’s increased potency over the years has heightened the risk of addiction. “It’s certainly true that this is not your grandfather’s pot,” says Mark Kleiman, a drug-policy expert at the University of California, Los Angeles. Opponents of the initiative, including California’s Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown, who is seeking the governorship, and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, a Democrat who is running to replace Brown as attorney general, are gearing up for a fight. But Lee has pledged to use $1 million of his own funds from his various thriving businesses in Oaksterdam, and he has put together a highly organized group of allies, including former Clinton White House consultant Chris Lehane. It’s also possible he’ll tap multibillionaire investor George Soros and George Zimmer, the head of the Men’s Wearhouse chain of clothing stores, who have donated to efforts to relax drug laws in the past.

The vote will be the second time in nearly 40 years that Californians have had the chance to decide the issue of legalization; the first one was Proposition 19 in 1972 (it failed). But much has changed since then, in both legal regulation and cultural attitudes. Thirteen states now allow medical marijuana, and a number of cities, such as Oakland and Seattle, have passed measures making prosecution of adult pot use the lowest law-enforcement priority.

In April, an ABC/Washington Post survey showed that 46% of Americans support legalization measures, up from 22% in 1997. And in California, a recent Field Poll showed that 56% are already on board to legalize and tax the drug.  In March, NORML launched a national ad campaign that will appear in the center of Times Square, declaring “Money Can Grow on Trees!” And everyone from the president to the most successful Olympic athlete in recent history (Michael Phelps) has talked about smoking it at one point or another.

“This is a new world,” says Robert MacCoun, a professor of law and public policy at University of California, Berkeley, and the coauthor of Drug War Heresies. “If you’d have asked me four years ago whether we’d be having this debate today, I can’t say I would have predicted it.”

While California voters will agree?  They did once before, will they again?

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My Take: I am one of those who think that marijuana should be legalized, if for nothing else than medical reasons.  For people who need marijuana for medical purposes, it would mean they would not need to hire a Freehold NJ criminal attorney.  However, if they’d been arrested for possession prior they may need a New Jersey expungement attorney instead.

I know there are many San Francisco CA criminal attorneys that may lose money if California legalizes marijuana.  Name sure the San Francisco CA DUI attorney will be able to take up the slack.  And a Riverside car accident attorney may get more business because of it.  Because people will be using their marijuana for medical reasons they will need to learn how much they can use and drive.  I am sure there will be lots of accidents until I do learn.

I am sure that Orange County criminal attorneys will not mind a loss of business in one part of their practice as long as another area will require a Los Angeles drunk driving accident lawyer.  I remember when Arizona lowered their legal drinking age to 19 and there was an increase in drunk drivers.  It didn’t take long for them to change that law back.

I really wonder if Dallas criminal attorneys, Bucks County criminal attorneys or even Nashville TN criminal attorneys will really be concerned whether or not marijuana becomes legal or not.

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LA Fashion Market Optimistic But Cautious Part 1

Cited: Apparel News

During the March 19-23 run of the Los Angeles fashion market showroom owners and sales reps saw a renewed sense of optimism even though many retailers remain cautious in spending it seemed that business had not yet completely recovered.

Buyers had a lot of ground to cover, with showrooms open at the California Market Center, The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space, the Gerry Building, the Lady Liberty Building and the 824 Building, as well as designer and contemporary merchandising on display at temporary trade shows Designers and Agents, Brighte Cos. and Focus.

Reports from exhibitors and showroom executives were mixed. Some reported having one of the best markets in several seasons; others said sluggish traffic was due to buyer fatigue. One thing everyone could agree on, however, was that the doom and gloom of markets past has lifted.

Cautious optimism at CMC

Business was mostly good at the California Market Center, according to salespeople and vendors at the CMC’s showrooms and the Focus show, which is produced by the CMC staff.

Sales were up 38 percent compared with the same show in the previous year at the Liza Stewart showroom, according to owner Liza Stewart. “This is as good as we can ask for,” Stewart said, noting the economy was still rough for many retailers.

Sales were even with last March at Rep et Trois showroom, said co-owner Michael Gae. However, sales were still much lower than the March 2008 market, which took place before the Great Recession hit. “The stores that went out of business then are not coming back,” Gae said.

Retailers shopping the CMC at the most recent market included Amazon.com, Belk, Boulmiche, Diane Merrick, Dillard’s, Fred Segal/Ron Herman, Kitson, Lisa Kline, Macy’s, Madison, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Von Maur.

Veteran retailer Diane Merrick noticed more retailers taking notes than ordering during the market. “Business has picked up, but people are still unsure of the economy,” she said. “It is difficult to get customers to open their pocketbooks.”

One retailer looking for bargains was Mark Encinas, a buyer for boutique Media Noche, which will be debuting in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood in May. “We want to pick up new items, but they have to be new items at a good price point,” he said. “We’re trying to keep denim under $100.” Encinas moonlights as a boutique buyer. His fulltime job is sales director at Los Angeles footwear and apparel label Royal Elastics.

Business at Focus received mixed reviews. Matt Geiger, founder of street-wear company Natures Mistake, said his investment into a Transit booth paid off. He and his booth partner, a new jeans label called Railcar, paid $1,600 for a 10-by-10 booth. Geiger said he made his money back and made a profit. Plus, he noted, the cost to exhibit at Focus is far below the cost to show at the MAGIC Marketplace in Las Vegas. “I don’t have to go to Vegas to get more L.A. customers,” he said.

Another vendor, Joan Lee, said foot traffic was light at Focus and sales were poor. “I’m not here to make people happy. I’m here to make sales,” she said. “If there’s no foot traffic, there is no point.”

D&A mixes it up

Designers and Agents took a different approach to the Fall market this year, opting to skip its traditional annex space at the Cooper Design Space in favor of an empty showroom on the fifth floor of The New Mart. The bulk of D&A’s exhibitors remained in their usual home on the third floor of The New Mart. “The opportunity to keep D&A within one building came up, and we took it,” said Ed Mandelbaum, who co-produces the bicoastal boutique show. Buyer attendance was on par with the same market in 2009, and, despite the show’s smaller footprint, the brand roster grew slightly to 142 brands. “There was not a spare inch; we filled the third floor to the brim,” Mandelbaum said.

New brands on the show floor included Halston Heritage, which brought a selection of gowns and sportswear to the show; Gabriele Frantzen; Katie Diamond; Kock; Laurence Heller; Love SAM; and Plein Sud Jeanius.

Nicole Bouthot of the Olarte-Foussard Showroom in New York brought several overseas brands to D&A for the first time and reported that buyers opted either for classics with a twist or more showy pieces with specialty sequins, studs or fur. Ambre Babzoe, for example, did well with fur jackets and knits bedecked in 3-D sequins that mimic studs. Hairth, a line of hand-dyed separates from the Philippines, did well with military-inspired pieces such as army-green jodhpurs and a crisply tailored cotton blazer.

U, a newly launched fashion basics line out of Los Angeles, made its D&A debut at the show, earning interest with its jersey and silk combo T-shirt dresses, cropped sweatshirts, and slouchy tops.

Strong start and end at Cooper and New Mart

Ellen Cope of the new Lefties Showroom in the Cooper Design Space said, “Thursday and Friday were amazing. The weekend was a little scary, but we’re finishing strong.  It was the best market in a long time.”  Showroom owners in the Cooper building and The New Market reflected her sentiment saying that attendance seemed staggered but important buyers did stop to get Immediates for Fall and Winter.

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My Take: Fashion will never go out of style or die.  People will always need clothing!  It is the tastes of the people that change.  Remember when Levi’s first came out?  Everybody wanted a pair of jeans!  Now there are so many styles to choose from and people will change that style with what they want to wear.  For example, stretch denim jeans are what is in style for the ladies right now.  Of course the style of those stretch jeans is what is different this year.  This year low rise jeans are what women are looking for.

Another fashion that is about to come up is the prom dresses.  Of course this fashion is only seasonal, but the style changes for dresses for homecoming.  Both are usually formalwear of some style, which changes every year.  But, every year teenage girls start searching for that perfect dress.  School fashion changes because the people change.  When teenagers become college students, they start looking for Greek apparel.  Why?  Because many of them will be joining sororities!  Then they will be wanting women’s Greek tees.

When passion and usually does not change is work fashion.  Work clothing only seems to improve.  For example, flame resistant clothing gets better as technology improves.  Carhartt makes some of the best fire resistant work clothing on the market.  This means that Carhartt clothes not only improve with technology, they make the workplace safer.

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Obama Killing Space Program

Cited: The Washington Post

They are getting ready to put up a new sign at NASA that will read “For Sale: 355-foot steel tower for launching rockets into space, brand-new, never used, one-of-a-kind, going cheap, asking $500 million”!  That means the moon will never be visited by man again.

There’s one available at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Brand new, never been used.  The mobile launcher has been built for a rocket called the Ares 1. The problem is, there is not yet any such thing as an Ares 1 rocket — and if the Obama administration has its way, there never will be.

President Obama’s 2011 budget kills that rocket, along with the rest of NASA’s Constellation program, the ambitious back-to-the-moon effort initiated under President George W. Bush.

People here were shocked when they heard the news last month. They were already facing the imminent retirement of the aging space shuttle, and the likelihood of thousands of layoffs in the contracting corps but many hoped to find a Constellation job, stay on site and essentially just switch badges.

Now suddenly, they’re looking at no shuttle, no Ares 1, no NASA-owned spaceship of any kind in the near future. American astronauts for years to come will hitch rides to space on Russian rockets.

“It’s almost like losing manned space flight,” said Michele Kosiba, 44, a quality inspector for United Space Alliance.

The space center is a unique place, built on a flat expanse of marsh and scrub that knuckles into the Atlantic. Long, straight, government roads are lined with ditches patrolled by alligators. Launch towers stand sentinel on the horizon. From here, the United States launched some of its most spectacular national achievements. But the decision to kill Constellation has shrouded this part of the world in an unfamiliar gloom.

People are dismayed and bewildered. Obama has gotten the message and will fly to the Kennedy Space Center on April 15 to hold a space conference and a town hall meeting. He is certain to point out that his budget actually boosts funding for NASA. The new NASA strategy shifts the task of launching astronauts to low Earth orbit from traditional government contracts to commercial contracts. If the private sector can create a taxi to space, NASA can focus on new technologies and longer journeys in the solar system.

“We think it’s exciting,” NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr., a former astronaut, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “It will enable us to do things we can only dream about today. It will foster new industries, spur innovation, create jobs and lead to more missions, to more destinations, sooner, safer and faster.”

‘Cancel Constellation?’

A presidential commission, led by former aerospace executive Norman Augustine, reported to Obama last September that the Ares 1 would have limited use and that the heavy-lift rocket necessary for a moon mission probably wouldn’t be ready until 2028. At that point, the panel said, there’d be no money left in the program for a moon lander or moon habitat. In effect, the Augustine committee said Constellation, which has already cost $9.4 billion, was destined for a (metaphorical) crash landing.

“We could get to the moon and do what?” said Dale Ketcham, a University of Central Florida professor who runs a think tank called the Spaceport Research and Technology Institute. “The taxpayers would really be ticked off: Sixty years later we go back and plant the flag and go home.”

Lawmakers in Congress in both parties, particularly those in districts with space jobs, have given the Obama plan a cold reception. Congress still must approve Obama’s budget. Until that happens, Constellation maintains a ghostly existence as “the program of record.”

Which means that, every day, workers are still adding elements to the mobile launcher. Across the country, work continues on Ares and the new crew capsule, Orion. The Orion launchpad abort system will be tested later this spring in New Mexico. Even if Congress sanctions Obama’s plan, the administration expects to spend $2.5 billion just closing out contracts and shutting down Constellation.

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NASA employees and contractors on the Cape say they were caught off guard by the new strategy.

“We just pulled the rug out from human space flight,” said Jim Bolton, a NASA manager for shuttle processing. The morning of the announcement, Bolton said, “People were just truly shocked. ‘How can that be? Cancel Constellation? What are you talking about?’ ”

Bolton spoke as he stood directly beneath the shuttle Atlantis, which was jacked up in its processing bay and completely shrouded in scaffolding and fuel lines. The orbiter is being prepped for its 32nd, and most likely final, journey to and from orbit. From below, some of the gray thermal tiles that keep it from burning up upon reentry are slightly scuffed, but it’s still a pretty spiffy spaceship.

“It’s such an awesome machine,” said Tim Keyser, a mechanical lead in another orbiter bay. “It’s not old. I go in the midbody, it’s pristine. It looks like it rolled off the assembly line.”

People here talk of the orbiters — Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour — as if they are beloved members of the family. There are only four shuttle flights left, with the last scheduled for September, though the timetable could slip a few months. Some lawmakers are scrambling to keep the shuttle flying, perhaps with a drawn-out flight manifest.

Howard DeCastro, shuttle program manager for United Space Alliance, the primary shuttle contractor, said the shuttle is flying better than ever. The main challenge for shuttle extension is restarting supply contracts that have already shut down. It would take two years, for example, to produce a new external fuel tank for an additional shuttle flight. Still, DeCastro said, “there are no showstoppers in flying the shuttle longer.”

What will really hurt, workers say, is the disappearance of the know-how accumulated over decades here at the Cape.

“We lose that knowledge base, it’s very hard to get that back,” adds Chris Loines, 43, a United Space Alliance contractor who has been launching rockets his entire adult life.

Soon, a taxi to space

The administration has promised to spend $2 billion upgrading the Kennedy Space Center. But workers here said they don’t know what that means, exactly. They don’t want to work on facilities, they want to work on spaceships. Terry White, a United Space Alliance worker who supervises the thermal protection system on the orbiters, said that putting money into KSC without a spaceship is like having a fancy showroom with no cars to sell.

Ketcham said the decision to retire the shuttle has only recently hit home.

“There was this communal epiphany — ‘Oh my God, they’re going to cancel the shuttle.’ And then we plunged into the classic five stages of grief. And rational thought is not one of the stages of grief,” Ketcham said.

NASA isn’t the only game in town. The Cape is shared by NASA, the Air Force and commercial rocket companies. On the Air Force-controlled side of the Cape, one will find the commercial rockets named the Delta IV and the Atlas V, each with a dedicated launch complex. And there’s a newcomer on the block: the Falcon 9.

This is the rocket built by SpaceX, a private company founded by Internet tycoon Elon Musk. SpaceX has a contract with NASA to launch cargo to the space station. The Falcon 9 has never flown. Framed by lightning towers, the 143-foot rocket is poised on an old Titan rocket pad, having been raised to the vertical position by two hydraulic jacks.

The scene is rather calmer than what you’d find at a NASA site. A low building holds cubicles and a couple of dozen workers. A few technicians in hardhats can be seen poking around the base of the rocket. In a hangar where the rocket is built, a lone figure sits at a desk. The commercial route figures to be cheaper than the traditional government route to space.

SpaceX would like a modified version of the Falcon 9 to become the commercial taxi to space. The first test flight could be mid-April, right about the time Obama visits the Space Coast. Musk has estimated the chance of success on the first try at between 70 and 80 percent. The final preparations include the installation of an auto-destruct system, said Scott Henderson, mission assurance director for SpaceX.

If it blows up, Henderson said, “It’s not going to get outside the fence here.”

From the SpaceX pad, looking west across the scrub of the Cape, the visitor can see the new NASA mobile launcher, parked for now near the huge Vehicle Assembly Building. Could SpaceX use that launch tower? Conceivably, Henderson said. But it’s not really designed for a rocket like the Falcon 9, he said. SpaceX certainly doesn’t need it at the moment.

NASA officials insist that they could still find a use for the half-billion-dollar tower even if the Ares 1 never materializes. But space technology tends to be highly customized. A worker on his way to the cafeteria the other day was overhead saying he wanted to climb the mobile launcher “before it becomes an artificial reef.”

“It’s just a big old tower now,” DeCastro said. “I guess you could sell it to SeaWorld or something and put a big ol’ slide on it.”

DeCastro, the United Space Alliance executive, said he doubted the mobile launcher could be useful without the Ares 1.

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My Take: I think they are actually stupid for killing the space program!  What with overcrowding of cities, food shortages around the world and global warming the people of this planet are going to need someplace else to live.  The first thing that is going to happen is the unemployment rate is going to skyrocket.

The article is right about one thing, we are going to lose a lot of the knowledge and advancements that the space program has provided us.  Stop and think about it, what kind of network security software does NASA use?  Or even intrusion detection software?  These programs were developed specifically for NASA and lesser or equal versions are on the market for everybody now.  In fact there are companies that provide managed security services with software that was probably developed by NASA.

I also believe that halogen light bulbs were developed because of the space program.  I know light bulbs themselves were developed because the space program, but I believe the halogen ones were.  So many things have come from the space program that includes medical advances, electronic advances, and much more than I can even begin to name.  It will be a sad day in America when the space program in its!

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