Minnesota Independent

With loss of COBRA subsidy, newly unemployed face tripling of insurance costs

By Annie Lowrey | 08.24.10 | 8:42 am

For the average worker who has lost her job since May 31, the cost of COBRA has tripled. And that’s likely to mean hundreds of thousands of families dropping out of health plans altogether.

Initial jobless claims reach nine-month high

By Annie Lowrey | 08.19.10 | 8:33 am

Initial claims for unemployment insurance climbed to a nine-month high last week, the Department of Labor said today. Economists had expected claims to drop from 488,000 the prior week to 476,000. Instead, they reached the highest level…

Treasury conference: Gone are the days of government boosting homeownership for all

By Annie Lowrey | 08.18.10 | 8:47 am

The Treasury Department’s Tuesday summit on the “Future of Housing Finance” — with drew together major governmental, housing-industry research and private-industry figures — came as the Obama administration develops a plan to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that have required a $150 billion taxpayer bailout thus far. The participants came from a wide variety of viewpoints. But all recognized that the days of the government boosting homeownership for all are over. Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, put it this way: “Not everyone can or should have a single-family home.”

Nebraska’s Nelson wants unused state aid to pay down the deficit

By Annie Lowrey | 08.17.10 | 2:50 pm

Via The Hill, Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the most centrist Democrat in the Senate, has introduced legislation requiring that any unused funds from the $26.1 billion state-aid bill go to paying down the deficit. His office released

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Suicide dogs the long-term unemployed

By Annie Lowrey | 08.17.10 | 9:43 am

The unemployed commit suicide at a rate two or three times the national average, researchers estimate. And in many cases, the longer the spell of unemployment, the higher the likelihood of suicide.

99ers rally for unemployment extension

By Annie Lowrey | 08.13.10 | 8:44 am

After 99 weeks, or more, of unemployment, traveling to a political rally is a luxury. Across the country, thousands of 99ers, Americans who have exhausted the maximum weeks of unemployment benefits, have written letters or called Congress advocating for legislation extending benefits or creating jobs programs. But the first 99ers rally, held on Wall Street this Thursday, proved a more modest affair.

Was the state aid bill a bailout?

By Annie Lowrey | 08.12.10 | 9:53 am

More than 30 governors — Republicans and Democrats alike — supported the state aid bill, granting $26.1 billion in fiscal relief to local governments facing yawning budget gaps and signed into law yesterday. Yet only four Republicans

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Obama to help unemployed homeowners

By Annie Lowrey | 08.11.10 | 2:36 pm

Today, the Obama administration announced it will spend $3 billion more to help jobless homeowners.
First, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is starting up the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, created in the Wall Street

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House Dems to try to restore food stamp funding

By Annie Lowrey | 08.09.10 | 9:04 am

The House reconvenes Tuesday to vote on a $26.1 billion state aid package, providing Medicaid and teachers’ jobs funding to cash-strapped states. And while most Senate Democrats remained mum on the mechanism used to fund the bill —…

The return of the $1,000-down mortgage

By Annie Lowrey | 08.06.10 | 6:30 am

“In today’s world, without question, we’ve learned two lessons,” FHA Commissioner David Stevens told reporters this winter. “One: homeownership is important to the sustainability of communities. And two: not everybody should own a home.”