VP Biden promotes American Jobs Act with Alexandria police chief

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – There was laughter and goodwill as Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed a select audience of law enforcement officials in Alexandria in Virginia saying, “We need better roads, we need better bridges, we need safer streets.”

Sending a message to Congress to pass the $450-billion American Jobs Act Biden said, “We’ve got to kick start this economy that’s stalled.”

Speaking at the spacious new headquarters of the Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Va., Vice President Biden announced that the hosting organization had won funds for the hiring of four new officers with the almost $859,000 it received from the more than $243 million in grant funds.

Keeping the focus on American Jobs Act, Biden said, “We need to be in a position where our kids are in classrooms where there’s enough qualified teachers, where they are in fact in classes where they are safe.”

“Look, we should be doing all of this stuff even if we were growing by 8%, even if there was a 3% unemployment rate in America,” Biden. The recent unemployment rate continue to hover above 9% although it was around 7% when President Barack Obama took office in 2008.

In November 2010 the unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent for the third time since Obama signed the first stimulus bill into law. In August 2011 the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent.

Education and jobs for teachers was another major thrust of Biden speech as he talked about getting hundreds of thousands of teachers back to work.

“If anyone is gonna define what the middle class is — which is what we say this is all about — it’s a school teacher, a firefighter, a law enforcement officer. That is the definition of middle class,” Biden stressed.

Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook thanked the Vice President for the federal grant of $900,000 but noted that he was still about 30 officers short of where he’d like to be as the department continued under pressure for nearly three years with budget cuts.

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Obama promises training skills to edge past global competition

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States would lead the world in college graduates by the end of this decade according to the pledges made by the top executive of the country on Wednesday at a manufacturing plant in Alexandria, Virginia.

Addressing an audience at Alexandria campus of the “Northern Virginia Community College,” during an event promoting the program, “Skills for America’s Future Manufacturing,” President Barack Obama touched upon ways aimed at enhancing skills through training workers and investing in research and technology to give the U.S. an edge in competing with other countries.

Citing a student named David, President Obama emphasized the importance of the facility said, “David said whatever he ends up doing, the automotive training program here was “the spark (he) needed to get (his) career started.”

“We’ve got to light more sparks all across America, and that’s going to make a difference in the futures of individuals who are looking for a better life, but it’s also going to make a difference in America’s future,” Obama continued.

Setting a goal “that by the end of this decade, we are going to once again lead the world in producing college graduates,” President Obama said, “To achieve that, we’re making college more affordable and we’re investing in community colleges.”

With unemployment figures still hovering at uncomfortable levels and economy sluggish in recovery, Obama balanced his words saying, “Obviously we’re slowly recovering from a very painful recession … But there are too many people out there still out of work.”

According to the White House officials, the latest program aims to train half a million community college students for manufacturing jobs over the next five years, which would help offset the gap left by the 2.7 million older workers who will be retiring in the next decade or so.

On a lighter vein, Obama explained his rolled-up shirt sleeves, saying, “My sleeves are rolled up. I was getting under the hood (to repair cars).”

Amid laughter, the president asked, “Do you guys want me to work on your car?” adding, “Don’t do it,” with more laughter breaking out among the audience.

Earlier before addressing the audience of more than 100 people, President Obama wearing button- down shirt with the cuffs rolled up, no jacket, light blue tie, gray pants, visited a classroom calling out, “Hello, hey everybody, what’s going on?” as he entered.

President made it a point to ask each students name and then had conversation with instructor Packer, who said it is the 5th semester of doing program.

From the classroom, the president moved to a garage where a half dozen people waited with cars with hoods propped open.

After the instructor had noted that the facility was a hybrid repair class, President Obama told the accompanying journalists, “This facility here at NOVA is one of the few that provides that kind of training.”

“This is going to be the future so you guys are on the cutting edge,” the president told students, adding as he was leaving, “You guys are doing great work, keep it up.”

Obama administration officials have confirmed that the National Association of Manufacturers is now backing the program, “Skills for America’s Future Manufacturing.”

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Heat’s Big Three came up small in game 2 collapse vs. Mavs

Miami, FL, United States (AHN Sports) – After a superb outing in the series-opener, the triumvirate of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James were totally non-existent in the final 6:22 of Game 2 as the Dallas Mavericks closed out the contest on a 22-5 run to stun the Miami Heat leveling their Finals showdown at 1-1 Thursday at America Airline Arena.

The Mavericks ripped the Heat and their fans’ hearts apart Thursday night, pulling off one of the greatest comeback victory in NBA Finals history.

Armed with their high-octane scoring, Dallas earnestly cut down the Heat’s 15 point lead in the final six minutes and Dirk Nowitzki dropped the game-winner using his injured left hand.

But Game 2 result was not alone the product of the Mavs’ efficient offense, but also the consequence of the Heats’ cold shooting and poor decision-making, notably from their three stars.

James, who emerged as a premier closer this postseason, went silent down the stretch as he scored just two points and missed four shots, including two questionable 3-point heaves at the end of 24 second shotclock.

Wade, who tallied a game-high 36 point in the night, was also off during clutch time as he also tried to score beyond the arc but saw three shots hit the iron.

Bosh scored just 12 points on 25 percent shooting and his inability to contain an injured Nowitzki one-on-one probably cost the Heat a commanding 2-0 edge in the series.

“He does the move he always does, uses his body well, and I got caught up in trying to cut off his drive,” Bosh told Miami Herald.com Thursday. “For a split second I played bad defense, and it cost us two points.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra also admitted his players did not execute plays as they wanted.

“The way we closed the game so uncharacteristic for us,” Spoelstra said Thursday. “Offensively, if we could have executed and moved the ball, we might have been able to stem the tide even as poor as we were defensively.

After taking verbal punishment in South beach, the Mavs return to Dallas Sunday with the chance of taking a series lead on their home floor.

The Heat, on the other hand, assured they will be better in Game 3 of what could be one of the best Finals showdowns in history.

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RigNet, Inc. (RNET) Amends Credit Agreement with BofA

RigNet, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNET) has amended its existing credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A. The amended agreement consolidates RigNet’s existing loans into a single $30.1 million loan bearing interest at LIBOR plus 2.25% to 3.25%, based upon a

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch Analysts Upgrade BP PLC (BP) Shares to “Buy”

Equities research analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of BP PLC (NYSE: BP) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Thursday. Separately, analysts at The Benchmark Company raised their price target on shares of BP PLC from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note [...]

This article ( Bank of America Merrill Lynch Analysts Upgrade BP PLC (BP) Shares to “Buy” ) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News . Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

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Slighly higher unemployment rate despite more jobs in April

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The unemployment rate grew 9 percent in April despite the economy adding more jobs than was expected.

The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm payroll increased 244,000 during the period, boosted by gains in the service, manufacturing and mining industries. In the private sector, 268,000 jobs were added while the federal and state governments lost 24,000 jobs.

There was an increase of 51,000 positions during the month in the professional and businesses services, specifically in technical consulting and coputers systems design.

Jobs related to healthcare rose 37,000, largely due to a 22,000 increase in employment in ambultory healthcare. Hospitals accounted for 10,000 jobs.

In the hospitatility industry, there was continued growth with 46,000 more jobs, mainly from a 30,600 spike in employment in accomodation and food services.

Manufacturing added 29,000 jobs to the economy and mining 11.4 percent.

Despite the gains, the unemployment trate rose to 9 percent in April from 8.8 percent in the previous month.

The number of jobless Americans remained little changed at 13.7 million. Those unemployed for less than five weeks rose by 242,000, but the number of jobless for at least 27 weeks dropped by 283,000 to 5.8 million.

There was virtually the same number of people involutarily working part-time, at 8.6 million.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) used the jobs report to assail the White House for “causing renewed uncertainty for private-sector job creators, crowding out private investment and punishing small businesses and entrepreneurs who are willing to invest.”

“While any improvement is welcome news, job growth in America is still nowhere close to what it should be,” the Republican leader added.

“Over the past month, rather than joining Republicans in focusing on policies that promote long-term economic growth to help balance the federal budget, the Democrats who control Washington have indicated they are planning to increase taxes and allow the government’s spending binge to continue.”

But the White House pointed out that there was an averge of about a quarter of a million private sector jobs created each month for three consecutive months.

“We’re pleased about that. We obviously have a lot more work to do,” presidential spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “The recession cost the American labor force 8 million jobs and we’re still digging ourselves out of that hole.”

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Obama focus stays on raising debt ceiling, cutting deficit

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama is scheduled to undertake domestic travel in the coming week according to a White House communique.

Obama is planning to hold town hall meetings in “Northern Virginia, Palo Alto, California and Reno, Nevada to speak directly to the American people about his vision for reducing our debt and bringing down our deficit, based on the values of shared responsibility and shared prosperity,” the White House said.

On the return flight from Chicago on Friday, Jay Carney, presidential spokesman called Obama’s two urgent tasks as one to pursue Congress to immediately raise the ceiling on U.S. debt and the other to move with urgency towards deficit reduction.

On the first task, Carney said, “That shouldn’t be linked or held hostage to any other action because the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling — those consequences would be catastrophic to the American economy, to the global economy and to America’s creditworthiness internationally.”

About efforts towards deficit reduction, Carney said the president, “asked the Vice President to oversee and leaders of Congress to appoint members to participate in where they can come together and begin to negotiate areas where we can agree to bring about further deficit reduction in a balanced way that can achieve the kind of results that we think are what America needs economically and for our future.”

Citing both as “urgent … but … not linked,” Carney reiterated, “With regards to the debt ceiling, it cannot be linked or held hostage to something that wouldn’t pass — couldn’t reach consensus. It has to be done. All the leaders of Congress of both parties have said that, and we obviously share that sentiment.”

Carney hinted that the president was ready for compromise on his targets while negotiating with Republicans, saying, “He recognizes he’s not going to get 100 percent of what he wants or that it’s not going to be his way only, and Republicans need to recognize that, which is how we ended up with an agreement last week on the funding for the 2011 budget.”

Carney noted that the president Obama believed Congressman Paul Ryan of the budget committee “is absolutely sincere and that he believes that this is the right — that that’s the right path, the one he put forward is the right path for America.”

On the disagreement part, Carney said, “He (Obama) doesn’t think that it’s (Ryan’s budget proposal) balanced.”

Explaining the disparities, Carney said, “He doesn’t think that we need to — that the price of deficit reduction needs to be ending the guarantee, the health benefits that Medicare has provided our seniors, cutting energy — clean energy investment by 70 percent, cutting education by 25 percent, cutting infrastructure by 30 percent — and all so that we can not just reduce the deficit but so that we can extend tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans and give new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.”

With the count-down to 2012 presidential election ticking and Obama already an official candidate, the incumbent needs to sell his policies to voters who are not diehard rock star Obama fans.

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BofA expected to beat Street, but mortgage costs loom

By Joe Rauch CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) is expected to report a 9 percent drop in its first quarter profit, as U.S. consumer lending contracts and the costs …

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Bank of America reportedly to cut 1,500 jobs

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Bank of America Corp. plans to slash 1,500 jobs at its mortgage-origination arm, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report Thursday. The bank also intends to shift another 350 position from home-loan origination to handling troubled existing loans, the report said, citing a Bank of America spokesman.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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US Korea Free Trade Agreement to boost export and create thousands of jobs

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The Free Trade Agreement between the United States and South Korea would not only help boost exports, but would create thousands of jobs in the country, a top Obama Administration trade official told lawmakers on Thursday.

“The US-Korea trade agreement will strengthen our trade and investment ties to Korea’s $1 trillion economy,” the Deputy US Trade Representative, Demetrios Marantis, said at a Congressional hearing on US-Korea FTA.

“It will bind a key ally closer to us, anchor our economy to the dynamic Asia Pacific region and help us keep our edge over international competition. Most importantly, this agreement will create substantial export opportunities, establish strong enforcement provisions and support tens of thousands of new export-oriented jobs,” he said.

Marantis said the Korea agreement is just a first example of how this administration has worked to make the trade agreements better. “The President has underscored his intention to present pending trade agreements to Congress once we have adequately addressed key outstanding concerns. In December, we did so with Korea,” he said.

The USTR official told the House Ways and Means Committee that the Obama Administration negotiated with Koreans for a successful trade agreement.

“We leveled the playing field by addressing key non-tariff barriers in Korea’s auto safety and environmental regulations. We encouraged green technologies by immediately cutting in half Korea’s tariffs on electric cars and eliminating these tariffs within five years,” he said.

“We negotiated a tariff structure that will give American auto companies and their workers a chance to build more business in Korea before U.S. tariffs come down, and we negotiated a new special motor vehicle safeguard,” Marantis said.

Responding to questions from Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tx), on his concerns about America’s textile industry, Marantis said 75 percent of US textile and apparel exports to Korea would receive duty-free treatment immediately upon implementation of the agreement. “That’s really important because Korea is becoming a larger destination for U.S. textile and apparel exports,” he said.

“We have a special textile safeguard in the agreement that allows us to address instances when increased imports may cause serious damage to the industry producing like or directly competitive products,” he argued.

Marantis said Korea is a critical strategic ally of the United States. “What we’re doing as part of the free trade agreement is helping to bolster the economic pillar of the US strategic relationship. A strong, prosperous South Korea is very much in the strategic interests of the United States, which is why negotiation, conclusion and ratification and entry into force of this agreement, is a win-win for both of us,” he said.

“It’s good for both the South Korean economy and the US economy, and as a result, it’s a good tool to help bolster a very important ally,” the official said. “As soon as the agreement goes into force, we begin to eliminate the 40 percent tariff on beef,” Marantis said in response to a question.

Marantis argued this agreement provides the highest level of labor and environmental protection that the US has had in the history of trade agreements, as does Colombia and Panama as well. “This agreement requires both parties to adopt and maintain laws that are consistent with the five core ILO labor standards. It requires the parties to effectively enforce those laws as well as laws that relate to acceptable conditions of work, like minimum wage. It requires parties not to waive or derogate from the provisions that achieve a trade or investment advantage. And the standards on the environmental side are equally high,” he said.

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US Postal Service announces voluntary buyouts to trim 7,500 administrative jobs

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. postal With the national unemployment rate running at 9.5 percent The U.S. Postal Service announced Thursday it is offering buyouts to eligible employees in an effort to cut 7,500 administrative jobs.

Postal officials hope the $20,000 buyout packages encourage enough workers to retire early to achieve the reduction of 7,500 employees.

The Voluntary Early Retirement plan and financial incentives is being made available only to employees who work as career nonbargaining personnel at “headquarters, headquarters-related field units, area offices and administrative personnel at customer service district offices,” USPS officials said in a statement.

Employees can choose to leave by May 31. But with the nation’s unemployment rate running at 9.5 percent, this buyout might not achieve its target, which was the case in 2009 when a buyout expected to encourage 30,000 workers to voluntarily retire only drew 21,000 takers.

USPS officials also said they wanted to close seven struggling district offices located around the country.

The postal service has seen a decline in mail volume and revenue as it competes with use of the Internet, as well as competition from companies such as UPS and FedEx.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe put the situation into perspective.

“It’s critical that we adjust our workforce to match America’s changing communications trends as mail volumes continue to decline,” Donahoe said. “At every step and with every change, our focus remains on our customers and continuing to provide outstanding customer service.”

The district offices are not used for mail delivery or collection. The offices slated for closing are located in Columbus, Ohio; Troy, Mich.; Carol Stream, Ill.; Providence, R.I.; Macon, Ga.; Big Sky, Mont.; and Albuquerque, N.M.

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East Lansing-based First National Bank of America expands in state

EAST LANSING – First National Bank of America is opening two branches and expanding its commercial loan offerings as a rival leaves the Michigan market.

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Former BofA LO Agrees to Settlement

Christian Hayes has agreed to pay restitution, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office said. The settlement resolve allegations brought in a civil complaint by the state. Hayes was a former Bank of America loan originator who also owned and operated a loan modification company — pretending to be an attorney for the lender and using his position at the bank to steer business his way.

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Today’s promised leaks of fraud at Bank of America? So far, it’s all a snore

Wake up and good morning . It may not prove to be a good start of the week for Bank of America . Reuters reports that Anonymous , a hacker group sympathetic to WikiLeaks (that’s WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange above in the WikiLeaks logo), today released on emails that it obtained from someone who said he is a former Bank of America Corp employee. In the emails dating from November 2010, people that appear to be employees of a Balboa Insurance, a former Bank of America insurance unit , discuss removing documents from loan files for a group of insured properties. Read the leaked Bank of America emails here.

While the emails and correspondence released by Anonymous do not indicate the reason behind the electronic record keeping discussion, a representative of Anonymous told Reuters on Sunday the documents relate to the issue of whether Bank of America has improperly foreclosed on homes . The …

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Obama: America’s future tied to funding education reforms

Miami, FL, United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama was the guest of honor Friday afternoon at one of Florida’s formerly failing high schools to deliver a speech pushing America to refund and reform education.

Obama spoke alongside Education Secretary Arne Duncan and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, but only after cheering students from Miami Central Senior High, a majority African American school, gave a heartfelt welcome to America’s first African American president.

“How do we attract new jobs, new businesses, new industries to our shores?” Obama asked the crowd. “How do we grow our economy and out-compete our competitors? In today’s economy, companies are making decisions on where to locate, who to hire, based on key factors [including where to find] highly skilled, highly educated workers – that’s what they’re looking for.”

“I decided to come to Miami Central to kick-off ‘Education Month’ because you’re doing what I challenged states to do when I took office, and that’s turning the lowest performing schools around,” Obama said.

In his address, Obama outlined plans to increase funding for failing schools, citing Miami Central as proof federal assistance aimed at turning around “F” institutions can produce real results. The Department of Education has been giving states School Improvement Grants (SIG) since 1965, but Obama boosted funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Duncan pushed for $3.5 billion in SIG funding in 2009 and Obama has added an additional $545 million in funding for 2011.

Obama toured Miami Central, making a surprise visit to spill-over students who couldn’t fit into the gym and thought they were going to see the president speak from a television. Awaiting the Commander-in-Chief’s speech in the school’s library, the students were given a surprise visit from Obama, who received a warm welcome. Other students showed the president their work in creating robots in the classroom.

“This used to be a place where problems on the streets followed children into the classrooms,” Obama explained. “Where there was a culture of failure that brought everyone down. Now, turning around these schools isn’t easy… we have to reform how things are done. It isn’t easy to turn around an expectation of failure, and turn that into an expectation of excellence.”

In Florida, SIG funding totaled $170.2 million, with almost $14 million going to 19 embattled schools in Miami-Dade County, home to America’s fourth-largest public school district serving more than 380,000 students. One SIG success story is Miami Central High School. Miami Central earned an “F” the year Obama took office, but after receiving federal SIG funding, the school improved to receive a “C” this year.

“Here’s what I say; I’m not willing to give up on any child in America. I’m not willing to give up on any school in America. I do not accept failure here in America. I believe the status quo is unacceptable. I believe it’s time to change, and it’s time we come together. Just like Jeb [Bush] and I are doing today – to give every child in America the chance to live up to their God-given potential.”

“A good education equals a good job,” Obama explained. “If we want more good news on the jobs front, we need to make more investments on the education front.”

“Educational achievement is an issue of national priority,” added Bush, whose father and brother have both served time as Republicans in the White House. “Every child, regardless of their zip code or family income should have access to a quality education.”

Aboard Air Force 1 enroute to Florida, newly installed White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained Obama’s had his eye on Miami Central for a while. “The president very much wanted to go to this particular high school to highlight the dramatic turnaround they have accomplished there and still in the process of accomplishing, and also to make the point that by having former Gov. Jeb Bush join him at this event that he firmly believes what I think most Americans believe and that certainly former Gov. Bush believes, and that is that education and education reform are not Democratic issues, they’re not Republican issues, they’re American issues.”

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