Amid the outrage that has been unleashed over the past weeks regarding bank foreclosure practices, the White House urged proceeding with caution as investigations begin. The New York Times writes:
“In a piece posted on the Huffington Post Web site, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote: ‘The notion that many of the very same institutions that helped cause this housing crisis may well be making it worse is not only frustrating — it’s shameful.’
“But, he added, ‘a national, blanket moratorium on all foreclosure sales would do far more harm than good, hurting homeowners and home buyers alike at a time when foreclosed homes make up 25 percent of home sales.’
“It was the second effort in two weeks by the administration to deflect pressure for a national moratorium on foreclosures. In televised comments last Sunday, David Axelrod, a senior White House adviser, urged moderation, saying there were foreclosures with valid documents ‘that probably should go forward.’”
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new head, Lisa Jackson, is placing a fair amount of emphasis on how the environment is affecting low-income communities. The Los Angeles Times has the story:
“Environmental justice, a movement to focus attention on pollution in low-income communities, is a burning cause for Lisa Jackson, the first African American to head the U.S. Environmental Protection agency. Over the last several months, Jackson has toured poor white, black and Latino communities with a message: Eco-issues aren't just for rich folks.
“On Saturday, the EPA chief took a bus tour of low-income neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay area, stopping at a Superfund site where the federal government is coordinating toxic chemical cleanup, and an urban food cooperative.
“At a town hall meeting in Oakland, attended by scores of community leaders, elected officials and students, she announced $100,000 in grants for programs to educate low-income communities in Richmond and Oakland about climate change, to restore wildlife habitat in Richmond and to engage Latinos in San Rafael's Canal district on environmental issues.”
Secure Communities, a flawed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program meant to identify undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records, gets fully implemented in Texas. The Wall Street Journal writes:
“In the past two weeks, Texas became the first border state to fully deploy the Department of Homeland Security program, which is scheduled to be rolled out to all U.S. counties by 2013. “The program automatically routes prisoners' fingerprints to the department, which tries to determine whether they are allowed to be in the U.S.
“Known as Secure Communities, the program is designed to intercept and remove illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes such as homicide, rape and kidnapping, immigration officials say.
“But immigrant groups and lawyers argue it is also singling out immigrants with no serious criminal record, clogging up the courts. Political analysts say Secure Communities and related programs are alienating Democratic-leaning Hispanic voters from the Obama administration.
“‘Why are we wasting funds to deport people who aren't even supposed to be targets of the program?’ said Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which provides legal assistance to low-income people.”
The health care costs of obesity are nearly twice what the most common estimates indicate, according to a new study by the Bureau of Economic Research. The Washington Post covers the study:
“Nearly 17 percent of U.S. medical costs can be blamed on obesity, according to new research that suggests the nation's weight problem may be having close to twice the impact on medical spending as previously estimated.
“One expert acknowledged that past estimates likely low-balled the costs and said the new study - which places obesity-related medical costs at around $168 billion - probably is closer to the truth.
“‘I think these are the most recent and perhaps statistically sound estimates that have come out to date,” said Kenneth Thorpe, a health policy researcher at Emory University who has focused on the cost of health care.”