2/24/12 By TAMARA LUSH | Associated Press – 8 mins ago

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will visit Florida on Friday to discuss a United States Department of Agriculture pilot loan program that could help tens of thousands of rural homeowners in 19 states.

The program, which was first announced Feb. 1, allows underwater homeowners in rural areas to refinance their homes with lower interest rates, similar to a program President Barack Obama announced earlier this month — although as Vilsack points out, the USDA’s program does not rely on the approval of Congress.

“We’ve already obligated this money,” Vilsack said.

To be eligible for the USDA program, homeowners must have either a direct loan with the USDA or a USDA guarantee on a commercial bank mortgage.

Officials say the new program will cut through red tape normally seen with bank refinancing and save borrowers hundreds of dollars a month. To be eligible, borrowers must have made their mortgage payments on time for 12 consecutive months. There are more than 20,000 borrowers eligible in Florida and some 237,000 nationwide, according to the USDA, all in rural areas.

“We’re trying to make this as easy as possible,” Vilsack said.

He said that if more underwater loans are refinanced, then fewer homeowners will face foreclosure.

“This will preserve not only an opportunity for these families to save a little money, but it will preserve the value of neighborhoods, also,” he said.

Under the new pilot program, a homeowner could knock three or four percentage points off their mortgage interest rates if they refinance — and they wouldn’t have to go through an appraisal, inspection or credit report.

For the entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/usda-help-thousands-rural-homeowners-103047063.html

Feb. 24, 2012, 10:00 AM Sam Ro- businessinsider

January new home sales came in at an annualized rate of 321k.
Economists were expecting 315k.

December’s new home sales were revised up substantially to 324k from a previous reading of 307k.

So, while the January new home sales level was higher than expected, it reflected a 0.9 percent decline.

Economist were looking for the reading to have climbed 2.6 percent.

From the Census Bureau’s announcement:
Sales of new single-family houses in January 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 321,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.9 percent (±16.6%)* below the revised December rate of 324,000, but is 3.5 percent (±17.6%)* above the January 2011 estimate of 310,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2012 was $217,100; the average sales price was $261,600. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 151,000. This represents a supply of 5.6 months at the current sales rate.

2/24/12Reuters – 7 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Consumer sentiment improved a tad in February to rack up a year high as Americans became more confident about the economy’s resilience, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 75.3, edging up from 75.0 the month before. It was the highest level since February 2011.
It surpassed economists’ expectations of 73.0 and recovered from a decline to 72.5 in February’s preliminary reading.

“It is not that surging oil prices, instability in the Mideast, the European crisis or uncertainties about future tax and spending policies could not ultimately derail the recovery, but that consumers expect the pace of overall economic growth to continue to slowly restore lost jobs despite these potential problems,” survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions eased to 83.0 from 84.2, but the survey’s gauge of consumer expectations also rose to its highest level in a year at 70.3 from 69.1.

A third of consumers spontaneously reported hearing about more job opportunities, the highest proportion ever recorded by the survey.

For the entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/consumer-sentiment-edges-high-145640482.html

2/24/12 6:34 AM EST POLITICO44

Via Burns, the liberal comedian Bill Maher gives a huge check to Priorities USA:

Comedian Bill Maher announced tonight that he will donate one million dollars to President Obama’s re-election campaign. At the end of his groundbreaking comedy special, “CrazyStupidPolitics: Live from Silicon Valley,” which streamed live on Yahoo!, Bill brought out a check, making a personal donation of one million dollars to Obama’s Super PAC, Priorities USA Action. His explained that having a country governed by Barack Obama rather than any of the Republican candidates is “worth a million dollars” and that in his own financial interests, “this is the wisest investment I think I could make.” He also encouraged other wealthy liberals to do the same and give until it hurts.

Uploaded by whitehouse on Feb 23, 2012

Welcome to the 100th episode of West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It’s hard to believe that when West Wing Week was born Don’t Ask Don’t tell was still around, American troops were still fighting in Iraq, the American Auto Industry was on the brink of collapse, and nobody knew The President could sing? Wow! what a difference 694 days makes.

We’ve got a great week for you – BB King is here, the Boeing Dreamliner, the extension of the Payroll Tax Cut, and musical guest Keb Mo. That’s February 17th to February 23rd or West Wing Week 100.

9:00 AM EST
White House Office of Public Engagement hosts the American Heart Association and WomenHeart White House Community Leaders Briefing Series

WhiteHouse.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/live

2/24/12 4:33 AM EST POLITICO44

President Obama will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark in the Oval Office. According to the White House, Obama and the Danish leader will have a packed agenda:

“The two leaders will discuss preparations for the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago, including proposals for supporting the transition in Afghanistan, increasing Alliance defense capabilities, and advancing NATO’s relationships with key partners. With Denmark currently holding the European Union presidency, the President and Prime Minister will talk about the recent European summit and the latest steps that Europe is taking to address its sovereign debt crisis. The President and the Prime Minister will also discuss common efforts on counterterrorism, counterpiracy, green growth, economic development, Arctic cooperation and support for the democratic transitions in North Africa and the Middle East.