A look behind the housing crisis
Close to a million families lost their homes last year. This year, it will likely be 2 million. There were 25,000 layoffs in the mortgage industry in the first 3 weeks of August. With home construction 25 percent below last year and falling, hundreds of thousands of building trades workers could lose their jobs. The word recession is back in the media. This time, all the happy talk from business leaders and administration flaks won’t make it go away.
Padilla verdict raises troubling questions
José Padilla, a U.S. citizen and convert to Islam, was convicted by a federal jury in Miami, on Aug 16, on three charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism. The verdict may be appealed. The case, however, continues to be central to accusations that the Bush administration has gone berserk in its attacks on due process.
