Below you'll see the Senate telling you 'The Doomsday budget from the debt ceiling was never about defense cuts.....it was about entitlement cuts'. NOW THAT THEY HAVE ESTABLISHED NORMAL FUNDING FOR DEFENSE, THEY WILL TELL US THAT THE CUTS MUST COME FROM SOCIAL PROGRAMS....SO AFTER THREE YEARS OF NOTHING BUT SOCIAL AND SPENDING CUTS TO THE PUBLIC........YOU SEE THAT IT IS THE SAME THING AS AUSTERITY IN EUROPE.....ONLY DRAWN OUT.
THIRD WAY OBAMA AND SENATE ARE BREAKING DOWN OUR SOCIAL SAFETY NET JUST AS THE REPUBLICANS ARE....THEY ARE JUST DOING IT IN STAGES.
So, I am listening to Wall Street's new mouthpiece, NPR's Marketplace this morning and they are telling me that big banks have a metric that doesn't allow them to lend to small businesses or individuals....that is why we see no growth.....all their money is going overseas. Yet we listened for three years as Third Way Democrats told us we had to bail out the big banks so they can make loans to grow the economy; then we listened to them say the we needed to settle the mortgage fraud on favorable terms for the banks so they could make loans to grow the economy; then we heard that we needed to give massive tax breaks to corporations to grow the economy------ALL THIS MEANING CREATING JOBS....NONE OF WHICH IT DID. Each step of the way, your politician used these same excuses, your media outlet let them, all knowing it was A LIE.
We need to remember that it is the legislative body that votes for the leader at national, state, and local levels. The Senate has Third Way leadership in Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, number one, two, and three in the Senate. Progressives need to garner the majority of Democratic Senate seats in order to determine who the leader will be. PROGRESSIVES MUST AFFECT WHO THE LEADER WILL BE IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE POLITICS OF CONGRESS OR YOUR STATE'S GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Think that's impossible....try as they might, media cannot hide the fact that most people, 85% hate Congress, so a turnaround is highly probable. THINK OF THE POWER TO CONTROL ISSUES THAT THE TEA PARTY HAD IN THEIR NUMBERS THESE TWO YEARS......WE CAN EFFECT CHANGE.
It is then the leader that sets the tone of committee membership ...thus the corporate leaning legislation. So this is the objective in turning the page on wealth inequity. Harry Reid will not run again so there will be a change of leadership, we need to make sure it is not the number 2 or 3.
I listened to an interview of Governor Brown of California by Marketplace. The NPR commentator was actually leading the governor's responses with his questions. We know this happens, but we generally see it in favor of the public. 'So, you have to make tough choices if the public votes down taxes...the people elected you to use your best judgement'. California has one of the lowest tax ratios in many areas because of a Public Referendum capping taxes.....Brown says 'we need cuts in spending and higher taxes'; we have had three years of spending cuts Governor and we don't vote for a politician's jugement, we vote for his campaign platform, which for most Democrats was MAKING THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF THE DEFICIT AND HOLDING THE BANKS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE.....HOW ARE THEY DOING?
VOTE OUT ALL INCUMBANTS!!!
Senate panel backs $631 billion in defense spending
By David Alexander | Reuters – WASHINGTON (Reuters)
A Senate panel voted on Thursday to authorize $631.4 billion in defense spending for the 2013 fiscal year, blocking plans to cut the Air Force and ordering offsetting reductions in Pentagon civilian personnel to stay within the president's budget limits.
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a defense policy bill that would authorize a base Pentagon budget of $525.8 billion along with $88.2 billion for the Afghanistan war and other overseas operations. The panel also authorized $17.3 billion for Energy Department nuclear weapons programs.
The measure - the National Defense Authorization Act - is expected to go to the full Senate in June at the earliest. After passage there, it would have to be reconciled with the version approved last week by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before going to Obama for his signature.
"We're within the president's budget, $631.4 billion, unlike the House of Representatives, which is about $4 billion over the president's budget request," said Carl Levin, the chairman of the Democratic-controlled panel.
The authorization bill sets spending limits but does not actually appropriate funds. The Senate Appropriations Committee had not yet completed its spending plan for the 2013 defense budget, so the funding available to the Pentagon is not clear.
Levin said the panel had rejected most of the portion of the president's budget that called for reductions in the Air Force and Air National Guard. But the committee did permit elimination of some transport aircraft, he said.
The Air Force had sought to cut seven tactical air squadrons and 130 transport aircraft, along with 11,600 personnel as part of the Pentagon's efforts to reduce projected spending over the next decade by $487 billion as ordered by Congress last year.
"There was a broad feeling in the committee that the Air Force did not have a basis that was solid for where they were making these reductions," Levin said. "So we decided that we'd just better put a freeze on this for the year and then have them come back (next year) ... with a much better case."
FRUSTRATION WITH PAKISTAN
The panel expressed frustration over ties with Pakistan and moved to block certain military aid payments until the defense secretary can certify Islamabad has reopened supply lines to Afghanistan and released a Pakistani doctor imprisoned for 33 years for helping the CIA locate Osama bin Laden.
Islamabad closed its frontier to supplies for international forces in Afghanistan late last year after a border clash killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The two sides are reportedly close to a deal on reopening the supply lines.
"Our goal is to have good relationships with Pakistan," said Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the committee.
"Our goal is to see that they allow us to be able to support the men and women who are fighting and dying in Afghanistan. It is our goal to make sure that this doctor is not sentenced to death, which is basically what he got," he said.
The measure approved by the panel, which included 150 changes from the president's budget request, would block increases in fees for the Tricare healthcare system for military retirees. And it would block closure of the Abrams tank production line of General Dynamics, moving to keep it open with funding for upgrading vehicles.
To offset some of the increased costs, the bill would require the Pentagon to cut civilian personnel and service contractor funding by 5 percent over five years, which would save about $5 billion, McCain said.
McCain said the committee also took action in the bill to try to contain cost overruns in many of the Pentagon's biggest weapons systems.
"We have a strong restriction on cost overruns on the (aircraft) carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, and we have several other restrictions and modifications to the funding which we hope will at least bring some of these overruns under control," he said
______________________________________________________
In Tight Credit Market, A Tool For Small Businesses
by Wendy Kaufman May 25, 2012 NPR
Listen to the Story Morning Edition
Many small-business owners have had difficulty securing loans in recent years. One website grades the nation's banks by the ratio of small-business loans to deposits — and finds that community banks are often most friendly to small business.
Seth Perlman/AP Many small-business owners have had difficulty securing loans in recent years. One website grades the nation's banks by the ratio of small-business loans to deposits — and finds that community banks are often most friendly to small business.
When small-business owners start looking for money to expand, they often begin at a big bank. The banks are highly visible, well-known and often nearby.
But many small-business owners report that they have struggled to get loans in the wake of the economic downturn.
Ami Kassar, CEO of the small-business-loan broker multifunding.com, advises business owners that large banks are "not the best place to start" when looking for a small-business loan.
Kassar has created bankinggrades.com, a website that gives every FDIC-insured bank in the nation a grade based on how many small-business loans it makes. He used data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to create the site, designed to help small-business owners find the best loan.
Turned Down Cold
Patricia and Jim McGrath own Branches Atelier, a preschool in Santa Monica, Calif. Their existing space had grown too small and they wanted to expand. Late last year they found the perfect site, but they needed a loan to buy the building.
"So we first approached my own bank," Patricia McGrath says. "It's one of the large banks, and I've been banking with them for over 20 years. And it made sense that we would go with people that we knew."
The McGraths thought it would be a relatively simple process. Their business was solid financially, they had money for a down payment and they had always had a long waiting list of prospective students.
Moreover, the mortgage payment on the new building would have been little more than their existing rent.
How Banks Are Rated Bankinggrades.com says it rates banks based on past loan and deposit values in quarterly FDIC data. The website defines small-business loans as commercial loans of $1 million or less.
A (Excellent): Uses at least 25 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
B (Good): Uses 10-25 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
C (Average): Uses 6-10 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
D (Poor): Uses 3-6 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
F (Failing): Uses less than 3 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
Source: Banking Grades
Even so, the bank — one of the nation's very largest — turned them down cold.
"I was shocked. We have excellent credit, and we have money in the bank," Patricia McGrath says. "I couldn't understand why they wouldn't be willing to give us a loan. It didn't make any sense to me."
Big banks "are able to go out and lend hundreds of millions of dollars here and there," Kassar says. "For them, these little loans are a pain."
He says many small-business owners may have better luck with smaller banks.
"In comparison, for smaller banks, the community banks, their business is small-business lending," Kassar says. "And that's the best choice, in our opinion, for small business to go to get a loan."
Very small loans don't produce much profit for big banks. But community banks typically have a mission beyond making money. Many want to help build and enhance their communities — and many of those institutions top the Banking Grades list.
Bigger Banks Wary
Banking Grades rates banks based on the ratio of business loans of $1 million or less to total domestic deposits.
The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents big banks, quarrels with the metric. The group argues that the measure doesn't consider all factors. It also cites efforts by large banks to increase their small-business lending.
But Keith Weigelt, a small-business-finance expert with the Wharton School of Business, says Banking Grades can be a valuable tool for small-business owners.
"If I was a small business, I would welcome that," Weigelt says. "First of all, it would save me an awful lot of time in terms of search costs."
Indeed, the McGraths say they spent an incredible amount of time and energy trying to secure the loan for their preschool. In addition to being turned down by their giant bank, they were strung along — and then rejected — by a midsized one.
Related NPR Stories Small Businesses Staying Lean, Wary Of Hiring Some owners say they've learned to make do with less and are unlikely to add many workers.
Finally, the couple turned to a community bank, Orange County-based Plaza Bank.
That's where they found a banker who wanted to give them a loan — and then did.
"Ultimately, if you don't get the right bank — no matter how good you look on paper — you're not going to be able to move forward with your business," Patricia McGrath says. "And that's really unfortunate."
The McGraths are nearly done painting their new building, and they're working on a new play structure and a garden.
They are also hiring — adding about a half-dozen full-time jobs.
______________________________________________
NOW, LOOK AT BALTIMORE'S MEDIA PRESENTATION OF THIS SAME ISSUE......LOTS OF LOANS TO BE HAD FOR SMALL BUSINESS.....NOTICE ALMOST ALL OF ENTERPRISE ZONE DEVELOPMENT IS BIG BUSINESS. REMEMBER MY PROFESSIONAL FRIEND WITH A LIFETIME OF GOOD CREDIT HERE IN BALTIMORE HAVING HER CREDIT LINE CANCELLED AT WELLS FARGO......AND THERE IS A MARYLAND BILL SAYING OTHERWISE AS WELL.
METHINKS THE TRUTH IS MISSING IN THE ARTICLE BELOW!
ALSO NOTE THAT THE BILL BELOW, GIVING A $1 TO $1 RATIO OF STATE DEPOSITS TO LENDING AND RAISING THE CAP SO BIG BANKS GET THE DEAL....... IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE CITIZENS OF MARYLAND WANT FROM THEIR POLITICIANS....THESE BANKS DEFRAUDED MARYLANDERS...WE DON'T WANT STATE MONEY IN THEIR BANKS. THESE POLITICIANS WILL THINK OF ANYTHING TO CIRCUMVENT DOING THE PUBLIC GOOD. WILL O'MALLEY BE AUDITING TO MAKE SURE THIS LENDING RATIO IS MET? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
M&T Bank's Wilmers: Banks lack borrowers, not loans
Baltimore Business Journal by Gary Haber, Staff Reporter Date: Friday, May 25, 2012, 6:00am EDT
It’s a common complaint among small-business owners that banks are not lending. But M&T Bank M&T Bank Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company Corp. CEO Robert G. Wilmers instead sees it as a lack of demand among borrowers.
“Everybody in the U.S. is out trying to lend money,” Wilmers said in an interview. “Businesses aren’t borrowing.”
As if to underscore the point about M&T’s willingness to lend, Wilmers’ comments came during a visit to a former meat-packing plant in Pikesville. An M&T loan is funding the building’s conversion into a state-of-the-art kosher bakery. M&T also has for the past several years been the largest lender in the Baltimore ...
Gary Haber covers Banking, Finance, Insurance, Law~
Maryland banks of all sizes amenable to state’s revamped ‘lend-local’ bill Premium content from Baltimore Business Journal by Gary Haber, Staff Reporter Date: Friday, March 23, 2012, 6:00am EDT
A bill that would reward Maryland banks with a share of state government bank deposits if they boost lending to small businesses has a good chance of finally passing this year now that it has the support of the state’s bankers association, supporters say.
The legislation would set aside up to $50 million of state funds to be deposited in banks that write loans to small businesses. Banks that participate in the program would get $1 in state deposits for each $1 of small-business loans they write, under House Bill 571 and its companion measure, Senate Bill 792. They can charge borrowers a lower interest rate on loans because the state agrees to accept a lower interest rate on deposits under the program.
“We’re trying to get money into the hands of small businesses that want to grow and hire,” said Del. C. William Frick, who is HB 571’s primary sponsor.
It is the third time Frick, a Montgomery County Democrat, has tried to get the legislation passed amid opposition from the Maryland Bankers Association . The bill failed most recently last year.
This time around, Frick reworked the legislation extensively after he introduced it earlier in the session. He replaced a requirement that banks make $2 in small-business loans for every dollar they get in state deposits with a one-to-one match. He also dropped a requirement in the earlier version that limited the program to banks under $5 billion in assets.
That would have included all of the banks headquartered in the Baltimore area. The largest bank based here, Columbia Bank Columbia Bank has about in $2 billion in assets. The $5 billion cap would have excluded the large national banks like Bank of America and the large regional banks like M&T, Bank of America has about $1.4 trillion in assets. M&T has about $76 billion in assets.
THIRD WAY OBAMA AND SENATE ARE BREAKING DOWN OUR SOCIAL SAFETY NET JUST AS THE REPUBLICANS ARE....THEY ARE JUST DOING IT IN STAGES.
So, I am listening to Wall Street's new mouthpiece, NPR's Marketplace this morning and they are telling me that big banks have a metric that doesn't allow them to lend to small businesses or individuals....that is why we see no growth.....all their money is going overseas. Yet we listened for three years as Third Way Democrats told us we had to bail out the big banks so they can make loans to grow the economy; then we listened to them say the we needed to settle the mortgage fraud on favorable terms for the banks so they could make loans to grow the economy; then we heard that we needed to give massive tax breaks to corporations to grow the economy------ALL THIS MEANING CREATING JOBS....NONE OF WHICH IT DID. Each step of the way, your politician used these same excuses, your media outlet let them, all knowing it was A LIE.
We need to remember that it is the legislative body that votes for the leader at national, state, and local levels. The Senate has Third Way leadership in Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, number one, two, and three in the Senate. Progressives need to garner the majority of Democratic Senate seats in order to determine who the leader will be. PROGRESSIVES MUST AFFECT WHO THE LEADER WILL BE IN ORDER TO CHANGE THE POLITICS OF CONGRESS OR YOUR STATE'S GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Think that's impossible....try as they might, media cannot hide the fact that most people, 85% hate Congress, so a turnaround is highly probable. THINK OF THE POWER TO CONTROL ISSUES THAT THE TEA PARTY HAD IN THEIR NUMBERS THESE TWO YEARS......WE CAN EFFECT CHANGE.
It is then the leader that sets the tone of committee membership ...thus the corporate leaning legislation. So this is the objective in turning the page on wealth inequity. Harry Reid will not run again so there will be a change of leadership, we need to make sure it is not the number 2 or 3.
I listened to an interview of Governor Brown of California by Marketplace. The NPR commentator was actually leading the governor's responses with his questions. We know this happens, but we generally see it in favor of the public. 'So, you have to make tough choices if the public votes down taxes...the people elected you to use your best judgement'. California has one of the lowest tax ratios in many areas because of a Public Referendum capping taxes.....Brown says 'we need cuts in spending and higher taxes'; we have had three years of spending cuts Governor and we don't vote for a politician's jugement, we vote for his campaign platform, which for most Democrats was MAKING THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF THE DEFICIT AND HOLDING THE BANKS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE.....HOW ARE THEY DOING?
VOTE OUT ALL INCUMBANTS!!!
Senate panel backs $631 billion in defense spending
By David Alexander | Reuters – WASHINGTON (Reuters)
A Senate panel voted on Thursday to authorize $631.4 billion in defense spending for the 2013 fiscal year, blocking plans to cut the Air Force and ordering offsetting reductions in Pentagon civilian personnel to stay within the president's budget limits.
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a defense policy bill that would authorize a base Pentagon budget of $525.8 billion along with $88.2 billion for the Afghanistan war and other overseas operations. The panel also authorized $17.3 billion for Energy Department nuclear weapons programs.
The measure - the National Defense Authorization Act - is expected to go to the full Senate in June at the earliest. After passage there, it would have to be reconciled with the version approved last week by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before going to Obama for his signature.
"We're within the president's budget, $631.4 billion, unlike the House of Representatives, which is about $4 billion over the president's budget request," said Carl Levin, the chairman of the Democratic-controlled panel.
The authorization bill sets spending limits but does not actually appropriate funds. The Senate Appropriations Committee had not yet completed its spending plan for the 2013 defense budget, so the funding available to the Pentagon is not clear.
Levin said the panel had rejected most of the portion of the president's budget that called for reductions in the Air Force and Air National Guard. But the committee did permit elimination of some transport aircraft, he said.
The Air Force had sought to cut seven tactical air squadrons and 130 transport aircraft, along with 11,600 personnel as part of the Pentagon's efforts to reduce projected spending over the next decade by $487 billion as ordered by Congress last year.
"There was a broad feeling in the committee that the Air Force did not have a basis that was solid for where they were making these reductions," Levin said. "So we decided that we'd just better put a freeze on this for the year and then have them come back (next year) ... with a much better case."
FRUSTRATION WITH PAKISTAN
The panel expressed frustration over ties with Pakistan and moved to block certain military aid payments until the defense secretary can certify Islamabad has reopened supply lines to Afghanistan and released a Pakistani doctor imprisoned for 33 years for helping the CIA locate Osama bin Laden.
Islamabad closed its frontier to supplies for international forces in Afghanistan late last year after a border clash killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The two sides are reportedly close to a deal on reopening the supply lines.
"Our goal is to have good relationships with Pakistan," said Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the committee.
"Our goal is to see that they allow us to be able to support the men and women who are fighting and dying in Afghanistan. It is our goal to make sure that this doctor is not sentenced to death, which is basically what he got," he said.
The measure approved by the panel, which included 150 changes from the president's budget request, would block increases in fees for the Tricare healthcare system for military retirees. And it would block closure of the Abrams tank production line of General Dynamics, moving to keep it open with funding for upgrading vehicles.
To offset some of the increased costs, the bill would require the Pentagon to cut civilian personnel and service contractor funding by 5 percent over five years, which would save about $5 billion, McCain said.
McCain said the committee also took action in the bill to try to contain cost overruns in many of the Pentagon's biggest weapons systems.
"We have a strong restriction on cost overruns on the (aircraft) carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, and we have several other restrictions and modifications to the funding which we hope will at least bring some of these overruns under control," he said
______________________________________________________
In Tight Credit Market, A Tool For Small Businesses
by Wendy Kaufman May 25, 2012 NPR
Listen to the Story Morning Edition
Many small-business owners have had difficulty securing loans in recent years. One website grades the nation's banks by the ratio of small-business loans to deposits — and finds that community banks are often most friendly to small business.
Seth Perlman/AP Many small-business owners have had difficulty securing loans in recent years. One website grades the nation's banks by the ratio of small-business loans to deposits — and finds that community banks are often most friendly to small business.
When small-business owners start looking for money to expand, they often begin at a big bank. The banks are highly visible, well-known and often nearby.
But many small-business owners report that they have struggled to get loans in the wake of the economic downturn.
Ami Kassar, CEO of the small-business-loan broker multifunding.com, advises business owners that large banks are "not the best place to start" when looking for a small-business loan.
Kassar has created bankinggrades.com, a website that gives every FDIC-insured bank in the nation a grade based on how many small-business loans it makes. He used data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to create the site, designed to help small-business owners find the best loan.
Turned Down Cold
Patricia and Jim McGrath own Branches Atelier, a preschool in Santa Monica, Calif. Their existing space had grown too small and they wanted to expand. Late last year they found the perfect site, but they needed a loan to buy the building.
"So we first approached my own bank," Patricia McGrath says. "It's one of the large banks, and I've been banking with them for over 20 years. And it made sense that we would go with people that we knew."
The McGraths thought it would be a relatively simple process. Their business was solid financially, they had money for a down payment and they had always had a long waiting list of prospective students.
Moreover, the mortgage payment on the new building would have been little more than their existing rent.
How Banks Are Rated Bankinggrades.com says it rates banks based on past loan and deposit values in quarterly FDIC data. The website defines small-business loans as commercial loans of $1 million or less.
A (Excellent): Uses at least 25 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
B (Good): Uses 10-25 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
C (Average): Uses 6-10 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
D (Poor): Uses 3-6 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
F (Failing): Uses less than 3 percent of its deposits to make small-business loans
Source: Banking Grades
Even so, the bank — one of the nation's very largest — turned them down cold.
"I was shocked. We have excellent credit, and we have money in the bank," Patricia McGrath says. "I couldn't understand why they wouldn't be willing to give us a loan. It didn't make any sense to me."
Big banks "are able to go out and lend hundreds of millions of dollars here and there," Kassar says. "For them, these little loans are a pain."
He says many small-business owners may have better luck with smaller banks.
"In comparison, for smaller banks, the community banks, their business is small-business lending," Kassar says. "And that's the best choice, in our opinion, for small business to go to get a loan."
Very small loans don't produce much profit for big banks. But community banks typically have a mission beyond making money. Many want to help build and enhance their communities — and many of those institutions top the Banking Grades list.
Bigger Banks Wary
Banking Grades rates banks based on the ratio of business loans of $1 million or less to total domestic deposits.
The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents big banks, quarrels with the metric. The group argues that the measure doesn't consider all factors. It also cites efforts by large banks to increase their small-business lending.
But Keith Weigelt, a small-business-finance expert with the Wharton School of Business, says Banking Grades can be a valuable tool for small-business owners.
"If I was a small business, I would welcome that," Weigelt says. "First of all, it would save me an awful lot of time in terms of search costs."
Indeed, the McGraths say they spent an incredible amount of time and energy trying to secure the loan for their preschool. In addition to being turned down by their giant bank, they were strung along — and then rejected — by a midsized one.
Related NPR Stories Small Businesses Staying Lean, Wary Of Hiring Some owners say they've learned to make do with less and are unlikely to add many workers.
Finally, the couple turned to a community bank, Orange County-based Plaza Bank.
That's where they found a banker who wanted to give them a loan — and then did.
"Ultimately, if you don't get the right bank — no matter how good you look on paper — you're not going to be able to move forward with your business," Patricia McGrath says. "And that's really unfortunate."
The McGraths are nearly done painting their new building, and they're working on a new play structure and a garden.
They are also hiring — adding about a half-dozen full-time jobs.
______________________________________________
NOW, LOOK AT BALTIMORE'S MEDIA PRESENTATION OF THIS SAME ISSUE......LOTS OF LOANS TO BE HAD FOR SMALL BUSINESS.....NOTICE ALMOST ALL OF ENTERPRISE ZONE DEVELOPMENT IS BIG BUSINESS. REMEMBER MY PROFESSIONAL FRIEND WITH A LIFETIME OF GOOD CREDIT HERE IN BALTIMORE HAVING HER CREDIT LINE CANCELLED AT WELLS FARGO......AND THERE IS A MARYLAND BILL SAYING OTHERWISE AS WELL.
METHINKS THE TRUTH IS MISSING IN THE ARTICLE BELOW!
ALSO NOTE THAT THE BILL BELOW, GIVING A $1 TO $1 RATIO OF STATE DEPOSITS TO LENDING AND RAISING THE CAP SO BIG BANKS GET THE DEAL....... IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE CITIZENS OF MARYLAND WANT FROM THEIR POLITICIANS....THESE BANKS DEFRAUDED MARYLANDERS...WE DON'T WANT STATE MONEY IN THEIR BANKS. THESE POLITICIANS WILL THINK OF ANYTHING TO CIRCUMVENT DOING THE PUBLIC GOOD. WILL O'MALLEY BE AUDITING TO MAKE SURE THIS LENDING RATIO IS MET? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
M&T Bank's Wilmers: Banks lack borrowers, not loans
Baltimore Business Journal by Gary Haber, Staff Reporter Date: Friday, May 25, 2012, 6:00am EDT
It’s a common complaint among small-business owners that banks are not lending. But M&T Bank M&T Bank Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company Corp. CEO Robert G. Wilmers instead sees it as a lack of demand among borrowers.
“Everybody in the U.S. is out trying to lend money,” Wilmers said in an interview. “Businesses aren’t borrowing.”
As if to underscore the point about M&T’s willingness to lend, Wilmers’ comments came during a visit to a former meat-packing plant in Pikesville. An M&T loan is funding the building’s conversion into a state-of-the-art kosher bakery. M&T also has for the past several years been the largest lender in the Baltimore ...
Gary Haber covers Banking, Finance, Insurance, Law~
Maryland banks of all sizes amenable to state’s revamped ‘lend-local’ bill Premium content from Baltimore Business Journal by Gary Haber, Staff Reporter Date: Friday, March 23, 2012, 6:00am EDT
A bill that would reward Maryland banks with a share of state government bank deposits if they boost lending to small businesses has a good chance of finally passing this year now that it has the support of the state’s bankers association, supporters say.
The legislation would set aside up to $50 million of state funds to be deposited in banks that write loans to small businesses. Banks that participate in the program would get $1 in state deposits for each $1 of small-business loans they write, under House Bill 571 and its companion measure, Senate Bill 792. They can charge borrowers a lower interest rate on loans because the state agrees to accept a lower interest rate on deposits under the program.
“We’re trying to get money into the hands of small businesses that want to grow and hire,” said Del. C. William Frick, who is HB 571’s primary sponsor.
It is the third time Frick, a Montgomery County Democrat, has tried to get the legislation passed amid opposition from the Maryland Bankers Association . The bill failed most recently last year.
This time around, Frick reworked the legislation extensively after he introduced it earlier in the session. He replaced a requirement that banks make $2 in small-business loans for every dollar they get in state deposits with a one-to-one match. He also dropped a requirement in the earlier version that limited the program to banks under $5 billion in assets.
That would have included all of the banks headquartered in the Baltimore area. The largest bank based here, Columbia Bank Columbia Bank has about in $2 billion in assets. The $5 billion cap would have excluded the large national banks like Bank of America and the large regional banks like M&T, Bank of America has about $1.4 trillion in assets. M&T has about $76 billion in assets.
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