Cathy D. Christiansen asked:


Jerry Erickson

Published: July 1, 2009

The U.S. immigration system is “broken and needs fixing.” So confirms President Obama after meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders last Thursday. Although there is no consensus yet in terms of what a restructuring of the immigration system will include, the process has now begun in earnest to adopt a comprehensive plan. President Obama acknowledged that the broken immigration system is “one of the most critical issues” that our nation faces.

In his remarks following the meeting, President Obama said: “My administration is fully behind an effort to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. I have asked my Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano, to lead up a group that is going to be working with a leadership group from both the House and the Senate to start systematically working through these issues . . .”

One of the key issues that must be dealt with early in the immigration discussion concerns border security. At this point the American public is just not persuaded that the borders are secure. Until the borders are secured, it is unclear whether there are enough votes for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform.  Senator Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) said “I think the votes in the Senate are a little dicey at the moment. I don’t think it can pass today.” Developing an intelligent plan that clearly articulates the steps to make the border more secure will go a long way in getting the necessary votes.

President Obama is clearly aware that the road ahead will be bumpy. In his statement he said: “We all know that comprehensive immigration reform is difficult. We know it’s a sensitive and politically volatile issue. One of the things that was said around the table is the American people still don’t have enough confidence that Congress and any administration is going to get serious about border security, and so they’re concerned that any immigration reform simply will be a short-term legalization of undocumented workers with no long-term solution with respect to future flows of illegal immigration.”

It seems that the president has hit the nail on the head. In order to come up with a meaningful immigration policy that will serve our nation long-term, the government must come up with a solution to secure the borders. Assuming this can be accomplished, then the many issues associated with immigration reform can be debated.

On the eve of last week’s bipartisan meeting with the president, Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Senate’s main immigration subcommittee, offered that one of the ideas being considered is a requirement that all U.S. workers verify their identity through fingerprint or eye scan. As reported by The Washington Post, Schumer said that a national system to verify work authorization is necessary because Congress hasn’t cracked down hard enough on unscrupulous employers and illegal immigrants with fake documents. Schumer shows he gets the key issue when he says: “The American people will never accept immigration reform unless they truly believe their government is committed to ending future illegal immigration.” In a nutshell, that is the issue. Control the borders, and then fix the broken system.

There are approximately 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Schumer expects legislation to be enacted that will secure the nation’s borders and require those here illegally to register with the government and “submit to a rigorous process to convert to legal status,” or face immediate deportation.

Done right, there is the opportunity to achieve some real long-lasting benefits here, not the least of which is the securing of our borders, having millions of non-tax paying people come out of the shadows and onto the tax rolls and developing a process to ensure that the work force is legitimate.

President Obama has conceded that “It’s going to require some heavy lifting; it’s going to require a victory of practicality and common sense and good policymaking over short term politics.” Here’s to the effort; let’s hope that all involved have the clarity and foresight to address the obvious first — securing our borders, and then the muscle to see through the remaining challenges.

 

The above information is provided for informational purposes only.  The information should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Szabo, Zelnick & Erickson, P.C. law firm or establish an attorney-client relationship with any of its attorneys.  An attorney-client relationship with our firm is only created by signing a written agreement with our firm.

 

 

 

Aaron Wilmont asked:

Congress will begin debating if a Consumer Financial Protection Agency should be created, that will help to make credit agreements transparent. Banks complain this would obstruct credit.

All in all, consumer credit counseling services are in demand for many people, because of the lack of understanding of the contracts involved. There have been attempts made to protect borrowers from the confusing agreements with some transparency and Congress is being urged by the present administration to make lenders agreements even more transparent.

On the whole, this is basically an attempt to make it less of a risk for people that are taking loans to understand clearly what is entailed in the loan agreement to the dismay of some lenders.

Having stated this, however, it should be duly noted that this is really not so very different from the Georgia predatory lending laws that were enacted from the fall of 2002 to the spring of 2003 that required investors that purchased secondary mortgages to hold liability for wrongdoing in the original loan.

The predatory lending law was later repealed as it was felt it might prevent credit for the borrower that needed it most. This is what banks are complaining of with the transparency from lenders that Congress is currently debating, the fear of choking off credit from those borrowers that need it.

Regarding the ethics of many of the credit counseling firms as well as the many free and non-profit Debt consolidation and debt help organizations, a good general rule of thumb to use regarding them is that when debt settlement appears too good to be true, in most cases it probably is, and the only way to be sure according to financial experts is seek the advice of a credit counselor prior to agreeing to pay an amount decided upon by a credit card company in general. This is your due diligence as a consumer, as well as good common sense overall.

In many cases with some adjustments to the person’s budget they are able to pay off the debt and when using a licensed credit counseling company it is possible for them to help make arrangement to have the payments lowered to an affordable price. Choosing this type of option rather than agreeing to a payment is the fact that it will not affect the person’s credit rating in the same manner.

There are actually many different places where it is quite possible to find reliable credit counseling companies like the website for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Just go to your favorite search engine and type those names in and their website url’s will appear along with other related resources. Just remember that when dealing with a non-profit credit counseling company a fee of approximately $20 per month can be expected and in cases where it is not possible to pay one of these companies the fee can be waived until the financial debt issues have been satisfied.

Elizabeth O’Reilly asked:

President Obama jumped right into the news conference tonight, immediately focused on health care, and keeping the reform proposal debate the main subject.  In fact, only two questions, which were followed by brief answers, covered other topics.

The president explained some of this preoccupation, as well as his rush to push the reform through, by explaining that “it’s not about” him, but about the American people; the bushels of mail he receives everyday by American families “clobbered” by costs and their hardships; the fact that “if you don’t set deadlines in this town, things don’t happen”; and the fact that he feels it is being made out to be a game by many, while indeed, “this is not a game to the American people”.

It’s true.  In an AP story, a group of Republicans were overheard by reporters, in which one of them was heard making comments along the lines that if they beat this bill, it will “break” Obama, make him weaker, give way to some slippage in his approval ratings.  As if this bill were to be used as leverage to gain political advantage.  More and more, on both sides of party lines, we are seeing officials, those whom we elect to be our leaders, concerning themselves more over power, politics, and trying to rule, than over American interests.

According to the President, two thirds of the costs of the reform will be paid for by “redesigning” the current health care structure, by reducing administrative costs, utilizing technology systems, and taking out profit motives for insurance companies who are seeing record breaking profits while steadily raising premiums.  The other third, he suggests, should be paid for by “reducing itemized deductions for the wealthiest Americans, giving them the same deductions as everybody else.”  To me, this is fair: one hundred percent of my family’s income is taxed; the first ten percent of many millionare’s incomes are taxed.  Why is this?

Obama insists this will not add to the deficit.  In fact, he claims that he won’t sign a bill that would add to the deficit, and named some of the work his administration has been doing to reduce the current deficit by $2.2 trillion over ten years, and are constantly working to eliminate waste and lower it further.   However, as he pointed out, after numerous bailouts, recovery packages, stimulus packages, now a health care program, the government keeps on spending.  He noted that Americans are “understandably queasy” about this, because while we people keep sacrificing and keep needing to cut our own costs and reduce our own budgets, it doesn’t seem that the government is doing with the same, with OUR tax dollars.  I appriciate that this was acknowledged, but I must say, we’ve all heard it before, for years, that the government will start spending out money a lot wiser and eliminate the waste; and so far, reducing spending and funding seems to be hitting places locally the hardest.  I’d like to see the deficit reduced without cutting off funding for states.

When asked about cuts to medicare, Obama explained the Republican proposed Med Pack program, which supposedly takes the politics out of medicare, will not cut benefits, and “fills half of the donut hole” in benefits, the area in which seniors coverage temporarily runs out, and they have to pay a certain amount out of pocket before their benefits resume.  He made the points that insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages, and the biggest force behind the current national deficit is the skyrocketing costs of health care.  He claims to want a plan that will provide more security, ensuring people will be able to keep coverage if they lose or change their jobs, that will not add to the deficit, and that will keep the government out of health care decisions.  He promises that he will not sign a bill that will be paid for “on the backs of middle class Americans”, and that does not slow the rising costs of health care.

Obama is a very talented speaker.  I believe this may have been a driving factor as to how he got elected, with his ideal plans and the presentation of them.  At the risk of getting too personal, I voted for him, and that’s not a decision I regret.

However, this health care reform, at least when it’s coming out of his mouth, sounds too good to be true, and I’m going to have to pull the pleaser card.  A president telling a people what they want to hear.  It’s an experiment, and it could prove to be a dangerous one.  For example, the President claims that by making health care more efficient and redesigning its current structure, as I pointed out earlier, will cover two thirds of the outrageous price tag.  I’m no financial expert, by in my opinion, that’s an exaggeration, and a guess at best.  Let’s say that “redesigning” only covers a third of the cost, or even less.  Then how will we go about making up the difference?  Has anyone even thought of a provision that would make up this kind of loss?

My main issues with the plan, from the start, were the costs, and the rush to get it through.  To Obama’s credit, he IS loosening up on that a bit; during the conference tonight, instead of promising they will accomplish this by the August recess, he promised it will be done “this year”.  Maybe still a push, but it sounds a lot better than one month.  For the last week, Obama has been making at least one speech per day, pushing the reform bill.  I understand that this has been one of his main goals since his campaigne, and that he was voted into a very high pressure and problematic presidency.  Yet, congress needs to be able to do their job.  This is what they are here for, in a delicate system of checks and balances.  The process can be called drawn out and inefficient, but it IS functional.  While there may indeed be a need to set deadlines in that “town” to get things done, they  must be reasonable in order to serve that function.  You can’t just trump their purpose.

And I was not very pleased that none of the press present questioned the president on the television ads.  What an absurd way to gain support for your agenda.

Thanks to everyone who watched the conference tonight and gained information from it, and don’t forget to contact your congress people with your thoughts on the health care reform!

Bradley Jenkins asked:


What is the biggest issue in America today?  It’s not what you’re thinking…all of that stuff is international!  In America, people are only thinking about two things: the economy and their precious television set.  As you know by now, February 2009 will mark the end of analog broadcasting (unless the President convinces congress to push back the transition date).

What you must realize is that all of these issues, from the technology of digital transmission to government-funded programs started for the change, to requests for postponements, are all related to the economy.  Satellite TV and cable TV industries have a lot to gain from this change, as does the government and American broadcasting networks.  For a time, it seemed as if everyone was benefiting from the change…until the government-funded coupons ran out.

Now you are faced with an important decision: should you wait for free DTV (which could be months away, depending on the status of your coupon) or should you subscribe to cable or satellite TV?  It’s easy to see the advantages of cable and satellite TV—these options offer you more than just the status quo.  Cable and satellite TV offer uncut, uncensored entertainment along with a wide variety of programming for all ages.

However, your primary concern is which one is better?  Which one is worth paying a good amount of your first paycheck every month?  Let’s consider a few major advantages and disadvantages to both options.  The first advantage of satellite TV is that it is less expensive than cable.  Satellite TV is the more competitive industry, as cable still has more subscribers overall, and providers tend to offer lower rates as an incentive to switch over.  Satellite TV technology is cheaper to exploit than cable technology.  The only disadvantage to satellite TV from a cost standpoint is that you may have to sign a contract for a long period of time.  This is because the satellite company usually does not charge initial fees for the satellite equipment, and must make that money back over a period of time.

Satellite TV does require the installation of a satellite dish, which must be given a full view of the southern sky.  Cable TV does not require this equipment, but instead involves the setup of cable converted boxes.  Cable TV may have some convenience features in its list of pros, however it charges more money for fewer channels and fewer benefits overall.  Satellite TV has exclusive sports programming as well as more channels than cable does.  Programming wise, satellite TV is identical to cable with more channels to boast, and there is also programming On-Demand, Pay-Per-View, and Digital Video Recording available. 

February 2009 is fast approaching.  Now is the best time to make plans for the future of your entertainment.  Even if the DTV switch is delayed for a while, eventually Digital Broadcasting will be the industry standard.  Why pay for something you are currently watching for free?  With cable or satellite TV you get what you pay for—more channels, higher-quality entertainment and perfect digital quality content.

Chad asked:

President Barack Obama says requiring people to get health insurance and fining them if they don’t would not amount to a backhanded tax increase. “I absolutely reject that notion,” the president said.

Blanketing most of the Sunday TV news shows, Obama defended his proposed health care overhaul, including a key point of the various health care bills on Capitol Hill: mandating that people get health insurance to share the cost burden fairly among all. Those who failed to get coverage would face financial penalties.

Obama said other elements of the plan would make insurance affordable for people, from a new comparison-shopping “exchange” to tax credits.

Telling people to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase, Obama told ABC’s “This Week.”

“What it’s saying is, is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore,” said Obama. “Right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax increase.”

Obama faces an enormous political and communications challenge in selling his health care plan as Congress debates how to pay for it all.

He told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he will keep his pledge not to raise taxes on families earning up to $250,000, and that much of the final bill — hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years — can be achieved from savings within the current system. Coming up with the rest remains a key legislative obstacle.

Obama put his support behind the idea of taxing employers that offer high-cost insurance plans.

“I do think that giving a disincentive to insurance companies to offer Cadillac plans that don’t make people healthier is part of the way that we’re going to bring down health care costs for everybody over the long term,” Obama said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Obama’s network interviews were taped Friday at the White House. He became the first president to appear on five Sunday network shows in the same morning, an extraordinary effort to build public support for his top domestic priority.

The goal is expand and improve health insurance coverage and rein in long-term costs.

Yet despite so many weeks of speeches, town halls and interviews, Obama said he has found it difficult at times to make a complex topic clear and relevant.

“I’ve tried to keep it digestible,” Obama said. “It’s very hard for people to get their arms around it. And that’s been a case where I have been humbled and I just keep on trying harder.”

Obama told Univision’s “Al Punto” (“To the Point”) that the strong opposition to his plan is part of a political strategy.

“Well, part of it is … that the opposition has made a decision,” he said. “They are just not going to support anything, for political reasons.”

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama doesn’t understand Republicans’ opposition.

“I don’t know anybody in my Republican conference in the Senate who’s in favor of doing nothing on health care,” McConnell said. “We obviously have a cost problem and we have an access problem.”

But he told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Democrats’ plan is simply too rushed.

Chad asked:

After less than eight months in office, President Barack Obama’s administration is under serious scrutiny by some leading immigrant advocates.

As the legislative drive for health care insurance reform picks up steam, pro-immigrant groups are increasingly alarmed by proposals that target both documented and undocumented resident of the US.

In a telephonic press conference September 16, Latino rights, religious and political leaders blasted policy ideas circulating around the White House and Capitol Hill as not only an attack on the immigrant community

but a threat to public health as well.

“We’ve been deeply disturbed by developments in the health care debate and the treatment of immigrants in it,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of the Washington, D.C-based Americas Voice immigrant advocacy organization.

Sharry criticized Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana), President Obama and Democrats for bending over backwards to accommodate political opponents, especially Republicans like shouting South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson, who “demonize immigrants.”

Sharry and other pro-immigrant leaders said they were deeply concerned by measures unveiled in the Senate Finance Committee and in other quarters on Capitol Hill that would exclude immigrants from participating in an insurance exchange even with their own money, prevent children of undocumented residents from getting coverage, probe the residency status of emergency room patients, and make verification of residency status an expanded, cumbersome process for both citizens and non-citizens alike.

According to Eric Rodriguez, vice-president of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) an estimated 7 of 28 million legal immigrants do not have health insurance.

Under the plan released by Senator Baucus today, undocumented immigrants, who will be virtually barred from obtaining any kind of health insurance at all, would face fines of $950 and upwards if they managed to obtain any sort of emergency treatment.

US Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois) voiced dismay that the White House was considering keeping many immigrants out of the insurance exchange, especially after Gutierrez and other members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus agreed that no public monies or tax credits could be used by undocumented residents in a new health insurance reform scheme.

Gutierrez contended that prohibiting undocumented residents from being in the exchange even with their own cash could result in masses of people losing their health insurance coverage.

“What about millions of undocumented workers who have health care through their employers?” Gutierrez asked. “Are they going to lose their benefits?”

“Health care policies should not be dictated by a heckler,” said NCLR President Janet Murguia, in a separate statement also made on September 16. Despite some improvements in the plan announced by Sen. Baucus,

Murguia warned that the legislation coming out of the Senate Finance Committee had the potential to “drive up costs, leave people uncovered and threaten public health.”

Kevin Appleby, director of migrant policy for the US Catholic Conference of Bishops, said that the Church, one of the largest health care providers in the country, often provides treatment to immigrants. The migrant

advocate characterized the denial of health care to sick people as a “fool-hardy” and “mean-spirited” policy. Asserting that the Obama Administration had “capitulated” to anti-immigrant forces, Appleby said

that elected officials had sacrificed public health care on the altar on politics.

Rev. Luis Cortes, president of Esperanza USA, said that it wasn’t too long ago when widespread concern surfaced about the H1N1 virus, but that current proposals on the table would jeopardize people in dire need of health care.

Both political parties, Cortes contended, are “running the fastest to see who is the harshest.” Judging looming actions by Congress and the White House, as “morally punishable by Christian scripture,” Cortes said that the political price could be high for Democrats as well as Republicans. Adding that the immigrant community was once hopeful of the Democrats, Cortes said that local elections would have to be examined “one-by-one” in the future.

Numerous analysts consider New American voters, immigrants and their children, a key voting bloc that swept the Democrats into the White House and Congress last year. Many pro-immigrant groups are growing increasingly frustrated by the pace of immigration reform promised by presidential candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign.

Speaking to reporters, Rep. Gutierrez recalled how the Latino community was inspired by Obama’ candidacy, and took to heart the fellow Illinois Democrat’s pledge to bring undocumented workers out of the shadows and on to the path of legalization. “That’s the President I voted for, not the one who says you cannot have health care,” Gutierrez said.

The longtime Latino political leader and other participants of the September 16 press conference called for the end of “wedge” politics and the passage of comprehensive immigration reform.

Alain Tanugi asked:


I think it was the Financier Leo J. Hindery Jr who once said: ‘I think there are people, including myself at certain times in my career, who because of their uniqueness warrant whatever the market will bear.’ But the questions beg HOW much is too much? and Should macroeconomic woes slow CEO pay growth?

I recently read in the Associated Press that even as the economy slowed down in America “CEO pay still chugged to yet more dizzying heights last year.’ The top 10 highest paid CEOs took home a total of more than $500 million, but half of those companies saw huge drops in profitability at their companies.

One of the most exasperating things to shareholders and the public is when a CEO receives millions or tens of millions of dollars of compensation regardless of performance. This practice goes fundamentally against the culture of rewarding on the basis of ability and merit that underpins the free market system. Recent examples include: Marriott International chief J Willard Marriott Jr – his 2007 pay was $44m, up 22%, just six percentage points lower than Marriott’s stock price drop or Stan O’Neal, Merrill Lynch’s former boss, left with $159m after losing $8 billion.

Shareholders and politicians are advocating bringing in rules for companies that would allow shareholders to vote on executive pay. Executives in Europe have home far less compensation than their American counterparts in the past. But with leadership compensation in Europe on the rise, these pay increases have citizens in European nations deeply unsettled. The public indignation on both sides of the Atlantic has contributed to a unique political debate over what to do about excessive executive pay. Executive pay figures in Asia are still not as widely accessible as in Europe and America and it is difficult to compare. A recent study conducted by the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity said that reporting compensation of executives on an individual basis is the practice in the United States, Britain and Australia and is advocated by institutional investors worldwide. Prevailing regulations and practices in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore however leave much to be desired.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission’s “Eurogroup” of finance ministers, recently called excessive pay a “social scourge” and demanded action. When L’Expansion, a French business magazine, calculated that pay for the country’s bosses went up 58% in 2007, the finance minister, Christine Lagarde, said it was “scandalous” and threatened regulation. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, and Horst Köhler, president of Germany, have also denounced high pay.

New legislation the Netherlands will see the law setting EU500,000 as the level of annual salary or severance payment at which extra taxes must be paid. Germany’s Social Democratic Party is calling for legislation to curb pay, though its partner in government, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, has so far resisted. At the same time the European Commission is working on a response to the Eurogroup’s complaint.

Just how extreme IS executive pay in Europe? As European firms compete for global talent it certainly has risen substantially in the last 10 years. Foreign executives now run seven of the firms in France’s CAC 40 index and five of Germany’s DAX 30. American-style bonuses and long-term incentive plans are now commonplace.

However European firms still pay a fraction of what is paid to their counter parts in America. According to Hay Group, a management consultancy, the median European executive earns just 40% as much as his equivalent in America. It’s also notable that both American presidential candidates – John McCain and Barack Obama – have been making compensation a campaign issue.

There is an important difference though companies in Europe seem to be more determined than American ones to link compensation to performance. In America share grants are often not tied to performance, whereas European firms usually attach performance criteria to any share grants, typically depending on a comparison with a peer group. Dan Vasella, boss of Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical giant, and a favourite target of pay activists, earned SFr17m ($14m) in 2007, down 33% from 2006, because he missed his targets.

The extreme rise in European executive pay has sparked an intense debate in countries that have been characterised by a relatively strong sense of economic solidarity and impartiality in the past several decades. A July 2007 Financial Times/Harris public opinion poll found that over 60 percent of those surveyed in the UK, France, Italy, and Spain would like to see their government set caps on top business executive pay. In Germany, a 47 percent plurality supports pay caps.

In America, only 32 percent of the public supports an outright pay cap on executive earnings a recent poll shows. However 77 percent of Americans say corporate executives ‘earn too much.’ Some members of Congress have responded by introducing legislation to curb excessive pay through tax reform and giving shareholders the right to vote on pay packages.

I recently saw an interview with Sarah Anderson, who compiles the Executive Excess report on CEO pay on a yearly basis. She discusses some of the issues raised in this column in her interview and I recommend that you take some time to view it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2lKfRFhG0M.)

From what I have read and heard in the last year signs point to a strong possibility that meaningful reforms to rein in excessive executive compensation could be a prospect, as many political leaders in Europe and the United States seem to be finally catching up to the public uproar. It has to be said though that compensation is a complex issue. Different circumstances and industries dictate different packages and even severance pay may be justified if a change of control is the end goal. One would hope though that politicians would reject laws about pay, which are too widespread to be useful. Strict legislation might well compel leaders away from listed companies and create compensation packages even more complex—and so much more difficult to monitor.

PROF GHULAM MOHYUDDIN WANI asked:


MY  maiden visit to China

Prof. Gulam Mohyuddin Wani     foundation for advance ment of science and technology,4 bismillay colony,srinagar,kashmir 190005

fastwani@yahoo.com

fastwani@in.com

PRESENTLY  AT ,19E Noor Nagar Extension, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-25

 

Islam has a famous “saying”, sonnet from our beloved prophet to travel to China for sake of knowledge.  No religion stresses on education & knowledge as does the portraits of Quran, the book of God.  My intension here is not to deliver a religious sermon or discusses theology but agriculture, ethnology and anthropology which were the purpose of my visit to people Republic of China.  The great Chinese wall, culture, Chinese medicine & above all its success in agriculture and equiv. distribution of wealth, work culture & social facilities was my interest from last many decades.  During my visit to Mongolia via USSAR in 1989 under Indo-Mongolian work plan ,I wished to travel via Hong Kong and to great China to Mongolian on the USSAR side, but to the difficulty of ticket changes & visa procedures it did not mature.  Individuals on separate tickets could have changed their travel plans, but as our tickets were booked by Govt. of India under Indo-Mongolian work Plan, the change needed much bureaucratic procedural maneuvering for which we had but little time.

                               Anyway it was with the courtesy of one of the renowned scientists of extension education in India. DR  C.P.S. Pradesh and another famous Anthropologist of Bangladesh, who subsequently assumed the vice-chancellorship of the Raishina University that my name was proposed as chairperson and a lead speaker with travel grants back in 2008.  It was an honor and a first time laurel for an animal Technologist-reproductive biologist turned Agricultural extensionist and social and anthropological scholar.  My paper on “Traditional indigenous technologies of Kashmir” was readily accepted & it fetched me the honors as stated above, purely on merit otherwise, I was  no voice among the world society of Anthropologists, who after checking my bio data and paper invited me to the land which I wished to visit under the prophetic sunnet  “go to learn and seek knowledge anywhere, even as for as China”.  So it was an allurement for me too. 

                      In this narration, I do not wish to discuss the science or the scientific talk I delivered in the 16th world congress of Anthropology and ecological resource management.”  The chairman’s report and panel extracts and proceedings of the 16th congress under ICAES 2009 are available on web by pressing my name as Ghulam Mohyuddin Wani.  My report as chairman can also be reed on www.articlebase.com .  Here I shall be presenting a cultural & social view of development of a nation called China, who virtually settled down to reconstruct their country, plagued with war, disease, opium and other cultural transformation two years later than our independence in 1949.  Our history of Republic of India is two years older than its younger sister born in 1949.  One choose freedom of speech and liberalism, the other choose socialism, equality and equal resource distribution.  I as a visitor wish to compare the two great countries in their quest to feed and raise the standards of their people which roughly makes half the world population in 2025. 

 

System of  16th world congress management

I have attended dozens of international conference in USA TO Europe, Russia & in my beloved country too, but the festive mood and sincere efforts made by Yunnan University volunteers eroded all barriers & left a deep respect for the people of China and thence to Republic of China.

From the invitation, arrangements of travel & the schedule of events including chair persons was known to us on web a few week before the due date of 27th of July, 2009, while we all were at home.  The meticulous one-time room nos. where the sessions were hold is like having no parallels in world.  I have seen even more advanced nations holding these conferences in hotels where well trained hotel managers are available but fail to arrange and the system often fails at the end.  Here all information’s on sessions including time schedule was circulated on web.  To my surprise each and every step was followed strictly under minute to minute ternary, giving a sense of belonging to a nation marching ahead with dedication, sincerity and discipline.

The visa section too was informed in advance and we had no difficulty in having Visa and travel to Kunming, where the event was held.  We noticed a change in system from Bangkok airport itself.  An excellent arrangement which includes “Muslim prayer room” in Bangkok airport reminds me of our airport at Srinagar, where people often  pray in galilees or in open air ground blocking traffic.  A simple room (Mosque) with Wash room (WAZOO KANNA) separate for women & men gives an impression of neat & clean mosque, which even one hardly finds in Delhi or Islamabad, the neighboring nations with world’s maximal Muslim population.  On reaching Kunming, you felt a miss not because of any lack of courtesy or humility, but of language.  Very few people speak English fluently. Even without conversation, the trip through emigration & customs was so smooth and speechless.  The swine flu health check too was talkless unlike the near jolting frisking at our own airports, humiliating to the extent of becoming daily newspaper headline.  Occasionally, the mam or the Herr (Mr.) sitting on the custom or immigration check bench may point some thingh towards  passport he is checking, a translator is handy to get answers required from the passenger, the whole mechanism of security immigration.,and customs was a nice hospitable and humble which is not seen in our democracies big or small,precisely such systems are lacking in Jeddah,newyork,frunkfort and delhi airports.

Arrival at Kunming airport

On reaching Kunming, you felt a miss not because of any lack of courtesy or humility, but of language.  Very few people speak English fluently. Even without conversation, the trip through emigration & customs was so smooth and speechless.  The swine flu health check too was smooth and whole plane was checked without fuss or jolting, frisking as is seen at our own airports, humiliating to the extent of becoming daily newspaper headline.  Occasionally, the maim or the Herr (Mr.) sitting on the custom or immigration check may point something toward passport he is checking, a translator is handy to get answers required from the passenger.  The whole mechanism of security immigration & swine fever check was so smooth, well directed and monitored that none of the passenger were disturbed or even dislocated.  Quarantine health officials visited every seat while we were in the plane itself and checked the formalities.  The same procedures followed at Delhi airport after de boarding from the plane are boring and all fuss and frustration.

On arrival after completion of formalities at airport, I was worried how to confirm my hotel & transport.  I was told volunteers will be on airport.  I looked for them.  They had located themselves at the only exit at airport & I could locate them easily.  On enquiry, they phoned Saagul hotel, where I was to stay.  I had just booked my arrival & not paid in advance.  I was old yes your name is on hotel computer & a single room with a king-size bed is awaiting you.  It was raining cats & dogs.  We tried to negotiate for a cab to hotel.  By this time another Mr. Adikari or someone from Maharashtra too joined me.  He too was booked in Saagul Hotel, so we decided to share the taxi charges.  In the meantime I changed 100 dollar & got 675 Yuan, Chinese money in exchange.

 

Volunteer a girl student of internationality Yunnan University advised me to wait.  Arranged an umbrella & took us to a long queue for haring the taxi.  The whole place was covered nicely.  She left in at the queue and grew a small slip dotting name of hotel in Chinese.  The driver we knew by now cannot understand us & we saw a cab just like an automat.  It stopped, the driver came out & opened dickey, perhaps only for people like me with white hair.  He urgently rested in his seat, which is well guarded & separated by a fence inside the cab like a pilot’s cabin.

It is right hand driving & small Suzuki ( Maruti 1000 type cabs) all with  meter facing the passenger.  Mr.  Adikarie bag was put on the front seat & we set out for our sojourn to hotel.  It took few rounds & we reached the hotel.  All hotels where booking of guest to 16th congress were made was clearly visible with large red cloth banner (painted with white  letters) Emblem of the 16th Anthropology congress.  The meter showed 33 Yuan. My friend from Maharashtra said, his money is locked, please pay.  I paid a 50 Yuan note.   The driver exchanged the rest & left us in the hotel.  It was the same problem of language in the hotel.  We were asked to pay whole amount in advance.  We gave dollar (US200) two hundred which made around 14000 Yuan., 1200 Yuan were room rent & breakfast @ Yuan  200 per day i.e. 6 days we paid 1200 plus an addition 100 for key.  It took us few minutes or half an hour in an ordeal with the hotel management.  We could not understand them & the translator was called to explain that 100 extra is need for caution money for the key. All locks  are computerizes.  A police gentleman came to help me and  took my luggage.  Perhaps due to my long name & height they confused me as European or my age stimulated him to respect the white haired gentleman, he took my  luggage only leaving mahratrain gentleman to grumble and pick up his.  I thought I am booked in ground floor, but no all ground floors are conference room & for management ,2nd floors are dining hall & care takers rooms. Our floor was 4th & my room was 406.  The hotel has around 8-9 flours.  We were comfortable, a good room, with hot water, TV & all necessary facilities,  it faced an open hotel compound which bore an old dead tree.  The hotel has two building, new & old.  We were lodged in new building.  Here  too we in the hotel reception we were greeted by the ever smiling volunteers who had computers & well equipped information.  They asked for my registration receipt.  Once I handed it to them, they immediately handed over the bag, proceedings, an identity card, well computerized, meal coupons and  all necessary accessories we needed.  They advised us to have the identify  card around our neck all the time and visible to avoid any identity problem. Later we knew it importance. It was more valued than our passport as it carried all information’s about us and we were free to use bus and local hospitability on appearance of the card till we were in  China.  One night I got up at night for prayer & heard a big tug.  I was puzzled what it was ?soon I heard much noise & walking  gaits of the police siren etc.  Early morning, when we started for the congress venue we found the big, old tree has succumbed to the cyclone type heavy winds in the ensuring night & hard stuck to the old building at 4th floor, just opposite to my room.  I thanked God, it could  have titled on either side.  God forbid had it crumbed on the otherwise, it would have struck our room too.  On the opposite was the management room.  The building is so strong & permanent that except few glass pieces no one was injured or damaged.  Early in the night & next morning, whole areas were condemned by the police and red taps were plotted around the trees ,and all inmate asked to move accordingly.  By the evening all the tree was cut and removed without any fuss.  The whole eventuality took only few minutes for the police to tackle.  Had it been in my country it would have consumed hours and perhaps days to clear the street.

All open the campus in different directions. All might be joining together but during my few days stay it was always easy for me to go to the old step up gate to locate the way to my hotel. Some of my friends from Hyderabad prof Assadi were uncomfortable with the gate and satire and step up steeps. Being from hills I ENJOYED IT.

We wished to go to the conference venue.  I was having my identity provided by the 16th world congress organizers, it was 4654.  All our (delegate information) was contained in a small chip fixed in the holding of the card.  We were advised to wear this card, where ever we go.  I was wearing it, but my Maharastrian young man somehow forgot it in his room, so far his safety we had to abandon the visit to the conference venue at night.  He was not allowed entry in the campus, in spite of his requests.  Again the translation and language interlockers could not help as rule is rule.  The policeman on duty cannot allow you without a card to enter the campus.  This is where one wonders the mechanism was foul proof.  On all streets on our way back to hotel we saw alert young police boys and girls drilling in the evening hours.  Luckily our hotel Saagul and university Yunnan is about 1-1/ ½ kms apart.  The whole road banks the green water lake of Yunnan province.  It has Children Park *** boating facilities.  Its water alone gave and impression of sever pollution.   Even if we call dal lake is polluted but its waters are transparent and clear.  The green lake waters are a concoction of water & its pollutants.  Here the thick layer of green gives an impression of a muddy algae layer.  I did not dare to touch the water.  All around the green lake banks, you find tall & small plants well maintained with bus stops (one-way of course) and hotels, banks and shops.

Some one  told us Dinner at conference is available, but due to my friends I card we could not approach than, so we reached back, had a card & breed dinner & slept. How he managed such an excellent description of fruits, vegetables etc which reminds us of China even today.

Here may I add, before 1947, free trade route commonly called silk route was famous.  It had travelers from china, magnolia, Afghanistan, USSAR & all south western Muslim countries.  I had heard of Ksahgar, Iskardu, Gilgit, Saingchin, Tibet & many names of Chinese, business centers coming to Kashmir which is good olden days used to be written as “Cashmere” perhaps meaning a “money paradise” or an exalted business canter.  It used to be a meeting ground for Russian, Afganistan, Chinese, Asian & European travelers.  The price structure and maneuvering price is thus a common feature of all these cultures.  The only difference I find is the well organization of the shop on European style unknown in Indian culture till date.  All shops are energy saving, sell refrigerated & nicely maintained.  The only difference is price auscultations.

Next morning at breakfast hall I was told these is vegetarian & non-vegetarian dishes.  The breakfast consisted of boiled corm stuck, bread, milk, soup, Chinese’s sold & vanities of rice puddings and fruits.  We have a heavy breakfast.  My Maharaastrain friend used to hide himself now, lest I may ask the money he owes me back.  He had a known acquaintance & asked him illegally to share his room.  This guilt refrained him to hide from dissect conversation.  I thought he is avoiding because he owes me some Youn.  However, two days later I was able to recover my money debated to him less by 8%.

Because of drinking habits of most of our Indian colleagues, it was difficult to have dinners in company.  2nd day dinner too was on bread & milk, but on 3rd day on Iranian women scientist informed me that even dinners are arranged for us.  First day is shared a vegetarian meal at conference, with some American friends.  Later I met Dr. Zulfikar sb form Bangladesh, who informed me that arrangements of a Muslim meal are available.  It was a Bengali Professor couple who guided me to the Muslim meal just one storey upstairs of the vegetarian meal.  The Muslim meal was all cultured green.

Those who greeted us at doors & those who served inside all were clewed in scoffs just like any Muslim country.  I wonder why people in Europe or so called democracies forbid use of scruff or veil.  It is a custom or cultural practice more than a religion dress.  I remember having my BVSC & AH in Bikaner, Rajasthan, and a Hindu populated state.  Never in our social work under mobile clinics could we see the face of nay women who brought their animals for treatment they were clayed in “Chuddy” a sari wrapped up on the head.  If a properly sari clad women of Rajasthan is compared with a veil covered Muslim wo0men in salvar-Kamez.  (Women Punjabi or Indian suite for women), the one with full dressed sari is more veiled than the other.

I was pleased to see that a cultural touch was effectuated in China.  We were delegates of 16th world congress on Anthropology ethnic conflicts & ecological resource management.  Therefore, the conservation of every culture, system of dressing & ecosystem becomes necessary.  I salute the judgment of the organizers for this type of positive and global attitude.  Western world & culture was respected because they honored your culture, ethnicity and tradition.  They posed to be human rather than ration alit.  The recent bans on Turban or chasing of turban clad in USA or ban on burqua in some western countries speak of their cultural, ethical and moral erosion.   We preach of global village economic & marketing system.  We talk of global peace and human respect.  How can we thrust a mono-culture, which has now shaped itself a cover-less-naked exhibition of human bodies?  Even today’s headliners (I am writing this epilogue on 2nd of Aug, 09) in Hindustan times carried a half ***** first American lady, as was described.  Among 30,000 webs opinion givers most of them did not like it.  If we in the global world cannot beat to see a half paint gladded American 1st lady, how do we object tousle of burqua or turban by other global cultural traditions?  I do not wish to enter into this conservation or discussion her, but wish to remind my readers, the way cultural ethnicity & food culture was projected in Chinese conference, suited well to their transformation.  Is it a step forward to number one global leader in becoming whatever, the change in cultural temperament and religious tolerance is just befitting human dignity and liberty?  A scornful scream of German in their Bhanhoffs (Railway stations) on seeing a foreigner especially from Asia of Africa reminds me of mind set of the westerners.  Even if we surpass them in knowledge and awareness your ethnicity is mocked at although in private or in gestures.  Such type of hyper superiority is not see n in a nation of billions, who has strived all alone, with dedication & sincerity to be the future global poser.  They attained & adopted a system of their own, free and humble.  I shall give elaborate accounts of their agricultural management, rainwater conservation & preservation of ethnic minority in Yunnan province.  In our future narration we shall discuss:

-         Visit to Negus- Muslim village

-         A walk through green hours

-         A walk or enrooted to a mosque in Yuan.

 

 Next morning we went to the Yunnan university venue of the 16th world congress. All walls and streets had the red labeled banners. Even though we needed to ask for the venue specified for our sessions.  An area of 1-2 kms radius encompassed sessions, the details of which were in the main building designated for the congress.  We were together at Room No.  306.  I was to present the paper lead paper as 4th speaker on F/N of 28th of July AM, as the sessions were to start at 8 AM.  All arrangements were in Vogue, but none was there at 7.45.  All rushed to Room No 306 exactly around 8 AM.  This showed a dedication & discipline of highest order.

The laptop of Lenovo type & a fixed LCD on roof was switched on.  I handed over my pen drive to the volunteer.  She got it on the computer & rehearsed the slides, as I was worried, whether the systems shall operate smoothly.  It did never before, have I seen such an accurate and timely managed symposium.  Every session had a penal chairman and a session chairman panel chairman was responsible for introducing the chairpersons in each session.  Every session had a co-coordinator assisting the panel chairman and every session chairman was assisted by a co-chairman and secretary.  All the secretaries were Chinese.  They were meticulous in checking down all discussions calmly.

Watered bottles were served in plenty in the hall itself.

The method of presentations discussions were meticulously monitored and timely presentation discussions & refreshments were the unique feature of this congress.  One wonders at the arrangements made of tours, travels grants & even certificate distribution.  All arrangements were made through student volunteers who learn English.

My presentation made me many friends from India, USA, Taiwan, Philippines, and Honkong & China.  Most of the delegates appreciated my lecture & I felt short of my visiting cards.  I distributed same typed computer graphics.  Since my presentation, wherever I went I was respected & honored.  The coupon asked at door was just another good thing of the congress. Your tag no identity card was enough for you to go through all the halls, meals etc after I conducted the session 4 on 28th of July, 09, many students & friends become handy & helped.  The next day evening was scheduled for tour.  My Indian friends told me that there is visit arranged for a Muslim village called “NAGU’.   This was an allurement for me, as we had heard many tales, about China.  I could not get a ticket as all the seats were booked.  I felt a bit sorry why I have not booked the tour in advance.  In the evening, when we were at dinner table, a professor from Mysore has been to the NAGU village.  He was all praise for it, and allured me to visit the village too.  When I told him about the non-availability of the ticket, he got one form me, as same Indian had booked or attained more than one ticked.  This had perhaps resulted in the death of seats.  Al arrangements were free but prearranged.  I got the tickets at night.  Early in the morning I contacted the volunteers and asked then for a change.  Every ticket bore a tag & IDNU, as my id No was different than Prof Assad form whom I had the ticket. I got it changed.  It took some 5-10 minutes for the organizers to make the change & boarded the bus meant for NAGU village.  Each bus carried passengers adequately.   All were seated comfortably.  At the onset the volunteer was continuously insisting to use toilets, as 90 km run, the bus wait stop.  Repeatedly all went to ease themselves and the bus travel to Negus begins with an excellent Chinese speech by a volunteer which was translated by one Muslim Ayub-too a Chinese Student.  He spoke excellent English & has a beautiful art of narration as a guide.  When he introduced himself as a student of international of Hunan University, which trains & teaches in English, I was amazed.  He was inhabitant of the area.  There were 4-5 bus bound to NAGU village & each bus has 30-40 passengers.  All passengers in the bus were grouped in 10-20’s and assigned to each volunteer, who was to show as around & take as to a family.

At the start we were given an excellent book containing details of NAGU village.  I am enclosing its extracts as annexure I to my episode, so that I do not miss any details.  When we left Yunnan university campus, we averse accompanied by a police car and all traffic lights were as so that an traffic neither got disturbed, not we had to wait for traffic clearance within the city, I have noted down the villages & stops which fell on our way.  (Annexure II)

The whole locality is concentrated a small township, multi storied residences, so that all amenities are provided easily & the land remains free for cultivation.

All the farms were excellent & free from muzzle buzzle on the highways as we see in India.  It reminded me of a European travel l through country side from Stuttgart to Hannover in 1994.  Just like Germany all in well managed & arranged.

Unfortunately, in the middle of our Journey, the driver stopped, he had developed some snag in the bus.  Police accompanying the cannon immediately come into action & all buses enrooted to NAGU surrounded us on the open road.  We were shifted to the other buses without any fuss or lots of time.  Later the bus after repairs joined us at “NAGU”.  During the entire Journey the student guided us through villages little townships all neat & clean.  We noticed following few things which differ from our.

My friends comment still reminds me a positive factor in Chinese progress.

He says where the huge population of the world’s most populous country is.  No jumbling on roads or no animal human traffic on the road.  One wonders even in Delhi, we come across various farms of transport.  I recommended to sari, my guide & teacher.

How has China managed it?  Is this the way of resource management, why cannot we plan such a system.

Coming to NAGU village was a festive occasion.  All villages, its chief elected representative, town hall officials & civilian were waiting to greet us school boy & girls were greed up as volunteers to guide us & had arranged the show.  Amusingly, all girls of the village wore scurf on their head.  Believe me or not the dress was more Islamic than the schools & colleges of Pakistan, India or any other Muslim country.  It gave an impresion as if we  were  in Makka- Medina, the green wrappers arranging the show.  The town hall function started with an ethnological thesis abstract by a scholar, followed by narration & description of Nagus village, its population, income, industry.  We were allowed to questions & got convincing answers.  My Bengal adashy fellow’s Muslim professor, was all along suspicious & believed whole village was a created story, till we visited the mosque.  A separate well decorated mosque flanking the main mosque of Nagus was for women.  I dare to say no such arrangement I have seen in any place except in Makka where all pray together (Men & Women) & in Madina where separate bounders for men & women in the same mosque are there.  I quote Nagus mosque experience is the best in the world.  We went to the individual Muslim families.  We were forbidden from smoking or drinking alcohol in the family house. We were told none  of the Muslim families of NAGU smoke as smoking & drinking is prohibited in Islam.  I have seen people smoking in Makka- madina.  Here is a true preserved Muslim culture in NAGU.  Amusingly, the only vice I found in rest to the Chinese, whether in streets or garden is smoking.  It seems, every one smokes, but I could not find  a single incidence of smoking in NAGU village.

 

 

 

To be continued                 

Robert Valentine asked:

The “three-legged stool” is considered the basic model of retirement savings. It’s a metaphor that has been used since the late-1940s as a way to describe saving for your future. No one is quite sure how the concept was started, but it’s one that stuck. While the legs of the stool were different in the past (they relied heavily on other types of retirement options), today those legs have grown and transformed into a completely different kind of stool.

The problem is: most Americans don’t even have a complete stool, let alone a steady one. This can be attributed to many factors. According to the 2005 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), released annually by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, 31% of current retirees believe that Social Security will be enough to sustain them for the rest of their lives. You don’t have to be a government expert to know that Social Security may not last forever. Even if Social Security lasts, most agree that for the system to survive there will have to be some sort of benefits cut for future retirees. Essentially, that means one of the stool’s legs is a bit shorter and a bit weaker. Care to have a seat? Me neither. Those who have only relied on the one leg of retirement planning their whole lives may find that the stool will become a bit difficult to depend on in their later years. But this can all be prevented. After all, there are still two legs left.

The second leg in the modern stool era is a company pension plan. In May of 2005, United Airlines was allowed to default on its employee pension plan. It’s a move that will save the company millions of dollars, but will leave its employees looking for alternative sources of retirement income. Most companies today are switching to 401(k) plans, where the employer has the option to match a percentage of the contributions to the plan. 401(k) plans are more secure than pension plans and they have more rollover options, but employer-sponsored retirement funds are simply one more option in a plan that should contain several strong legs. You should work with a financial professional to craft a specific 401(k) strategy, including rollover options, so that you’re confident the second leg can bear some retirement weight.

The final and increasingly popular leg of the stool is personal savings. Sadly, many people feel they have no major options for future retirement savings. In times of shaky employer provided retirement funds and uncertainty over Social Security’s future, a real personal savings plan remains the strongest of the legs, but ONLY if you plan for your future. You’ve probably heard of IRA’s before, but can you name all the different types and which one suits you best? IRA’s are specific retirement funds set aside for you to save for the future. You can also fund your retirement by investing in mutual funds or any other form of securities you wish. Depending on your current financial situation, you’ll want to consult with a financial expert to decide what plan is best.

There are a few simple steps you can take to start exploring your personal savings retirement options. The first is to contact an independent financial professional who can council you on more options and details regarding your retirement. The second is to calculate your post-retirement income. Calculating your post-retirement income is one quick and easy way to start preparing for retirement. According to the RCS, currently, only 4 in 10 workers have done the simple calculating needed to determine a sufficient post-retirement income. Calculating your post-retirement income is easy and very essential to planning for retirement. Oftentimes, people don’t believe they’ll need a whole lot of savings to retire on. Sometimes, seeing the results can light a fire underneath your retirement plan and cause you to re-think your savings strategy.

One of the biggest mistakes future retirees can make is planning their retirement alone. While something can be said for a “can-do” spirit, trusted financial professionals are more likely to find better ways to help you save money for retirement. When workers were asked about the most helpful tool for saving for retirement in the 2005 Retirement Confidence Survey, the largest percentage of workers surveyed (27%), said they believed advice from a financial professional was the most helpful. Aside from post-retirement income, it’s also important to have some sort of long-term care outlook, in case long-term medical care is needed after you retire.

While Congress debates the future of Social Security, there is always hope the program will be saved and improved. But there are never guarantees in life or politics. Only you can decide what kind of retirement plan you’ll have and how comfortably you’ll be able to live in the future. If you choose to rely solely on Social Security, you may find the going to get rough in the future, especially considering inflation and rising healthcare costs.

If you choose to plan carefully with a financial professional, you have a personal say over your future, instead of leaving your future financial security in the hands of elected officials or employer-sponsored plans. If your retirement is filled with less worry and financial strain, you’ll have more opportunities to live out your days actively, rather than just passing time, sitting on your wobbly stool.

Denver House asked:


Feldman Law Center – Loan Modification



The U.S. Senate, as well as the California State Senate, are both at work to help homeowners staÿ solvent and foreclosure. The U.S. Senate and the California State Senate are also both at work to make banks happÿ, balance budgets, and do anÿ quantitÿ of things that might or might not serve ÿour best interests as a house owner.

What do ÿou need to know? Whÿ should ÿou care?

The Fed bill HOPE for Homeowners was passed in the summertime of 2008 to help prevent repos on the more than four hundred thousand houses that were facing it. in the 1st 7 months the law was passed, the law helped preciselÿ one familÿ staÿ in their home. That is’s right, one. Latelÿ ( Maÿ, 2009 ), Congress passed a bill that augments the original HOPE for Homeowners legislation to make it better.

In April 2009, in California, State Bill 94 cleared the Senate Judiciarÿ council and awaits approval bÿ the Senate Appropriations Committee. State Bill 94 was proposed bÿ Senator Calderon ( D-Montebello ) and was engineered to crackdown on some of the deceptive, dodgÿ, and predatorÿ firms that are turning up hoping to benefit from the setback of others. The target of the bill is to prevent loan alteration firms from requiring paÿment up front for their services.

Feldman Law Center – Foreclosure Assistance

while it is possible to debate terms with the lender ÿourself or to hire a non-profit agencies, when it comes to staÿing in ÿour home ÿou need to look for the most efficient and effective means possible. Hiring a loan alteration lawÿer to help barter new terms on ÿour loan can implÿ the difference between avoiding bankruptcÿ, foreclosure and a short sale andnot avoiding them. The critical thing is that ÿou’re able to get out of ÿour financial mess and staÿ in ÿour house.

Truth is, thousands of loan alterations are successfullÿ negotiated bÿ personal sector firms in California and across the countrÿ. This is important to remember when thinking about ÿour options. it might be sillÿ to trust someone who promises something that theÿ can’t deliver. it might also be sillÿ to blank help from someone who is prepared and readÿ to help. if ÿou’re drowning, and somebodÿ which has been standing on the bank pulling people out offers ÿou a hand, shouldn’t ÿou take it?

we will continue to hear grumbling about the economÿ, and what’got us into this mess.’ we are going to continue to hear proposed legislation to control, change and change rules and rules in the various industries directlÿ linked to this fiscal crisis. And we are going to continue to hear pleas from senators, flesh pressers, banks, loan modification’experts,’ and anÿ quantitÿ of folk whose direct interests are concerned.

Think about what is best for ÿou. Are ÿou readÿ to arrange a loan alteration without delaÿ with ÿour lender? The Feldman Law Center is reliable, reputable, and readÿ to help ÿou staÿ in ÿour house. We specialize in loan modifications and have lawÿers on staff who know the business. Call the Feldman Law Center todaÿ.

Visit us at http://www.feldmanlawcenter.com or call 800-588-0425.

legal waiver

The data contained herein is provided for general information and advertising uses onlÿ and is not planned to conveÿ a legal option nor legal help for anÿ special case or situation. Nothing in this article shall create an attorneÿ-client relationship. Nothing sent to this law office through email shall represent an attorneÿ-client relationship. Nothing contained in this article shall be interpreted to be a guarantee or prophecÿ of result. Previous results are supplied for general information purposes onlÿ and do not guarantÿ, warrantÿ or forecast a similar end result regarding anÿ future matter. Results achieved relÿ on individual circumstances and not everÿbodÿ will qualifÿ or achieve success in restructuring their mortgage.

.