a primary focus of the economic stabilization act of 2008 which became known as the

On October 1, 2008, the Senate debated and voted on an amendment to H.R. 1424, which substituted a newly revised version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 for the language of H.R. 1424.[9][10] The Senate accepted the amendment and passed the entire amended bill, voting 74–25.[11] Additional unrelated provisions added an estimated $150 billion to the cost of the package and increased the length of the bill to 451 pages.[12][13] (See Public Law 110-343 for details on the added provisions.) The amended version of H.R. 1424 was sent to the House for consideration, and on October 3, the House voted 263–171 to enact the bill into law.[9][14][15] President George W. Bush signed the bill into law within hours of its congressional enactment, creating the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to purchase failing bank assets.[16]

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of Pub.L. 110–343, 122 Stat. 3765, enacted October 3, 2008), commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, and supply cash directly to banks. The funds for purchase of distressed assets were mostly redirected to inject capital into banks and other financial institutions while the Treasury continued to examine the usefulness of targeted asset purchases.[1][2] Both foreign and domestic banks are included in the program. The Act was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson during the global financial crisis of 2008 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008.

The legislation had its origin in early 2008, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson directed two of his aides, Neel Kashkari and Phillip Swagel, to write a plan to recapitalize the U.S. financial system in case of total collapse. The plan, which was also presented to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, called for the U.S. government to purchase about $500 billion in distressed assets from financial institutions.[3]

The original proposal was submitted to the United States House of Representatives, with the purpose of purchasing bad assets, reducing uncertainty regarding the worth of the remaining assets, and restoring confidence in the credit markets. The bill was then expanded and put forth as an amendment to H.R. 3997.[4] The amendment was rejected via a vote of the House of Representatives on September 29, 2008, voting 205â€“228.[5]

Supporters of the plan argued that the market intervention called for by the plan was vital to prevent further erosion of confidence in the U.S. credit markets and that failure to act could lead to an economic depression. Opponents objected to the plan's cost and rapidity, pointing to polls that showed little support among the public for "bailing out" Wall Street investment banks,[6] claimed that better alternatives were not considered,[7] and that the Senate forced passage of the unpopular version through the opposing house by "sweetening" the bailout package.[8]

On October 8, the British announced their bank rescue package consisting of funding, debt guarantees and infusing capital into banks via preferred stock. This model was closely followed by the rest of Europe, as well as the U.S Government, who on the October 14 announced a $250bn (Â£143bn) Capital Purchase Program to buy stakes in a wide variety of banks in an effort to restore confidence in the sector. The money came from the $700bn Troubled Asset Relief Program.[17][18]

Over the next six months, TARP was dwarfed by other guarantees and lending limits; analysis by Bloomberg found the Federal Reserve had, by March 2009, committed $7.77 trillion to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.[19]

After the freeing up of world capital markets in the 1970s and the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act in 1999, the banking practices (mostly Greenspan inspired "self-regulation") along with monetized subprime mortgages sold as no risk investments, reached a critical stage during September 2008, characterized by severely contracted liquidity in the global credit markets[20] and insolvency threats to investment banks and other institutions. In response, the U.S. government announced a series of comprehensive steps to address the problems, following a series of "one-off" or "case-by-case" decisions to intervene or not, such as the $85 billion liquidity facility for American International Group on September 16, the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

On Monday, October 6, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 700 points and fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years.[21] The same day, CNN reported these worldwide stock market events:[22]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed a plan under which the U.S. Treasury would acquire up to $700 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities.[23] The plan was immediately backed by President George W. Bush and negotiations began with leaders in the U.S. Congress to draft appropriate legislation.

Consultations among Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox, congressional leaders, and President Bush, moved forward efforts to draft a proposal for a comprehensive solution to the problems created by illiquid assets. News of the coming plan resulted in some stock, bond, and currency markets stability on September 19, 2008.[25][26]

The proposal called for the federal government to buy up to US$700 billion of illiquid mortgage-backed securities with the intent to increase the liquidity of the secondary mortgage markets and reduce potential losses encountered by financial institutions owning the securities. The draft proposal was received favorably by investors in the stock market, but caused the U.S. dollar to fall against gold, the Euro, and petroleum. The plan was not immediately approved by Congress; debate and amendments were seen as likely before the plan was to receive legislative enactment.[27][28][29]

Throughout the week of September 20, 2008, there was contentious wrangling among members of Congress over the terms and scope of the bailout,[30] amplified by continued failures of institutions like Washington Mutual, and the upcoming November 4 national election.

The plan was introduced on September 20, by Paulson. Named the Troubled Asset Relief Program,[23] but also known as the Paulson Proposal or Paulson Plan, it should not be confused with Paulson's earlier 212-page plan, the Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Reform,[35] that was released on March 31, 2008.

The proposal was only three pages long, intentionally short on details to facilitate quick passage by Congress.[36]

A key part of the proposal is the federal government's plan to buy up to $700 billion of illiquid mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with the intent to increase the liquidity of the secondary mortgage markets and reduce potential losses encountered by financial institutions owning the securities. The draft proposal of the plan was received favorably by investors in the stock market.[27][28]

This plan can be described as a risky investment, as opposed to an expense. The MBS within the scope of the purchase program have rights to the cash flows from the underlying mortgages. As such, the initial outflow of government funds to purchase the MBS would be offset by ongoing cash inflows represented by the monthly mortgage payments. Further, the government eventually may be able to sell the assets, though whether at a gain or loss will remain to be seen. While incremental borrowing to obtain the funds necessary to purchase the MBS may add to the United States public debt, the net effect will be considerably less as the incremental debt will be offset to a large extent by the MBS assets.[37][38]

A key challenge would be valuing the purchase price of the MBS, which is a complex exercise subject to a multitude of variables related to the housing market and the credit quality of the underlying mortgages.[39] The ability of the government to offset the purchase price (through mortgage collections over the long-run) depends on the valuation assigned to the MBS at the time of purchase. For example, Merrill Lynch wrote down the value of its MBS to approximately 22 cents on the dollar in Q2 2008.[40] Whether the government is ultimately able to resell the assets above the purchase price or will continue to merely collect the mortgage payments is an open item.

On February 10, 2009, the newly confirmed Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner outlined his plan to use the $300 billion or so dollars remaining in the TARP funds. He mentioned that the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve wanted to help fund private investors to buy toxic assets from banks, but few details have yet been released.[41] There is still some scepticism about the premise that taxpayers can buy troubled assets without having to overpay. Oppenheimer & Company analyst Meridith Whitney argues that banks will not sell bad assets at fair market values because they are reluctant to take asset write downs.[42] Removing toxic assets would also reduce the volatility of banks' stock prices. Because stock is a call option on a firm's assets, this lost volatility will hurt the stock price of distressed banks. Therefore, such banks will only sell toxic assets at above market prices.[43]

On April 6, 2008, the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group reported that the pace of foreclosures exceeded the capacity of homeowner rescue programs, such as the Hope Now Alliance, in the first quarter of 2008.[44]

The original plan would have granted the Secretary of the Treasury unlimited power to spend,[30] proofing his or her actions against congressional or judicial review. Section 8 of the Paulson proposal states: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."[23] This provision was not included in the final version.

The maximum cost of a $700 billion bailout would be $2,295 estimated cost per American (based on an estimate of 305 million Americans), or $4,635 per working American (based on an estimate of 151 million in the work force).[45] The bulk of this money would be spent to purchase mortgage backed securities, ultimately backed by American homeowners, which possibly could be sold later at a profit, by the government. Economist Michael Hudson predicts that the bailout would cause hyperinflation and dollar collapse.[46][47][48][clarification needed]

However, there is no persuasive evidence of prices rising and the U.S. Dollar Index has actually risen to higher levels than before the plan's announcement.[49] Indeed, during the week before and after the EESA was agreed, investment bank UBS was continually flatly rejecting that bailouts such as these were inflationary, emphasizing instead that they were anti-deflationary, not inflationary.[50][51][52]

The 2008 federal budget submitted by the president is $2.9 trillion, meaning a $700 billion bailout would constitute a 24% increase to $3.6 trillion, which would exceed the $3.1 trillion 2009 budget. The total government commitment and proposed commitments so far in its current and proposed bailouts is reportedly $1 trillion compared to the $14 trillion United States economy.[53]

In his testimony before the U.S. Senate, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson summarized the rationale for the bailout:[54]

In his testimony before the U.S. Senate on September 23, 2008, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke also summarized the rationale for the bailout:[55]

Regarding the $700 billion number, Forbes.com quoted a Treasury spokeswoman: "It's not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number."[56]

According to CNBC commentator Jim Cramer, large corporations, institutions, and wealthy investors were pulling their money out of bank money market funds, in favor of government-backed Treasury bills. Cramer called it "an invisible run on the banks," one that has no lines in the lobby but pushes banks to the breaking point nonetheless. As a bank's capital reserve of deposits evaporate, so too does its ability to lend and correspondingly make money. "The lack of confidence inspired by Lehman's demise, the general poor health of many banks, this is going to turn this into an intractable moment," Cramer said, "if someone in the government doesn't start pushing for more deposit insurance."[57]

Skepticism regarding the plan occurred early on in the House. Many members of Congress, including the House of Representatives, did not support the plan initially, mainly conservative free-market Republicans and liberal anti-corporate Democrats.[58] Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus has called the proposal "a gun to our head."[59]

On September 19, 2008, when news of the bailout proposal emerged, the U.S. stock market rose by 3%. Foreign stock markets also surged, and foreign currencies corrected slightly, after having dropped earlier in the month. The value of the U.S. dollar dropped compared to other world currencies after the plan was announced.[60][61] The front end oil futures contract spiked more than $25 a barrel during the day Monday September 22, ending the day up over $16. This was a record for the biggest one-day gain.[62] However, there are other factors that caused the massive spike in oil prices. Traders who got "caught" at the end of the October contract session were forced to purchase oil in large batches to cover themselves, adding to the surge in prices.[63] Further out, oil futures contracts rose by about $5 per barrel. Mortgage rates increased following the news of the bailout plan. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.78% in the week before the plan was announced; for the week ending September 25, the average rate was 6.09%,[64] still far below the average rate during the early 1990s recession, when it topped 9.0%.[65]

There was concern that the current plan created a conflict of interest for Paulson. Paulson was a former CEO of Goldman Sachs, which stood to benefit from the bailout. Paulson had hired Goldman executives as advisors and Paulson's former advisors had joined banks that were also to benefit from the bailout. Furthermore, the original proposal exempted Paulson from judicial oversight. Thus there was concern that former illegal activity by a financial institution or its executives might be hidden.[66][67][68]

The treasury staff member responsible for administering the bailout funds was Neel Kashkari, a former vice-president at Goldman Sachs.

In the Senate, Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) was the leading Republican author of the TARP program while he had a multimillion-dollar investment in the Bank of America.[69][70]

Protests opposing the bailout occurred in over 100 cities across the United States on Thursday September 25.[71] Grassroots group TrueMajority said its members organized over 251 events in more than 41 states.[72] The largest gathering has been in New York City, where more than 1,000 protesters gathered near the New York Stock Exchange along with labor union members organized by New York Central Labor Council.[73][74] Other grassroots groups have planned rallies to protest against the bailout,[75] while outraged citizens continue to express their opposition online through blogs and dedicated web sites.[76]

Supporters of the plan included presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[82][83]

Critics included Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Congressman Ron Paul, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, and Senators Christopher Dodd, Richard Shelby, and Jim Bunning.[84][85][86][87][88]

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Senator Hillary Clinton advocated addressing the rate of mortgage defaults and foreclosures that ignited this crisis, not just bailing out Wall Street firms: "If we do not take action to address the crisis facing borrowers, we'll never solve the crisis facing lenders." She proposed a new Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), similar to that used after the Depression and which was launched in 1933. The new HOLC was to administer a national program to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. She also called for a moratorium on foreclosures and freezing of rate hikes in adjustable-rate mortgages.[89]

Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, said that any bailout had to include plans to recover the money, protect working families and big financial institutions and be crafted to prevent such a crisis from happening again.[90]

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan supported the Paulson plan.[91]

Investor Warren Buffett says he could put in $10B plus $90B nonrecourse debt; that is, without having to repay beyond $10B if mortgages did not repay. (This is 10 to 1 leverage, 10 times upside with 1 times downside.) He also said that the government should pay market price, which may be below the carry value.[92] Buffett says "I would think they might insist on the directors of the institutions that participate in this program waiving all director's fees for a couple of years. They should, maybe, eliminate bonuses." Buffett says "...if someone wants to sell a hundred billion of these instruments to the Treasury, let them sell two or three billion in the market and then have the Treasury match that,.... You don't want the Treasury to be a patsy."[93] Mr. Buffett's company owns financial companies which will benefit directly or indirectly.

Investor George Soros opposed the original Paulson plan: "Mr Paulson's proposal to purchase distressed mortgage-related securities poses a classic problem of asymmetric information. The securities are hard to value but the sellers know more about them than the buyer: in any auction process the Treasury would end up with the dregs. The proposal is also rife with latent conflict of interest issues. Unless the Treasury overpays for the securities, the scheme would not bring relief." â€“ but calls Barack Obama's list of conditions for the plan "the right principles".[94]

Other critics included Carl Icahn[91] Jim Rogers,[95] and William Seidman. Seidman compared the bailout with action he and his team at the Resolution Trust Corporation took during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s: "What we did, we took over the bank, nationalized it, fired the management, took out the bad assets and put a good bank back in the system."[96]

Suggested alternative approaches to address the issues underlying the financial crisis include: mortgage assistance proposals try to increase the value of the asset base while limiting the disruption of foreclosure; bank recapitalization through equity investment by the government; asset liquidity approaches to engage market mechanisms for valuing troubled assets; and financial market reforms promoting transparency and conservatism to restore trust by market investors.

This process consisted of nationalizing most of the private industries.[citation needed] The short-term effects were evidently costly, but the beneficiary repercussions were vastly favorable to a sustainable economic future.[citation needed]

According to Jon Daemon, the proposal was dismissed by bureaucrats and lobbyist in accordance to the private banks and federal reserve dispatchers.[113]

Over the weekend (September 27â€“28), Congress continued to develop the proposal. That next Monday, the House put the resulting effort, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, to a vote. It did not pass. US stock markets dropped 8 percent, the largest percentage drop since Black Monday in 1987.

Congressional leaders, including both presidential candidates, started working with the Bush Administration and the Treasury department on key negotiation points as they worked to finalize the plan. Key items under discussion included:[120][121]

Just after midnight Sunday, September 28, leaders of the Senate and House, along with Treasury Secretary Paulson, announced a tentative deal had been reached to permit the government purchase of up to $700 billion in mortgage backed securities to provide liquidity to the security holders, and to stabilize U.S. financial firms and markets. The bill was made final later that Monday morning.[4][122] A debate and vote was scheduled for the House for Monday, September 29, to be followed by a Senate debate on Wednesday.[123] In an early morning news conference, on Monday September 29, President George W. Bush expressed confidence that the bill would pass Congress, and that it would provide relief to the U.S. economy. A number of House Republicans remained opposed to the deal and intended to vote against it.[124][125][126]

That same day, the legislation for the bailout was put before the United States House of Representatives and failed 205–228, with one not voting. Democrats voted 140–95 in favor of the legislation, while Republicans voted 133–65 against it.[127][128][129] During the legislative session, at the conclusion of the vote, the presiding chair declared the measure, HR3997, to be unfinished business.[130]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference after the vote: "The legislation has failed. The crisis has not gone away. We must continue to work in a bipartisan manner."[131] Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, appearing at a joint press conference with Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, said a bailout plan could still pass Congress. Dodd said: "We don't intend to leave here without the job being done. While it may take another few days, we're confident that can happen."[127]

Following the House vote, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 777 points in a single day, its largest single-day point drop ever.[132] The $1.2 trillion loss in market value received much media attention, although it still does not rank among the index's ten largest drops in percentage terms. The S & P lost 8.8%, its seventh worst day in percentage terms and its worst day since Black Monday in 1987. The NASDAQ composite also had its worst day since Black Monday, losing 9.1% in its third worst day ever. The TED spread, the difference between what banks charge each other for a three-month loan and what the Treasury charges, hit a 26-year high of 3.58%; a higher rate for inter bank loans than Treasury loans is a sign that banks fear that their fellow banks won't be able to pay off their debts. Meanwhile, the price of U.S. light crude oil for November delivery fell $10.52 to $96.37 a barrel, its second largest one-day drop ever, on expectations of an economic slowdown reducing oil consumption and demand.[133] The Dow Jones industrial average recovered 485 points or about 62% of the entire loss the very next day.[134]

Markets which had expected the bill to pass and had moved on to debating whether it would be sufficient were already skittish after news that Wachovia Bank was being bought out by Citigroup to avoid collapse. The events were compounded by news from Europe that Dutch-Belgian Fortis Bank was given a $16.4 billion lifeline to avoid collapse, failing British bank Bradford & Bingley was nationalized, and Germany extended banking and real estate giant Hypo Real Estate billions to ensure its survival.[133]

Later in October, after the bill had been passed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average would drop by more in percentage terms, and market volatility remained at historically high levels, as measured by the VIX.

On Wednesday evening, October 1, 2008, the Senate debated and voted on a revised version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA 2008). The legislation was framed as an amendment to HR1424, substituting the entire bill with the newly revised text of the EESA 2008.[10] (the amendment being the text of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (CBHUA) (October 1, 2008) ( Retrieved October 1, 2008)
See also the Senate CBHUA web page[12][135] The amendment was approved by a 74–25 vote, and the entire bill was also passed by the same margin, 74–25 (R: 34-15, D: 40-10, including Lieberman and Sanders).[136][137] Only cancer-stricken Senator Ted Kennedy did not vote. Under the legislative rule for the bill, sixty votes were required to approve the amendment and the bill.[12][134] A House leader accused the Senate of legislating "by blunt force" without public consent.[138]

Describing the Senate's reason for passing the bill, former Senator Evan Bayh "described a scene from 2008 where Ben Bernanke warned senators that the sky would collapse if the banks weren't rescued. 'We looked at each other,' said Bayh, 'and said, okay, what do we need.'"[139]

The revised HR1424 was received from the Senate by the House, and on October 3, it voted 263-171 to enact the bill into law. Democrats voted 172 to 63 in favor of the legislation, while Republicans voted 108 to 91 against it; overall, 33 Democrats and 24 Republicans who had previously voted against the bill supported it on the second vote.[9][15]

President Bush signed the bill into law within hours of its enactment, creating a $700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.[140]

The revised plan left the $700 billion bailout intact and appended a stalled tax bill.[134] The law has three major divisions, Division A: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; Division B: Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, and Division C: the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008.[9] The tax part of the law has provisions that will have a net expenditure of $100 billion over 10 years. It had been stalled due to a disagreement between Democrats that did not want to increase spending without a corresponding increase in taxes and Republicans, who were adamantly opposed to any tax increases.

On October 3, 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act became law with the signing of Public Law 110-343, which included the act.[141] Below is a list of key items and how the legislation deals with them.

Although the original bill proposed as late as September 20 contained no such provision,[23] Section 128 of the Act allowed the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) to begin paying banks a high interest rate on their deposits held for reserve requirements. It reads:

The Fed announced that it would begin paying such increased interest on both reserve and excess reserve balances on October 6, 2008.[142] Banks immediately increased the amount of their money on deposit with the Fed, up from about $10 billion total at the end of August 2008, to $880 billion by the end of the second week of January 2009.[143][144] In comparison, the increase in reserve balances reached only $65 billion after September 11, 2001 before falling back to normal levels within a month. The U.S. Treasury Department explained the changes, saying:

The Federal Reserve will continue to take a leadership role with respect to liquidity in our markets. It is committed to using all of the tools at its disposal to provide the increased liquidity that is now required for the effective functioning of financial markets. In this regard, the authority to pay interest on reserves that was provided by EESA is essential, because it allows the Federal Reserve to expand its balance sheet as necessary to support financial stability while conducting a monetary policy that promotes the Federal Reserve's macroeconomic objectives of maximum employment and stable prices. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department are consulting with market participants on ways to provide additional support for term unsecured funding markets.[145]

Reactions to the change were mixed, with banks generally approving of their new ability to earn high interest without risk on funds that they would otherwise need to use to extend credit in order to make a profit for their shareholders, while those involved in the commercial paper markets, the primary and secondary sectors of the goods and services economy, shipping, and others depending on the liquidity of credit from banks were more skeptical of the further pressure against credit availability in the midst of the ongoing credit liquidity crisis.[146][147]

The day after the change was announced, on October 7, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed some confusion about it, saying, "We're not quite sure what we have to pay in order to get the market rate, which includes some credit risk, up to the target. We're going to experiment with this and try to find what the right spread is."[148] The Fed adjusted the rate on October 22, after the initial rate they set October 6 failed to keep the benchmark U.S. overnight interest rate close to their policy target,[148][149] and again on November 5 for the same reason.[150] Beginning December 18, the Fed directly established interest rates paid on required reserve balances and excess balances instead of specifying them with a formula based on the target federal funds rate.[151][152][153]

The government issued $400 billion of short-term debt intended to help replace the $1.8 trillion commercial paper market which was wiped out by the change,[154] (exacerbated by money market funds' sudden refusal to support commercial paper as well) but the world economy began to deflate as international shipping, dependent on commercial paper, slowed in some regions to a few percent of levels prior to the change.[155][156] The FDIC announced a new program on October 14, under which newly issued senior unsecured debt issued on or before June 30, 2009, would be fully protected in the event the issuing institution subsequently fails, or its holding company files for bankruptcy.[157] The FDIC program is expected to cover about $1.4 trillion of bank debt.[158]

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that payment of interest on reserve balances would cost the American taxpayers about one tenth of the present 0.25% interest rate on $800 billion in deposits:

Those expenditures pale in comparison to the lost tax revenues worldwide resulting from decreasing economic activity due to damage to the short-term commercial paper and associated credit markets.

On January 7, 2009, the Federal Open Market Committee decided that, "the size of the balance sheet and level of excess reserves would need to be reduced."[160] On January 13, Ben Bernanke said, "In principle, the interest rate the Fed pays on bank reserves should set a floor on the overnight interest rate, as banks should be unwilling to lend reserves at a rate lower than they can receive from the Fed. In practice, the federal funds rate has fallen somewhat below the interest rate on reserves in recent months, reflecting the very high volume of excess reserves, the inexperience of banks with the new regime, and other factors. However, as excess reserves decline, financial conditions normalize, and banks adapt to the new regime, we expect the interest rate paid on reserves to become an effective instrument for controlling the federal funds rate."[161] The same day, Financial Week said Mr. Bernanke admitted that a huge increase in banks' excess reserves is stifling the Fed's monetary policy moves and its efforts to revive private sector lending.[162]

On January 15, Chicago Fed president and Federal Open Market Committee member Charles Evans said, "once the economy recovers and financial conditions stabilize, the Fed will return to its traditional focus on the federal funds rate. It also will have to scale back the use of emergency lending programs and reduce the size of the balance sheet and level of excess reserves. 'Some of this scaling back will occur naturally as market conditions improve on account of how these programs have been designed. Still, financial market participants need to be prepared for the eventual dismantling of the facilities that have been put in place during the financial turmoil,' he said."[163]

At the end of January 2009, excess reserve balances at the Fed stood at $793 billion[164] but less than two weeks later on February 11, total reserve balances had fallen to $603 billion. On April 1, reserve balances had again increased to $806 billion, and late November 2009, they stood at $1.16 trillion.[165]

The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Troubled Assets Relief Program to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions. The Office of Financial Stability is created within the Treasury Department as the agency through which the Secretary will run the program. The Secretary is required to consult with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development when running the program.[166][167]

The bill authorizes $700 billion for the program. The Treasury Secretary has immediate access to the first $250 billion. Following that, an additional $100 billion can be authorized by the President. For the last $350 billion, the President must notify Congress of the intention to grant the additional funding to the Treasury; Congress then has 15 days to pass a resolution disallowing the authority. If Congress fails to pass a resolution opposing the funding within 15 days, or if the resolution passes, but is vetoed by the President, and Congress does not have enough votes to override the veto, the Treasury will receive the final $350 billion.[168][169]

The Treasury Secretary is required to obtain a financial warrant guaranteeing the right to purchase non-voting stock or, if the company is unable to issue a warrant, senior debt from any firm participating in the program. The Secretary is allowed to make a de minimis exception to the rule, but that exception may not exceed $100 million.[170][171]

If the Treasury purchases assets directly from a company, and also receives a meaningful equity or debt position in that company, the company is not allowed to offer incentives that encourage "unnecessary and excessive risks" to its senior executives (that is, the top five executives).[172] Also, the company is prohibited from making golden parachute payments to a senior executive. Both of these prohibitions expire when the Treasury no longer holds an equity or debt position in that company. The company also is given "clawback" permission; that is, the opportunity to recover senior executive bonus or incentive pay based on earnings, gains, or other data that proves to be inaccurate.[173][174]

If the Treasury purchases assets via auction, and that purchase exceeds $300 million, any new employment contract for a senior officer may not include a golden parachute provision in the case of involuntary termination, bankruptcy filing, insolvency, or receivership. This prohibition only applies to future contracts; golden parachutes already in place will remain unaffected.[173][174]

In either scenario, no limits are placed on executive salary, and existing golden parachutes will not be altered.[175]

For mortgages involved in assets purchased by the Treasury Department, the Treasury Secretary is required to (1) implement a plan that seeks to maximize assistance for homeowners, and (2) encourage the servicers of the underlying mortgages to take advantage of the HOPE for Homeowners Program of the National Housing Act or other available programs to minimize foreclosures.[170] Furthermore, the Secretary is allowed to use loan guarantees and credit enhancements to encourage loan modifications to avert foreclosure.[176] The bill does not provide a mechanism to change the terms of a mortgage without the consent of any company holding a stake in that mortgage.[177] Section 110: Assistance to Homeowners of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 "requires federal entities that hold mortgages and mortgage-backed securities to develop plans to minimize foreclosures".[178]

This $24 billion asset detoxification plan was requested by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair,[179] but the Treasury did not use the provision. "The primary purpose of the bill was to protect our financial system from collapse," Secretary Henry Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee, "The rescue package was not intended to be an economic stimulus or an economic recovery package."[180]

The bill establishes that actions taken by the Treasury Secretary regarding this program are subject to judicial review,[170][181] reversing the request for immunity made in the original Paulson proposal.[182]

Several oversight mechanisms are established by the bill. Contractors were also used to help manage the TARP funds.[183][184]

Financial Stability Oversight Board

The Financial Stability Oversight Board is created to review and make recommendations regarding the Treasury's actions.[185][186] The members of the board are:

Congressional Oversight Panel

A Congressional Oversight Panel is created by the bill to review the state of the markets, current regulatory system, and the Treasury Department's management of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The panel is required to report their findings to Congress every 30 days, counting from the first asset purchase made under the program. The panel must also submit a special report to Congress about regulatory reform on or before January 20, 2009.[185][187]

The panel consists of five outside experts appointed as follows:

Comptroller General oversight requirement

The Comptroller General (director of the Government Accountability Office) is required to monitor the performance of the program, and report findings to Congress every 60 days. The Comptroller General is also required to audit the program annually. The bill grants the Comptroller General access to all information, records, reports, data, etc. belonging to or in use by the program.[188][189]

Office of the Special Inspector General

The bill creates the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Special Inspector General's purpose is to monitor, audit and investigate the activities of the Treasury in the administration of the program, and report findings to Congress every quarter.[188][190]

From the date of enactment of the bill (October 3, 2008) until December 31, 2009, the amount of deposit insurance provided by the FDIC is increased from $100,000 to $250,000.[185][191]

Title II sets out guidelines for consultation and reporting between the Treasury Secretary, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Congressional Budget Office.

The bill makes the following changes to tax law.

CAMELS ratings are being used by the United States government to help it decide which banks to provide special help for and which to not as part of its capitalization program authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.[192]

The New York Times states: "The criteria being used to choose who gets money appears to be setting the stage for consolidation in the industry by favoring those most likely to survive" because the criteria appears to favor the financially best off banks and banks too big to let fail. Some lawmakers are upset that the capitalization program will end up culling banks in their districts.[192]

Known aspects of the capitalization program "suggest that the government may be loosely defining what constitutes healthy institutions. [... Banks] that have been profitable over the last year are the most likely to receive capital. Banks that have lost money over the last year, however, must pass additional tests. [...] They are also asking if a bank has enough capital and reserves to withstand severe losses to its construction loan portfolio, nonperforming loans and other troubled assets."[192] Some banks received capital with the understanding the banks would try to find a merger partner. To receive capital under the program banks are also "required to provide a specific business plan for the next two or three years and explain how they plan to deploy the capital."[192]

The United States annual budget deficit for fiscal year 2009 surpassed $1 trillion. The original Paulson proposal would lift the United States federal debt ceiling by $700 billion, to $11.3 trillion from the current $10.6 trillion.[193]

A review of investor presentations and conference calls by executives of some two dozen US-based banks by The New York Times found that "few [banks] cited lending as a priority. An overwhelming majority saw the bailout program as a no-strings-attached windfall that could be used to pay down debt, acquire other businesses or invest for the future." [194]


what is the origin of the last name matthews

Matthews is a surname derived from the forename Matthew. Some notable people with this surname are listed below.

Matthews (surname)

This page lists notable people with the surname (that is, family name) Matthews.

For a list of notable people with the surname Matthew (without -s), see Matthew (surname).

For a list of notable people with the surname Mathews (with only one "t"), see Mathews (surname).

For a list of notable people with the forename (that is, given name) Matthew, see Matthew (name).

For the etymology of the name Matthew and for cognates (related forenames and surnames), see Matthew (name).


when was the mississippi river levee system built

Following the Great Flood of 1927, the US Army Corps of Engineers was charged with taming the Mississippi River. Under the Flood Control Act of 1928, the world's longest system of levees was built. Floodways that diverted excessive flow from the Mississippi River were constructed.[9] While the levees prevented some flooding, scientists have found that they changed the flow of the Mississippi River, with the unintended consequence of increasing flooding in succeeding decades. Channeling of waters has reduced the absorption of seasonal rains by the floodplains, increasing the speed of the current and preventing the deposit of new soils along the way.

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) inundated up to a depth of 30 feet (9 m). To try to prevent future floods, the federal government built the world's longest system of levees and floodways.

Ninety-four percent of the more than 630,000 people affected by the flood lived in the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, most in the Mississippi Delta. More than 200,000 African Americans were displaced from their homes along the Lower Mississippi River and had to live for lengthy periods in relief camps. As a result of this disruption, many joined the Great Migration from the south to northern and midwestern industrial cities rather than return to rural agricultural labor. This massive population movement increased from World War II until 1970.

The flood began with extremely heavy rains in the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity. On Christmas Day of 1926,[1] the Cumberland River at Nashville, Tennessee, exceeded 56 ft 2 in (17.1 m), a level that remains a record to this day, higher than the devastating 2010 floods.

Flooding peaked in the Lower Mississippi River near Mound Landing, Mississippi, and Arkansas City, Arkansas, and broke levees along the river in at least 145 places.[2] The water flooded more than 27,000 square miles (70,000Â km2) of land, and left more than 700,000 people homeless. Approximately 500 people died as a result of flooding.[3] Monetary damages due to flooding reached approximately $1 billion, which was one-third of the federal budget in 1927. If the event were to have occurred in 2007, the damages would total around $930 billion or $1 trillion (measured in 2007 U.S. dollars).[4]

The flood affected Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Arkansas was hardest hit, with 14% of its territory covered by floodwaters extending from the Mississippi and Arkansas deltas. By May 1927, the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee, reached a width of 60 miles (100Â km).[5]

On April 15, 1927, 15 inches (380 mm) of rain fell in New Orleans in 18 hours.[6] More than 4 feet (1.2 m) of water covered parts of the city. A group of influential bankers in town met to discuss how to guarantee the safety of the city, as they had already learned of the massive scale of flooding upriver.[6] A few weeks later, they arranged to set off about 30 tons of dynamite on the levee at Caernarvon, Louisiana, releasing 250,000 cu ft/s (7,000 m3/s) of water. This was intended to prevent New Orleans from suffering serious damage, and it resulted in flooding much of the less densely populated St. Bernard Parish and all of Plaquemines Parish's east bank. As it turned out, the destruction of the Caernarvon levee was unnecessary; several major levee breaks well upstream of New Orleans, including one the day after the demolitions, released major amounts of flood waters, reducing the water that reached the city. The New Orleans businessmen did not compensate the losses of people in the downriver parishes.[7]

By August 1927, the flood subsided. Hundreds of thousands of people had been made homeless and displaced; properties, livestock and crops were destroyed.

In terms of population affected, in territory flooded, in property loss and crop destruction, the flood's figures were "staggering". Great loss of life was averted by relief efforts, largely by the American Red Cross through the efforts of local workers. African Americans, comprising 75% of the population in the Delta lowlands and supplying 95% of the agricultural labor force, were most affected by the flood. Historians estimate that of the 637,000 people forced to relocate by the flooding, 94% lived in three states: Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana; and that 69% of the 325,146 who occupied the relief camps were African American.[8] In one location, over 13,000 evacuees near Greenville, Mississippi, were gathered from area farms, and evacuated to the crest of the unbroken Greenville Levee. But many were stranded there for days without food or clean water.

States also needed money to rebuild their roads and bridges. Louisiana received $1,067,336 from the federal government for rebuilding,[10] but it had to institute a state gasoline tax to create a $30,000,000 fund to pay for new hard-surfaced highways.[11]

The devastation of the flood and the strained racial relations resulted in many African Americans joining the Great Migration from affected areas to northern and midwestern cities, a movement that had been underway since World War I. The flood waters began to recede in June 1927, but interracial relations continued to be strained. Hostilities had erupted between the races; a Black man was shot and killed by a white police officer when he refused to be forced by gunpoint to unload a relief boat.[12][13] As a result of displacements lasting up to six months, tens of thousands of local African Americans moved to the big cities of the North, particularly Chicago; many thousands more followed in the following decades.[14][15]

Herbert Hoover enhanced his reputation by his achievements in directing flood relief operations as Secretary of Commerce under President Calvin Coolidge. The next year Hoover easily won the Republican 1928 nomination for President, and the general election that year. In upstate Louisiana, anger among yeomen farmers directed at the New Orleans elite for its damage of downriver parishes aided Huey Long's election to the governorship in 1928.[16]:408–409, 477, 487 Hoover was much lauded initially for his masterful handling of the refugee camps. Later reports about the poor treatment of Blacks in those camps led him to make promises to the African-American community, which he broke. As a result, he lost the Black vote in the North in his re-election campaign in 1932.[16]:259–290 (In the South, African Americans were still overwhelmingly disenfranchised by state constitutions and practices, as they remained until after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.) Several reports on the terrible situation in the refugee camps, including one by the Colored Advisory Commission headed by Robert Russa Moton, were kept out of the media at Hoover's request, with the pledge of further reforms for Blacks after the presidential election in 1928. His failure to deliver followed other disappointments by the Republican Party; Moton and other influential African Americans began to encourage Black Americans to align instead with the national Democrats.[16]:415

A feature-length documentary, The Great Flood (2014) was made incorporating archival footage from news coverage of the flood.[17][18]

Several musicians reflected the 1927 flood in their music:


where is camp verde az on a map

The 42.6 sq mi (110 km2) town is intersected by I-17, extending 8 miles (13 km) to the West and 10 miles (16 km) to the East of the interstate. Three freeway exits provide local access: Exits 285, 287, and 289. The Town's Historic Downtown is approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) from I-17 and contains a grocery store, physician facilities, shopping, dining, historical museum, Fort Verde State Historic Park, chamber of commerce/visitor center and town offices. Camp Verde is located at 34°34′0″N 111°51′22″W / 34.56667°N 111.85611°W / 34.56667; -111.85611 (34.566713, -111.856194).[5]

Camp Verde, Arizona

Camp Verde (Yavapai: ʼMatthi:wa; Western Apache: Gambúdih[4]) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,873.[2]

The town hosts an annual corn festival in July, sponsored and organized by Hauser and Hauser Farms. Other annual festivals include Fort Verde Days (October); the Pecan, Wine and Antiques Festival (February); and the Crawdad Festival (June).[citation needed]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 42.6 square miles (110 km2), of which, 42.6 square miles (110 km2) of it is land and 0.02% is water. It is in the Verde River valley. To the southwest lie the Black Hills mountain range. Camp Verde is surrounded by Prescott National Forest. The Mogollon Rim is just north of the town and forms the southwestern edge of the large, geologically ancient Colorado Plateau.

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 9,451 people, 2,611 households, and 2,538 families residing in the town. The population density was 222.0 people per square mile (85.7/km²). There were 3,969 housing units at an average density of 93.2 per square mile (36.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 85.05% White, 0.35% Black or African American, 7.31% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 4.70% from other races, and 2.23% from two or more races. 10.94% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,611 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the town, the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $31,868, and the median income for a family was $37,049. Males had a median income of $30,104 versus $20,306 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,072. About 9.5% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Tourist attractions include the nearby Montezuma Castle National Monument located in Verde Valley. In the town is Fort Verde State Historic Park, and Out of Africa Wildlife Park. The Cliff Castle Casino, operated by the Yavapai-Apache Nation Indian tribe, is an important gambling destination for north and central Arizona. Fort Verde State Historic Park is located in Camp Verde’s Historic Downtown approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) from all three Camp Verde exits.

Camp Verde Unified School District serves the community.

The Marvel Comics superhero characters James and John Proudstar are from a reservation in Camp Verde.

The 1977 horror movie, Kingdom of the Spiders, was filmed in Camp Verde.

In the 2011 film Paul, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost plan to visit Camp Verde as a UFO hot spot along with Rachel, Nevada, Area 51, Apache Junction, AZ and Roswell, New Mexico.

In Cable #7, Camp Verde is a bunker headquarters of the X-Force.


where is the women's sec basketball tournament being played

The 2018 Southeastern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Southeastern Conference held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, from February 28 through March 4, 2018. South Carolina defeated the regular-season champions Mississippi State to earn an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament.

2018 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament


who was the pilot that crashed into the twin towers

Fifteen minutes into the flight, the hijackers injured at least three people (possibly killing one), forcibly breached the cockpit, and overpowered the captain and first officer. Atta, an al-Qaeda member and licensed commercial pilot, took over the controls. Air-traffic controllers noticed the flight was in distress when the crew was no longer responding. They realized the flight had been hijacked when Mohamed Atta's announcements for passengers were transmitted to air traffic control. On board, flight attendants Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong contacted American Airlines, and provided information about the hijackers and injuries to passengers and crew.

American Airlines Flight 11

American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda members on September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all 92 people aboard and an unknown number in the building's impact zone. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 767-223ER, registration N334AA,[1] was flying American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental service from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles.

The aircraft crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 08:46:40 local time. Countless people in the streets of New York City witnessed the strike, but few video recordings captured the moment. Documentary film maker Jules Naudet captured the only known footage of the initial impact from start to finish. Before the hijacking was confirmed, news agencies began to report on the incident and speculated that the crash had been an accident. The impact and subsequent fire caused the North Tower to collapse 102 minutes after the crash, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties. During the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site, workers recovered and identified dozens of remains from Flight 11 victims, but many body fragments could not be identified.

The American Airlines Flight 11 aircraft was a Boeing 767-200ER delivered in 1987, registration number N334AA.[2] The capacity of the aircraft was 158 passengers, but the September 11 flight carried  81 passengers and 11 crew members. This was a light load at 58.2 percent capacity, but higher than the average load factor for Flight 11 on Tuesday mornings of 39 percent in the months preceding September 11.[3] The 11 crew members were Captain John Ogonowski, First Officer Thomas McGuinness, and flight attendants Barbara Arestegui, Jeffrey Collman, Sara Low, Karen Martin, Kathleen Nicosia, Betty Ong, Jean Roger, Dianne Snyder, and Amy Sweeney.[4]

All 92Â people on board were killed,[5] including David Angell (the creator and executive producer of the television sitcom Frasier), his wife Lynn Angell, and actress Berry Berenson, the widow of Anthony Perkins.[6] Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane had been scheduled to be on the flight but arrived at the airport late.[7] Actor Mark Wahlberg was also scheduled to be on the flight but canceled his ticket at the last minute.[8] Actress Leighanne Littrell, wife of Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell, had also previously been booked on the flight but, like Wahlberg, changed her plans at the last minute.[9]

Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the attacks, and a fellow hijacker, Abdulaziz al-Omari, arrived at Portland International Jetport at 05:41 Eastern Daylight Time on September 11, 2001. They boarded Colgan Air FlightÂ 5930, which was scheduled to depart at 06:00 from Portland, Maine, and fly to Boston. Both hijackers had first class tickets with a connecting flight to Los Angeles; Atta checked in two bags, Omari none.[3] When they checked in, the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) selected Atta for extra luggage scrutiny, but he boarded without incident.[10] The flight from Portland departed on time and arrived in Boston at 06:45. Three other hijackers, Waleed al-Shehri, Wail al-Shehri, and Satam al-Suqami, arrived at Logan Airport at 06:45, having left their rental car in the airport parking facility. At 06:52, Marwan al-Shehhi, the hijacker pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, made a call from a pay phone in Logan Airport to Atta's cell phone.[3][11]

Since they were not given boarding passes for Flight 11 in Portland, Atta and Omari checked in and went through security in Boston.[12] In the rushed check-in after the flight from Portland, airline officials did not load Atta's bags on Flight 11.[13][14] Suqami, Wail al-Shehri, and Waleed al-Shehri also checked in for the flight in Boston. Wail al-Shehri and Suqami each checked one bag; Waleed al-Shehri did not check any bags.[3] CAPPS selected all three for a detailed luggage check.[15] As the CAPPS' screening was only for luggage, the three hijackers did not undergo any extra scrutiny at the passenger security checkpoint.[16]

By 07:40, all five hijackers were aboard the flight, scheduled to depart at 07:45.[11][17] Mohamed Atta sat in business class seat 8D with Abdulaziz al-Omari in 8G and Suqami in 10B. Waleed al-Shehri and Wail al-Shehri sat in first class seats 2B and 2A.[15] At 07:46, one minute behind schedule, the aircraft received clearance to push back from Gate B32,[18] and was cleared to taxi to the runway at 07:50. The aircraft began its takeoff run from Logan International Airport at 07:59 from runwayÂ 4R.[19][20]

The 9/11 Commission estimated that the hijacking began at 08:14, when the pilots stopped responding to requests from the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center (Boston ARTCC).[11] It is believed that Waleed al-Shehri made the first move. At 08:13:29, as the aircraft was passing over central Massachusetts at 26,000 feet (7,900 m), the pilots responded to a request from Boston ARTCC to make a 20-degree turn to the right. At 08:13:47, Boston ARTCC told the pilots to ascend to a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) but received no response.[20] It is believed that Captain Ogonowski was stabbed to death in order for the hijacker pilot Mohamed Atta to take control of the plane and crash it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Before dying, Ogonowski keyed the cockpit microphone; "pushing its button intermittently to signal that something was wrong and at one point allowing them to hear the voice of the hijacker."[22][23] At 08:16, the aircraft leveled off at 29,000 feet (8,800 m)[20] and shortly thereafter deviated from its scheduled path. Boston ARTCC made multiple attempts to talk to Flight 11 without reply,[11] and at 08:21, the flight stopped transmitting its Mode-C transponder signal.[20]

According to flight attendants Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong, who contacted American Airlines during the hijacking, the hijackers had stabbed flight attendants Karen Martin and Barbara Arestegui and slashed the throat of passenger Daniel Lewin.[24][25][26] Lewin, an American-Israeli Internet entrepreneur who understood Arabic, had served as an officer in the elite Sayeret Matkal special operations unit of the Israel Defense Forces.[27][28] Lewin was seated in 9B, and Suqami was directly behind him in 10B.[29] The 9/11 Commission suggested that Suqami may have stabbed and killed Lewin after he attempted to stop the hijacking.[11] Lewin is believed to be the first fatality in the 9/11 attacks.[28][30] During a four-minute call to the American Airlines operations center, Ong provided information about lack of communication with the cockpit, lack of access to the cockpit, and passenger injuries.[31] She provided the seat locations of the hijackers, which later helped investigators to determine their identities.[31]

At 08:24:38, Atta tried to make an announcement to the passengers, but pressed the wrong button and sent the message to Boston ARTCC.[32] Air traffic controllers heard Atta announce, "We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be O.K. We are returning to the airport." At 08:24:56, he announced "Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet."[20] As before, Atta thought he was speaking to only the passengers, but his voice was picked up and recorded by air traffic controllers. After the transmissions by Atta and the inability to contact the airliner, air traffic controllers at Boston ARTCC realized the flight had been hijacked.[33] At 08:26, the plane turned south.[20] At 08:32, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, notified FAA headquarters.[11]

At 08:33:59, Atta announced, "Nobody move, please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."[20] At 08:37:08, the pilots of United Airlines Flight 175 verified Flight 11's location and heading to flight control.[34] Boston ARTCC bypassed standard protocols and directly contacted the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, New York.[11] NEADS called on two F-15 fighter jets at Otis Air National Guard Base in Mashpee, Massachusetts, to intercept. Officials at Otis spent a few minutes getting authorization for the fighters to take off.[11] Atta completed the final turn towards Manhattan at 08:43.[20] The order to dispatch the fighters at Otis was given at 08:46, and the F-15s took off at 08:53,[11][33] roughly seven minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 had already crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Of the four hijacked aircraft on 9/11, the nine minutes of advance notification about the hijacking of Flight 11 was the most time that NORAD had to respond before the aircraft crashed into its target.[35]

At 08:46:30,[37] Mohamed Atta intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower (Tower 1) of the World Trade Center.[20] The aircraft, traveling at about 404 knots (465 mph; 748 km/h) and carrying about 10,000 U.S. gallons (38,000 L) of jet fuel, hit between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower.[38]

Witnesses saw the plane flying at low altitude over Manhattan and thought the aircraft was in distress. Lieutenant William Walsh of the FDNY (who appears in the documentary film 9/11) witnessed the aircraft:

We were under the impression – he looked like he was going down, but we didn't hear any mechanical difficulty. We couldn't figure out why an American Airlines plane would be so low in downtown Manhattan. We sort of expected him to veer off and go into the Hudson. But he just rose a little bit, his altitude, leveled off, and he was headed straight for the Trade Center. So just before he got to the Trade Center, it seemed as though he gained power. We were just watching this airplane on target for the World Trade Center. All of a sudden, boom! He disappears into the Trade Center.[39]

The damage caused to the North Tower destroyed any means of escape at the impact zone or above it. All stairwells and elevators from the 92nd floor up were rendered impassable,[40] trapping 1,344 people.[40] According to the Commission Report, hundreds were killed instantly by the impact; the rest were trapped and died from the subsequent fire and smoke, the eventual collapse, or (in some cases) after jumping or falling from the building.[41] Elevator shafts channeled burning jet fuel through the building.[42] At least one elevator shaft carried burning fuel downward, exploding on the 77th floor, the 22nd floor, and at street level on the West Side Lobby.[43]

Jules Naudet, a French cameraman, and Pavel Hlava, a Czech immigrant, videotaped the crash.[45][46] A webcam set up by Wolfgang Staehle at an art exhibit in Brooklyn to take images of Lower Manhattan every four seconds also captured images of FlightÂ 11 crashing into the North Tower.[47] A WNYW newscamera left rolling on the ground also captured audio of the crash and video of the immediate aftermath.

News organizations at first reported an explosion or incident at the World Trade Center. CNN broke into a commercial at 08:49 with the headline that read "World Trade Center Disaster". Carol Lin, who was the first anchor to break the news of the attacks, said:

Yeah. This just in: you are looking at, obviously, a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. CNN Center right now is just beginning to work on this story, obviously calling our sources and trying to figure out exactly what happened, but clearly something relatively devastating happening this morning there on the south end of the island of Manhattan. That is once again, a picture of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.[48]

Later, in an on-air phone call from his office at the CNN New York bureau, CNN vice-president of finance Sean Murtagh reported that a large passenger commercial jet had hit the World Trade Center.[48] Eventually, other television networks interrupted regular broadcasting with news of the crash. President George W. Bush was arriving at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. Initial news reports speculated that the crash had been an accident until United Airlines Flight 175 was flown into the South Tower 17 minutes after Flight 11 made impact.

After the crash, the North Tower burned for 102 minutes before collapsing at 10:28 A.M. Although the impact itself caused extensive structural damage, the long-lasting fire ignited by jet fuel was blamed for the structural failure of the tower.[50][51][52] In addition to the aircraft passengers and building occupants, hundreds of rescue workers also died when the tower collapsed.[53] Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on floors 101–105 of the World Trade Center One, lost 658 employees, considerably more than any other employer.[54]

Rescue workers at the World Trade Center site began to discover body fragments from Flight 11 victims within days of the attack. Some workers found bodies strapped to airplane seats and discovered the body of a flight attendant with her hands bound, suggesting the hijackers might have used plastic handcuffs.[55][56] Within a year, medical examiners had identified the remains of 33 victims who had been on board Flight 11.[57] They identified two other Flight 11 victims, including purser Karen Martin, in 2006, while other unrelated body fragments were discovered near Ground Zero around the same time.[58][59] In April 2007, examiners using newer DNA technology identified another Flight 11 victim.[60] The remains of two hijackers, potentially from Flight 11, were also identified and removed from Memorial Park in Manhattan.[61] The remains of the other hijackers have not been identified and are buried with other unidentified remains at this park.[62]

Suqami's passport survived the crash and landed in the street below. Soaked in jet fuel, it was picked up by a passerby who gave it to a New York City Police Department (NYPD) detective shortly before the South Tower collapsed.[63][64] Investigators retrieved Mohamed Atta's luggage, which had not been loaded onto the flight. In it they found Omari's passport and driver's license, a videocassette for a Boeing 757 flight simulator, a folding knife, and pepper spray.[14] In a recording, a few months later in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, took responsibility for the attack. The attack on the World Trade Center exceeded even bin Laden's expectations: he had expected only the floors above the plane strikes to collapse.[65] The flight recorders for Flight 11 and Flight 175 were never found.[66]

After the attacks, the flight number for flights on the same route with the same takeoff time was changed to American Airlines Flight 25. These flights now use a Boeing 737-800 instead of a Boeing 767. An American flag is flown on the jet bridge of gate B32 from which Flight 11 departed Logan Airport.[67] As of September 2016, the closest identical American Airlines flight is Flight 166, which is scheduled to  leave at 9:15 a.m.[68] The flight often pushes back very close or next to Gate B32.[69]

On April 26, 2013, a piece of the wing flap mechanism from a Boeing 767 was discovered wedged between two buildings at Park Place, near where other landing gear parts were found.[70][71]

At the National September 11 Memorial, the names of the 87 victims of Flight 11 are inscribed on the North Pool, on Panels N-1 and N-2, and Panels N-74 â€“ N-76.[72]

Note: This list does not include the nationalities of the five hijackers.


when did the battle of the oranges start

The festival's origins are somewhat unclear. A popular account has it that it commemorates the city's defiance against the city's tyrant, who is either a member of the Ranieri family[2] or a conflation of the 12th-century Ranieri di Biandrate and the 13th-century Marquis William VII of Montferrat.[3] This tyrant attempted to rape a young commoner (often specified as a miller's daughter[4]) on the eve of her wedding, supposedly exercising the droit du seigneur. The tyrant's plan backfired when the young woman instead decapitated him, after which the populace stormed and burned the palace.[5] Each year, a young girl is chosen to play the part of Violetta, the defiant young woman.[1][6]

Battle of the Oranges

The Battle of the Oranges is a festival in the Northern Italian city of Ivrea, which includes a tradition of throwing of oranges between organized groups. It is the largest food fight in Italy.[1]

Every year the citizens remember their liberation with the Battle of the Oranges, where teams of aranceri (orange handlers) on foot throw oranges (representing old weapons and stones) against aranceri riding in carts (representing the tyrant's ranks). During the 19th-century French occupation of Italy, the Carnival of Ivrea was modified to add representatives of the French army. Another adaptation of the story has the oranges used to symbolize the removed testicles of the tyrant.

The oldest rituals of Ivrea Carnival include a large bonfire and are similar to ancient celebrations linked to the end of winter and the rise of the new spring.

The core celebration is based on a locally famous Battle of the Oranges that involves some thousands of townspeople, divided into nine combat teams, who throw oranges at each other – with considerable violence – during the traditional carnival days: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The carnival takes place in February: it ends on the night of Shrove Tuesday with a solemn funeral. Traditionally, at the end of the silent march that closes the carnival the "General" says goodbye to everyone with the classical phrase in dialect "arvedse a giobia a ‘n bot", translated as "we'll see each other on Thursday at one", referring to the Thursday the carnival will start the next year.[7]

One of the citizens is elected Mugnaia (miller's daughter). Legend has it that Ivrea was once ruled by an evil duke (identified by historians with Guido III, against whom the population really rose, demolishing his castle, in 1194[citation needed]). After the miller's daughter (la "Mugnaia") Violetta got married, the duke claimed his droit du seigneur, the right to spend a night with each newly wed woman, and forced her into his castle. Once in the duke's rooms, Violetta used the opportunity to cut his head off, starting a revolution that eventually brought to the destruction of the castle. Today the carriages are said to represent the duke's army and the orange throwers the revolutionaries.[citation needed]

Originally beans were thrown, then apples. Later, in the 19th century, oranges came to represent the stones thrown at the king's castle in order to demolish it. The origin of the tradition of throwing oranges is not well understood, particularly as oranges do not grow in the foothills of the Italian Alps and must be imported from Sicily. In 1994, an estimated 265,000 kilograms (584,000Â lb) of oranges were brought to the city, mainly coming from the leftovers of the winter crop in southern Italy.[citation needed]

The historical foot "aranceri" teams that participate in the defense of Ivrea against the Tyrant's carted henchmen are 9:

There are a handful of routes that are allowed for spectators. The first is to hide behind the nets that are draped around the buildings, this is by far the safest choice and is highly recommended for those planning to attend with children. For the more adventurous spectator you can simply stay on the battlefield throughout the whole battle. This choice has to be made with certain considerations the biggest of which rogue oranges that have missed their targets and are on a trajectory right towards the middle of the battle where the spectators are located. Despite what one may expect the armored "palace guards" are not the ones that you have to be wary of when spectating, but the throwers on the other side of the chariots who are attempting to hit the guards. Every spectator is encouraged to purchase and wear, at all times, the Berretto Frigio/Phrygian Cap/red hat for "protection." Wearing the hat signifies that you are part of the revolutionaries and will protect you from getting oranges directly thrown at you,;[8] however, as previously mentioned, if you are in the battlefield the hazard of getting hit by oranges is still a very real and essentially guaranteed occurrence. Spectators are not allowed to throw oranges as long as they are wearing their Berretto Frigio, however because of the nature of the event spectators can get away with certain amounts of throwing.

The caps also serve a separate more cosmetic of a purpose according to locals. The sea of red caps adds to the festivities and the visual effect of the event as a whole.


where is redding california located on a map

Redding, officially the City of Redding, is the county seat of Shasta County, California, in the northern part of the state. It lies along the Sacramento River, 162 miles (261 kilometers) north of Sacramento, and 120 miles (190 km) south of California's northern border, shared with the state of Oregon. Interstate 5 bisects the entire city, from the south to north before it approaches Shasta Lake, which is located 15 miles (24 km) to the north. The 2010 population was 89,861.[5][6] Redding is the largest city in the Shasta Cascade region, and it is the sixth-largest city in the Sacramento Valley, behind Sacramento, Elk Grove, Roseville, Vacaville and Chico.

Redding, California

During the gold rush, the area that is now composed of Redding was called Poverty Flats. In 1868 the first land agent for the Central Pacific Railroad, a former Sacramento politician named Benjamin Bernard Redding, bought property in Poverty Flats on behalf of the railroad so that it could build a northern terminus there. In the process of building the terminus, the railroad also built a town in the same area, which they named Redding in honor of Benjamin Redding. In 1874 there was a dispute over the name by local legislators and it was changed for a time to Reading, in order to honor Pierson B. Reading, who founded the community of Shasta, but the name was officially changed back to Redding by 1880. It has been called Redding ever since.[7]

Before European settlers came to the area, it was inhabited by a tribe of Native Americans called the Wintu. At their height, the Wintu had as many as 239 villages in the Shasta County area.[8]

Although Europeans had been to California as early as 1542, when Juan Cabrillo sailed to what is now the San Diego Bay, the indigenous Indians were probably the only inhabitants of far Northern California region until Russian fur trappers came through the area in 1815.

The first European settlement in the area was established in 1844 by Pierson B. Reading, an early California pioneer who received a Rancho Buena Ventura Mexican land grant for 26,632 acres (10,778Â ha) that is now covered by Redding and Cottonwood, California. At the time, it was the northernmost nonnative settlement in California.

During the gold rush, the area that is now Redding was called Poverty Flats. In 1868 the first land agent for the Central Pacific Railroad, a former Sacramento politician named Benjamin Bernard Redding, bought property in Poverty Flats on behalf of the railroad for a northern terminus. In the process of building the terminus, the railroad also built the town of Redding which was officially incorporated on October 4, 1887.[9]

In the early twentieth century the town's economic growth was spurred by the significant copper and iron mineral extraction industry nearby. However, the mining industry eventually declined, causing the economy and population to falter by 1920. It recovered in the thirties as the economy boomed due to the construction of Shasta Dam to the northwest. The building of the dam, which was completed in 1945, caused Redding's population to nearly double, also spurring the growth and development of other towns in the area.[10]

Redding continued to grow steadily in the nineteen fifties due to the region's growing lumber industry and tourism brought about by the newly completed dam. The constructions of Whiskeytown and Keswick dams also helped boost the economy by bringing new workers to the area. Highway Interstate 5 was built during the sixties and seventies, which added to development and tourism in the region.

Growth in Redding during the 60s and 70s was also caused by annexation of an area east of the Sacramento River made up of the unincorporated community of Enterprise. Enterprise residents voted to support the annexation primarily to acquire less expensive electricity via Redding's municipal utility, which receives power from the dam.

During the 1970s, the lumber industry suffered from decline. Lumber mills in the area closed down and heavily impacted the Redding area. Things later picked up, due to a retail and housing boom in the late 1980s that continued until the mid-1990s.

In 2017, the city adopted a new flag after holding a redesign contest.[11]

In late July 2018, the Carr Fire in Shasta county seriously impacted the Redding area with the destruction of at least 1100[12] buildings, with several thousand more threatened, and 38,000 people instructed to evacuate.[13]

Redding is located at 40°34′36″N 122°22′13″W / 40.57667°N 122.37028°W / 40.57667; -122.37028 (40.576606, −122.370325).[14] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 61.2 square miles (159 square kilometers). 59.6 square miles (154 km2) of it is land, and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) of it (2.50%) is beneath water.

Redding is located at the very northwestern end of the Central Valley, which transitions into the Cascade foothills. The city is surrounded by mountains to the north, east, and west and fertile farm land to the south. Outermost parts of the city are part of the Cascade foothills, whereas southern and central areas are in the Sacramento Valley.[citation needed]

The elevation in Redding is 495 feet (151 meters) on average, whereas anywhere to the north, east, or west of downtown ranges between 550 feet (170 m) and 800 feet (240 m) feet. Southern portions range between 400 feet (120 m) and 500 feet (150 m).

The Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River provides a considerable level of flood protection for Redding. The dam is capable of controlling flows up to 79,000 cubic feet (7,300 cubic meters) per second. The flow rate exceeded this threshold in both 1970 and 1974.[15]

Soils in and around town are composed mostly of clay or gravelly loam texture, with red or brown mineral horizons. They are slightly or moderately acidic in their natural state.[16]

There are several rare and endangered species in Redding and its immediate vicinity. The Redding Redevelopment Plan EIR notes the California State listed endangered species, slender Orcutt grass (Orcuttia tenuis), occurs in eastern Redding near the municipal airport, where vernal pools are known to exist. This endemic grass is a Federal Candidate for listing and is endangered throughout its range, confined to several populations, and seriously threatened by agriculture, overgrazing, and residential development. Vernal pools provide the preferred habitat for this plant, which the California Native Plant Society considers a rare and endangered species.  These same vernal pools also support federally protected species such as the federally threatened vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi).

Redding has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), with very hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Winter (October–April) provides the most precipitation of any season in Redding—the weather tends to be either rainy or foggy and at times, snow occurs.  Summers are hot and dry, but rain is possible, usually with a thunderstorm. The average daily maximum temperature in July stays near 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The highest official recorded temperature in Redding was 118 °F (48 °C) on July 20, 1988. That was recorded at the nearby Redding airport. Some people in town recorded as high as 122 °F (50 °C) that same day. Redding has an average possible sunshine of 88%, the second-highest percentage (after Yuma, Arizona) of any US city.[17]

The city receives an average of 4.8 inches (12 centimeters) of snow annually.[18] It rarely gets sleet or freezing rain. Frost occurs commonly in December through February, less often in March or November. In spring, rain is common. The city is located near the southernmost point of the influence of the westerlies, and it therefore gets much more rain than most places in the Sacramento Valley; temperature differentials between land and sea cause moist air from the latter to flow over the city, producing precipitation, cloud and fog in the winter. The direction of this wind reverses in the summer, as hot, high-pressure air flows from land to sea, making the area very dry. Tornadoes are extremely rare; flooding occurs only around the area near the Sacramento River. The coldest temperature recorded in Redding was 17 °F (−8 °C).[citation needed]

The 2010 United States Census[5] reported that Redding had a population of 89,861. The population density was 1,468.9 people per square mile (567.2/kmÂ²). The racial makeup of Redding was 77,117 (85.8%) White, 1,092 (1.2%) African American, 2,034 (2.3%) Native American, 3,034 (3.4%) Asian, 156 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 2,307 (2.6%) from other races, and 4,121 (4.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7,787 persons (8.7%).

The Census reported that 87,841 people (97.8% of the population) lived in households, 1,138 (1.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 882 (1.0%) were institutionalized.

There were 36,130 households, out of which 11,012 (30.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 16,001 (44.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4,806 (13.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,984 (5.5%) had a male householder with no wife present.  There were 2,570 (99.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 204 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 10,344 households (28.6%) were made up of individuals and 4,622 (12.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43.  There were 22,791 families (63.1% of all households); the average family size was 2.94.

The population was spread out with 20,518 people (22.8%) under the age of 18, 9,436 people (10.5%) aged 18 to 24, 21,725 people (24.2%) aged 25 to 44, 23,424 people (26.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 14,758 people (16.4%) who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 38.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.

There were 38,679 housing units at an average density of 632.3 per square mile (244.1/kmÂ²), of which 19,968 (55.3%) were owner-occupied, and 16,162 (44.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.9%.  48,179 people (53.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 39,662 people (44.1%) lived in rental housing units.

The economy in Redding is largely a service economy. Therefore, employment is spread across a wide range of service professions that include healthcare, retail, and tourism.

According to the City's 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR),[21] these are the top employers in the city:

In the California State Legislature, Redding is in the  1st Senate District, represented by Republican Ted Gaines,[22] and the  1st Assembly District, represented by Republican Brian Dahle.[23]

In the United States House of Representatives, Redding is in California's  1st congressional district, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa.[24]

The city council is composed of Mayor Brent Weaver, Vice Mayor Kristen Schreder, Adam McElvain, Francie Sullivan, and Julie Winter.[25]  The city manager is Barry Tippin.[26]

Redding is a general law city operating under the council-manager form of government.[25][25]

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Redding, operating its Coast Starlight daily in both directions between Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles, California VA Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Oakland, California; San Jose, California; Santa Barbara, California and all Intermediate station stops.
Amtrak California also provides Thruway Motorcoach service to Stockton or Sacramento for connections to the San Joaquins, which serve the San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles area via bus connections.

Redding provides a city bus transportation system called RABA (Redding Area Bus Authority). RABA provides routes throughout the city of Redding and also provides transportation throughout Redding's suburbs. Transportation is also available by Sage Stage to Alturas and Trinity Transit to Weaverville.[30] Redding is also served by the intercity bus companies Greyhound and Fronteras del Norte.[31]

Air transportation for the Redding area is provided by two general aviation airports. Redding Municipal Airport, located south of Redding, has scheduled flights from SkyWest (United Express). The smaller Benton Airpark is located on the western side of Redding.

This list includes persons who were born/raised/worked in, lived in, or whose identity was significantly influenced by Redding, as well as music groups that were founded in the area.