POTUS News: Up to 3 million homeowners could save about $1,000 a year because of a reduction in fees, announced Tuesday by President Obama, on refinancing their government-backed mortgages. In addition, the White House said it was taking new steps to help military members whose homes were improperly foreclosed by large mortgage servicers. Among the steps, the servicers have agreed to conduct a review overseen by the Justice Department of all foreclosures of military members since 2006 to determine if they violated a federal ban on such actions for active duty service members. Any violations will result in the servicer paying the military member’s lost equity, plus interest, plus $116,785. Read more here.
Super Duper Tuesday News: Voters in ten states participate in primaries and caucuses on Tuesday for contests that will award more delegates in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination than all the previous contests combined. And while no candidate is expected to deliver a knockout blow, the outcome will dramatically reshape the contours of the race. Read more here.
R.I.P. News: Donald M. Payne, who served 12 terms in the House of Representatives and was the first African American congressman from New Jersey, died March 6 at a hospital in Livingston, N.J., according to a statement from his office. He was 77 and had colon cancer. Rep. Payne was first elected to the U.S. House in 1988, taking over the seat that had previously been held for 40 years by Peter W. Rodino, former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The district encompassed parts of Jersey City, Elizabeth and his hometown of Newark. Read more here.
Go Directly To Jail. Do NOT Pass Go. Do NOT Collect $200. News: A former chemist for the Food and Drug Administration has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in an insider trading scheme that spanned nearly five years. Cheng Yi Liang, 58, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Greenbelt. The Gaithersburg resident pleaded guilty in October to using a confidential drug database from 2006 to 2011 to learn what experimental drugs would be approved. He would then buy stock accordingly. He earned nearly $3.8 million using that non-public information. Read more here.
I’m Still On The Cain Train, Anybody Else With Me? News: Georgia businessman Herman Cain on Monday hailed Newt Gingrich’s promise to push the price of a gallon of gas under $2.50 as the new “9-9-9” of the presidential campaign — another catchy yet substantive slogan, he said, that gives voters a concrete promise of action. Appearing with Gingrich at an airport rally here late Monday, Cain said Gingrich’s “250gas” campaign, memorialized on placards and on Twitter and Facebook, is catching on across the country. Read more here.
Happy Tuesday Obot family! Check out the links and come back to discuss. Now for today’s Tuesday Trivia….
What 2007 Indie-Rap song is T.I. sampling in his hit single “Swagger Like Us” featuring Jay-Z and Kanye West (also known as the unofficial song of the Obama campaign)?
To get a pass from the “bad chair/Lay-Z-Boy/sofa/sectional/lounge” you must provide the song title and artist first (without using “teh Google” or “teh Wiki”). If no one is able to guess the correct answer by 8:00pm EST, I am keeping the pass for myself.
Can’t recall the answer? Take a listen and see if you can figure it out…