| Small Florida bank shuttered, 124th this year |
| News - Financial News |
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--(www.FinancialNewsUSA.com)-- 11/25/2009 - Taxes industry news provided by Financial News USA. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Florida banking regulators on Friday shut down Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, marking the 124th U.S. bank to succumb this year to the struggling economy and rising loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the small bank in Fort Myers, Fla., with $79.7 million in assets and $76.7 million in deposits. Central Bank, based in Stillwater, Minn., agreed to assume the deposits and assets of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida. The failed bank's sole branch will reopen Monday as a branch of Central Bank. In addition, the FDIC and Central Bank agreed to share losses on roughly $61 million of Commerce Bank's loans and other assets. The failure of Commerce Bank is expected to cost the federal deposit insurance fund about $23.6 million. It was the 12th failure of a Florida bank this year. Failures also have been concentrated in California, Georgia and Illinois. Health Care: Government of, by and for the people has apparently become a quaint concept to the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. Ramming socialized medicine through now comes down to cash payoffs. Jonathan Karl of ABC News has exposed what may be the biggest taxpayer-funded bribe in the history of the Republic. Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana has been skeptical of her party's proposed radical transformation of the U.S. health system. "I'm not at all surprised that the public option's been sold as free health care," she told MSNBC last month, for instance. "But there is no free lunch." But will this "conservative" Democrat end up exchanging her vote for the biggest slab of bacon in congressional history? As Karl reports, a two-page section of the Senate's monster 2,074-page overhaul package tries to use gobbledygook to hide what could be described in less than one line: "$100 million for Louisiana." The Bayou State is never mentioned. Now they are souring on the White House and the Democrat-led Congress. A study of polling data by IBD shows a slow but steady decline in support for both. A tough economy is hurting them like other voters. But unlike most people forced to cut back, they have not gotten much sympathy from Washington. The administration has blamed "speculators" for last year's market meltdown. It is set on repealing the Bush-era tax cuts that benefited upper earners. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's health care bill would impose a 0.5% Medicare tax hike on those earning over $200,000 annually and $250,000 if filing jointly. It would also place a 40% excise tax on health coverage above $8,500 annually for individuals and $23,000 for families. Instead of those measures, the House would slap a 5.4% tax surcharge on those earning $500,000 -- $1 million for couples. WHO'S COVERED: About 94 percent of legal residents under age 65 -- compared with 83 percent now. Government subsidies to help buy coverage start in 2014. Illegal immigrants would not receive assistance. HOW IT'S PAID FOR: Fees on insurance companies, drugmakers, medical device manufacturers. Medicare payroll tax increased to 1.95 percent on income over $200,000 a year for individuals; $250,000 for couples. New 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Excise tax on insurance companies, keyed to premiums paid on health care plans costing more than $8,500 annually for individuals and $23,000 for families. Fees on employers whose workers receive government subsidies to help them pay premiums. Fines on people who fail to purchase coverage. About Financial News USA Financial News USA is a Next Generation Financial Communications firm focused on the distribution of market moving news. Financial News USA has developed leading edge e-publishing tools including programming proprietary RSS feeds and enabling open source press release publishing across its network. Financial News USA has been aggressively expanding its news distribution network by targeting direct feeds to financial news and data providers such as FinancialContent, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), among others. Financial News USA offers a free news feed available online (www.financialnewsusa.com) to websites and financial services looking for content and for individual investors looking to stay informed on the financial markets. Financial News USA and its affiliates charge each client cash for news distribution and may take an equity position in the companies mentioned herein, please visit the disclaimer at www.financialnewsusa.com. 
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