Clem’s Chronicles: Tiger Woods/Housing Crisis/Austin, TX follow-up

TGIF folks-have a great weekend. Today's news recap follows…..

TIGER WOODS/”I AM DEEPLY SORRY”-Well what did YOU think? Going into it, many folks were put off by the conditions. John Berman said“This was such a carefully orchestrated event, stage managed by two former operatives of George W. Bush.” But the human side seemed to get through…Berman again: “this was a side of Tiger Woods many people have never seen,  with the golfer practically pleading for forgiveness from so many corners.” There were apologies to his fellow PGA Tour players (“When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game”), his sponsors (“my behavior has caused considerable worry to my business partners”) and to his millions of fans (“I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior”). There was also a spirited defense of his wife against domestic violence allegations in which he added “Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal.” Perhaps most importantly, there was an acknowledgement that his “inpatient therapy”, while “a first step in the right direction”, was nowhere near complete. In announcing that he would return to therapy tomorrow, he said of his career “I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don’t know when that day will be.” While his wife Elin was not at the “press conference”, his mother Kultida was. At one point, Tiger made reference to his mother and the Buddhist faith he was raised with. Woods: “I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught.” Those words, ESPN’s Rick Reilly notes, “is sort of a way of saying ‘I’m going to embrace what my mother taught me.” And while reaction to Woods’ statement today may be all over the map, it’s clear where his mother stands. Woods went to his mother when he had finished speaking and gave her a big old hug. Diane Sawyer picks up the story: “His mother later told us what she whispered in his ear…’I’m so proud of you. Never think you stand alone. Mom will always be there for you and I love you.”
 
JOE STACK: New information surfaced today about Joe Stack – the man who deliberately crashed his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas.His wife Sheryl issued a statement today read by a family spokesman which said that “words cannot adequately express my sorrow or the sympathy I feel for everyone affected by this unimaginable tragedy.” Ryan Owens writes for World News that Stack railed against the IRS in a 3000 –word suicide note posted online – specifically a 1986 tax law. Critics have long argued that law makes it nearly impossible for software engineers – like Stack- to start their own business. In fact records show that two software companies Stack founded were suspended by a state tax board. Owens’ writes that Stack’s online manifesto is gaining a surprising amount of support.  Thousands have posted comments online – including one man who wrote that Stack died in the name of his country.  (thanks to Jason Volack for this entry)

HOUSING CRISIS ON THE MEND?  The experts like what they see.  “Housing is on a path to recovery,” is how real estate analyst Mike Larson views a report that shows a drop in the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage loans.  But with more than 15 per cent of homeowners with a mortgage still behind in their payments or in foreclosure, economist Jim Brinkman of the Mortgage Bankers Association says it’s a case of good news/bad news:  "The bad news is that we still have a big problem," according to Brinkman, who adds: "The good news is it looks like it may not get much bigger."  With that in mind, President Obama offers a new proposal, as we hear from Jake Tapper, traveling with the President:  “Today in Nevada, the President introduced a new $1.5 billion program to go to state housing authorities in the 5 states hit hardest by this crisis to come up with ways to help homeowners in trouble.”  The money will come from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  It will be used to fund housing programs in California, Arizona, Michigan, Florida and – you guessed it – Nevada, where one out of four homeowners are in danger of losing their homes.  As President Obama  spelled it out: “This fund is going to help out-of-work homeowners avoid preventable foreclosures.” On another matter, the President decided to come clean on recent remarks he made about Las Vegas:  “Before I go any further, let me set the record straight:  I love Vegas.” That was a reference to an earlier remark, seen by some as “flippant:” “You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize.” That upset Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who thought an apology was in order because remarks like that hurt his city’s tourism.  But now, Jake tells us:  “This evening he seemed to backtrack, saying it was presumptuous for him to have done so (asked for an apology) and he was pleased with the President’s remarks.” (thanks to Ed Bailey for this entry)

THE OLYMPIC COLD WAR: It’s now one week into the Olympic Games and team USA is on a roll, leading in both overall and gold medal counts. One of the sweetest wins came last night when Evan Lysacek won the gold in men’s figure skating – breaking a 22 year drought. However David Muir reports for WORLD NEWS that the win promoted an outburst from the Russians who felt that their skater – Victor Plushenko was robbed. Plushenko insists that he is the true champion because he landed the quad – something Lysacek did not attempt. But as Muir notes – the rest of Plushenko’s performance – the footwork, the jumps, and spins were less than perfect. Late today Evan Lysacek responded that Plushenko is “a great skater and I’ve always admired him.” (thanks to Jason Volack for this entry)

OTHER OLYMPIC NOTES-Thanks to Jason Volack for compiling:
–SPOILER ALERT/US MEDAL COUNT: American Bode Miller captured the silver in the Super-G and fellow American Andrew Weibrecht wins the bronze. The US now has 20 medals, approaching the 2006 Turin count (25) with 54 events and 9 days left to go. Americans have won six gold, six silver and eight bronze.
–NOT GOOD: Alas, all is not well for the U.S. delegation. There's a crisis in curling.  After an 0-4 start that's made the Americans the only winless club in the field, the men's team changed its skip. John Shuster, a bronze winner in 2006, was benched for the match Friday against France. The change worked-Alex Stone reports the US mens team finally got their first victory of this Olympics besting France 4-3.

DOJ TORTURE MEMOS- Justice Department lawyers showed "poor judgment" but did not commit professional misconduct when they authorized CIA interrogators to use waterboarding and other harsh tactics at the height of the U.S. war on terrorism, an internal review released Friday found. Jason Ryan explains: “The investigation was overseen by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), an internal watchdog that monitors decisions and actions of the department's lawyers. The investigation focused on a controversial August 1, 2002 memo, issued under Jay Bybee, then head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel,  but written in large part by John Yoo, one of his assistants, concluded that a definition of torture ‘covers only extreme acts,’ opening the door to legal justification for certain harsh interrogation tactics.” Ryan also reports that both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees announced earlier this evening they would hold hearings to examine the report. 

STOLEN PLANE LANDS AT LAX-From Jason Ryan and Matt Hosford: “According to an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, the FBI was alerted earlier today to a stolen (small) plane that landed at LAX. The plane was stolen from the San Diego area and landed at LAX at 2:50 am. He did not have authorization to land at LAX but was granted clearance when he communicated with ground controllers. The man was a student pilot flying with an expired license. the plane is a (Cirrus) SR-22.   FBI agents interviewed the suspect…he is currently in the custody of LAPD. Authorities are looking to charge him with state charges for stealing the aircraft. A decision is being made if federal charges apply.  According to a separate federal law enforcement source: officials believe the man may have had suicidal thoughts.”

CREDIT CARD RULE CHANGES COMING ON MONDAY-From Charles Herman: “New rules that benefit consumers and significantly change how credit card companies do business go into effect on Monday, February 22.  Passed by Congress in May 2009, the CARD (“Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure”) Act protects consumers from certain arbitrary interest rate increases, limits overdraft fees, requires greater disclosures to card holders, applies payments more fairly and prohibits issuing credit cards to people 21 years except in certain circumstances.” 
Herman also noted the credit card companies have been busy between congressional passage and implementation-“in the months since Congress passed the new regulations, credit card companies have rushed to add new fees, raise interest rates, cut credit limits and in some cases, cancel cards.  Even with the new rules, credit card providers continue to find new ways to hit consumers with costly fees for things such as paper statements or for not using a card over a long period of time.”

CPAC-The 37th annual Conservative Political Action Conference concludes its’ three day meeting tomorrow. Today, Minnesota Governor and potential 2012 presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty spoke to the gathering. Matt Loffman reports: “He spoke of fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.  Pawlenty’s message to liberals about the upcoming election was clear: ‘we fight.’ ‘When freedom is attacked a powerful movement will rise up and fight back,’ Pawlenty said.”
Other speakers included a plethora of conservative House Republicans including another potential 2012 presidential aspirant, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), chairman of the House Republican Conference.
Tomorrow’s schedule also includes some heavyweights. The highlights:
8:30 a.m. Remarks by former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).
10:30 am Remarks by former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
 2 p.m. Remarks by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
 6 p.m. Keynote Address by radio personality Glenn Beck.

BANK CLOSURES- Regulators have shut down banks in California, Illinois, Florida and Texas, boosting to 20 the number of U.S. bank failures this year following the 140 closures last year in the worst financial climate in decades. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over La Jolla Bank, FSB, in La Jolla, Calif., on Friday. The bank has 10 branches and about $3.6 billion in assets. Also seized was George Washington Savings Bank in Orland Park, Ill., with $412.8 million in assets. The FDIC had earlier announced it took over Marco Community Bank, with a single office on Marco Island, a wealthy barrier island near Naples on Florida's gulf coast. The bank had about $119.6 million in assets and $117.1 million in deposits. Also seized was La Coste National Bank of La Coste, Texas, with $53.9 million in assets and $49.3 million in deposits. (Associated Press)

OTHER STUFF-
–ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION CLOSED- The FBI confirms that it has formally closed the investigation of the anthrax mailings from 2001. Investigators believed that a government researcher, Dr. Bruce E. Ivins, had acted alone — a man who took his own life as authorities prepared to indict him. (Pierre Thomas/Jason Ryan)