Word: gao
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...these gates—how like the Chinese examination system. It is bigger and badder than the SAT, because Chinese colleges look at nothing else but this single test when accepting students. Gao kao—a phrase feared among high school seniors—represents a one-time chance to determine a significant portion, if not the rest, of your life. It is one of China's most unrelenting dams, after which students trickle into universities and later ooze into the job force...
...think the new regulations for credit-card companies will change things? Well, they're going to tighten up some of the shoddy practices the credit-card companies have pulled off in the past. They seem to be taking notice of the GAO's periodic reports about the credit-card companies' practices - you know, misleading statements, using different font types, billing practices, hidden fees. It's going to address most of those issues. My problem with it is it still doesn't address the matter of interest rates. There's got to be a cap, as far as I'm concerned...
...government's original goal was to get more-affordable monthly payments to 3 million to 4 million borrowers. As of mid-July, modification offers had gone out to 350,000 borrowers, but only 180,000 trial mods were under way, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). (See the top 10 company bankruptcies...
...there's more to the holdup than a bunch of big companies dragging their feet. As the GAO report points out, Treasury itself has taken its time - perhaps legitimately - in rolling out details of the program. Only in late April did servicers get guidance on how to handle second liens. In May came information about dealing with geographic areas where home prices continue to decline quickly. Other details, like the process for modifying loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, continue to emerge. It seems that writing the fine print for a program meant to spend up to $50 billion...
...Lowdown: Senator Joseph Lieberman called the GAO's findings "about the broadest indictment of an agency of the Federal Government that I've heard," and it's hard to disagree. The director of the FPS, which has a budget of about $1 billion, said a lack of money and manpower has hampered the organization and vowed to address the problems. It seems safe to guess that some improvement is on the way - after all, things can't get much worse. But along with weaknesses documented in the Transportation Security Administration, the report supports the notion that even in a post...