American Morning
Banking on women in recession
As the recession deepens, guess who’s fast becoming the best friend of American businesses?
American women.
Companies have long known that women often make the buying decisions for the household. But unemployment now is soaring much higher among men than women, which means women now control even more of what gets spent.
By one measure 80% of consumer spending is attributed to women. They control as much as 85% of household spending on everyday items. And they buy more than half of the new cars. Statistics like these are getting the attention of American’s corporations.
CNN Heroes: Bus driver delivers free home-cooked meals
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/20/art_heroes_munoz_cnn.jpg caption=" Jorge Munoz estimates he has served more than 70,000 free meals since 2004."]
JACKSON HEIGHTS, New York (CNN) - Every day, unemployed men gather under the elevated 7 train in Jackson Heights, Queens. Many of them are homeless. All of them are hungry. Jorge Munoz estimates he has served more than 70,000 free meals since 2004.
At around 9:30 each night, relief comes in the form of Jorge Munoz's white pickup truck, filled with hot food, coffee and hot chocolate.
The men eagerly accept containers of chicken and rice from Munoz, devouring the food on the spot. Quiet gratitude radiates from the crowd.
For many, this is their only hot meal of the day; for some, it's the first food they've eaten since last night.
"I thank God for touching that man's heart," says Eduardo, one of the regulars.
What's on Tap – Friday March 20th, 2009
Happy Friday! It's the final day of CNN's special Road to Rescue. We hope it leads you to a better future.
As always, we want your calls, e-mails and “tweets” today. Anything on the economy is fair game, from foreclosures to the Fed.'s trillion-dollar gamble.
We have a grand finale lined up for you:
- The big get – Rep. Ron Paul. He is the voice of the resistance on Capitol Hill. He's enraged that the Fed. just created one-trillion-dollars of "new money" – and calls a 90% tax on executive bonuses a "disgrace," a "distraction" and an "outrage" that undermines the Constitution.
- For those of you who fell asleep after your late local news, we have all the highlights from the president's appearance on Leno last night, including a poor attempt at humor that has people talking today.
- Plus – Our Fareed Zakaria landed an exclusive with former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. He talks about a couple of dirty things – AIG... and his alleged affair with a hooker. We'll have a sneak peek.
- We also have a special look at why women are key to the recovery. As more men become victims of recession, women are gaining the power of the purse. They're spending money in places you wouldn't expect and marketers are paying attention. There's even “just-for-women” potato chips now.
Kiran: Thursday Roundup
Hi all-
Thursday morning of AM's Road to Rescue special coverage brought answers to some of your biggest questions. First off, thanks to some great digging by our congressional correspondent Dana Bash we got some answers about just who in Congress and the Obama Adminstration was involved in legislation that ended up allowing the AIG bonuses. Check out her reporting on the issue here.
Also we started the morning with the news that the Federal Reserve bought up a trillion dollars worth of mortgage backed securities. One effect of that: lowered mortgage interest rates for you. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis took your questions on the news.
Christine and I have quick little discussions in the breaks about all of the hot topics we are covering. We talked about whether all of the populist outrage over AIG is taking away from the larger issue of where our trillions of tax-payer dollars have gone and are continuing to go through the bailouts and other attempts to stabilize the economy. We are digging more into that Friday morning. Hope to see you then!
Cheers,
Kiran
We Listen!
Here’s your daily recap of the best feedback we got from YOU on the blog, Facebook, Twitter, Email and our viewer hotline 1-877-MY-AM-FIX. Continue the conversation below. And remember, keep it brief, and keep it clean. Thanks!
American Morning viewers flooded the emails with financial comments and questions regarding mortgages, unemployment, and student loans. Viewers praised CNN for helping to “educate consumers on credit related issues.” Others vented their anger at politicians for what they termed “unbelievably poor jobs they have been doing for the last few years.”
Voicemail
Emails
- Jason Dean / Elk Grove, CA: Will someone please tell the politicians that it's time they took a pay cut for the unbelievably poor jobs they have been doing for the last few years. It's time they lead by example, oh yeah and give up all there campaign contributions. Thank you.
- Catherine Woodall / NH: I am so tried of hearing about the outrage from congress concerning the stimulus bill. It is the responsibility of the congress to know what is in the bill before voting on it. There is no excuse for not READING the final draft before voting. If the bill is too large (multiple pages) then the process should be slowed down so the legislatures would have the time to read the final copy.
What are your thoughts on our viewers’ comments? Should politicians take a pay cut for poor performance or for “not reading the final draft [of a bill] before voting?”
Minding Your Business
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/16/minding_your_busi_art.jpg caption=" CNN Business Correspondent Christine Romans is Minding Your Business everyday here on amFIX"]
The sound and fury from the AIG bonus story doesn’t cease. The underwater volcano eruption from Tonga overnight was matched only by the smoke and ash spewing from a House chamber yesterday as members pounded AIG CEO Edward Liddy. It didn’t seem to matter that Liddy came on board only last fall and has a one dollar a year salary.
A few members thanked him for his service, but most blamed him for the bonus controversy. In the midst of all of it, murky timelines of who knew what about the bonuses, when. And a mystery surrounding who finagled language at the last minute during the crafting of the stimulus bill, language that essentially paved the way for AIG to pay the bonuses. (Thanks to CNN’s Dana Bash, we now know Sen. Chris Dodd was responsible for that. At the urging, he says, of the Obama Treasury department.)
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