http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/ View the Insurance Services Agency website blog. en-us Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:12:20 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Its_Not_Our_Fault_We_Went_Bankrupt.aspx Former Lehman CEO: It's Not Our Fault We Went Bankrupt September 1, 2010   Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy had nothing to do with Lehman Brothers, according to Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers' former CEO. Instead, Fuld argued at a public hearing today, Lehman went bust because the financial world wrongly lost confidence in the bank, and the government failed to effectively intervene. He doesn't mention Repo 105, the accounting gimmick that Lehman used to hide billions of dollars in debt, according ... Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:20:51 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=45aaf72b-01f2-4f3e-9cf3-5e3184758dcf http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Worst_Not_Over_for_US_Comm_Prop_Mrkts.aspx S&P: The Worst Not Over for U.S. Commercial Property Markets August 23, 2010 E-mail Post Comment Print Article Reprints The slump in the U.S. commercial property market didn't quite plumb the depths of the downturn in residential real estate, but although there are signs that home prices are nearing the bottom, commercial real estate could fall further. According to an article published by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, titled "U.S. Commercial And Residential Property Markets ... Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:38:58 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=17474637-66c5-4e6d-a813-b174c813f59d http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/WOW.aspx Billions for Iraq reconstruction unaccounted for; lax oversight blamed More than 95 percent of $9.1 billion cannot be accounted for  Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- A federal audit of $9.1 billion targeted for reconstruction in Iraq cannot account for more than 95 percent of it, a federal report said Tuesday. The report, by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, blamed "weaknesses in DoD's [the Department of Defense's] financial and management controls" and called on the Pentagon ... Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:13:49 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=8a1ae318-273d-429b-ad19-b40477170de3 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Top_Chef_Sues_BP.aspx Top New Orleans Chef Sues BP Over Seafood Losses June 28, 2010 Susan Spicer, one of New Orleans' most prominent and highly regarded chefs, has sued BP Plc for damages to restaurants that have lost normal seafood supplies because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Spicer, who runs the restaurant Bayona in New Orleans' French Quarter, is seeking class-action status on behalf of restaurants and others in the seafood industry that have suffered damage since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater... Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:47:35 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=db7534ba-8466-4c15-a8ce-08c8cbbf0b62 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/NFIP_Will_Cover_Hurricane-Driven_Oil_Damage_FEMA_Confirms.aspx NFIP Will Cover Hurricane-Driven Oil Damage, FEMA Confirms By ARTHUR D. POSTAL Published 6/9/2010 Subscribe to Property & Casualty  NU Online News Service, June 9, 11:45 a.m. EDT WASHINGTON—The National Flood Insurance Program will pay claims for damage to homes and contents from oil driven ashore during hurricanes, its officials have announced. In a statement, Rachel Racusen, press secretary to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the flood program, said, ... Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:18:51 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=25679ae1-e629-43f5-854a-2ea5ad85559d http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Senate_Approves_Financial_Reform_Bill.aspx Senate Approves Financial Reform Bill May 21, 2010  The U.S. Senate approved a sweeping Wall Street reform bill Thursday night, capping months of wrangling over the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the 1930s. By a vote of 59-39, the Senate approved S. 3217, the "Restoring America's Financial Stability Act," legislation meant to address the issues that caused the recent financial crisis. The Senate bill must now be merged with a measure approved in December by the U.S. H... Fri, 21 May 2010 12:35:34 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=41bae91a-c25d-4b04-a894-38bdbd9542f1 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/7_Steps_to_Living_Debt_Free.aspx 7 Steps to Living Debt Free When debt consumes our life, we feel it everywhere -- in our bank accounts, at the grocery store, and most definitely in our marriage. But there are painless ways to get your life and finances back on track. Here's where you should start. 1. Quit buying on credit. Put your credit cards on ice (some people actually pop them in a bowl of water in the freezer), then stick to cash. If you can't afford to buy with what's in your wallet — or on a debit card —... Wed, 19 May 2010 14:51:42 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=ea995d75-3c5a-4e57-ac95-1ad40926f0eb http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Warren_Buffett_Defender_Of_Goldman_Sachs.aspx Warren Buffett, Defender Of Goldman Sachs May 3, 2010 By Jacob Goldstein Warren Buffett has this image as a no-nonsense, middle-America value investor. But these days he's defending Goldman Sachs and Moody's, and pushing to block rules that would require a more cautious approach to the derivatives business. Given his business interests, this is only natural. "I haven't seen anything in Goldman's behavior that makes it any more subject to criticism than Wall Street generally," Buffett sa... Mon, 03 May 2010 15:42:48 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=a52f5075-62a4-472b-9ddb-20d419e2df3d http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Health_Care_Reform_Affects_Small_Biz.aspx How Health-Care Reform Will Affect Small Business Assessing the law's long-term impact on small employers and the self-employed, from access to health exchanges, tax credits, and tax hikes By Karen E. Klein     The health-care reform law, all 2,400-plus pages of it, will take eight years to be fully implemented. Some self-employed people and small employers will begin to feel the impact almost immediately. Others won't notice changes for a few years. Here are the major adjustments.   ... Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:36:46 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=41ed7a7a-ecc3-4a0a-8325-6235e72097ac http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Poor_State_Farm_Sues_TDI.aspx State Farm Sues Texas Department of Insurance Over Web Postings April 1, 2010 State Farm Insurance has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Insurance after the state agency took the unprecedented move of publicizing on its Web site recent rate hikes by the company. Texas' largest insurer is seeking to protect from disclosure certain information that State Farm said could benefit its rivals in the insurance industry. Department spokesman Jerry Hagins says the agency's position is that... Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:07:33 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=1dd7a16c-fbad-4048-a8dd-0123806647d8 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Free_Health_Care.aspx Free Health Care: Right or Privilege? Written by Daily Reckoning - 3/24/10 The French media reports the passage of the health care reform bill as though it were the Emancipation Proclamation. Now, Americans have finally entered the modern world, they seem to say. Now, Americans have access to health care as a matter of right. We’re suspicious of anything the French papers think is a good idea; they’re as bad as The New York Times. That people think they have a “right” to health care just goes ... Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:41:04 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=5df5999d-c8e8-43f2-ae71-23e70e33f489 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Obama_Signs_Health_Care_Bill.aspx Obama Signs Health Care Bill    By ARTHUR D. POSTAL   NU Online News Service, March 23, 2:48 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON—President Obama has signed the historic bill reforming regulation and financing of health care, saying the bill provides "reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see." The bill is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (H.R. 3590.)  At the same time, the reconciliation measure the Senate is considering to finance the reform... Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:26:28 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=ec08badb-9805-4ee5-8630-82e67511c8b2 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Texting_AM_Student_Ordered_to_Pay_22M.aspx Jury: Texting A&M Student Caused Fatal Crash; Ordered to Pay $22M March 22, 2010 A jury that decided a Texas A&M University student was texting while driving and caused a deadly wreck has ordered him to pay $22 million in damages. The victim, Megan Small of Houston, was a senior at Baylor University and was driving to Waco when the November 2007 accident happened near Calvert. The investigation indicated a vehicle driven by Reed Vestal crossed the center line and struck Small's vehicle ... Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:15:32 -0500 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=3c730455-86af-4fbf-87d0-45a61236dc1d http://www.billupsagency.com/blog/Notes_from_The_Cheap_Seats.aspx Men vs. Women: Who Really Are the Safest Drivers? As it turns out...women (shocking). But it's a close race. To figure out whether men or women have "safest-driver" bragging rights, the Insurance Institute (II) looked at almost 2 million consumers who requested auto insurance quotes since January 1, 2009. Of those 2 million, 52 percent were men and 48 percent were women--a solid sampling of each. II then compared the percentages of men and women who... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:20:41 -0600 http://www.billupsagency.com/blog.aspx?entry=107540cd-ef91-404e-9de7-fe08ee7ee808