Government

The US Senate's Judiciary Committee hearings on the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court are taking place. The Committee has made available webcasts of those hearings. However, if that viewer is unavailable, turn to C-Span for a television source.

Senate Judiciary Committee

C-Span

C-Span also has an archive of the hearings that can be viewed from the beginning of the Sotomayor hearings.

National Public Radio is carrying live coverage of the hearings, too.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed bill S. 614, awarding a gold medal to the members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of WWII; the legislation now awaits President Obama's signature. The bill's language lays out their history, service and losses as well as the pathways they forged for the women pilots of today.

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Women's Policy Inc provides a newsletter called The Source, reporting on the legislative issues that impact women and their concerns. What follows are excerpts from one issue covered by Women's Policy's monitoring:

"On June 10, the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved, by voice vote, the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1211). The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health approved the measure on June 4, The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved a bill with similar provisions (S. 252) on May 21; on May 20, the House Veterans Affairs Committee convened a panel to address the need for specialized services for women veterans."

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The GAO (Government Accountability Office) has issued a June 2009 report concerning reverse mortgages:

REVERSE MORTGAGES Product Complexity and Consumer Protection Issues Underscore Need for Improved Controls over Counseling for Borrowers

HECMs can provide borrowers with multiple benefits, but they also have substantial costs and are relatively complex. HECMs allow seniors to convert their home equity into flexible cash advances while living in their homes. Additionally, the borrowers or their heirs can fully pay off the HECM by selling the home, even if the amount owed exceeds the current home value. However, HECMs also have large insurance and origination costs. Furthermore, the long-term financial implications of a HECM can be difficult to assess because the borrower’s remaining home equity depends on the amount of cash advances and interest rate and house price trends.

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