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Where to begin? Layoffs, a rate cut, bailout, fraud

Massive layoffs, a historic rate cut, a Detroit bailout, a Wall Street fraud - just another week in the news . . .

Ronada Cyrus had been working as a seasonal worker and was laid off. She can not get unemployment because of Pennsylvania regulations. (Michael Bryant/Staff )
Ronada Cyrus had been working as a seasonal worker and was laid off. She can not get unemployment because of Pennsylvania regulations. (Michael Bryant/Staff )Read more

Massive layoffs, a historic rate cut, a Detroit bailout, a Wall Street fraud - just another week in the news . . .

"The decision to reduce our workforce was a very difficult one, especially during the holiday season." - Sovereign Bancorp chief executive Kirk Walters, on the Philadelphia bank's decision to cut 1,000 jobs

"If a company fails to come up with a viable plan by March 31st, it would be required to repay its federal loans. The automakers and unions must understand what is at stake and make hard decisions necessary to reform. These conditions send a clear message to everyone involved in the future of American automakers. The time to make hard decisions to become viable is now. Or the only option will be bankruptcy." - President Bush, on terms for loaning $17.4 billion to General Motors and Chrysler

"Americans don't want to drive little cars." - Moody's Economy.com economist Sophia Koropeckyj, on the sudden resurgence of truck and SUV sales

"I thought with casinos and Atlantic City, you're always going to have a job." - laid-off Borgata waitress Sacha Weeks

"I'd say booming best describes what I'm seeing." - Jerome Scarpello, president of Leo Mortgage in Ambler, on the pace of refinancing as mortgage rates tumbled

"We are running out of the traditional ammunition that's used in a recession, which is to lower interest rates." - President-elect Obama on the Fed's rate cut to virtually zero

"The way I figured it, if they didn't believe you at $5 billion, and not at $10 billion, they didn't believe you at $30 billion, then why would they believe you at $50 billion?" - fraud investigator Harry Markopolos, on his years of warning authorities that Bernard L. Madoff was running a colossal pyramid scheme