My finance view

Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, exited bankruptcy Monday, less than two months after the newspaper publisher announced it would seek the protection of the bankruptcy court to push through a debt refinancing plan.

Lee, which is based in Davenport, Iowa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Dec. 12. Lee owns 48 daily newspapers and holds an interest in four other daily newspapers. It also owns 300 specialty publications.

On Jan. 23, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross confirmed Lee’s prepackaged reorganization plan that includes new terms with creditors, including interest rates that, when combined, jump to 9.2 percent from 5.1 percent. In an unusual move, the company didn’t shed any debt with the plan; instead, the reorganization plan only pushed back the dates when its debts mature.

Under the new terms, Lee’s first lien debt includes a term loan of $689.5 million and a $40 million revolving credit facility that mature in December 2015. A second lien debt includes a $175 million term loan that matures in April 2017.

Lee also extended its remaining debt, called the Pulitzer Notes, that has a balance of $126.4 million. That debt, which was assumed in 2005 when Lee acquired the Post-Dispatch’s parent company, Pulitzer Inc., matures in December 2015.

As part of the refinancing, some Lee creditors also will end up with a 13 percent ownership stake in the company.

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Developing countries seeking to raise their standards of living should focus on educating girls, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said.

Greece’s prime minister resumed talks late Thursday with top bank negotiators to try and overcome obstacles to a major debt-relief deal needed to avoid bankruptcy.

Premier Lucas Papademos met with Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, a banking lobby, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of French bank BNP Paribas.

Private bondholders are being asked to forgive half their Greek debt, and in return accept cash payments and new bonds with longer maturities. The deal is required for a second international bailout with a looming euro14.5 billion bond repayment on March 20 that carries a serious threat of bankruptcy for Greece.

Top eurozone officials are pressing private bondholders to accept the new bonds at a lower interest rate.

A senior Greek government official said, despite delays in concluding the negotiations, Greece was still aiming to submit its formal offer for the bond-swap deal to banks and other private creditors by Feb. 13. The official asked not to be named because the talks are ongoing.

Dallara resumed the talks in Athens for a third successive week.

Eurozone countries have taken a tough stance with the IIF because they would have to provide additional help to Greece if the bond-swap deal falls short of expectations.

“To ensure debt sustainability for Greece, it is essential that a new program be supported by a combination of private sector involvement and official sector support,” William Murray, an IMF spokesman, said late Wednesday.

Murray said the IMF has not asked the European Central Bank, which holds more than euro40 billion ($52 billion) in Greek government bonds, to play any specific role in relieving Greece’s debt pile.

The ECB, as a public sector holder of Greek debt, is protected from any writedown.

“The Fund has no view on the relative contribution of private sector involvement and official sector support in achieving” the target of cutting Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 120 percent, Murray said.

Greece is currently surviving on a euro110-billion loan package from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund, and has been promised an additional euro130 billion in rescue aid if the bond-swap deal goes through.

EU-IMF debt inspectors are currently in Athens for talks with the Papademos government, to set conditions for the second package that are expected to produce more austerity measures in the recession-hit country.

Hardship facing many Greeks has spurred a huge drop in support for the country’s Socialist party, which won the last general election in 2009 with nearly 44 percent of the vote, and formed a coalition government with rival conservatives two months ago.

A nationwide opinion poll published Thursday found support for the Socialists has dropped to 12 percent, just behind three opposition left-wing parties.

The VPRC survey for the Epikaira news magazine gave the conservatives 30.5 percent support. Sample data was not immediately available.

General elections are expected in late April.

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President Barack Obama, offering an election-year prescription to spur the economy, said the wealthiest Americans should pay more taxes in the name of fairness, to bring down the deficit and ensure those trying to make ends meet don

Anheuser-Busch President David Peacock, who has led the brewery’s U.S. operations since 2008, has resigned from the company.  

Employees were notified today of Peacock’s resignation, which is effective today. He’s leaving to spend more time with his family and pursue other business interests, according to the company.

Peacock will continue to serve in an advisory role, according to an email sent by Luiz Edmond, who is assuming leadership of the brewery’s U payday loans.S. operations based in St. Louis.

 Peacock was formerly vice president of marketing at the brewery.

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European Union governments returned to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

A year ago, when Sydney property agent Peter Green

The cost of living in the U.S. was little changed in December for a second month as stores cut prices to boost holiday sales and fuel expenses fell, reinforcing the Federal Reserve

In the land of big-time deficits and trillion dollar budgets, Congress is spending less money on at least one thing.

Itself.

After voting last year to cut its own operating budget by 5%, House members have reduced the number of paid positions on their staffs, and are spending less on office supplies and computers.

The cuts have translated to 948 fewer salaried staff positions, a 62.5% drop in spending on computers and 30.7% less spending on office supplies, according to an analysis conducted by the Sunlight Foundation.

Staff assistant positions were the hardest hit, registering a 16.6% decline, while the number of part-time employees dropped 15.6%. Meanwhile, the number of slots for communication directors actually increased.

The House has around 12,000 staffers, and the job cuts amounted to a 7.4% overall decline in positions, according to Sunlight.

When compared to current deficits, the House spending reductions don’t add up to much in the way of savings. But for a Republican-controlled chamber, they are an important reflection of legislative priorities.

"The cuts are such a tiny fraction of the overall budget," said Lee Drutman, a data fellow at Sunlight. "And the reality is it makes it harder for them to do a decent job."

And more cuts are on the way, as funding will decrease another 6.4% for the legislative year that kicks off Tuesday.

Commentary: Debt crisis must be solved in the open

With many of the easy cuts already made, and staff salaries accounting for about half of congressional budgets, things might get tricky for lawmakers trying to keep a full roster of employees saving account pay day loan.

A report from the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit that helps congress improve its operations, backs that up.

"The 2011 cuts were manageable," the report said. "However, the consensus is that the cumulative two-year cut of 11.4% will require the large majority of offices to make painful cuts that will be felt by virtually all staff."

Drutman warns that any further reduction in staff levels will hurt the ability of congressional offices to independently produce sound policy recommendations and legislation.

"Capitol Hill staffers are already stretched incredibly thin," Drutman said. "And that means if you’re a staffer, you’re more dependent on outside sources."

And who are those outside sources?

For the most part, said Drutman, they’re lobbyists. And dependence on lobbyists for policy expertise is a dicey proposition.

Lobbyists can help fill policy knowledge gaps on congressional staffs, but at the same time come with deep-pocketed backers seeking a specific legislative outcome. 

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European leaders will this week try to rescue under-fire efforts to deliver new fiscal rules and cut Greece