Bankrupting America Daily Spending Update:

Another California Town Files for Bankruptcy. Reuters reports: “Mammoth Lakes, California filed on Tuesday for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection from its creditors due to a nearly $43 million legal judgment against it. The filing follows a vote Monday by Mammoth Lake’s town council in favor of a bankruptcy filing, specifically to seek protection from the property developer awarded the judgment against the resort town ofabout 8,000 residents in the Sierra Nevada mountains … Stockton, a city of nearly 300,000 people in California’s Central Valley, filed for bankruptcy protection last week, becoming the most populous U.S. city to seek protection from its creditors. The Sacramento court in which Mammoth Lakes filed for bankruptcy protection is due on Friday to hear Stockton’s Chapter 9 case.”

Experts Worried About Jobs Numbers Tomorrow, Cite European Debt Crisis as Major Obstacle to Recovery. The Hill reports: “Weak June manufacturing numbers released Monday intensified concern about the fragility of the economic recovery and turned election-watchers’ attention toward unemployment numbers due out at the end of this week. … China’s economy, which helped pull the world out of recession, is slowing dramatically, while the European debt crisis continues to bite at the American recovery. The White House is bracing for the June jobs report on Friday, which economists expect will show gains of roughly 100,000 — not enough to stifle unemployment. … ‘In the short run, the best we can hope for in the United States is that Europebasically muddles through,’ said Jacob Kirkegaard, a research fellow at thePeterson Institute for International Economics. And even if Europe manages to muddle, the bleak new manufacturing data cast a fresh shadow on the nation’s recovery. ‘We never expected anything like the magnitude of the decline in the new orders index,’ RDQ Economics wrote in a research note, adding that ‘uncertainty about the state of the economic expansion just got ratcheted up a notch with this report.’”

France Is in the “Danger Zone” of Falling Into a “Debt Spiral” … Pro-Spending President Faces Tough Choices. CNBC reports: “Having been in power for less than two months Francois Hollande is facing the first major test of his pro-growth election commitments after a warning from the national auditoffice that France’s economy is in the ‘danger zone’ and risks falling into a ‘debt spiral.’ Late on Monday the national audit office said the French budget deficit will overshoot by 6-10 billion euros ($7.56-12.6 billion) this year and by 33 billion euros in 2013. In order to bring the budget in-line with EU rules, Hollande is going to have to make difficult decisions on spending and taxes that could draw criticism from his own party and unions who supported the pro-growth message that saw him beat Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency in May.”

Americans Spent Less in June, Consumers “Slowing Down.”  The Associated Press reports:“Shoppers, worried about jobs and the overall economy, pulled back on spending in June, resulting in tepid sales results for many retailers. The reports raise concerns about Americans’ ability to spend during the back-to-school shopping season, which starts later this month. As merchants reported their sales early Thursday, many of them disappointed. Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a gain below Wall Street expectations. Target Corp. and Macy’s Inc. also missed estimates. One bright spot was Limited Brands, which reported a robust gain that surpassed Wall Street predictions. ‘These are disappointing results,’ said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics, a research firm. ‘The consumer is slowing down and becoming increasingly more cautious as the economic backdrop is deteriorating. This doesn’t set up particularly well for back-to-school.’”

House to Investigate Another Bankrupt Solar Company That Received A DOE Loan Guarantee. The Washington Examiner reports: “House investigators have asked executives and former executives at Abound Solar, a now-bankrupt solar company that received a $400 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, to testify before Congress about the DOE subsidy. The House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending invited the Abound Solar CEO andformer CEO to testify, along with some Energy Department officials after the company announced it is filing for bankruptcy, despite drawing about $70 million of the $400 million available from the DOE loan guarantee. The bankruptcy announcement comes after Abound laid off 280 employees in March. The DOE loan guarantee was projected to create 1200 permanent jobs.”