, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Wednesday called for more transparency from the Federal Reserve to show that the U.S. central bank was not engaging in unspecified “improper” actions.

Under Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, the central bank has embarked on one of the most extended periods of cheap money in U.S. history in an effort to right the U.S. economy. The Fed has been criticized by many for opaque decision making on monetary policy.

“They should open their books up. They should be transparent so that the people of the United States know what they are doing,” the Texas governor said at a packed breakfast meeting in Bedford, New Hampshire.

“It would go a long way to showing if there had been activities that had been improper,” Perry said

Without such action, “there will continue to be questions about their activities and what their true goal is for the United States,” he added.

It was a fresh attack on the Fed from Perry, who created a stir on Monday when he said he would consider it “treasonous” if Bernanke “prints more money between now and the election” in November 2012.

But Perry’s tone, in comments made to a non-partisan audience of local business people, was not as harsh on Wednesday. He said he was one of a number of Republicans who have questioned the Fed’s transparency.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has been on a glide path toward the 2012 primary elections, serving up a steady diet of soundbites and campaign material attacking President Barack Obama on jobs and the economy.

The easy ride will end if Texas governor Rick Perry jumps into the Republican race — especially since Perry has the strong record on job creation that Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, claims for himself.

While still untested, Perry is said to have cross-over appeal among Republican voters — from social conservatives and the small government Tea Party to the mainstream business element — that Romney lacks.

A Perry candidacy could be the first major test of Romney’s 2012 bid, forcing the former venture capitalist to compete within his party and to engage on controversial issues that he has often dodged.

“Mitt Romney is running with blinders on. Perry could force him to pivot. Should all things go right for him, Rick Perry is Romney’s biggest threat,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, chairman of the CivicForum PAC.

Democrats and some Republicans have rapped Romney for acting as if he is already his party’s pick, and behaving as if he does not need to campaign heavily or to stake out his policy positions.

Last week in Los Angeles, Romney was asked about criticism from some of his fellow Republicans. He declined to be drawn into intraparty squabbles, saying that he was campaigning against Obama. In Virginia on Monday, he raised eyebrows by reportedly musing at a fund-raiser about who might be on his short-list for a running mate.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has been on a glide path toward the 2012 primary elections, serving up a steady diet of soundbites and campaign material attacking President Barack Obama on jobs and the economy.

The easy ride will end if Texas governor Rick Perry jumps into the Republican race — especially since Perry has the strong record on job creation that Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, claims for himself.

While still untested, Perry is said to have cross-over appeal among Republican voters — from social conservatives and the small government Tea Party to the mainstream business element — that Romney lacks.

A Perry candidacy could be the first major test of Romney’s 2012 bid, forcing the former venture capitalist to compete within his party and to engage on controversial issues that he has often dodged.

“Mitt Romney is running with blinders on. Perry could force him to pivot. Should all things go right for him, Rick Perry is Romney’s biggest threat,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, chairman of the CivicForum PAC.

Democrats and some Republicans have rapped Romney for acting as if he is already his party’s pick, and behaving as if he does not need to campaign heavily or to stake out his policy positions.

Last week in Los Angeles, Romney was asked about criticism from some of his fellow Republicans. He declined to be drawn into intraparty squabbles, saying that he was campaigning against Obama. In Virginia on Monday, he raised eyebrows by reportedly musing at a fund-raiser about who might be on his short-list for a running mate.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Some of the largest pension funds and investment firms have urged President Barack Obama and Congress to resolve the deficit impasse and avoid inflicting “pain and hardship” on the nation.

In an open letter to Obama and lawmakers dated July 25, top officials from ten pension funds and plan sponsors urged an increase in the debt ceiling, but more so of the need to reduce the massive federal budget deficit and avoid a potential downgrade of the U.S. by credit agencies.

Investment firms BlackRock Inc. and Legg Mason signed a similar letter July 25 as part of a coalition of 14 large public and private investors.

“The idea of America losing its AAA rating was once unthinkable, but now highly likely if our leaders fail to act,” the letters said. “The consequences of such a downgrade are very real and very serious.”

“Our country faces threats to its economic well-being that will inflict pain and hardship on all our citizens for many years if we fail to act — and act now.”

The United States, as a debtor nation, must show that its word is its bond, the investment groups said.”

“It is critical that the debt ceiling be raised to avoid a default. But raising the debt ceiling just addresses the immediate problem of default. The huge budget deficit, both current and long-range, is the real problem.”

BOSTON (Reuters) – Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will investigate Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a key player in the U.S. mortgage system, over its possible role in connection with illegal foreclosures.

While the probe continues, Coakley said, she will not sign an agreement between state attorneys general and major banks related to foreclosures if the deal absolves banks from liability related to mortgage securitization.

In a letter dated Monday, Coakley said her office was “investigating creditor misconduct in connection with unlawful foreclosures, including failure to establish the right to start a foreclosure.”

“We have focused particularly on creditors’ reliance on MERS and whether MERS conforms to the requirements of Massachusetts law, in the context of foreclosures and otherwise,” Coakley said.

A MERS spokeswoman said the organization will cooperate, adding that Coakley’s assertions are without merit.

“The use of MERS has been litigated in Massachusetts courts and judges have upheld the legality of the MERS business model in the Commonwealth,” MERS’ Janis Smith said in a statement.

MERS is an electronic-lien registry created by the mortgage banking industry as a way to streamline and speed up the mortgage recording and transfer process.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Men who pay for sex are more likely than men who do not pay for sex to commit a variety of offenses including violent crimes against women, according to research conducted in the Boston area.

The study, released this week, was based on interviews with 202 men conducted by the nonprofit group Prostitution Research and Education and was led by Melissa Farley, a clinical psychologist and anti-prostitution activist.

Buyers and non-buyers of commercial sex from the Boston area were paired by age, education and ethnicity to compare their perceptions of women after voluntarily joining the study. About half the men paid for sex and the other half did not.

Men who paid for sex were more likely to report having committed felonies and misdemeanors, including crimes related to violence against women and those related to substance abuse, assault and weapons, the study found.

The study was designed, among other things, to test attitudes of men who buy sex. It found that as a group, they share certain attitudes and behavioral tendencies different from their non-buying peers.

Almost three in four of the sex buyers reported they learned about sex from pornography, whereas only 54 percent of the non-buyers did so.

The two groups also held significantly different attitudes regarding whether prostitution was consenting sex or exploitation. Men who bought sex were significantly less empathetic toward women working as prostitutes.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Men who pay for sex are more likely than non-buyers to commit a variety of offenses, including violent crimes against women, according to research conducted in the Boston area.

The study was based on face-to-face interviews with 202 men conducted by the non-profit group Prostitution Research and Education and led by Melissa Farley, a clinical psychologist and anti-prostitution activist.

Buyers and non-buyers of commercial sex from the Boston area were paired by age, education and ethnicity to compare their perceptions of women, after voluntarily joining a research study.

Men who paid for sex were more likely to report having committed felonies and misdemeanors, including crimes related to violence against women and those related to substance abuse, assault and weapons.

The buyers and non-buyers agreed that the most effective deterrent to buying sex would be to be placed on a list of men described as sex offenders. Jail time was also considered an effective deterrent.

The study was designed, among other things, to test attitudes of men who buy sex. It found that as a group, they share certain attitudes and behavioral tendencies different from their non-buying peers.

For example, significantly fewer sex buyers, 47 percent against 70 percent, reported that they were taught about respect for women in sex education classes.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Elizabeth Warren, who locked horns with Wall Street while creating a consumer protection agency during the U.S. bank bailout, is being urged to run for the Senate seat once held by another populist, Edward Kennedy.

Warren, a Harvard Law School professor, would become by far the highest profile Democrat in what could be an uphill fight against popular Republican incumbent Scott Brown.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched a “Draft Elizabeth Warren for Senate!” campaign on Monday and is raising money in case she runs. Earlier this year, the group signed up hundreds of thousands of supporters in a failed bid for Warren to lead the consumer protection agency she helped create.

“Elizabeth Warren has a track record of holding Wall Street accountable and fighting for regular people like us,” the group said on its website.

Warren was not immediately available for comment on whether she is interested in a Senate campaign. Earlier on Monday, she told MSNBC that she was giving the matter some thought.

A 62-year-old native of Oklahoma, Warren is known for her views on the need for greater financial protections for consumers and for asserting that U.S. policy has been tilted too far in favor of powerful business interests.

Those ideas, regularly expressed in television interviews and in her work building the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and as chair of the congressional panel created to oversee the 2008 U.S. banking bailout, often put Warren at odds with the banking industry.

UNITY, New Hampshire (Reuters) – The month of May was a happy milestone for New Hampshire as the jobless rate fell to 4.8 percent, the lowest since December 2008 and the third best rate in the United States.

The state’s relatively sound economic health should be good news for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election hopes in the New England state that often is seen as a barometer for the national political mood.

But not so fast — despite weathering the recession and weak recovery better than most of the country, New Hampshire residents are still gloomy about the economy. That makes it more difficult to predict which way the state will go when Obama faces re-election in 2012.

“The economy seems to have bottomed out and kind of stayed there,” said George McLellan, 50, who is a farmer and also looks after developmentally disabled adults in Unity.

Obama’s job performance rating in New Hampshire — a state he won in 2008 with 54 percent of the vote — remains low, according to an opinion poll last month.

The poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for WMUR television station, showed Obama with a 46 percent job approval rating against 49 percent disapproval.

Fifty-six percent of New Hampshire adults disapproved of Obama’s handling of the economy and barely one in three felt the country is headed in the right direction.