Mock, Paper, Scissors

How many teachers are to blame for the nation’s economic trouble?

If the earnings of those thirteen [top earning] hedge-fund managers were taxed as ordinary income, the revenues generated would pay the salaries and benefits of 300,000 teachers. Who is more valuable to our society – thirteen hedge-fund managers or 300,000 teachers? Let’s make the question even simpler. Who is more valuable: One hedge fund manager or one teacher?

via Robert Reich

Trying Anyway

There’s a lot in the newspapers about how the economy is affecting workers and families and the unemployed, but I haven’t seen anything that specifically relates to high school students. On the other hand, I am in high school myself, and I see the effects on my classmates every day.

I know about 20 smart people with good grades who are not even applying to four-year colleges because they can’t afford to go even if they earn a scholarship. They can’t afford to not work and their families can’t afford to help at all.

Three of my friends had college accounts from the time they were in elementary school, but their parents had to use the money to live on or pay the mortgage.

A lot of people have stopped trying in school because they don’t think it matters anymore. They will graduate high school since we’ve all made it this far, but they have no real dreams or goals beyond that.

I know a lot of people who have started using drugs and even selling drugs because they just don’t care anymore.

I look at it differently from a lot of my friends, and while I acknowledge that it helps that I qualify for a lot of different types of scholarships, I also know that I am an upbeat person and very good at following my dreams. Some days they are all that I have.

I am one of those cheesy sentimental people who actually take Michelle Obama’s words and President Obama’s words to heart.

Six weeks from today I will officially be an adult, and my future is in my hands. There is a lot of scholarship money out there in the world, and I am claiming my piece. I’m working incredibly hard in school and have taken leadership in several activities. It is my plan and my goal to finish college in four years and go on to law school, and I have no intention of allowing poverty or family issues to stand in the way.

Do I now have the money for college? No. Is there a chance that my dream will face obstacles? Of course? But what separates me from many of my classmates is that I am trying anyway. I’m putting in the effort, I’m investigating colleges and scholarships and financial aid options, I’m letting the adults in my life help me with my search, and I will soon be a college freshman at one of the best colleges in this country.

An honest cartoonist would have included the Iraq War, the cost of faith-based programs and the amount that the Bush admin spent on homeland security. What else?

For the people instead of the corporations?? Damn Commie!

Obama crackdown on tax loopholes

President Barack Obama has proposed outlawing offshore tax-avoidance techniques in a move that could hit US corporations with overseas divisions.

His proposals would axe some tax deductions for firms that earn profits in countries with low tax rates.

His plan envisages 800 extra federal agents to police the laws, and may reap $210bn (£140bn) in tax over the decade.

The president said he wanted to “make it easier” for US companies to create jobs at home.

‘Corporate loopholes’

He wants to close tax provisions that allow firms to put off paying taxes on profits made overseas as long as those earnings are invested back into the overseas subsidiaries.

“The steps I am announcing today will help us deal with some of the more egregious examples of what is wrong with our tax code,” he said at a joint announcement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

While “most Americans meet their responsibilities” with regard to tax, he said there were others shirking theirs.

He now needs congressional approval for the changes, which some business leaders oppose, before they could come into effect in 2011.

The president said his proposals would fix a tax code “full of corporate loopholes ” which encourage US companies to send jobs overseas.

‘Balance’

His administration wants to prohibit American firms from taking deductions on the expenses for their overseas operations, until after they have booked their profits in the US.

However, expenses on research and experimentation would be exempt.

In addition, at present US firms are allowed to claim a credit against their American taxes for foreign taxes paid.

But the Obama administration wants to end this practice as it says some firms take advantage of this by artificially increasing the amount of taxes they owe.

And the administration also wants to restrict the strategy that allows US-based multinational firms to shift profits into low-tax jurisdictions.

To prevent this it would require some foreign subsidiaries to be considered as separate corporations for US tax purposes.

The president also called for more transparency in bank accounts held by US citizens in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands.

It is proposed that reporting requirements for overseas investments are tightened and that tougher penalties are introduced for those who fail to report foreign accounts.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the package of proposals “would bring balance to our tax code”.

But Drew Lyon, a tax expert at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, said: “It’s really hitting most Fortune 100 companies that depend to a great deal on growth of foreign markets for growing their total earnings.”

via the BBC. video here

Seems like no one is immune from the current economic disaster.

Amish workers hit hard by recession

After wave of layoffs, leaders change policy, OK jobless aid

Earl Lambright works at the Country Woodshop in Goshen, Ind. Orders for hardwood tables made at the shop are off by 30 percent, forcing the company to shave a day off its five-day workweek. (John Smierciak/Tribune photo / April 17, 2009)

GOSHEN, Ind.—The Amish are defined by their religious beliefs, shunning modern conventions such as automobiles, insurance and electricity in their houses.

But some of the Amish in hard-hit northern Indiana realize they can no longer avoid another newfangled idea: unemployment checks.

The Amish church frowns on government aid but relented on unemployment checks after a wave of layoffs stung Amish laborers in this settlement 120 miles east of Chicago. Church leaders justified the decision because workers are collecting on the unemployment taxes they already paid into the system.

“No one says go out and do it,” explained Eli Miller, 72, an Amish bishop who also prepares income tax returns. “But when they have to feed their families, we thought it would be OK to accept some of it, even though we would rather not.”

How bad is it?

(more…)

via Buzzflash

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM – Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

THE BUZZFLASH EDITOR’S BLOG By Mark Karlin

As part of my series on the destructive corporate mainstream media, it’s important to remember that cable television holds a special place. After all, that is where the most pernicious and dishonest propaganda station disguised as “news” resides: FOX.

But in one 8 1/2 minute segment on “The Daily Show” broadcast of March 4, Jon Stewart eviscerated another cable station, CNBC, as a shill for Wall Street, hyping a failing system to the detriment of its viewer/investors. What Stewart uncovered (as he so often does) is that the so-called mainstream news doesn’t really generally cover news or investigate: it is a cheerleader for the oligarchy, cheerily misleading the average American into an economic ambush.

(more…)

BEFORE the election, do ya?

Or should I take off my tinfoil hat.

is THIS big.

	Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Times President George W. Bush spoke about the economy at the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Friday.

Bigger than some things around here, right y’all?

Best quote from the article?

But while Mr. Bush is doing plenty of talking, Americans do not appear to be taking much reassurance from his words.

Compare and contrast what they said yesterday. I know that I for one keep all my cash tied up in food, gas & medical bills, but that’s just me.

Like the nodding backup singers?

TPM has the full transcript of Obama’s economy speech today: Obama Speech: There’s One Word On Everyone’s Mind, And It’s Spelled J-O-B-S

And the speech itself. Kinda long.

image from http://whoishe.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/hitachi_a-train_ctrl_domestic__olympic_shuttle.jpg

In the following essay, Fragmented Truth (aka my 14 yr old son, formerly AKA Texteen) attempts to solve both the economic and the energy crisis. Neat trick, eh?

We can solve the economic crisis in basically the same method that FDR used the New Deal to stimulate the economy during the end of Great Depression. One of the easiest ways we can solve this problem also helps to solve some other major issues faced by our country: namely the energy crisis, the unemployment crisis, and the economic crisis that we are in. This can be done by creating wind and solar farms in the U.S.

One of the major oppositions to these ideas is that we do not have a system to transport the energy after it is harvested. States like South and North Dakota, Montana, mostly northern states that are inhabited by a low number of people, that get large amounts of wind, are perfect places to harvest wind. Other people could retool the factories in Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. These factories could be used to build the tools to farm wind, solar panels, and a transportation system. So that a fairly equal amount of energy is used all day, we should create a national transportation system, like the bullet trains that run through Europe. This would save a lot of money on fuel for Airplanes, and also provide a way for energy to be distributed throughout the country.

Another extremely important part of this plan is electric cars — cars make up a large chunk of the green house gas emissions. Developing and building all of these things, could be funded by the money that our government spends on foreign oil and on the war effort. Energy would be created 24/7 and to avoid having to create a place to store it all, electric cars would charge at night, at the time that we aren’t using the energy. Back to the main point, all of the labor required for this project would pump lots of money into the economy, and if electricity was free, then electric bills wouldn’t have to be paid, and from a republican stand point, this is essentially a tax cut.

This has been the economic stimulus plan of a 14 year old kid in Texas, thanks for tuning in folks, God bless and goodnight.

—fragmented truth

OK, OK! So they scribble truth! Same thing!

I am SHOCKED! Shocked I tell you!

FBI: Possible Fraud at Collapsed Firms

from ABC News: Top Stories

Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac targeted in wide-ranging probe.

By JASON RYAN and PIERRE THOMAS
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2008

The FBI has opened preliminary investigations into several financial institutions whose collapse created chaos on Wall Street, law enforcement officials tell ABC News.
d
(AP photos)

Investigators are probing investment bank Lehman Brothers and insurer American International Group, or AIG, for possible fraud, according to law enforcement officials.

A senior official tells ABC News that lending giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are in the government’s sights, as well.

The news comes as the Bush administration attempts to hash out with lawmakers a $700 billion bailout plan for financial institutions that are staggering.

Sources tell ABC News the investigations are looking into whether company officials systematically misled investors about the financial strength of their institutions.

Gas prices in California are the nation’s highest, already soaring over $4 a gallon in some areas.

This is no joke. Yesterday, before going to the grocery, my local station had premium for $4.15/gallon. On the way back, it was $4.19/gallon, fifteen minutes later.

One local station has installed an annunciator panel so they can change prices electronically without having to get out of the booth. Efficiency!