Monthly Archives: December 2012

Portugal May Become the First of Europe’s Bankrupt Welfare States to Recover: Less Spending AND Lower Tax Rates

"The Portuguese government is seeking to cut its corporate tax rate for new businesses to one of the lowest in Europe as part of a plan to attract investment and revitalize ailing industries, the minister of economy said. The government is in talks with the European Commission’s competition agency in Brussels to get approval to cut the tax on corporate income for new investors to 10% from the current 25%, the minister, Alvaro Santos Pereira, said in an interview." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPortugal May Become the First of Europe’s Bankrupt Welfare States to Recover: Less Spending AND Lower Tax Rates

Everything that’s Wrong with the Tax System, in a Single Picture

"I used to think this image was a damning indictment of the internal revenue code. Or here’s another chart showing how the tax system has become more convoluted over time. But this new image may be the most effective of all of them. We don’t know what’s in the other 72,000 pages of tax code, but we’re all familiar with the basic 1040 tax form. Look at what the politicians have done to it over the past several decades." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEverything that’s Wrong with the Tax System, in a Single Picture

Treasury announces GM exit strategy; automaker buying 200 million shares from U.S.

"The Obama administration said Wednesday it will sell 40 percent of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. back to the automaker and announced plans to completely exit by March 2014. The exit timetable signals the end of one of the most extraordinary government interventions in the U.S. economy in history — the rescue and partial nationalization of two U.S. automakers and their finance arms supported by two U.S. presidents. Taxpayers will almost certainly lose billions of dollars in the $49.5 billion GM bailout. If the government sold the rest of its stock at current prices, taxpayers would lose more than $13 billion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTreasury announces GM exit strategy; automaker buying 200 million shares from U.S.

U.S. Government Asks Court Not To Consider Targeted Killing Challenge

"The U.S. government today filed its first response to a lawsuit challenging the targeted killing of the three U.S. citizens in Yemen last year, Anwar Al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman and Samir Khan. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, which brought the case on behalf of the families of the Americans who died, issued the following statement about the government’s motion to dismiss." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Government Asks Court Not To Consider Targeted Killing Challenge

Protection Against Indefinite Detention Mysteriously Stripped From NDAA

"Congress stripped a provision Tuesday from a defense bill that aimed to shield Americans from the possibility of being imprisoned indefinitely without trial by the military. The provision was replaced with a passage that appears to give citizens little protection from indefinite detention. The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 was added by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), but there was no similar language in the version of the bill that passed the House, and it was dumped from the final bill released Tuesday after a conference committee from both chambers worked out a unified measure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingProtection Against Indefinite Detention Mysteriously Stripped From NDAA

Big Brother Spying Didn’t Stop Connecticut School Shooter … Or 9/11

"The separation between spy agencies and military operations has disappeared … to the point where the same unaccountable government agency which spies on all Americans also decides who gets assassinated by drones. And anyone who questions government actions or policies may be labeled a potential terrorist. And yet – even with Big Brother sticking his nose in every aspect of our lives – that total surveillance didn’t stop the Connecticut school shooter. Or the Batman shooter, the shooter of Congresswoman Giffords, Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc. etc. etc." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBig Brother Spying Didn’t Stop Connecticut School Shooter … Or 9/11

Georgia supervisor, coworkers and four others cashed 1,300 U.S. Treasury checks before authorities caught them

"The former supervisor at an Atlanta mail distribution facility, a coworker and four others pled guilty this month to stealing $3 million in U.S. Treasury checks, including veterans benefits, tax refunds and Social Security checks. By the time authorities figured out the scheme, the small theft ring had stolen or cashed 1,300 federal checks, officials said. And the Georgia workers aren't alone. Between April and September of this year, 171 Postal Service employees were arrested for theft, willful delay or destruction of mail, according to a new report by the USPS inspector general. The Service has about 546,000 employees." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorgia supervisor, coworkers and four others cashed 1,300 U.S. Treasury checks before authorities caught them

The HSBC Debacle – A Double Whammy Of Political Risk And Hypocrisy

"Where does all of this money in fines go? The booty goes to the Federal Reserve (which probably gives it back to these big foreign banks anyways through stealth bailouts), the Justice Department, and other federal agencies. I struggle to think of another country besides the US that could successfully impose such obscene fines for similar reasons – that is because there are no meaningful comparisons. It may be easier to see the political risk in this if it is put in another perspective. Imagine if China imposed a 13 billion yuan (~$2 billion) fine on JPMorgan for doing business that somehow involved Taiwan, a country Beijing considers a 'rogue state.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe HSBC Debacle – A Double Whammy Of Political Risk And Hypocrisy

You May Be a Suspicious Hotel Guest

"Do you routinely put the 'do not disturb' sign on your hotel room door? If you do, you may fit the profile of a suspected terrorist, and the FBI and Homeland Security Administration want to know about it. The FBI and HSA have released a joint bulletin to hotels throughout the world alerting them to potentially suspicious activities by hotel guests representing 'potential indicators of terrorist activity.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYou May Be a Suspicious Hotel Guest