crony capitalism

Buffett Says Banks Free of Excess, Pose No U.S. Threat

"Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who oversees stakes in some of the largest U.S. banks, said the nation’s lenders have rebuilt capital to the point where they no longer pose a threat to the economy. Buffett’s firm has investments in at least four of the seven biggest U.S. lenders by assets, including a stake of more than $14 billion in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), $5 billion in Bank of America and warrants that allow it to buy $5 billion of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares. Berkshire also has a holding in U.S. Bancorp." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBuffett Says Banks Free of Excess, Pose No U.S. Threat

What’s Inside America’s Banks?

"Some four years after the 2008 financial crisis, public trust in banks is as low as ever. Sophisticated investors describe big banks as 'black boxes' that may still be concealing enormous risks—the sort that could again take down the economy. A close investigation of a supposedly conservative bank’s financial records uncovers the reason for these fears—and points the way toward urgent reforms." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat’s Inside America’s Banks?

Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

"It was all a lie – one of the biggest and most elaborate falsehoods ever sold to the American people. We were told that the taxpayer was stepping in – only temporarily, mind you – to prop up the economy and save the world from financial catastrophe. What we actually ended up doing was the exact opposite: committing American taxpayers to permanent, blind support of an ungovernable, unregulatable, hyperconcentrated new financial system that exacerbates the greed and inequality that caused the crash, and forces Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to increase risk rather than reduce it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecrets and Lies of the Bailout

Billions in Afghan aid could be wasted: U.S. inspector

"Billions of dollars in American assistance to Afghanistan could ultimately go to waste without better planning and security in the war-torn nation, a US investigator said Thursday. Despite US commanders’ talk of progress in Afghanistan, Sopko said that it was becoming more difficult for inspectors to head into the field to ascertain that US money was being well spent. Sopko accused both the Pentagon and the US Agency for International Development of lacking long-range plans on where and why they were building projects and of often failing to ensure quality standards." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBillions in Afghan aid could be wasted: U.S. inspector

H.R. 193 would force farmers to pay a fee on saved seeds and register them

"H.R. 193 would change things for farmers who purchase patented seeds and then grow those seeds. After the harvest, many farmers save the seeds that they can, seeds produced from the product they already paid for. H.R. 193 would force those farmers who save their seeds to register those seeds with the Secretary of Agriculture. After they register those seeds, the farmers would then have to pay fees set aside by the Secretary of Agriculture for keeping the seeds, 'and for other purposes'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingH.R. 193 would force farmers to pay a fee on saved seeds and register them

Full Disclosure: Lew Received a Million Dollars in Cash From Citigroup During Bailout

"Jacob J. Lew, President Obama’s presumed choice to lead the Treasury Department, has close ties to Wall Street, receiving more than $900,000 in bonus cash from a division of Citigroup just as the company was getting bailed out by U.S. taxpayers[...] Formerly chief operating officer at Citi Alternative Investments, a division of Citigroup, Mr. Lew received a bonus of $944,578 in January 2009, a payment that came days before he joined the State Department and later surfaced in a government ethics form. The bonus came on top of $1.1 million in other Citigroup compensation he reported receiving during 2008 and the first two weeks of 2009." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFull Disclosure: Lew Received a Million Dollars in Cash From Citigroup During Bailout

Bill Bonner: Zombie Nation

"When an industry is only profitable with government backing it means that the industry uses resources — labor, energy, raw materials — and turns them into finished products that are worth less than the inputs required to make them. The more of these zombie industries the government supports, the poorer the society becomes. 'Rentier' is a French word that has leaked into English. It describes people who have found a way to exploit the system for their own benefit — people who have legal entitlements to income streams. In other words, 'Rentier' describes a class of folks who contribute absolutely nothing to national prosperity — zombies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Zombie Nation

Tim Carney: How corporate tax credits got in the ‘cliff’ deal

"The 'fiscal cliff' legislation passed this week included $76 billion in special-interest tax credits for the likes of GE, Hollywood and even Captain Morgan. But these subsidies weren't the fruit of eleventh-hour lobbying conducted on the cliff's edge. The Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 was copied and pasted into the fiscal cliff legislation, yielding a victory for biotech companies, wind-turbine-makers, biodiesel producers, film studios -- and their lobbyists. So, if you're wondering how algae subsidies became part of a must-pass package to avert the dreaded fiscal cliff, credit the Biotechnology Industry Organization's lobbying last summer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTim Carney: How corporate tax credits got in the ‘cliff’ deal

Tax Break Included in “Fiscal Cliff” Bill Will Benefit Warren Buffett

"Your paycheck will most decidedly go down because the bill that just worked its way through Congress failed to extend the 2% payroll tax break. But it is not the same for friends of Obama. I already pointed out that Hollywood will get a tax break, but so will Warren Buffett. Nick Badalamenti emails to point out that the bill has a tax break for railroads in it. In February 2012, Bloomberg reported that in addition to spending billions on core railroad projects, 'Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans to boost [other] capital spending at its railroad.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax Break Included in “Fiscal Cliff” Bill Will Benefit Warren Buffett

‘Fiscal Cliff’ Bill Provides for Cheaper Office Space for Goldman Sachs

"Section 328 of the bill extends tax-exempt financing for the 'Liberty Zone,' the area around the former World Trade Center, for another year. As Matt Stoller points out, this tax provision was supposed to help fund reconstruction after 9/11. Yet a recent Bloomberg investigation found the bonds have mostly helped finance new luxury apartments, not to mention the construction of Goldman Sachs’ new headquarters." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Fiscal Cliff’ Bill Provides for Cheaper Office Space for Goldman Sachs