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U.S. Unemployment Drops to 8.1% But 12.5 Million Still Out of Work, Economy Added Only 115K Jobs in April

May 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES DROPS: Under the right conditions, the drop in the unemployment rate to 8.1% would have been a selling point for Obama to use on the campaign trail, but the wind was taken out of his sail because the U.S. economy added only 115,000 jobs in April. In other words, nothing for Obama to brag about because 12.5 million Americans are still out of work.

Wall Street Journal:  Job growth was below expectations once again, “a fresh sign that the economy could be settling into a sluggish spring.”

First Read: “These jobs reports do have an impact on how people view the economy. We noted earlier in the week that Romney was having a tough week because of all the national security news that dominated. This will allow him to get back on message for a month.”

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SeaWorld Pays No Federal or Corporate Taxes on Record 2011 Earnings of $380 Million, Unlike Working Class Americans

April 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
seaworld SeaWorld Pays No Federal or Corporate Taxes on Record 2011 Earnings of $380 Million, Unlike Working Class Americans

SeaWorld Pays No Federal or Corporate Taxes on Record 2011 Earnings of $380 Million, Unlike Working Class Americans

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment had a great 2011, financially speaking, with record attendance and guest spending, but the company won’t have to pay a penny in federal income tax nor any Florida corporate income tax either. Why? Thanks to huge deductions for capital investment and interest payments, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

In fact, the Orlando-based theme-park operator has consistently reported losses to federal and state governments in the two-plus years since it was bought by the private-equity giant Blackstone Group for about $2.5 billion. And because of those accumulated accounting losses — plus continued annual deductions — analysts at the credit-ratings company Moody’s predict SeaWorld will not have to pay any “meaningful cash federal income taxes for the next several years.”

A spokesman for SeaWorld, whose core earnings topped $380 million last year, confirmed that the company won’t have to make any income-tax payments for 2011. Source: Orlando Sentinel

SeaWorld is hardly alone in finding a way to skirt the payment of taxes. The U.S. imposes one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the world, about 35 percent,  not including state taxes, but many companies pay far less thanks to tons of tax loopholes.

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RIMCO Rent-To-Own Tires: Aaron’s Finds New Way to Prey Upon the Poor and People Affected by Recession

March 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
rimco tires 300x49 RIMCO Rent To Own Tires: Aarons Finds New Way to Prey Upon the Poor and People Affected by Recession

Rent-To-Own Tires: Aaron's Finds New Way to Prey Upon the Poor and People Affected by Recession

Would you rent tires for your vehicle? Well, RIMCO, which is a division of  Atlanta rent-to-own furniture and electronics company Aaron’s, started renting tires in 2004 as a destination for drivers who wanted to pimp their rides with trendy wheels, the AJC reports. But they found another market to rip people off, thanks to the recession. I should also state that RIMCO has two stores conveniently located in predominantly black Stone Mountain and Marietta.

If you have to rent tires, you are in more trouble than you can ever imagine. If you have to rent tires and rims to “pimp” your ride, then you are living way above your means. Let’s be real, you don’t have to buy Michelin tires for your vehicle if you are having money problems. You can buy cheaper tires until you can afford to purchase the top-of-the-line ones. Aarons, Rent-a-Center and now Rimco are all preying on the poor whites, blacks and Latinos.

Germaine Rasheed,  an Atlanta nurse said she didn’t have the $500 it would have cost her to get four new tires for her 3-year-old Camry. And she has no credit cards. But she still needed to get to work.

So Rasheed went to the Atlanta-based wheel and tire chain and got two tires on a rent-to-own basis. She paid $41.17 a month for them, until her tax refund came in and she was able to pay the balance.

“I needed them right away,” she said. “If you’re on a budget, you can’t afford it. Tires are very expensive.” Source: AJC

Um, you can purchased slightly used tires or even private label tires for less than the $500 she claims she would have to spend for four. I went to Discount Tires’ website and guess what, they had tires for less than $500.

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U.S. Economy Added 227K Jobs in February, Unemployment Rates Steady at 8.3%

March 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal:  The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate steady at 8.3% .

Reuters: “Employment grew solidly for a third straight month in February, a sign the economic recovery was broadening and in less need of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve.”

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Tsutomu Omori, Olympus Corp. Medical Equipment Executive Commits Suicide in Gurgaon, India

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Huffington Post: “Tsutomu Omori, 49, head of scandal-ridden Olympus Corp.’s medical equipment business in India, committed suicide late Sunday, Lal Singh, investigating officer of Gurgaon Police told Reuters. The company was rocked by a $1.7 billion fraud that led to the arrest of senior executives in Tokyo.”

“At this stage of probe, it looks like he committed suicide. One of his company executives told us he was depressed for the last two weeks,” Singh said, adding that the Japanese Embassy was informed of the death on Monday.

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Apple Inc. Created 700,000 Jobs in Asia, Shouldn’t Those Jobs be on American Soil?

January 28, 2012 By 3 Comments
apple inc Apple Inc. Created 700,000 Jobs in Asia, Shouldnt Those Jobs be on American Soil?

Apple Inc. Created 700,000 Jobs in Asia, Shouldn't Those Jobs be on American Soil?

I know everyone loves Apple products, but have you ever stopped to think where they are made? From your iPad to your iPhone and your Mac Air Pro. I’m not here to bash Apple, but isn’t it time our government makes it attractive for a company like Apple Inc. to manufacture its products here instead of in Asia? Let me explain my position by linking to two commentaries written by Paul Krugman and Robert Reich:

First, Paul Krugman, recently wrote a column on Mitch Daniels’ assertion that American businessman Steve Jobs was a hero–job creator who should be emulated. Krugman points out that it isn’t just lower wages that makes Asia attractive, but the local supply infrastructure. Shouldn’t we improve our manufacturing base, including the creation of more factories?

[A]nyone who reads The New York Times knows that [Daniels'] assertion about job creation was completely false: Apple employs very few people in this country.

A big report in The Times last Sunday laid out the facts. Although Apple is now America’s biggest U.S. corporation as measured by market value, it employs only 43,000 people in the United States, a tenth as many as General Motors employed when it was the largest American firm.

Apple does, however, indirectly employ around 700,000 people in its various suppliers. Unfortunately, almost none of those people are in America.

It seems that we have learned nothing from the Industrial Revolution during which America grew in leaps and bounds. The government has always had an industrial policy, but in the last 30 years, the much revered former president Ronald Reagan and every government since then, has been bought off by picking corporate winners in the name of “free market.” What has happened is that we have been robbed blind and the jobs won’t be coming back any time soon, unless the government makes a conscious decision to change all that. A Mitt Romney administration won’t do that and I am really iffy on President Obama even picking a fight with the Republicans on that front.

Robert Reich recent column, Jobs Won’t Come Back to America Until the Government Pushes Greedy Corporate Executives to Invest at Home, is dead-on. He says:

… An Apple executive says “We don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.” He might have added “and showing a big enough profits to continually increase our share price.”

Most executives of American companies agree. If they can make it best and cheapest in China, or anywhere else, that’s where it will be made. Don’t blame them. … What they want in America is lower corporate taxes, less regulation, and fewer unionized workers. But none of these will bring good jobs to America. These steps may lower the costs of production here, but global companies can always find even lower costs abroad. …

But here’s the political problem. American firms have huge clout in Washington. They maintain legions of lobbyists and are pouring boatloads of money into political campaigns. After the Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United decision, there’s no limit.

Who represents the American workforce? … [C]orporate America isn’t their friend. Without bold government action on behalf of our workforce, good American jobs will continue to disappear.

I found it somewhat disingenuous that Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, sat with First Lady Michelle Obama at the president State of the Union address. It isn’t time to talk about the greatness of Apple, but to find out why Apple chooses to make its products overseas and sell them here for significantly more than they cost to manufacture. Nothing is going to change unless the president takes a firm stand and holds Congress accountable. It seems that the government is now an oligarchy — made up of corporations by corporations and for corporations, not for the people. We are living in an age where the individual doesn’t seem to matter one iota. It’s all about big government saddled to big corporations who run the show. Well, without bold government intervention, Apple will continue to manufacture its products overseas and sell them here for an enormous profit. Who wins? Not Americans, specifically the people on Main Street, but the company executives, shareholders and all the other fat cats. When I think of America’s biggest company, I don’t exactly expect to hear that it outsources most of its jobs to Asia. Then, it’s Asia’s biggest company.

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MI Couple Eui H. Kim and In Sook Kim Win Foreclosure Appeal Against JP Morgan Chase

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
jpmorgan chase MI Couple Eui H. Kim and In Sook Kim Win Foreclosure Appeal Against JP Morgan Chase

MI Couple Eui H. Kim and In Sook Kim Win Foreclosure Appeal Against JP Morgan Chase

Big victory for little people: A Shelby township MI couple Eui H. and In Sook Kim won a state Court of Appeals precedent-setting ruling against J.P. MorganChase that stopped a foreclosure and will allow them to keep their home that was once worth $650,000. At least, for now. This story has gotten very little mainstream media coverage and that’s just what JP Morgan Chase wants. Very little media coverage.

The couple won because the bank failed to publicly record its interest in the mortgage after buying it from another bank, and before the sheriff’s sale.

The Kims’ attorney, Flint-based Bernhardt “Chris” Christenson, said the “for publication” decision likely will affect the outcome of other similar lawsuits and force banks to reveal it owns a mortgage before it can foreclose on a property.

“Somebody will know who’s foreclosing on their house,” Christenson said. “Things (mortgages) change hands so frequently nowadays. You could be talking to one bank and they aren’t even the ones that have the mortgage.”

JP Morgan’s acquiring and interest in the property should have been recorded with the Macomb County Register of the Deeds, Christenson said. He said the bank likely avoided recording its interest to save filing costs, which could add up to a large sum of money if done on thousands of foreclosures.

The Kims in 2009 were surprised with the foreclosure because they were trying to work out a modification based on hardship, he said.

The Kims appealed after Judge Richard Caretti of Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens last January granted JP Morgan’s summary disposition request, ruling that a 2004 Michigan attorney general opinion applied. That opinion by former attorney general Mike Cox said the law allows the bank to avoid that requirement if it obtained the mortgage by “operation of law.”

However, a three-judge appeals panel – including former Macomb County judge Pat Donofrio — said that Cox improperly inserted language into the law, MCL 600.3204(3). Source

This case is very interesting and sets a precedent for every homeowner facing foreclosure. Despite the new push for more oversight, it’s obvious that the big banks are still trying to get over on the “little people.”

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Gun Sales Surge in US to Record Numbers for Christmas, Tops 1.5 Million Background Checks in December

January 1, 2012 By 1 Comment

Gun sales surge in U.S. for Christmas to highest levels on fears stalled economy will lead to crime waves and tighter firearms laws in the future.

Gun sales surge in U.S. for Christmas.  According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December, the UK Telegraph reports. That was the highest number ever in a single month, even surpassing the record set in November. The Telegraph reports on December 23rd alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history. Why the surge? One reason is a knee-jerk reaction to the possibility the stalled economy will give rise to crime waves. Another reason is that people rushed to purchase guns because they believe tougher firearms laws will be introduced in the future.

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Popular Black Owned NYC Restaurant B. Smith’s May Close Due to Excessive Union Demands

November 26, 2011 By 6 Comments

Popular black owned NYC restaurant B. Smith’s may be forced to close due to Local 1 union, which runs building, raising rent nearly 350 percent from $13,500 a month, to about $50,000.

barbara smith Popular Black Owned NYC Restaurant B. Smiths May Close Due to Excessive Union Demands

Popular black owned NYC restaurant B. Smith's may close due to union demands

Barbara Smith, who is popularly known as B. Smith, may be forced to close her iconic 240 West 46th Street, Manhattan restaurant, “B. Smith’s,” because Local 1, the union which runs the building housing the restaurant is raising the rent. The lease is set to expire in February and the union wants to increase the rent 350 percent, from about $13,500 a month to about $50,000, going up to $60,000 a month within five years, the New York Post reports.

It seems that is being muscled out by the powerful union. She told the NY Post, “the very nature of the money they are asking says they don’t want us here.” “Our attitude is that we survived 11 years and gave the building and Restaurant Row more value than it had previously,” she said.

Smith should be credited with changing the neighborhood in which the restaurant operates, from one frequented by hookers and junkies, to one that’s now a mecca for the theater community and the fabulously rich, such as Danny Glover, Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Robert De Niro, Liza Minelli and many others.

Well, if Barbara Smith is forced to close her Manhattan eatery, she has other outposts to fall back on, such as restaurants in the Hamptons and Washington D.C., plus her line of home products and a furniture line. I won’t dub her “the black Martha Stewart” as the New York Post did. She’s too big of a trailblazer and a business woman to even compare the two, considering she was the first black woman to grace the cover of a major magazine, Mademoiselle, in 1976.

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Scottie Pippen, Jon Bon Jovi Among Top 1% Collecting $30 Billion in Government Largesse Yearly

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Just when many on the right are dismissing the Occupy Wall Street movement, Newsweek published an article stating Americans earning more than $1 million collect more than $30 billion in government largesse each year. That’s according to a report assembled by Sen. Tom Coburn and is backed up by the Internal Revenue Service’s data showing how much money was going to the much-referenced top one percent.

Among the list of wealthy recipients are Scottie Pippen, who reportedly to $210,520 in agricultural subsidies while making a fortune in the NBA; Jon Bon Jovi, who took federal cash to raise honeybees on his property and media mogul Ted Turner, who accepted half a million dollars in farm payments, the Daily Beast reports. Then they say the Occupy Wall Street Movement is made up of a bunch of rabblerousers.

The rich will continue to hit paydirt at the expense of the middle class and the poor in this country. Count how many middle class lawmakers you have sitting in Congress.

Scottie Pippen, Jon Bon Jovi Among Top 1% Collecting $30 Billion in Government Largesse Yearly
pixel Scottie Pippen, Jon Bon Jovi Among Top 1% Collecting $30 Billion in Government Largesse Yearly
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