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One-Hit Wonders by James Kwak, baselinescenario.com | October 2, 2012
Meg Whitman is what is known as a superstar CEO. She became CEO of eBay in 1998 and took it public; during her reign, eBay became one of the most successful, most valuable Internet companies in existence (and Whitman became a billionaire). She used her celebrity to mount a high-profile, expensive, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to become governor of California (losing to career politician Jerry Brown) before being named CEO of HP, the iconic Silicon Valley company. Why did HP, one of the largest information technology companies in existence, hire Whitman, who preceded her stint at eBay (auction house for random stuff from people’s attics) with jobs at Disney, a shoe company, a flower delivery service, and a toy company? Because of the idea of the superstar CEO, with transferable general management skills, who can transform any organization. The problem is that the whole theory rests on a myth. read more »Tax Reform Won't Spark Economic Growth by David Callahan, blogs.reuters.com | October 1, 2012
One of the few things that President Obama and Mitt Romney are likely to agree on when they debate next week is the need for tax reform. Both candidates have backed streamlining America’s crazy-quilt tax code, and both have said that reforms could boost economic growth. Meanwhile, two key congressional committees held a rare bipartisan hearing last week – with lawmakers from both parties saying that tax reform is needed to rev up the economy. Yet exactly how and why tax reform would spur growth is far from clear. read more »What We Still Don’t Know About Mitt Romney’s Taxes by Theodoric Meyer, propublica.org | October 1, 2012
With the documents Mitt Romney released recently, we know a bit more about his taxes. We know, for instance, that Romney paid a rate of 14.1 percent on $13.7 million in income on his 2011 tax return, which he achieved by purposely overpaying. Though he was entitled to deduct $4 million in charitable contributions, Romney deducted only $2.25 million to keep his tax rate above 13 percent. We know that Romney has paid state and federal income taxes each year since at least 1990. And we know that Romney’s tax rate since 1990 never dipped below 13.66 percent, according to his accountants. Romney paid an average effective tax rate between 1990 and 2009 of 20.2 percent. But there’s still a lot we don’t know. “I think most of the major questions we had before are still out there,” said Brian Galle, a tax law professor at Boston College. Here are a few. read more »5 Obscene Reasons Why Richest Americans grow Richer As Middle-Class Declines by Les Leopold, alternet.org | October 1, 2012
If you want to see what’s wrong with America take a good look at the nauseating list of the 400 richest Americans – the Forbes 400 . While the economy struggled to create jobs, it was another banner year for the super-rich. They increased their collective wealth by a whopping $200 billion, which is more than enough to provide every student in the country with free higher education. Meanwhile, the median middle-class family saw its net worth drop from $102,844 in 2005 to $66,740 in 2010 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So while the richest 400 Americans increased their wealth by 54 percent since 2005, the median middle-class family saw its wealth decline by 35 percent. The rich list gives us insight into how wealth is accumulated today. Are the super-rich “wealth creators” who bring new goods, services and jobs to our economy? Or are they “wealth extractors” who cleverly skim it from the rest of us? read more »Never Underestimate Wall Street's Ability To Overestimate Washington by Stan Collender, OurFuture.org | October 1, 2012
Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games. This is a true but hard-t-believe story. read more »Buyer Beware: CFPB Reveals Your Credit Score Could Be A Fake by Amy Traub, policyshop.net | September 28, 2012
Say you want to buy a house or a car and you need a loan to do it. You do what every personal finance site recommends and obtain a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com. Then, urged on by the ads from TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian – the “big three” credit reporting firms that compile the reports – you opt for not only the free report but also shell out for what the companies promise is your actual three-digit credit score. A number! Now, you may think, I know what the auto lenders and banks making mortgages really think of me. I have a sense of what rates I qualify for and what type of car or home I can afford. There’s just one problem: the score you paid for is likely not the same one potential lenders will use to assess you. In fact, it could be way off. read more »Forbes 400 List Reveals Why the Greedy Rich Fully Deserve Your Contempt -- And Jesus’s by Lynn Parramore, alternet.org | September 27, 2012
The redistribution of wealth toward the top is clearly getting worse. In fact, despite the financial crash, the Occupy movement, and the obvious failure of trickledown economics, the Census Bureau reports that the gulf between the rich and the rest of us is at an all-time high. Maybe that’s why the rich and their apologists are getting a bit defensive lately. Like a drug addict turning every cushion upside-down in search of lost change, the 1 percenters are scrounging up every timeworn myth, lame justification and absurd rationalization they can think of to convince us that the rich are super-smart, hard-working job creators instead of greedy parasites refusing to pay their share in taxes and play by the same rulebook as everyone else. This line gets harder to sell every minute. read more »HuffPost Live Video Discussion on "The Radical Rich" by Richard (RJ) Eskow, OurFuture.org | September 27, 2012
The Huffington Post's new online video component is called HuffPost Live. read more »The Real Problem With Romney's Offshore Investments by Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones | September 25, 2012
Mitt Romney's taxes are once again in the news thanks to Friday's release of his full 2011 tax return. As with his 2010 filings, the documents highlight the GOP candidate's extensive overseas holdings, which some tax experts believe has allowed him to lessen his tax liability. But the problem with Romney's reliance on offshore tax havens goes beyond his own tax bill. The Internal Revenue Service and many members of Congress have sought for years to close some of the loopholes that are draining billions of dollars from the federal treasury and shifting the tax burden from wealthy corporations to average individuals. Yet through his work at Bain Capital and his personal investments, Romney has supported a shadowy financial system with far-reaching ramifications for the U.S. and foreign governments. read more »What Romney's Hiding: 'It's the Amnesty, Stupid' by Paul Abrams, Huffington Post | September 24, 2012
Why does the press feign puzzlement about what Romney is hiding by not revealing his 2009 tax returns? His disclosure of his 2010 account omitted information about his Swiss bank account at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS). Why is the press not asking for this form? UBS was fined $760 million for putting Americans into abusive tax shelters and forced to reveal more than 4000 Americans who banked with them under numbered accounts. The 4000+ Americans who were exposed by UBS were offered amnesty from criminal prosecution for tax evasion if they closed their Swiss Account, recalculated and paid all back taxes and paid a 25 percent penalty on the largest amount. Romney closed his UBS account in the time required. He did not close his other foreign accounts. Should not the press be peppering Romney with questions about amnesty? read more »
The Latest
Curbing Wall Street: The Next Stage, netrootsnation.org | July 22, 2010
The financial reform bill was but a first step. It created a consumer financial protection bureau, but left the big banks more concentrated than ever, with the financial casino open for gambling. The bankers are getting million dollar bonuses, but foreclosures continue at record levels, small businesses can't get loans, payday lenders are still gouging workers. read more »
The 2010 Elections: Channeling the Power of Jobs, Populism and the Angry Voter, netrootsnation.org | July 22, 2010
The rising tide of populist anger in the face of Wall Street bailouts and continued high unemployment threatens to take an ugly reactionary turn unless it is channeled to more progressive policies of job growth. This panel will address current public attitudes and ideas for steering opinion and action more progressively.
Senate Democrats’ Plan to Aid Small Businesses Hits G.O.P. Resistance, The New York Times | July 22, 2010
Perhaps the last best hope of Democrats to pass legislation aimed at creating jobs before the November elections seemed to be crumbling in the Senate on Wednesday as Republicans signaled that they would block a bill to expand government lending programs and grant an array of tax breaks to small businesses. read more »
Battle Brews Over Director for New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , Los Angeles Times | July 22, 2010
President Obama reversed decades of lax oversight of the financial industry Wednesday by signing a landmark overhaul of regulations, but he still faces a major task — appointing a director for the powerful new agency charged with protecting consumers from unscrupulous deals. read more »
Fight Over Consumer Agency Looms as Overhaul Is Signed , The Wall Street Journal | July 22, 2010
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law the most sweeping financial overhaul since the Depression, putting the country on a course toward a more muscular regulatory framework. read more »
10 Ways New Wall Street Reform Law Will Help You , Huffington Post | July 22, 2010
Today, President Obama signed into law the Restoring American Financial Stability Act - the most important regulatory overhaul of our nation's financial system since the reforms that led to 60 years of sustained growth after the Great Depression. read more »
Goldman Settles Its Battle With SEC , The Wall Street Journal | July 16, 2010
In one of the largest penalties in Wall Street history, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to pay $550 million to settle civil charges that it duped clients by selling mortgage securities that were secretly designed by a hedge-fund firm to cash in on the housing market's collapse. read more »
Public Unfamiliar with Wall Street Bill, Reuters | July 16, 2010
A big majority of Americans are unfamiliar with the sweeping overhaul of financial rules that was headed to final approval in Congress on Thursday, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs online poll. read more »
Zombie K Street Project: The GOP Turns To Lobbyists To Draft Policy Agenda, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com | July 9, 2010
John Boehner twisted himself into a pretzel this week when he told the Washington Post he had "no idea" whether Republicans would once again attempt to privatize Social Security if they retake the House in November. He couldn't just say "no" -- he followed up with the explanation that he couldn't say because he didn't want to prejudge the outcome of the GOP's voter survey. read more »
Goldman Sachs 'Most Aggressive' In Demanding Cash From AIG, Huffington Post | July 9, 2010
Goldman Sachs was the "most aggressive" financial firm to demand cash from AIG on what it viewed as souring deals during the financial crisis, the head of a federal investigative panel said Wednesday. read more »
