Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Treasury Draws Negative Yield for First Time
October 25th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The Treasury sold $10 billion of five-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities at a negative yield for the first time in the history of U.S. debt. The securities drew a yield of negative 0.55 percent, the same as the average forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 7 of the Federal Reserve’s 18 primary […]
“Transparency” and the Citigroup Bailout
October 25th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The late Bloomberg News reporter Mark Pittman asked the U.S. Treasury in January 2009 to identify $301 billion of securities owned by Citigroup Inc. that the government had agreed to guarantee. He made the request on the grounds that taxpayers ought to know how their money was being used. More than 20 months […]
Mortgage-Interest Tax Break Might Be Reduced Or Eliminated
October 25th, 2010Via: Market Watch: The hugely popular mortgage-interest tax deduction could be targeted by a bipartisan commission charged with finding ways to chop the deficit, according to a report published Monday. The Wall Street Journal reported that the mortgage-interest deduction, child tax credits and payment for health insurance with pretax dollars all could be put in […]
Colgate Tries to Patent Traditional Indian Herbal Toothpaste
October 25th, 2010Here’s one for your overstuffed Corporation as Public Menace file folder. Via: Herald Sun: A LEGAL dispute between the US and India over a herbal toothpaste is leaving a bitter aftertaste between the two countries, with Colgate Palmolive accused of filing a bogus patent. Colgate, the world’s largest producer of toothpaste, patented a toothcleaning powder […]
99 Weeks: When Unemployment Benefits Run Out
October 25th, 2010Via: CBS News: The economic jam we’re in has topped even the Great Depression in one respect: never have we had a recession this deep with a recovery this flat. Unemployment has been at nine and a half percent or above for 14 months. Congress did something that it has never done before – it […]
$19 Billion Later, Pentagon’s Best Bomb-Detector Is a Dog
October 22nd, 2010Alternate title: The U.S. Military Is Putting the Dog Back in Boondoggle. Via: Wired: Drones, metal detectors, chemical sniffers, and super spycams — forget ‘em. The leader of the Pentagon’s multibillion military task force to stop improvised bombs says there’s nothing in the U.S. arsenal for bomb detection more powerful than a dog’s nose. Despite […]
Stimulus Swindle: Los Angeles Spent $70 Million in Stimulus Funds to Create 7.76 Jobs
October 21st, 2010Via: The Upshot: A new piece of evidence has emerged in the debate over the effectiveness of President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package, and it’s not good for Democrats. According to two newly released audits performed by the Los Angeles controller, L.A. spent enormous portions of the $594 million in stimulus funds it received on projects […]
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bailouts Could Hit $363 Billion
October 21st, 2010Via: Los Angeles Times: The taxpayer bailouts of housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost as much as $363 billion through 2013, according to government projections released Thursday. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has regulated the former government-sponsored enterprises since they were seized during the financial crisis in 2008, said the […]
Google Pays 2.4% Corporate Tax Rate; $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes
October 21st, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda. Google’s income shifting — involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” — helped reduce its overseas tax […]
Second Autopsy Shows Banker Had Gunshot Wound to Head
October 21st, 2010Oh sure, “It could be either a homicide or a suicide.” And how did the first autopsy miss a gunshot wound to the head and call it drowning?! Spitz has said previously that his examination on Monday found no evidence of trauma or assault, and some evidence from the body is consistent with a death […]
