Friday, July 25, 2014

Bailed out banks help rich evade taxes

Banks we bailed out in 2008 help rich Americans avoid tax with “fiction”
A hedge fund’s investors probably avoided more than $6 billion in U.S. income taxes over 14 years through transactions with Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG, a Senate committee said. The hedge fund used contracts with the banks to establish the “fiction” that it wasn’t the owner of thousands of stocks traded each day, said Senator Carl Levin. The maneuver sought to transform profits from rapid trading into long-term capital gains taxed at a lower rate, he said. “It meant enormous profit for both the banks and the hedge funds,” Levin said. “Ordinary Americans had to shoulder a tax burden of billions of dollars, a burden that was shrugged off by those hedge funds.”

Fix corporate tax evasion like we did for Capone
Supremes say ‘corporations are people’ so Justice Dept can sue for tax evasion. Justice can show revenue hidden worldwide. People must declare income made anywhere in world. Corporations don’t declare all their revenue to the IRS so they are guilty like Capone. Must pay and go to prison like Capone. The lesson of The People vs. Al Capone is that a profitable businessman, no matter how he earns his income, does have to pay his taxes. Judge Wilkerson would not plea bargain and he replaced all the jurors who were bribed with future jobs. Justice proved Al had control over profits made in many locations.
Don’t get stuck paying Apple, Google, GE taxes. Evade paying tax bill of Apple, Google, GE, etc using the IRS-own Roth IRA §408 trust.

Young Americans need money course
18-29 year-olds are more likely to choose cash as their favorite ‘long-term’ investment than any other age group, according to a new Bankrate.com report. Thirty-nine percent say cash is their preferred way to invest money they don't need for at least 10 years!! The fact is that the S&P 500 has gained 11% over the past 30 years while most cash funds yields remain below 1 percent. A market index fund would provide $500,000 at retirement vs. $150,000 for cash. "They won't get there without being willing to assume a little short-term price risk in their long-term money," said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate. Take the Money Course for $20: http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Finance-Online-middle-person/dp/1500522120/

GOP crazies
Some republicans oppose the uniform fiduciary duty for retail investment advice — a move that would force brokers to legally act in the best interests of their clients. Why oppose?
Rep. Lankford of OK argues that investment advisers aren't interested in helping investors who don't have much net worth. So he is against the regulation that he says will be “creating a regulatory scheme that discourages middle- and lower-income Americans from investing” by foisting higher regulatory and liability costs on brokers and driving them out of the advice market for those with modest assets. “If there are fewer people offering products to [investors], they're losing the encouragement and opportunity to invest,” Mr. Lankford said. Being an honest broker is NOT profitable?
This means he wants brokers to be able to screw people for their own good.

Bachmann: “there's a chance I could run" in 2016
Bachmann entered the last presidential race in June 2011 as a long-shot contender but was able to use her sway with elements of the Tea Party and an effective media campaign to rise temporarily toward the front of the Republican pack in a deeply fluid race.
The high point of her candidacy came in August 2011 when she won the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa. But in the interview, Bachmann alluded to her fundraising prowess as a reason she should be taken seriously, calling herself "one of the top -- if not the top -- fundraisers in the history of the United States Congress."
Ms Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen and perhaps the Swiss will fund her PAC. The Supremes already decided any corporation can give unlimited amounts to anyone who runs. Iran via front corp could elect whoever with right funding. (Goebbels laughs)
She is on the House Intelligence Committee, after all!

GOP votes to sue the President of the United States of America
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday took another step toward authorizing a lawsuit against President Barack Obama, claiming he has overstepped his executive powers. In a partisan vote of 7-4, the House Rules Committee approved the legislation, likely setting it up for consideration by the full House next week. Boehner wrote that Obama's use of executive orders, including raising the minimum wage for federal contractors and stopping deportations of undocumented youths brought to the United States by their parents, risked giving him a "king-like authority." The House will use our tax dollars to pay their lawyers to sue and other lawyers to defend.
In 1968, Supremes found in favor of Nixon, holding that the president "is entitled to absolute immunity from damages liability predicated on his official acts." The theory goes that subjecting the president, who routinely makes decisions that alter the fortunes of millions of citizens, to such lawsuits would cripple his ability to preside effectively and distract him from the job. The current Supremes are retro GOP so Obama would lose.
It is all Wasted Tax Money since Obama will be gone by the time suit gets decided.

40 US corporations avoid taxes yet take our tax money and our jobs
Yes, the joke is on us. Companies like Ingersoll Rand claim Burmuda as home but take huge government contract work which is supposed to only go to American firms. Congress passes laws but then allows lobbyists to put in “exemptions” and legal BS to get around the laws. Good for CEOs and large stockholders but not for US long term.
We are literally giving away our tax money and our jobs to help a few 'foreign' firms. 


Ryan pushing '70s block grants again—let the states help whoever for less
Rep. Paul Ryan spelled out his plan Thursday to fight poverty, combine 11 federal programs into one pool of money for participating states. According to the plan, states would voluntarily submit their own anti-poverty proposals in order to get money. "And the state would get more flexibility. It would get to combine into one funding stream 11 different programs, things like food stamps, housing assistance, child care, and cash welfare." Ryan’s budget proposals called for billions in cuts to social welfare programs, such as Medicaid.
Many states tried block grants in the 70s and they failed to help the poor for many reasons including deep, arbitrary cuts in support to the most vulnerable seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low-income children. Christie could upgrade the state helicopter to go to his son's games. Or buy another $1 million whitewash on how his staff does stuff without his knowledge.

Your UBS account fees are going up
As UBS Wealth Management Americas begins moving many of its clients into cheaper classes of mutual funds, the firm is asking advisers to consider raising their annual fees for those clients. Many of the firm's approximately 7,100 advisers were told that their clients' fees will be raised. The firm is also increasing the amount advisers have to charge for non-discretionary managed account programs in order to avoid penalties. Avoid fees; earn more by moving to low-cost investments: http://www.amazon.com/Pay-less-Get-more-investment/dp/1500598321


Your 403b plan fees are being challenged
Not-for-profit employers are being pressed to lower fees to employees but most plans include expensive annuities. Employees have been overcharged for benefits they don’t use and poor investment performance. Employees who leave must pay huge surrender charges to move their nest eggs to IRAs or new employer plans. Employers must now comply with costly regs: auditing requirements and strenuous reporting mechanisms. Most employers did not pay for the plans’ administration so they did not care about the costs. Now they care. Hopefully this will lower costs for the next generation. Unless there is an employer match, employees are better off with an IRA:  http://www.amazon.com/Your-Pension-Box-tax-FREE-employer/dp/1481945157


Does your teen use a safe car?
Vehicles on this list earn good ratings in the IIHS moderate overlap front test and good or acceptable ratings in the side test. If rated by NHTSA, they earn 4 or 5 stars overall or 4 or 5 stars in the front and side tests under the old rating scheme. They also have standard ESC and a better-than-poor rating for head restraints and seats. Adding a teen driver to a couple’s policy ups the premium by 100% on average.

DEM crazies protest Supremes decision on control of women
"Women should call the shots when it comes to their health care decisions. Not their boss. Not their government. Not anyone else. Period. ... Five men on the Supreme Court rolled back the clock on women across America." Voting 56 to 43, Democrats failed to rustle up the 60 votes necessary to proceed to a final vote. Three Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., voted for the measure. Women’s health now depends on the religion of employer.

FL town police infiltrated by KKK
FL residents were told officers Borst and the Hunnewells had been members of the Ku Klux Klan, though its presence in their town wasn't noticeable. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement sent the police chief a report linking the officers to the Klan based on information from the FBI. Both men didn't return repeated phone messages to their homes, but Borst told the Orlando Sentinel he has never been a Klan member. As recently as the 1960s, many in law enforcement in the South were members but "it's exceedingly unusual these days to find a police officer who is secretly a Klansman," said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups.

Do you know what to do with an inherited IRA?
Don’t turn it over to your advisor/broker immediately. This account is an estate planning tool and could be worth 7 or 8 times the current value if handled correctly. See a certified IRA specialist like those from https://www.irahelp.com/find-an-advisor. Learn what you need to know so you aren’t misled. http://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/1461084016

Salespeople told to sell the ‘story’ not what you need
Insurance agents and financial advisors would do themselves a favor if they held off on the pie charts, the statistics and the tables, according to Carol A. Harnett. Instead, advisors should approach prospects through storytelling to connect emotionally with prospects because it’s more effective, said Harnett. “Start telling stories from the audience perspective and you start to gain their attention,” said Harnett.
Buy only what you need NOT what they are selling and save: http://www.amazon.com/ Personal-Finance-Online-middle-person/dp/1500522120/




SCAMS           Why are we still paying $700 Billion a year for WWII deployments?
We are paying for 164,253 of our active-duty armed personnel to be in 150 countries around the world. We have about 50,000 in Japan and 50,000 in Germany.
Are we preparing for WWII again? There are 1,208,083[1] armed personnel in the United States. Our taxes pay for about HALF of the WORLD’s military expenditures every year. We have wasted $398.6 billion so far on the F-35 program—they can’t fly safely.
We just can’t afford to pay for everyone else’s defenses anymore.
Japan, Germany and S. Korea can pay for its own defense.

Who Owns Your Account Now?
Sunset Financial Services to Securities America.
OneWest Bank to CIT Bank

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