The Daily Middle

Archive for March, 2010

Ann Pettifor,

“What’s happening is that the debt dominoes are falling and I don’t believe that we are anywhere near the bottom because while the household debt dominoes in the United States, the sub-primers have fallen, while the banks’ debts have caused them to fall, while there are some semi-states like Dubai. Now we are into Sovereigns falling; Greece, Ireland, Portugal. Now we’re into a new game and the dominoes are still falling. I don’t see any sign of Governments or policy makers putting a floor under those collapses.”

From: Newsweek

When historians recount the momentous events of recent weeks, they will note a curious coincidence. On March 15, Moody’s Investors Service — the bond rating agency — published a paper warning that the exploding U.S. government debt could cause a downgrade of Treasury bonds. Just six days later, the House of Representatives passed President Obama’s health-care legislation costing $900 billion or so over a decade and worsening an already-bleak budget outlook.

Should the United States someday suffer a budget crisis, it will be hard not to conclude that Obama and his allies sowed the seeds, because they ignored conspicuous warnings. A further irony will not escape historians. For two years, Obama and members of Congress have angrily blamed the shortsightedness and selfishness of bankers and rating agencies for causing the recent financial crisis. The president and his supporters, historians will note, were equally shortsighted and self-centered — though their quest was for political glory, not financial gain.
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From: USA Today

With the April 15 tax deadline looming, many folks have sweaty palms and heart palpitations. At times like these, though, remember what you probably learned in the first grade: When you hurry, you’re more likely to make mistakes. Here’s a look at 10 last-minute errors that could delay your refund or attract unwelcome attention from the IRS:

1. Incorrect Social Security numbers

In 1987, the IRS started requiring parents to provide Social Security numbers for children who were claimed as dependents on their tax returns.

If you omit Social Security numbers for any of your dependents — or use a wrong SSN — the IRS may disallow the exemption. You also could lose some valuable credits, such as the child tax credit, the child and dependent care credit and the earned income tax credit.

When you enter a dependent’s last name, make sure it’s the exact name that appears on the child’s Social Security card. Likewise, if you got married and changed your name, make sure you notify the Social Security Administration before you file your taxes.

Whenever a name doesn’t match a Social Security number, “It will raise a red flag and delay processing” of your refund, says Amy McAnarney, executive director of H&R Block’s Tax Institute.
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From: NewsMax

One week after the House passed the Democratic healthcare plan that President Obama subsequently signed into law, 54 percent of the nation’s likely voters still favor repealing the law.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42 percent oppose repeal.

Those figures are virtually unchanged from last week. They include 44 percent who strongly favor repeal and 34 percent who strongly oppose it.

Repeal is favored by 84 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of unaffiliated voters. Among white Democrats, 25 percent favor repeal, but only 1 percent of black Democrats share that view.

Only 17 percent of all voters believe the plan will achieve one of its primary goals and reduce the cost of healthcare. Most (55 percent) believe it will have the opposite effect and increase the cost of care.
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“I don’t think Government is very good at delivering anything. The mail, or any services. I don’t think they’re good at fighting wars, I don’t think they’re good at fighting welfare. So I don’t agree with the system at all and I basically don’t believe there’s a proper understanding of what rights are because this whole argument (Republicans, Democrats) assume people have a right to stuff. They have a right to care, and they have a right to a house, and a right to their job. And as a Constitutionalist and a believer in Individual Liberty, I don’t approach it that way. You have a right to your life and your liberty. You have a right to work hard and keep what you earn. But once you say you have a right to something, and the Government is going to give it to you, they never ask the next question, “Where’s the Government get it?” They have to violate somebody else’s right. The government is supposed to be establishing a free society to protect rights, not to divvy up the loot and shift things around. And so this demonstrates a complete different understanding of what rights are and what the Constitution says.”

From: The New York Times

The unemployment rate remains locked in a range that recalls the economic doldrums of the early 1980s. Housing is stuck in a ditch, with foreclosures rising. And consumers are still reluctant to part with the little cash they do have.

Valuations Are Rising Again

Yet the stock markets are partying like it’s 2003, when hiring was brisk, real estate was booming, wallets were fat — and the major stock indexes started a four-year rally that would double their value and push them to new heights just before the financial crisis hit.

Judging from stock prices alone, one would think the economy was poised for a roaring comeback. But the federal government plans to unplug the economic life-support programs that stimulated production, kept interest rates low and placed a thick cushion under the real estate market.
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From: CNBC

That tattoo you’ve been considering on your next trip to Minnesota may fall off the to-do list, if the state’s legislature is successful at passing a bill to tax that service and others.

The push by Minnesota legislators is part of a drive in various states to bring in much-needed revenue by taxing services that have largely gone untaxed. It’s a growing effort to rescue governments from their overspending ways. Other proposals in the works are a tax on soda in New York and bottled water in Virginia.

Under the Minnesota plan, body piercing, manicure and facial services would also be taxed, all to raise funds for small towns outside of the Twin Cities. Pro-tax supporters contend that body art is a nonessential service.
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From: Daily Finance

In Asia Monday China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.1% to 3,124 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index gained 0.9% to close at 21,237. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index remained virtually unchanged, dipping 0.1%, to end the day at 10,986.

Mining companies surged today after the World Gold Council said that the market for gold in China could double over the next decade, having increased 13% each year for the past five years.

The country’s economy is growing at a record pace, and as personal wealth increases, so does the desire for the glittery trappings of an affluent lifestyle. We’ve already seen car ownership, once considered an incredible luxury, enter the mainstream, and anyone who’s seen moneyed Mainland shoppers snap up expensive items — from Louis Vuitton handbags to Bulgari watches and Tiffany earrings — in Hong Kong won’t be surprise to hear the prediction that demand for gold is on the upswing.
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“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.”

- Bruce Lee

“What we’re talking about with this crisis is we’re just taking a bunch of Middle Class people, hard working people, people who played by the rules; and we’re just knocking them out of the Middle Class. We’re saying ‘you go back down to the lower class.’ That’s the impact of this crisis. And you know, I feel like I’m watching a slow-motion train-wreck. You remember there were two proposals from the Bush Administration; they were worse and worser. They just [did] nothing, right? Nobody did anything under them. The Obama Administration’s, I do believe, heart was in the right place but the program was too small, too limited in scope. They’ve inched it up by pieces but they’re not inching it up fast enough. So I think we really have to have a very serious conversation about who is supposed to bear the losses here.”

This is Part 2 of 2. If you missed Part 1, click here.