Federal Accounting Standards Board that is. Accounting is supposed to be the act of adding up income and expenses and computing how much money a company made. T.J. Rodgers of Cypress Semiconductor says that new FASB rules make it impossible to do that anymore. Companies are not allowed to show cash payments for shipped product as income, are required to carry "intangible" assets on their balance sheet, and cannot give their employees stock options except at ruinious cast.
As an example. GM carried $35 billion dollars worth of "tax write offs" on it's balance sheet for years. Just a few months before filing for bankruptcy did GM write these "assets" off. These "assets" could not be sold, could not be exercised, and were totally worthless, but for years they had made GM look like it had $35 billion more than it really did. I don't know what FASB calls this, but I call it fraud.
Friday, July 31, 2009
So where DID David Axelrod go to school?
Yesterday's Wall St Journal front page story quoted Obama top advisor David Axelrod as saying "Making laws is simular to making sausages, you don't want to watch it happening". Neither Axelrod nor the WSF reported seemed to know that they were paraphasing a famous quotation of Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor from two centuries ago. Do schools teach anything these days?
Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.
Otto von Bismarck
Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.
Otto von Bismarck
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Bimmers and Mercedes escape 35 mpg mandate
From the Wall St. Journal. Dunno how they managed this, I mean Bimmer and Mercedes aren't US companies. You'd think well connected Detroit car companies would be the ones to get a prime loophole like this one. How do German companies land a plum like this? The Obama administration proposes to let any company that sells less than 400,000 (that's right four hundred thousand!) vehicles a year in the US off the 35 mpg deathwish.
Industry lobbyists call this the "German provision". It also helps the smaller Japanese makers like Suzuki and Mitsubishi.
Geez, GM ought to declare Cadillac a small company that sells less than 400,000 cars a year.
Industry lobbyists call this the "German provision". It also helps the smaller Japanese makers like Suzuki and Mitsubishi.
Geez, GM ought to declare Cadillac a small company that sells less than 400,000 cars a year.
Boko Haram means Education is Forbidden
From the Wall St. Journal.
" Abuja Nigeria- An Islamic fundamentalist group expanded its attacks into three states of northern Nigeria on Monday, a day after at least 50 people died during fighting between the group and security forces, according to aid workers and police.
On Monday fundamentalist group Boko Haram, which means "education is prohibited," launched attacks in three states where at least 100 bodies were counted be a reporter in Maidugurin, the capital of the Borno State, the BBC reported. "
Leave it to the "religion of peace" to create a terror gang named "education is forbidden."
" Abuja Nigeria- An Islamic fundamentalist group expanded its attacks into three states of northern Nigeria on Monday, a day after at least 50 people died during fighting between the group and security forces, according to aid workers and police.
On Monday fundamentalist group Boko Haram, which means "education is prohibited," launched attacks in three states where at least 100 bodies were counted be a reporter in Maidugurin, the capital of the Borno State, the BBC reported. "
Leave it to the "religion of peace" to create a terror gang named "education is forbidden."
Monday, July 27, 2009
We all have gold plated health plans
I worked at a lot of places and had a lot of health plans over the years. Each one paid for everything, accidents, cancer, operations, obstetrics, drug addiction, chiropractice, mental illness, prescription drugs, you name it. That's the ordinary company health plan.
Is that gold plated? What more could a health plan offer?
I think the current talk about taxing gold plated health plans actually means taxing all company plans. Which means taxing most people's health plans, since most people get their health insurance thru their company.
The real reason companies offer nice health plans is the tax break. The plan is tax free to the employee, and so a dollar of health care is worth $1.50, more than a dollar of ordinary taxable salary to employees. Eliminate that tax break and companies will decide it's easier to just pay salary rather than messing around with health care. Given five or ten years and most of us are out of company paid health care and doing God knows what.
You cannot finance health care by taxing health care. It's like hoisting yourself by your bootstraps. Obama needs to learn this.
Is that gold plated? What more could a health plan offer?
I think the current talk about taxing gold plated health plans actually means taxing all company plans. Which means taxing most people's health plans, since most people get their health insurance thru their company.
The real reason companies offer nice health plans is the tax break. The plan is tax free to the employee, and so a dollar of health care is worth $1.50, more than a dollar of ordinary taxable salary to employees. Eliminate that tax break and companies will decide it's easier to just pay salary rather than messing around with health care. Given five or ten years and most of us are out of company paid health care and doing God knows what.
You cannot finance health care by taxing health care. It's like hoisting yourself by your bootstraps. Obama needs to learn this.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Yet another thing Obama didn't talk about
He said nothing about allowing nationwide sale of health insurance. Right now, only insurance companies licensed by the state can sell insurance in that state. Few insurance companies have the time, money, and lawyers to get licensed in all 50 states. So us patients are limited in our choice of insurance company to the few that operate in the state we live in.
We could pass a federal law allowing any insurance company licensed by one state to sell insurance in every state. This would increase competition between insurance companies, and lower premiums. And not raise our taxes at all.
We could pass a federal law allowing any insurance company licensed by one state to sell insurance in every state. This would increase competition between insurance companies, and lower premiums. And not raise our taxes at all.
Words of the Weasel Part 10
"Is the recession over?" asked a newsie.
"Probably in a partial limited sense" said Paul Krugman on the ABC Sunday pundit show. Paul Krugman is supposed to be an economist although he is actually an editor of the New York Times. Classic evasion reply, saying both yes and no at the same time.
"Probably in a partial limited sense" said Paul Krugman on the ABC Sunday pundit show. Paul Krugman is supposed to be an economist although he is actually an editor of the New York Times. Classic evasion reply, saying both yes and no at the same time.
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