Kansas Suspends Tax Refunds
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by ragnar in Government, Recession
This is unbelievable.
TOPEKA | Kansas tax refunds, employee paychecks and money for schools are all on hold after a showdown erupted Monday between Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
The game of political chicken places state taxpayers, workers and schoolchildren squarely in the middle of a politically charged battle over massive budget cuts.
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Japan Finance Minister To Resign
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by ragnar in Government, Recession
Japan’s finance minister said today he would resign after the opposition party claimed that he appeared drunk at a news conference Saturday during a meeting in Rome of finance officials from the Group of 7 industrialized countries.
“I deeply apologize to the prime minister, the people and members of parliament for the significant trouble I caused,” Shoichi Nakagawa told reporters in Tokyo.
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California Begins Laying Off 20,000 State Employees
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by ragnar in Government, Layoffs, Recession
To try to stave off bankruptcy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last night that 20,000 workers would be laid off, half of them by July 1. The move is expected to save $1.5 billion. On top of that, the state plans to stop the 276 infrastructural projects that had been exempted from the statewide shutdown last month.
Postmaster Making $800k
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by ragnar in Government, Greed
Nice. The Post Office is going to cut back mail delivery one day a week and the Postmaster rakes in $800k.
Postmaster General John E. Potter recently warned that economic times are so dire that the U.S. Postal Service may end mail delivery one day a week and freeze executive salaries. But his personal fortunes are nonetheless rising thanks to 40 percent in pay raises since 2006, a $135,000 bonus last year and several perks usually reserved for corporate CEOs.
The changes, approved by the Postal Board of Governors and contained in a little-noticed regulatory filing in December, brought Mr. Potter’s total compensation and retirement benefits to more than $800,000 in 2008. That is more than double the salary for President Obama.
Trump Casinos File For Chapter 11
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by ragnar in Bankruptcy, Recession
Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. announced Tuesday that it, along with its subsidiaries, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
Even Certificates Of Deposit Aren’t Safe
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by ragnar in Banks, Recession
More financial fraud.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Dallas, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the cricket-loving Stanford, 58, and two other top executives at Stanford Financial Group of fraudulently selling $8 billion in high-yield certificates of deposit in a scheme that stretched from Texas to Antigua and around the world.
“We are alleging a fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world,” said Rose Romero, regional director of the SEC’s office in Fort Worth, Texas.
More Banks Closed By Regulators
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 13, 2009 by ragnar in Banks
It’s Friday evening, so time for more banks to close. This time in Florida, Illinois, and Nebraska.
Loup City, Neb.-based Sherman County Bank, Cape Coral, Fla.-based Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast and Pittsfield, Ill.-based Corn Belt Bank and Trust Company were closed by regulators Friday, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures for 2009 to 12 and 37 total since the start of the credit crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.
1,400 People Apply for One Meter Reader Job
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 13, 2009 by ragnar in Jobs, Recession
1,400 apply for job of Tacoma meter reader
TACOMA, Wash. - Some 1,400 people recently applied for the lone meter reader vacancy at Tacoma Public Utilities - more than double the highest number supervisors have ever seen.
NetApp CEO Lays Off 500, Buys Jet
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 11, 2009 by ragnar in Layoffs
NetApp boss flying high on Phenom?
As 500 NetApp staffers get their pink slips, it appears their their boss has a new airplane, an EMB-500 turbo-jet.
Harsh Words From Martin Wolf
[ No Comments ]Posted on February 9, 2009 by ragnar in Recession
Wow, Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for The Financial Times, doesn’t mince words about the current situation.
FT’s Wolf: U.S. Too “Politically Frightened” to Admit Truth About Banks, Part I
Arguing today’s toxic assets are “fundamentally worthless” - and there’s lots more losses coming - Wolf says the lack of political will (or outright cowardice) to admit to reality means “we’re really in trouble.” Why? Because confidence in policymakers will continue to deteriorate as their ill-conceived solutions continue to fail.
Economy at a Crossroads: We’ll Be Lucky If Downturn Only as Bad as Japan’s, FT’s Wolf Says
“There’s no precise definition of a depression” but the global economy “looks incredibly bad - far beyond a normal recession,” says Wolf, author of Fixing Global Finance. We “could have a very severe and prolonged recession.”
Wolf, who is also a professor of economics at University of Nottingham, believes “it will be lucky” if the current downturn is only as bad as Japan’s so-called lost decade. Unlike the U.S. today, Japan was able to count on a strong global economy to mitigate the affects of its burst bubble and struggling financial system. “There is no world economy to rescue the U.S.,” he says. “Chances are [it will prove] much worse than Japan.”
