Archive for the ‘Featured Posts’ Category

So you know, American Pharmaceutical companies spend more than double on marketing research process than in research. This 'research' includes inviting doctors (read buying them) to sumptuous meals at posh resorts. US spends over 16% of its GDP in health care, double what UK, Japan, Switzerland and most other industrialized countries. Although difficult to measure, everything indicates that quality of life seems better there (life expectancy for one). As for research, US Pharmaceutical can use research Read more [...]

Part of how you get your tax rate to his is don't take a salary. Buffett only pays himself in capital gains which means he avoids Social Security and Medicare taxes of about 7.65%, he avoids federal maximum social security withholding 2012, state withholding, unemployment tax, state disability, local withholding, and many other taxes wage-earners must pay. By electing to pay himself out of his capital gains, Buffett pays no more than 15% in taxes. If he wanted to pay more taxes, he would take a paycheck Read more [...]

If I want 400 amps of electric service from my power company instead of the typical residential load of 100-200 amps, I have to pay for that extra hook-up, and I also pay a higher KwHr rate for that extra 'juice'. Why should the internet be any different? In other words, if I want to use more bandwidth, I should be willing to pay extra for that. Net Neutrality prevents me from paying my fair share, and therefore such a go the extra milevernmental market distortion will utterly destroy the quality Read more [...]

The wealthy pay a lower rate overall because most of their income is long term capital gains tax rate 2012 gains which is taxed at a lower rate. And long term capital gains are taxed at a lower rate for a good and valid reason. Because much of it, if not most of it, is not an actual gain but is due to inflation. The amount due to inflation compounds over the life of an investment. Therefore, you can either pick a single lower rate to tax capital gains OR you can factor in the compounded inflation Read more [...]

This author is completely misguided. As a well educated, unmarried 27 year old male, I can tell you that it's not that we don't understand our role in life. It's that we know what we don't want. We see the divorce rate at over 50%. We see counless other, unhappily married adults. We see broke 50 and 60 year old men who have never seen the other side of the world or followed their economic or career goals. We see old men who only see their life long friends once or twice a year. I can tell you we Read more [...]

You are mistaken Charles. I refer to Rumsfeld stupidity related to (a) leaving Afghanistan and not nailing the Taliban (b) invading Iraq for no good reason (c) once invading it doing with a fool for a commander (Franks) and insisting that it could be done on the cheap (d) allowing contractors to murder people and get away with it. Those are the momentary highlights. The issue of trimming the defense budget by working on health care reform as Obama has done and reducing the personnel management bureaucracy Read more [...]

1. I highly doubt this professor is the head of admissions at whatever institution he teaches. 2. College admission is based primarily on academic achievement, at least at a high level. 3. Why are you attacking this guy? He's putting forth a point that supports your interests. 4. Grade inflation exists, and most American public schools fail miserably at preparing students for college. Having attended both a mediocre school and a competitive college prep school, there is a HUGE gap in college preparedness Read more [...]

Onr thing is clear, the President has never held a position of responsibility where he had to sit and listen to someone misstate, beat a drum, and incite a crowd directed at him and be unable to respond. Perhaps we should adopt the British practice of calling the PM before the Commons and subjecting him to questions amid jeers and shouts. He may show a bit more temprance and respect for those who oppose him. He not a monarch, what does respect mean he is doing to lowering even futher the public Read more [...]

All you finance wiz kids, here is a lesson from buyer and sellers of small businesses. Keep it simple. Under the cash basis accounting, revenues and expenses are be recognized as follows: Revenue recognition: Revenue is recognized when cash is received. Expense recognition: Expense is recognized when cash is paid. The reality is though its all musical chairs and China's Wall Street is learning our game. Enron, MBS, Subprime if we can't fool them anymore and they are fooling us then we may have to Read more [...]

Actually Glenn to expound on you a little further, looking at correlation between federal tax total revenue and tax hikes or cuts from 1980 till now we see three outcomes: 1) As in 1990 a tax hike can be followed with a few years of lower revenue. 2) As in 1994 after the Clinton tax hikes you can see a rise in tax revenues. 3) As in 2004, and 1997, and 1984, tax cuts are followed by increases in tax revenue. But the kicker is at no time could I see a correlation between a tax cut and a decrease in Read more [...]