Category: Finance
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John Kerry = Inside Trader and Profiteer
Another oldie but goodie: For years, Kerry has invested millions in a number of green energy companies that have benefitted from the president’s efforts to aggressively subsidize the industry with taxpayer dollars. These companies include Exelon, which received a $646 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan in 2011 to build a solar facility in California and created only…
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Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981
This story is actually over a month old. It’s been sitting in the “drafts” folder. Still just as relevant as the day it was published. In April the number of people not in the labor force rose by a whopping 522,000 from 87,897,000 to 88,419,000. This is the highest on record. The flip side, and…
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More And More Americans Are Leaving
Last year, nearly 1,800 Americans surrendered their citizenship. In a nation of 300 million folks, 1,800 émigrés is hardly a rush for the exits. But the recent trend is, nevertheless, intriguing. … Who knows the exact reason why 1,800 Americans chose to leave last year — nine times as many as left four years earlier.…
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Bankrupt Stockton Chicago
Yesterday’s news: Officials in Stockton said Tuesday that mediation with creditors has failed, meaning the Central California city is set to become the largest American city ever to declare bankruptcy. … The river port city of 290,000 in Central California has seen its property taxes and other revenues decline, while expensive investments and generous retiree…
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More Bad News on the Pension Crisis
If I was Rahm I would so totally throw Daley under the bus on this issue. The debt from 10 Chicago-area pension plans swelled more than 600 percent to $27.4 billion between 2001 and 2010, according to a study released Monday by the nonpartisan Civic Federation. That’s $8,993 for each man, woman and child in…
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JP Morgan: Public Employee Pension’s Set to Explode
But they wanted to keep the story to themselves: JPMorgan recently circulated a “strictly confidential” report among leaders at the bank and with trusted hedge fund allies outside of the bank which details an impending public pension crisis. And we mean big time nastiness. Massive cuts in services will have to happen, or massive tax…
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Teens Employment Lowest Since WWII – Obama Not Helping
This article was published yesterday about the same time that Obama was in the Rose Garden making the situation worse: Fewer than 3 in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment…
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City Hall’s New TIF Troubles
This story is actually from early April: According to a report issued today by Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson, a fluke of state law means that many neighboring business districts that collect an extra property tax to pay for security, advertising and the like actually have had to pay twice — once for security, et…
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CPS’s Safe Haven Funding Slashed
With money tight,Chicago Public Schools’summer Safe Haven program will be scaled back and serve fewer students.Last year, the district used $975,000 in federal stimulus funds for Safe Haven, which encompassed 100 churches working with 5,000 students on issues including conflict resolution and anger management, as well as reading programs, tutoring and arts. via Chicago Tribune.…
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Raise Taxes — Lose Revenue
The current taxes on a pack of cigarettes in Chicago include $2 from Cook County, 98 cents from Illinois and 68 cents from the city. If Quinn signs the latest increase, the taxes in Chicago will be $4.66 per pack, compared with 99 cents in East Chicago. On Monday, a pack of Marlboros at a…