Posts Tagged small business
A Tragedy of the First Proportion?
Posted by Lance Haley in 2010 Election, BP oil spill, Business and Money, Campaigns, Capitalism, Energy, Environment, Government, House of Representatives, How and Why We Get Screwed, Oil, Politics, Republicans, Show Them the $$$, White House on June 17th, 2010
No, the heading of this post is not a reference to the tragic deaths of the eleven men killed from the horrific explosion and fire on that Gulf oil rig. Nor is that heading alluding to the environmental devastation being wrought upon Gulf coast region by the oil spill. And it is not even a commentary on the hardships the people of the Gulf coast are experiencing.
Quite to the contrary.
That statement was Texas Republican Representative Joe Barton’s characterization of the outcome of the meeting between BP executives and President Obama in the Oval Office on Wednesday – where BP voluntarily agreed to pay $20 Billion into a fund to cover legal claims for the oil spill. Barton seems to think that BP had no choice in the matter – describing it as a political “shakedown” – and then openly apologized to BP’s embattled CEO, Tony Hayward, as more Congressional hearings got underway this morning. Here is what Barton had to say:
“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday . . . [it's] a tragedy of the first proportion, that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, a $20 billion shakedown.”
Furthermore, Barton attempted to insinuate that BP was denied it’s right to utilize the legal system by invoking the constitutional doctrine of “due process and fairness” - thereby concluding that BP entered the agreement under duress, thus ostensibly elevating it to the level of “a tragedy of first proportion”; at least in Barton’s obviously warped world-view.
If anything, Barton’s response is so remarkably disproportionate, it begs the question as to how he could reach such an extraordinarily nonsensical conclusion? Want a not so little clue?
M-$-O-$-N-$-E-$-Y!
Barton – who is the top Congressional recipient of almost $1.5 million in political campaign contributions from the oil industry over the past 20 years – is just another shameless Big Oil shill in Washington, who is willing to do the bidding for their interests; all while placing the interests of average Americans at the bottom of the barrel.
Barton may be the only Republican brazen enough, or outright stupid enough, to say what he really thinks. I guess money and power will do that to you. Other Republicans simply insinuated that it was another Obama-style government takeover, of sorts. Their “measured responses” are just a veil for the same manner of thinking.
Meanwhile, as I am just finishing writing this post, Barton has suddenly issued a retraction of his earlier apology to BP CEO Tony Hayward – not so ironically, under duress from Republican leadership. In Barton’s mind, that is probably compounding the “tragedy of first proportion”? But even soul-less politicians have to compromise from time-to-time.
Nevertheless, don’t be fooled. After all, defending Corporate America is the primary business of the Republicans. Meanwhile, the small business owners of the Gulf Coast are cast afloat on a proverbial sea of oil, all going to Hell in a hand-basket together.
Let’s just hope the voters remember that come November.
OK, President Obama, “Where’s The Beef”?
Posted by Lance Haley in Bailouts, Business and Money, Capitalism, Economics, Financial Crisis, Government, How and Why We Get Screwed, Wall Street, economy on February 6th, 2010
You are making all of this noise about refocusing TARP (bailout) funds towards small business.
President Obama, this blog noted that you said the same thing 100 days ago . . . read it right here.
So Where’s The Beef?
Small Business Finally Gets the Attention It Deserves
Posted by Lance Haley in Bailouts, Business and Money, Campaigns, Capitalism, Congress, Economics, Financial Crisis, Government, How and Why We Get Screwed, Lobbyists & Lobbying, Politics, Show Them the $$$, Uncategorized, Wall Street, Wealth Disparity & the Ultra Rich on October 22nd, 2009
The sector of our economy that is treated like a step-child in comparison to Big Business is finally getting it’s just due. Small businesses in America generate over 65% of the jobs in an economy that has recently been hit with an unemployment rate of 10%. President Obama announced today that the bailout will be “refocused” on this segment of the U.S. economy.
One question Mr. President? What took you so long? Guess Tim Geithner and Larry Summers first had to take care of their old buddies at Goldman Sachs, et. al., just like Henry Paulson and Alan Greenspan did with the Bush Administration during the global economic collapse these greedy animals created. Meanwhile, the real heroes of the American economy who are still in business keep on shoveling coal down in the engine room, while those businesses that could not go on quietly close their doors in the vacuum of unavailable lending capital being horded by the rapacious bankers.
Makes one wonder how many of those unemployed people Goldman Sachs is going to hire after announcing this week its record-breaking $16 Billion employee compensation package for the first nine months of 2009? It is a safe bet that any money the Mammoth Financial Institutions are going to “put back into the economy” is going straight into the campaign coffers of the Democrats and Republicans who are currently sitting on the House and Senate sub-committees that will protect them from proposed regulatory legislation.
You can take that bet straight to the bank – just don’t deposit your winnings, because they will piss it all away.
Too bad we cannot “refocus” that money towards small businesses in America. The impact of even that ”modest” amount of capital directed towards a few thousand struggling small business would truly have a stimulative impact on our economy, and specifically abate the rising unemployment in this country.
But, remember.
“It’s all about Wall Street, Stupid.”
Congress Ignores the Financial Trevails of Small Business
Posted by Lance Haley in Bailouts, Business and Money, Capitalism, Congress, Economics, Financial Crisis, Government, How and Why We Get Screwed, Politics, Show Them the $$$, Uncategorized, Wall Street, Wealth Disparity & the Ultra Rich on October 1st, 2009
As was noted in yesterday’s blog, Wall Street Boys collect fat bonuses for moving money around the world at the speed of light, creating nothing of real value, while still continuing to intentionally deceive the government and shareholders about their business transactions with no substantive consequences. Even Federal District Court Judge Jed A. Rakoff obviously wondered why the SEC was not investigating and prosecuting apparent criminally fraudulent behavior? A $33 million fine is meaningless for Bank of America – especially if it’s executives who committed the fraud are not going to pay for it, either financially or by criminal punishment (as usual, the shareholders, bank customers, and tax payers are all going to “take it in the shorts” on this one).
Now today it is reported that the major financial credit rating agencies – Standard and Poor, Moody’s, etc. – are still intentionally inflating the ratings of the securities of the Wall Street firms who pay them fees. Anyone familiar with the term “Conflict of Interest”? While testifying yesterday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, former Moody’s managing director, Eric Kolchinsky, asserted that his firm was criminally deceiving investors. This was one of the principle underlying causes of last years financial meltdown, and yet they are they are doing it again?
MEMO TO: Attorney General Eric Holder . . .
Where is the deterrence?!?!?
Meanwhile, honest, hardworking small business people try to fund retirement plans for themselves and their employees through the trusting hands of financial advisers, insurance companies, and former IRS agents. Thanks to Congress, and even the IRS in some cases, that trust was sorely misplaced by a number of small business owners. The mere fact that a business or individual may have inadvertantly failed to file one form, or even IF the existence of the retirement plan was reported in a business tax return, but not a personal return - any violation triggers enormous penalties and fines. Some of these honest business people even relied upon IRS “determination letters” that tacitly give initial approval to their plans.
Guess What? WRONG! According to a complex set of tax rules and formulas established by Congress, if the IRS later determines that the plan was not in compliance, you are subject to penalties and fines for any number of “violations”. One would think it reasonable that if you’re intentions are honest, that your reliance on expertise is reasonably placed, and there is obviously no intention to commit fraud, you will not be driven to bankruptcy. You would be WRONG AGAIN!
What is most galling is the fact that the fines and penalties are not even commensurate with the violations. It’s like giving the Death Penalty for speeding on the highway. Congress takes the view that Wall Street is TBTF (To Big To Fail) even if they fraudulently screw things up, but your small business can be allowed to go bankrupt if you make an honest mistake.
The powerful Wall Street firms and financial institutions, their executive management, their rating agencies, and the minions who do their bidding (lawyers, lobbyists and politicians) suffer insignificant consequences for their criminally fraudulent behavior, primarily by pouring millions of dollars into the political campaigns of the most powerful Democrats and Republicans sitting on Congressional Committees overseeing Banking, Finance and Business Regulation.
Meanwhile small businesses, which generate approximately 50% of the business income in this country, are treated like step-children.