Barack Obama

Saturday Reads Around the Internets - Swear Words Are Now Appropriate

shocknews Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.

 

Corporations Park Over 60% of Their Cash Offshore

Large multinationals literally park 60% of their cash offshore. Don't let these facts argue for a corporate tax holiday. Cash would just be distributed to shareholders, not used to hire American workers or invest in America.

Large U.S. companies are holding at least 60% of their cash overseas with some keeping nearly all of their cash balances offshore, according to a study from J.P.Morgan accounting analysts published Wednesday.

In a review of disclosures, the bank’s analysts found that out of the $974 billion in cash on the balance sheets of 602 U.S. multinationals, at least $588 billion, or 60%, is sitting in foreign accounts.

“Foreign subsidiaries are becoming much more important in a lot of businesses, especially with companies that have substantial amounts of intellectual property,” JP Morgan accounting analyst Dane Mott told CFO Journal, noting that many of the companies with significant overseas cash stockpiles were in the technology and pharmaceutical industries.

J.P. Morgan found that Apple had the highest offshore corporate cash balance, with $74 billion held overseas, representing 67% of its total cash holdings. But as a percentage of total cash, J.P. Morgan said the company had a smaller amount sitting offshore than many of its tech rivals, including Microsoft, Cisco, and Hewlett-Packard, which had 89% or more of their cash overseas.

A Sugar-Coated Satan Sandwich

Originally published on The Agonist

Was it just a week ago that President Obama was hanging tough, insisting he would never accept a debt ceiling package that excluded tax increases? In rejecting a six month extension of the debt ceiling, Obama said last week:

But there’s an even greater danger to this approach. Based on what we’ve seen these past few weeks, we know what to expect six months from now. The House of Representatives will once again refuse to prevent default unless the rest of us accept their cuts-only approach. Again, they will refuse to ask the wealthiest Americans to give up their tax cuts or deductions. Again, they will demand harsh cuts to programs like Medicare. And once again, the economy will be held captive unless they get their way.

Here is what Speaker of the House John Boehner said today about the debt ceiling package that has now been agreed to by the House and Senate leadership, along with President Obama:

Now listen, this isn’t the greatest deal in the world," he said, according to excerpts of the call provided to press by Boehner's office. "But it shows how much we’ve changed the terms of the debate in this town."
Boehner painted the deal as victory for the Republican party because it did not include revenues, which Democrats have long called for as part of a final deal.
"There is nothing in this framework that violates our principles," he said. "It’s all spending cuts. The White House bid to raise taxes has been shut down." – source HuffPost

If you declare bankruptcy, will everything be OK in a few days, weeks?

The crazies in the United States House of Representatives would have you believe it were so.  They say fix that budget before we'll raise the debt ceiling.  If we don't get our fix, they announce, there's no deal.  We'll just default until things get straightened out. (Image: George Romero)

The GE Deal

To add credibility to rhetoric, and to provide a measure of substance to minor accomplishments, politicians often cite relatively insignificant numbers and data to boost support. The most recent claim of success is being lauded today in Schenectady, N.Y., birthplace of the General Electric Co., to showcase a new GE deal with India, and to announce a restructured presidential advisory board to focus on increasing employment and competitiveness.

The American People Are Not At The Table, China Is

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As CEOs descend to pay tribute to China in the White House and all Hail the Chief at a Celebrity filled state dinner, the American people are once again left out in the cold. Literally, Barack Obama denies China has captured American manufacturing and our jobs along with it.

Obama and Hu greeted the CEOs in a room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (the mammoth building next to the White House that looks like a Victorian-era hotel) and made a few remarks before leaving for their presser.

“I think our goal here today was to make sure that we break out of the old stereotypes that somehow China is simply taking manufacturing jobs and taking advantage of low wages,” thereby straining the U.S. employment base, Obama said. “The relationship is much more complex than that, and it has much more potential than that.”

“I also have a message to American entrepreneurs,” Hu added. “That is, we welcome you as companies to China….We will, as always, try to provide a transparent, just, fair, highly efficient investment climate to U.S. companies and other foreign companies.”

Nice huh? China wants what is left of American innovators. Obama rolls out the red carpet to have a meet and greet.

Obama Sweetens The Pot Just Don't Look for a Chicken In It

A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage – Herbert Hoover, 1928

hooverchicken.jpgPresident Barack Obama wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Toward a 21st Century Regulatory System, trying to justify his administration's decision to review and rescind Federal Regulations by executive order.

This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth. And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It's a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades.

Where necessary, we won't shy away from addressing obvious gaps: new safety rules for infant formula; procedures to stop preventable infections in hospitals; efforts to target chronic violators of workplace safety laws. But we are also making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb.

Obama's Grand Betrayal

Michael Collins

Previously, Economic Populist brought the internet the startling news - Obama to Change Party. That was satire, at least on November 14. Just three weeks later, satire becomes reality. In the past few days, President Obama has traded away $620 billion in tax revenues in order to get a $56 billion, 13 month extension of unemployment benefits. Of course, the lost $620 billion will make any further unemployment benefits, or for that matter, any other productive social programs pipe dreams as the deficit explodes over the next two years. (Image: Banksy)

The Obama deal is a long way from the original position of ending Bush tax cuts for the highest earners and simply extending unemployment benefits, as called for by economic and social circumstances.

It started when President Obama sent his vice president to negotiate with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. Since the president still has a majority in both chambers of Congress, you might wonder why he's negotiating. The House Democrats are ready to rock to show that they're not to blame for the past two years of inaction. There are enough Democratic Senators with either the inclination or the compromised background to strong arm a majority.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Perhaps the worst insult you can hurl at a politician these days is to give him the middle name of "Hoover".
Such as George Hoover Bush and Barack Hoover Obama. 80 years later Herbert Hoover is still the standard for the "do-nothing" president in the face of economic collapse.

Like most easy comparisons, these examples lack details. That's because the names are there for the purpose of accusation, rather than enlightenment.
However, if you dig down into the individual economic policies of Hoover, Bush, and Obama, the story gets much more interesting.

As Mark Twain once said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." I'm not going to try and find direct connections in this essay, just broad picture comparisons. If the reader confuses the two, then that will only mean I was justified in writing this.

Bankruptcy Law is Key to Obama's Foreclosure Fight

by Zach Carter, Media Consortium MediaWire Blogger

President Barack Obama unveiled his administration's plan to fight foreclosures on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the most important element of the program will require Congressional action—and the banking and business lobbies are already on the attack. The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan has three chief components:

Manufacturing Tuesday: Vol. 2.3.09

Greetings everyone to another new installment in the Manufacturing series. Now this was intended to be released yesterday, but some emergency family issues came up that needed to be resolved (this seems to be happening a lot to me on these days lately!). So, please accept my apologies on the delay. Saying that, though there is a silver lining, I'm going to go ahead and basically give you a more "fresher" version of what was planned for yesterday (I normally write these up on Saturday and Sunday). So without further adieu....

The Numbers

Yesterday we got the latest ISM Manufacturing Survey Index figures for the month of January. The patient is recovering, but is still in critical condition!

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