Cheat Sheet Q & A:
Did the GM bailout save jobs?:
You spoke this morning about losing money (The Federal Government) on the GM deal. Well the bigger picture is that he the President saved jobs. And that is something your comment was missing this morning. I'm I wrong for saying this?
Bottom Line: The premise of this question is a common misconception. The misconception that the GM bailout saved GM… You may recall that during the Presidential campaign Mitt Romney had his from editorial from 2009, suggesting that the automotive companies would be better off being allowed to go into bankruptcy, used against him. This proved to be effective even though that’s exactly what actually happened.
President Obama didn’t save GM or the jobs associated with the company – that’s a myth. General Motors did enter bankruptcy after they burned through the $11 billion bailout (the only difference is that GM staved off BK for four additional months as they burned through the bailout money). In bankruptcy GM had to do what all companies that go into a restructuring bankruptcy have to do… Restructure and prove a path to profitability. It wasn’t the administration that came up with the plan.
While on this topic I want to address the premise of GM receiving tax payer money for the purpose of “saving jobs”. In 2009 (the year of the bailout and bankruptcy) 4.1 million people lost their jobs. Why were the jobs of those at GM worth “saving” by the Government while the millions who lost their jobs were not?
Last but not least here’s how the bailout could actually be part of a destructive process for employment.
- Unemployment rate of
- Current unemployment rate of
So what does this have to do with bailout story? We didn’t have the $11 billion plus to lose. It was debt that we took on to fund the bailout. Countries like
If you have a comment or question you’d like me to address email me: brianmudd@clearchannel.com
Important information for self employed people before filing taxes:
Bottom Line:
Most of us are aware that many mortgage loan reforms have taken place since the days of the housing boom & bust. What most self-employed people don’t know is how changes in the mortgage process has changed as it pertains to them.
Loans used to be paid on free cash flow of a person or business. Loans are now based on taxable income. Many self-employed people will have net income (after deductions, including depreciation) that is quite low as they try to minimize their tax liability. This can be a huge problem when these business people try to obtain a mortgage. Additionally, most lenders will ask for two years of tax records. This means that if you show little or no taxable income in a given year it will actually impair your ability to obtain a mortgage for two years.
If you’re self-employed and plan on obtaining a mortgage within the next two years, you’d be well served to consult a mortgage professional before filing your taxes to see how it could affect your ability to obtain a mortgage in the future.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/03/14/tax-tips-self-employed-irs/1987267/
The devil in the details – where we are cutting back substantially:
Bottom Line: So the economic news has seemingly been positive almost across the board recently, right? Well there is one industry that’s taking it on the chin & it also could be an ominous indicator.
The decline in restaurant spending has been stark so far in 2013. At our current rate of spending, we’ll spend 8-12% less at restaurants in 2013. Not only is that really bad news for the restaurant industry, the last time we saw a year over year decrease at that level? 2008…
http://www.businessinsider.com/rosenberg-warns-of-restaurant-indicator-2013-3
What the modern day Benedict Arnold looks like:
Bottom Line: A significant development in our Hack Attack saga took place yesterday. A 26 year old Reuters employee from
Something tells me we’re about to find out that there are numerous traitors within the digital departments of companies and Governments.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/03/14/social-media-editor-charged/1988635/
So is the Galaxy S4 the iPhone killer?:
Bottom Line: So what at the key new features of the Galaxy S4?
- Eye / face detection for screen scrolling without touching the device
- A two way camera on the phone
- A larger 5 inch screen
Perhaps it’s just me but I don’t care for any of those (maybe it’s that I have small hands – with the screen size). Apple which has been under enormous pressure by Samsung can actually breathe a sign of relief after this release it’s not an iPhone killer, at least in my view.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100554833
Tens of thousands of Floridians have tens of millions of tax refunds that are unclaimed:
Bottom Line: All told 62,700 Floridians have just over $60 million in unclaimed tax refunds from the 2009 tax year that will expire if not filed for by April 15th of this year. The
