Northern California McDonald’s® Offers Free Small Coffee During Tough Economic Times. Kabuki financial theatre – Congress net worth up 15 percent from 2004 to 2010 while the average American sees their net worth decline by 8 percent in the same timeframe. Welcome to plutocrat USA. We truly have the best government money can buy. From 2004 to 2010 members of Congress increased their median net worth by 15 percent while the average American saw it fall by 8 percent. Yet this fall in net worth does little justice to the rising cost of food, energy, healthcare, and college expenses that have eaten away any iota of progress families try to achieve in a prosperous nation. The fact that Congress presided over a Wall Street pilfering of the middle class and income inequality never seen in the history of the United States, we are starting to get a full understanding of what it is to live in a full-fledged plutocracy.
The reason people are frustrated with government is that it no longer looks out for their own interests and is narrowly focused on promoting the aggregation of wealth into fewer and fewer hands. The rise of low wage capitalism Source: NLEP The cracks in the median income The median household income in the United States is $50,000. Source: Social Security. What is the median household income in the US? A crisis spanning multiple generations and the taboo of household income. Household income is a taboo topic even though people have a visceral enjoyment of spending their hard earned money. As we go out and spend during this holiday season many people have absolutely no clue what other family members or neighbors make. Some would argue that household income is absolutely private and I would agree to a certain point.
The mainstream media is focused on getting people to spend and part with their money. At this they are highly successful. The distribution of median household income in the US I’ve noticed a few more mainstream articles discussing life of households making $50,000 a year. Source: Census This figure has held steady for many years but only until the recent profound recession did people start becoming enlightened to this fact. “Hey, how is my neighbor able to purchase a BMW when we pull in $50,000 and live in the same type of home?” For the most part, a large part of it was financed with debt. Let us examine the chart above more closely however: How much does the Average American Make? Breaking Down the U.S. Household Income Numbers. How much does the typical American family make? This question is probably one of the most central in figuring out how we can go about fixing our current economic malaise. After all, we don’t hear many people saying in today’s world that they have too much money.
The median household income in the United States is $46,326. Here in California people have a hard time understanding that yes, 50 percent of our population live on $46,000 or less a year. Even today, all the elixirs and remedies being thrown around fail to focus on income and the big brother of income, solid employment. Dual earner households have a higher median income at $67,348. To highlight the massive discrepancy I’ve put together a chart showing the household income distribution: As you can see from the above chart, only 17.8% of all U.S. households make more than $118,200 a year.
When I put together a budget for a family making $100,000 I received a bit of feedback on both sides. 5% down payment: $10,000. Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official. KNIGHT: Our Trojan Horse president. I was thinking about writing a novel about what might happen if a man who hates America and wants to bring it down is somehow elected president. What would he do? I sketched out a few plot elements, and you can decide whether this will fly.
First, the Trojan Horse president would initiate unprecedented spending, driving the debt up by more than $4 trillion just in the first three years. Much of the money would go into the pockets of political supporters and people who donate heavily to his campaigns. He would ram through an unreadable law allowing the federal government to seize the health care system, which would transform citizens into beholden subjects. He would cut out private lenders and federalize student loans. He would go on a world apology tour, letting America’s friends and foes know that he is doing whatever he can to make sure America becomes a third-rate power and is brought to heel under a growing world government headed by the United Nations. U.S. stores hope for Mega Monday of brisk sales. By Jessica Wohl Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:48pm IST (Reuters) - Retailers were bracing for a busy day on Monday, as a day off for many Americans and warm, dry weather were expected to entice shoppers looking for deep discounts.
Chains were also hoping that shoppers coming in to redeem the millions of gift cards given as presents might be willing to spend a bit more cash of their own. Many chains were still relying on the lure of bargains to bring in shoppers on the day after Christmas. Office Depot Inc advertised its "Ultimate After Christmas Sale," with stores opening at 8 a.m., while Carter's Inc, the children's apparel retailer, promoted discounts of up to 70 percent. It was the first time in six years that the day after Christmas fell on a Monday. This year, December 26 is expected to be the third busiest day in terms of foot traffic, trailing Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Saturday, December 17, according to ShopperTrak, which measures retail and mall foot traffic. Sears closing more stores as holiday sales slide. Sears is closing 100+ stores. Here's a map showing the first 79 stores to close. : business. Several Fights At MOA, 9 Arrested.
Get Breaking News First Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning. Sign Up BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) – Police arrested nine people at the Mall of America Monday, the day after Christmas, after multiple fights broke out, authorities said. Mall of America officials released a statement saying that around 4:20 p.m. 50 juveniles caused a large disturbance in the north food court. Witnesses said the fights started after there were reports that rappers Lil’ Wayne and Drake were visiting the Mall. Cmdr. Mall of America security arrested four other people for disorderly conduct as well, Mall officials said. Police said as many as 200 were involved the fights. As the fights were popping up, the Mall of America inadvertently called for a lock down. There were no reports of serious injuries, Mall official said.
Although the Mall kept its normal hours, some stores within the Mall closed early. According to Stehlik, no weapons were recovered, and there are no reports of burglary. Mall of America Brawl over Lil Wayne & Drake rumor. 9 arrested after brawl at Mall of America | kare11.com. Mall of America Monday night. BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Fists flew and so did a few chairs during a large-scale brawl at the Mall of America Monday. "Anytime you have a large group of people together things can happen," said Commander Mark Stehlik with Bloomington Police.
"But this is highly unusual. " Shortly after 4 p.m., authorities confirm more than 20 individuals started fighting in the north food court. Cellphone video uploaded to YouTube shows dozens of young people watching while some push, punch, and even throw chairs. At that same time, police say several other fights flared up in other places of the mall. "There were drinks thrown on the floor and chairs being thrown everywhere," said Tess Dessalgne who witnessed the brawl. There are no reports of anyone seriously hurt, but Bloomington Police along with Mall of America security arrested nine individuals for disorderly conduct. "At one point we had over 30 officers involved," said Commander Stehlik. Extra police and security on hand at Mall of America. BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Inside the Mall of America Tuesday, extra security guards and police could be seen watching over this massive space. It was a sense of business as usual, a complete opposite from Monday afternoon when a large group of young people started a huge brawl that spread into other parts of the building, much of it captured on video and posted to youTube.
"There were hundreds of people down there," Cassie Anderson told KARE 11. Anderson witnessed one of the fights unfold right in front of her while she worked at a nearby clothing store. "(It was) scary. You didn't know who was part of it, so you didn't know if you're were going to be trampled or if guns were going to be pulled," she said. She saw people pushing tables and throwing chairs, one of which nailed a teenage girl in the head. However, officials say there were no major injuries reported in the mall, but there were reports of fights spilling out into the surrounding area. Federal Judge Green Lights IRS Search For California Gift Tax Cheats. Document 6 :: United States of America v. John Doe :: 2:2010mc00130 :: California Eastern District Court :: US Federal District Courts Cases.
Court Description: ORDER signed by Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 12/15/2011 GRANTING 4 Renewed Petition for Leave to Serve "John Doe" Summons filed by United States of America. (Reader, L) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 IN THE MATTER OF THE TAX LIABILITIES OF: No. 2:10-mc-00130-MCE-EFB 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 JOHN DOES, United States taxpayers, who during any part of the period January 1, 2005, through December 31, property in the State of California for little or no consideration subject to California Propositions 58 or 193, which information is in the possession of the State of California Board of Equalization, sent to BOE by the 58 California counties pursuant to propositions 58 and 193. US offers Swiss banks a tough deal to avoid prosecution, says SonntagsZeitung. December 18, 2011 - 17:19 The United States authorities have offered to lift the threat of legal action against 11 Swiss banks in exchange for information, a Swiss paper reported on Sunday.
The SonntagsZeitung says it has discovered that Michael Ambühl, who heads the Swiss state secretariat for international financial matters, and who has been conducting negotiations with the US authorities for several months, presented representatives of the banks with the deal on Friday. It quotes “one of those involved” as saying each of the 11 banks will be offered a deal similar to that accepted by the UBS bank in 2009 after it was discovered that it had helped US clients to hide their assets from the US tax authorities. Under that deal UBS provided information about some 4,450 clients and paid a fine of $780 million (SFr913 million at the time).
Far too soon to write off America. US Stocks: Stocks Slump 1%, Led by Materials; Vix Jumps - US Business News. Stocks finished near their worst levels Wednesday, with the S&P falling into negative territory for the year, as the euro tumbled and investors remained on the sidelines amid what is expected to be a light news week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 139.94 points, or 1.14 percent, to finish at 12,151.41, led by BofA and Alcoa.
The S&P 500 fell 15.79 points, or 1.25 percent, to end at 1,249.64, snapping a five-day winning streak and slipping back into negative territory for 2011. The Nasdaq tumbled 35.22 points, or 1.34 percent, to close at 2,589.98. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, jumped above 23. All 10 S&P sectors finished firmly in negative territory, led by energy and materials. The euro tumbled near a one-year lowagainst the greenback as investors were disappointed after a ECB report that showed European banks deposited a record $585 billion with the central bank. The calendar is light on the economic and corporate news front. US Stocks: Dow Logs Gain in Volatile 2011; S&P Ends Flat - US Business News. Themes to Watch for in 2012 Expectations for a good year in 2012, with David Sowerby, Loomis Sayles and Ryan Detrick, Schaeffer's Investment Research.
The SEC got a fresh dressing-down from the judge who rejected its $285 million settlement with Citigroup, as he said the regulator kept him out of the loop on its efforts to salvage the case. Meanwhile, Verizon scrapped its proposal to charge customersan extra fee for some payment types, citing “customer feedback.” Google edged slightly higher after Baird raised its price target on the search-engine giant to $760 from $700. Searsidentified 79 of the 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores it said earlier this week it would close, with the list split almost evenly between the two chains. Standard & Poor's placed Sears' credit rating on review for a possible downgrade, saying the retailer's plan to close at least 100 stores may not do much to improve its performance. —Follow JeeYeon Park on Twitter: twitter.com/JeeYeonParkCNBC— Coming Up Next Week: 2011 – CATCH-22 YEAR IN REVIEW. “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” - Mark Twain I published my predictions for 2011 on January 3, 2011 in my article 2011 – The Year of Catch-22. Humans evidently enjoy being embarrassed by how pitiful they are at predicting the future, because we continue to do it year after year. The mainstream media pundits don’t dare look back at their predictions or the predictions of the Wall Street shills that parade on CNBC and get quoted in the Wall Street Journal, eternally predicting 10% to 15% stock market gains. The multi-millionaire Wall Street strategists like the spawn of the squid, Abbey Joseph Cohen, have used all of their Ivy League brain power to predict at least a 10% stock price gain every year since 1999.
The S&P 500 stood at 1,272 on January 6, 1999. As of this writing it currently stands at 1,261. The Wall Street mantra of stocks for the long run is beginning to get a little stale. Flurry of Trades in Final Seconds Snatched Away 2011 Advance in S&P Index. US jobs market improves despite rise in benefits claims. Have the youth given up on Obama. Editor's Note: Brad Chase is a partner with Capitol Media Partners, a Los Angeles-based communications and public affairs consultancy. By Brad Chase - Special to CNN In 2008, the youth vote helped sweep Barack Obama into office. Americans 18-29 spread the word on social media, energized fundraising and went to the polls. In 2012, the youth vote is moving on and throwing those omnipresent “Hope” bumper stickers and t-shirts in garbage bins. Not because of apathy. The sobering reality: just 55.3 percent of Americans between 16 and 29 have jobs. Rather than develop a lasting initiative to help young unemployed Americans, the President launched “Greater Together” – a campaign tool that offers community forums rather than jobs.
No wonder less than half of Americans 18-29 approve of Obama. It’s no surprise the President is ignoring millenials. To win the youth vote in November, a Presidential candidate could start by: The ancillary benefit of student debt relief is a stimulus to the economy.