College Basketball Player Ruled Ineligible For Trying to Feed Family

Jamar Samuels, a senior Kansas State basketball player, had to sit out a 3rd round NCAA Tournament game as his school held him out over eligibility concerns, which resulted from a $200 wire transfer that a former coach, Curtis Malone, sent to him.  Kansas State lost this game to Syracuse, 75-59, and Samuels' career ended without him getting another chance to play.  Malone said of Samuels, "The kid's family doesn't have anything and he called me for money to eat."  Kansas State held him out because of concerns about rigid NCAA rules regarding handouts from non-family members.  Kansas State Coach Frank Martin said Samuels was "our toughest kid," having gone from someone who almost quit the team to a highly respected player on and off the court. 

This story should have people asking lots of questions about the exploitation of college athletes, especially in football and basketball.  The thousands of college basketball and football players across the nation may get full scholarships to play their sports and get an education for free, but they are actually getting ripped off.  They take on very demanding schedules with high expectations in their sports and that they will graduate with a degree.  Their schedules usually mean they cannot take tough courses to get certain in-demand degrees.  They cannot take a part-time job in the off-seasons.  But, if their family has been hit the economic recession, they may have to risk their eligibility at a moment's notice to lift their family out of poverty, as Samuels as had to do. 

Meanwhile, winning schools and the NCAA corporate sponsors are getting rich off of the players, who are the ones doing the hard work while not getting compensated for it.  At a bare minimum, they should get some form of lifetime healthcare coverage as injuries from these sports, especially football, can hurt them permanently.  Too often, the money made from these games ends up fattening the salaries of the University presdients and the most successful coaches.   These sports widen income inequality as the most successful athletes go on to professional sports, where the most successful athletes there become part of the Top 1% before they fully know how to handle money.  And the athletes who do not make it may face disabling injuries like concussions that hamper their ability to work.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/2012/3/17/2880980/jamar-samuels-ineligible-curtis-malone-wire-transfer

Wealthy Setting Up Own Emergency Rooms As Others Cannot Afford Care (for 3/18/12)

The wealth divide is affecting how healthcare is delivered in the U.S.  Some wealthy families are opting for "concierge medicine," a type of healthcare system that gives them access to their physicians anytime at anyplace for $3,000 per month.  Nearly two of every three doctors currently believe this type of medicine is the most financially viable practice.  These type of medical practices limit the number of patients they take on.  With a potential physician shortage looming due to the aging of the population, more physicians who opt for this practice may further exacerbate the problem of access to healthcare.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans still lack access to quality, affordable healthcare.  While healthcare reform passed in 2010 addressed serious problems such as denial of health insurance due to pre-exsiting conditions, dropping people who get sick, and spending too much insurance revenue from patients on non-healthcare items, it has not yet contained overall healthcare costs.  Single-payer healthcare is probably the only system that would bring affordable healthcare to every American.  Medicare has a cost ratio of 3% and is something that every American 65 and older that is on will not let go without a fight.  Chances are those senior citizens on "concierge medicine" like their Medicare too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/concierge-medicine_n_1353155.html?ref=business

Mitt Romney Has Major Investments at Goldman Sachs (for 3/17/12)

In December, leading GOP Presidential contender Mitt Romney said, "I am not a Wall Street guy, classically defined."  He tried to emphasize that his firm, Bain Capital, was different from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and other Wall Street banks that caused the financial crisis.  But, Romney has significant investments in these banks, with the largest of these being in Goldman Sachs.  He reported on disclosure forms last August Goldman investments between $17.7 million and $50.5 million.  Romney's investment portfolio dwarfs those of other GOP Presidential candidates, who are not Goldman Sachs clients.  Accusations made by Michigan Senator Carl Levin against this firm include pushing investments predicted to fail onto its clients and lying to Congress.  This leads one to believe that Romney would serve the interests of Goldman Sachs before he serves the needs of the American people as Goldman Sachs as already infiltrated the U.S. Government with many former employees and hires former high-ranking U.S. officials in return.  This allows people in this inner circle to perosonally enrich themselves as everyone else in this country gets poorer.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/mitt-romney-goldman-sachs-investments

Goldman Sachs Rips Whistleblower (for 3/16/12)

Goldman Sachs employees responded to now former Executive Director Greg Smith's New York Times editorial by referring to him as an unhappy lower-paid employee dissatisfied with his bonus.  Goldman Sachs employees only look at those who make at least $750,000 annually as financial experts.  CNBC journalists joked that Smith and Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi, who frequently rips Goldman Sachs, would work together with Sesame Street characters to start a new media company. 

About three years ago at this time, CNBC's Jim Cramer got into a media tussle with The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who accused Cramer and the entire CNBC financial news network of poor reporting during the months prior to the September 2008 market crash.  When Cramer was guest on The Daily Show, Stewart grilled him about shady practices from his days as a hedge fund manager and promoting overleveraged investments that threaten the economic stability of the U.S.  He also criticized CNBC for seeing their main audience as being the Wall Street traders, not pension fund managers and the general public.  Three years later, it seems like Stewart should take a second shot at CNBC reporters.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/14/444514/financial-press-attacks-goldman-column/

Major Executive Leaves Goldman Sachs, Which Refers to Clients As Muppets (for 3/15/12)

Greg Smith, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, announced that he is leaving the firm, which he now describes as "toxic and destructive."  He thinks its CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, has lost control of the company, which has been in existence for 143 years.  As a manager of more than a trillion dollars in assets, Smith always felt a need to look out for the clients' best interest, not just what was most profitable for Goldman Sachs.  He saw that managing directors there had "referred to it clients as 'muppets.'"  The firms' junior analysts only cared about how much money they made from clients of its derivatives.  He thinks the firm must weed out the corruption if it is going to make money for clients in the long term.  The firm should get rid of those people suspected of questionable conduct even if they are the firm's biggest moneymakers at the moment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=1

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/14/444173/goldman-sachs-resign-toxic-culture-column/

BP Getting Off the Hook Two Years After Oil Spill

Two years after BP was responsible for the Gulf Oil Spill which killed 11 people and left potentially irreversible damage to marine life, it is lobbying against Congress taking action to rstrict offshore oil drilling.  With the help of mostly Republicans in Congress, oil companies lobbied in 2010 against provisions to lift the liability for oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion after the Gulf disaster.  President Obama wanted unlimited liability for companies involved in oil spills, but the Senate filibustered the raising of the liability cap.  Last year, BP made $8.43 million in lobbying expenditures aimed at protecting its tax breaks on its $26 billion in profits.  Even in a highly partisan environment, one thing that the vast majority if Americans agree on is that no company that destroys the environment should be allowed to make huge profits, pay their executives lavishly, and lobby Congress to stop legislation designed to hold companies like BP accountable for disasters like the Gulf Oil Spill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/bp-oil-spill-gulf-of-mexico-oil-lobbyists_n_1335556.html

Laid-off Older Workers Have Bleak Outlook

People who are 55 years or older and are unemployed spend an average of 54.1 weeks in unemployment.  One of these workers, Tom Magnone of Liberty Township, Ohio said he has filed applications for 920 different jobs.  Sometimes workers have to rely on temporary work when possible to make ends meet.  Compared to younger workers, older ones more often spent half of a year in unemployment even before the economic downturn.  Therefore, age discrimination has been a problem.  This helps widen income inequality as jobless older workers cannot make ends meet and younger workers often get paid less than older employed workers.  Meanwhile, CEOs and the upper tenth of the Top 1% continue to take home record paychecks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/jobs-report-unemployment-older-workers_n_1333699.html

Romney Supporter: Billionaires Have Too Little Political Influence

Ken Griffin, a Chicago-based billionaire hedge fund manager, is a Mitt Romney supporter who thinks the super-rich have an "insufficient influence" over American politics, even though he thinks politicians should pay so much attention to CEOs.  He also believes the Obama Administration is at fault for the social unrest over income inequality and that China is pulling people out of poverty by embracing policies favoring the private sector.  He also believes that there is nothing wrong with billionaires, hedge fund managers, and other super-wealthy individuals spending unlimited amounts of money to influence elections.  It took a fraction of this campaign spending to get policies that benefit only the upper part of the top 1% and these lack of spending limits are designed to keep the system from changing.  Although he thinks companies should not directly harm others, he does not want government picking which businesses succeed and which ones fail.  But, he is out of touch by applying this way of thinking to this recent Chicago coal plant closings.  In response to the overwhelming neighborhood and community pressure to shut them down, he does not believe that "the company that injures people to be shut down and for the government to start a competing enterprise."  Which must means that he want business and government to work together, even if it means screwing over other people's health.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/03/10/442067/billionaire-romney-backer-ultrawealthy-have-an-insufficient-influence-over-politics/; http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0311-confidential-griffin-web-version-20120311,0,2604121,full.column

Journalists Overpaid, Says Jamie Dimon

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently said journalists make too much money, based on the amount of revenue newspapers generate and media companies' lack of profitability.  The Bureau of Labor Stastistics says journalists make $43,780 annually.  In addition to his $23 million salary last year, Dimon also justified JP Morgan Chase's average wage rates of over $340,000 per year on the basis that it, as a Wall Street Bank, has to hire the best employees.  Attitudes like this from Wall Street CEOs and others in the Top 1% explain why those in the bottom 99% distrust Wall Street Bankers.  Media companies should not be allowed to go bankrupt, but their purpose is to truthfully disseminate the news.  With the amount of money both Dimon and his bank makes, he can hire public relations specialists to help dress up the facts to present to overworked journalists and make the bank look better than it really is.  The consolidation of media companies occurred because of pressure from the banks to be profitable, leading them to pursue the most sensationalizing stories as opposed to the news stories that people need to hear.  As a result, most people do not trust network news and Jon Stewart, even as a comedian, has taken the role of America's most-trusted news broadcaster.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/jamie-dimon-newspaper-reporter-pay_n_1307989.html; http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/02/28/jamie-dimon-want-to-make-sure-everyone-hears-him/?mod=wsj_share_twitter

Bankrupt MF Global Could Give Execs Huge Bonuses

MF Global went into bankruptcy last October, but bonuses could go out to 23 employees for cooperating  with authorities in the bankruptcy proceedings.  Just as AIG Executives collected hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses after the 2008 bailout, this is similar, though much smaller in size.  MF Global had about $1.6 billion of money that belonged to its customers that went missing.  Some of it has been recovered, but it may not ever be a total recovery.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/mf-global-bonuses_n_1334735.html

Sears Closes Stores as Its Chairman Purchases Mansion

In the final three months of 2011, Sears lost $2.4 billion and announced in December that it would eliminate 100-120 stores.  That will surely bring layoffs of thousands of people.  Its chairman, Edward Lampert is about to purchase a $40-million home in Indian Creek Island, north of Miami.  Meanwhile, Florida is taking the biggest hit of Sears' layoffs.   Lampert also runs ESL Investments, a hedge fund.  Most informed and educated Americans are outraged at this sight of hedge fund managers and billionaires who layoff workers and then use their many millions to splurge on themselves.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/06/eddie-lampert-home_n_1324122.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/sears-earnings-4q-2011_n_1296451.html

Walmart Suppliers Cheat Warehouse Workers Out of Pay

Warehouse workers are suing three companies in Los Angeles for class-action damages.   These companies are Walmart suppliers that are accused of cheating these workers out of pay by reporting fewer hours than they actually worked.  Big-box retailers like Walmart have kept their pay low by outsourcing the jobs of these workers to staffing firms. Even under honest pay practices, temporary warehouse workers have a wage rate of $3 per hour lower than permanent ones.  Companies in California have threatened these workers with layoffs after speaking out against dishonest pay practices.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/warehouse-workers-walmart_n_1321518.html

Top 1%'s Share of 2010 Income Gains Amount to 93% in U.S.

In 2010, the first year of recovery following the painful job-destroying recession of 2007-2009, the top 1% received 93% of all U.S. income gains during the year.  Which means the bottom 99% of the population is left to fight over the remaining seven percent.  The decline of unions has helped spur the decline, as well as tax policy and stock gains by the rich.  Not suprisingly, more Americans are falling into poverty and cannot even afford to eat.  It is very clear that income inequality caused the recession and correcting it is the only way towards recovery. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/1-percent-income-inequality_n_1321008.html

Billionaires' Index Created By Bloomberg

International financial news giant Bloomberg has just started the Bloomberg's Billionaires Index to measure the changes in daily wealth of the world's wealthiest individuals.  The firm's founder, current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is not included on the list.  Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecommunications kingpin, heads the list as the world's richest man at $68.5 billion.  Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, ranked second at $62.4 billion.  This level of wealth means that either of them could lose hundreds of millions of dollars on a given day and hardly feel it.  Warren Buffet ranks third at $43.8 billion.  Meanwhile, 90% of all Americans would probably be content to earn 0.01-0.02% of this amount of wealth over the course of their entire lives.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bloombergs-billionaires-index-a-daily-measure-of-the-worlds-wealthiest-people/2012/03/05/gIQADpansR_story.html;

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-05/slim-beats-gates-in-global-daily-ranking-of-billionaires.html

Reagan Raised Taxes and Spending More Than Obama

Under President Obama, government jobs have disappeared, particularly at the state and local levels.  The unemployment rate would probably be lower than 7% if government jobs now kept pace with the number of government jobs as a share of the entire economy from the Ronald Reagan Presidency.   There would be 1.3 million more government workers in teaching, responding to emergencies, and keeping our streets safe, among other things.  Increasing government spending that raises the National Debt during an economic crisis, often referred to as Keynesian economics, is what historically brings about a full recovery that eventually balances the Federal Budget to pay down the National Debt.  Republicans have referred to Obama as someone who harbors socialist ideas, such as huge government spending, raising taxes, and stifling businesses with regulations.  Ironically, Reagan is much more Keynesian than current Republican political idol, Ronald Reagan, whom conservatives adore for his small government and lower taxes rhetoric.  State and local governments, under Reagan, invested in education and infrastructure to support a growing population.  Also, Reagan boosted military spending to deal with foreign security threats.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/opinion/krugman-states-of-depression.html?_r=1

Savers Did Not Cause Financial Crisis, But Get Hurt By Low Interest Rates

During this financial crisis over the past four years, in an effort to rescue Big Banks the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to 0.2%.  Therefore, people who have raised their savings to cushion themselves against loss of jobs or homes have earned almost nothing on it.  These people have done nothing to cause the financial crisis while the Big Banks who caused it got rescued.  Homeowners, though, can refinance their mortgages to loans with lower interest rates.  However, people have not purchased homes at the rates they used to most likely due to uncertain long-term employment prospects.  It is also likely that many people are being more deliberate in which banks they take out big loans from to purchase cars or homes.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/business/low-rates-for-savers-are-reason-for-complaint-fair-game.html?_r=3&ref=business

In Idaho: Spending Cuts for Healthcare, Education; Tax Cuts for Wealthy, Corporations

Over the past three years, Idaho has cut its budget for both teaching students and keeping people healthy in the wake of the economic downturn.  In 2001, Idaho spent more on healthcare and education than it does now.  Yet, Idaho legislators strongly support, with Governor Butch Otter's backing, top rate tax cuts from 7.8% to 7.4% for its wealthiest individuals and 7.6% to 7.4% for corporations.  These tax cuts would increase the deficit by almost $36 million.  What is important to notice here is that many workers in healthcare and education belong to unions.  When state budgets experience deficits, their legislators may seek to force unions into concessions or even bust the unions.  They seek to do this to make it easier to lower salaries for teachers and nurses.  But, that hurts the economy as they have less money to spend.  This has also happened in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states headed by Republican governors.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/02/436525/idaho-tax-cuts/?tw_p=twt

Ten Percent of Wall Street Bank Workers are Psychopaths

Ten percent of people working for Wall Street Banks are psychopaths.  On average, only one in a hundred people are psychopaths.  The psychopaths working on Wall Street do not mind taking on a lot of risk in their lives.  They are normally outgoing, charming, and smart.  These traits allow them to hide their destructive habits when they present themseves as the perfect employee at any of these banks.  When they take on huge risks, they will do everything they can to make their bets pay off, including those made with other people's money.  This includes taking on huge amount debt, embezzlement, and fraud.  They justify trying to redefine the rules, so that they can engage in behaviors that normal people would consider corruption.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/wall-street-psychopaths_n_1307168.html

Bank of America Aggressively Pushing Customers to Buy More From It

Bank of America is responding to regulations limiting swipe fees on debit cards by forcing checking account holders to pay monthly charges unless they purchase more of its products, have an online account, or keep a minimum balance.  The fees range from $9 to $25 per month if they do not meet these conditions.  Its product offerings include credit cards and mortgages.  This proves that this bank seeks to get unsuspecting customers into debt because that will guarantee that they will have to pay a lot of money in interest charges.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/bank-of-america-fee_n_1312347.html?ref=business