The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
10-28-2013, 03:05 PM
#4846
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The Federal fuel tax was last raised in 1993, I believe. It is $0.184 per gallon of gasoline ($0.244 per gallon of diesel). It is not indexed for inflation.
http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/marketi.../pdf/enote.pdf
States and local municipalities may levy additional taxes. The population-weighted national average is about $0.50 per gallon (Federal + state and local taxes).
http://www.api.org/Oil-and-Natural-G...ne-Tax-Map.pdf
http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/marketi.../pdf/enote.pdf
States and local municipalities may levy additional taxes. The population-weighted national average is about $0.50 per gallon (Federal + state and local taxes).
http://www.api.org/Oil-and-Natural-G...ne-Tax-Map.pdf
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10-29-2013, 09:27 AM
#4847
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"At any given time there exists an inventory of undiscovered embezzlement in – or more precisely not in – the country’s business and banks. This inventory – it should perhaps be called the bezzle – amounts at any moment to many millions of dollars…
In depression all this is reversed. Money is watched with a narrow, suspicious eye. The man who handles it is assumed to be dishonest until he proves himself otherwise. Audits are penetrating and meticulous. Commercial morality is enormously improved. The bezzle shrinks."
J K Galbraith, 1954
Last edited by Braineack; 10-08-2019 at 09:48 AM.
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10-29-2013, 09:36 AM
#4848
"At any given time there exists an inventory of undiscovered embezzlement in – or more precisely not in – the country’s business and banks. This inventory – it should perhaps be called the bezzle – amounts at any moment to many millions of dollars…
In depression all this is reversed. Money is watched with a narrow, suspicious eye. The man who handles it is assumed to be dishonest until he proves himself otherwise. Audits are penetrating and meticulous. Commercial morality is enormously improved. The bezzle shrinks."
J K Galbraith, 1954
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10-29-2013, 10:18 AM
#4849
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This part actually makes me laugh. I use to work in external audit and currently work for one of the "Big Four" accounting firms in internal audit services and the likelihood of an external audit catching a well orchestrated fraud is slim to none unless the company has become insolvent and it is already too late. I think the statistic is something like 2% of fraud is discovered by the external auditor.
Galbraith is saying that, in good times, there is always a level of embedded fraud in the system but it gets overlooked or is more easily concealed. It's in a depression - or global financial crisis - that the scrutiny becomes more intense and the audits become "penetrating and meticulous."
I think this is not an unreasonable analysis. Counter-party risk is hardly talked about when things are good, but during a depression, everyone is looked at with a much greater level of skepticism. Thus, the "credit crunches" and general lack of liquidity in the market.
Just think about how many of the ponzi schemes that unravelled in the 2008 - 2010 time frame had been operating for a decade or more. If the scars from the most recent lesser depression were not so fresh, Corzine and MF Global might have been able to creatively account for their issues.
Or, think about the big scandals with Enron, MCI Worldcom, and Tyco. They unravelled during the 2000 - 2003 downturn.
You can argue cause and correlation, but I think the broader point remains.
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10-29-2013, 11:01 AM
#4852
You have to read that line in the full context of the quote.
Galbraith is saying that, in good times, there is always a level of embedded fraud in the system but it gets overlooked or is more easily concealed. It's in a depression - or global financial crisis - that the scrutiny becomes more intense and the audits become "penetrating and meticulous."
I think this is not an unreasonable analysis. Counter-party risk is hardly talked about when things are good, but during a depression, everyone is looked at with a much greater level of skepticism. Thus, the "credit crunches" and general lack of liquidity in the market.
Just think about how many of the ponzi schemes that unravelled in the 2008 - 2010 time frame had been operating for a decade or more. If the scars from the most recent lesser depression were not so fresh, Corzine and MF Global might have been able to creatively account for their issues.
Or, think about the big scandals with Enron, MCI Worldcom, and Tyco. They unravelled during the 2000 - 2003 downturn.
You can argue cause and correlation, but I think the broader point remains.
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10-29-2013, 11:41 AM
#4853
You have to read that line in the full context of the quote.
Galbraith is saying that, in good times, there is always a level of embedded fraud in the system but it gets overlooked or is more easily concealed. It's in a depression - or global financial crisis - that the scrutiny becomes more intense and the audits become "penetrating and meticulous."
I think this is not an unreasonable analysis. Counter-party risk is hardly talked about when things are good, but during a depression, everyone is looked at with a much greater level of skepticism. Thus, the "credit crunches" and general lack of liquidity in the market.
Just think about how many of the ponzi schemes that unravelled in the 2008 - 2010 time frame had been operating for a decade or more. If the scars from the most recent lesser depression were not so fresh, Corzine and MF Global might have been able to creatively account for their issues.
Or, think about the big scandals with Enron, MCI Worldcom, and Tyco. They unravelled during the 2000 - 2003 downturn.
You can argue cause and correlation, but I think the broader point remains.
Galbraith is saying that, in good times, there is always a level of embedded fraud in the system but it gets overlooked or is more easily concealed. It's in a depression - or global financial crisis - that the scrutiny becomes more intense and the audits become "penetrating and meticulous."
I think this is not an unreasonable analysis. Counter-party risk is hardly talked about when things are good, but during a depression, everyone is looked at with a much greater level of skepticism. Thus, the "credit crunches" and general lack of liquidity in the market.
Just think about how many of the ponzi schemes that unravelled in the 2008 - 2010 time frame had been operating for a decade or more. If the scars from the most recent lesser depression were not so fresh, Corzine and MF Global might have been able to creatively account for their issues.
Or, think about the big scandals with Enron, MCI Worldcom, and Tyco. They unravelled during the 2000 - 2003 downturn.
You can argue cause and correlation, but I think the broader point remains.
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10-30-2013, 09:13 AM
#4854
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You mean the billion dollar website that was set up by one of the first lady's Princeton classmates and campaign donors? That one? The one that doesn't work because the company hired was done so out of political favoritism as opposed to technical qualifications?
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10-30-2013, 09:17 AM
#4855
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Teacher Fired For Allowing Students To Share Needles During Experiment « CBS Charlotte
SPRING LAKE, N.C. (AP) — A Harnett County teacher has been fired after school officials said she allowed biology students to ***** themselves with lancing needles as part of an experiment and reusing the needles with other students.
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10-30-2013, 09:18 AM
#4856
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Macy's security has arrest quota, 'race code system' for nonwhite shoppers: lawsuit - NY Daily News
According to the suit, Macy's security guards had a quota of five "arrests" per week, and store security personnel identified nonwhite shoppers using different codes. Plaintiff Ayla Gursoy, a Turkish immigrant, says she was detained and arrested while shopping at the Macy's Herald Square store.
Read more: Macy's security has arrest quota, 'race code system' for nonwhite shoppers: lawsuit - NY Daily News
Read more: Macy's security has arrest quota, 'race code system' for nonwhite shoppers: lawsuit - NY Daily News
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11-01-2013, 08:56 AM
#4858
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AP editors: Obama relies on staged propaganda photos | The Daily Caller
Editors of The Associated Press condemned the White House’s refusal to give photojournalists real access to President Obama, who prefers to circulate press release-style pictures taken by his own paid photographers.
These official photographs are little more than propaganda, according to AP director of photography Santiago Lyon.
The AP has only been permitted to photograph the president in the Oval Office on two occasions. Both were during his first term. All other pictures of Obama in his office were taken by White House photographers and distributed to the press.
...
These official photographs are little more than propaganda, according to AP director of photography Santiago Lyon.
The AP has only been permitted to photograph the president in the Oval Office on two occasions. Both were during his first term. All other pictures of Obama in his office were taken by White House photographers and distributed to the press.
...
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