CULTURE
OF CORRUPTION
Post-Scandal Cleanup
Chicago
Tribune
By Clarence Page
January 12, 2006
"It's not healthy to blow your favorite evening beverage
through your nostrils. But that's how surprised I was to hear National
Democratic Chairman Howard Dean deny
that any Democrats took money from Jack Abramoff.
"Unless you've been on the moon for a while, you probably
have heard that Abramoff is a formerly well-connected
Republican who has pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to his lobbying
operations. Right-wing bloggers and others pounced on Dean and flailed away,
since a number of Democratic senators and congressmen already have given Abramoff-associated money to charity. How, then, could Dean
say otherwise? Right?
"But I checked
it out and, guess what? Dean was right." .
. .
THE
DEFICIT
On the news last night, the 2006 federal deficit was
revised upward to $400 billion. But as
usual, this is without the very real $200 billion or so we’re borrowing from
the Social Security surplus. So the real deficit this year is now projected
at $600 billion or so, nearly a quarter of the federal budget.
Got that? For
every four dollars Uncle Sam is spending, three come from taxes and one is
borrowed from your children. (Well, from
the Chinese and Saudis, too, but it is your children whose future will be weighed
down with the debt.)
By
the time keys to the White House change hands, in January, 2009, the National
Debt will approach $10 trillion – nearly $8 trillion of it racked up under
just three Presidents: Reagan, Bush and Bush.
Meanwhile, the interest on all that debt – currently around $350
billion a year – amounted to nearly 40% of the $893 billion we paid in
personal income tax in 2005. And
that was at today’s low interest rates, and on “only” the $8 trillion in debt. If interest rates rise, and as the debt itself
rises, 40% will be remembered as the good old days.
Remember when Republicans were shouting for a Balanced Budget Amendment? (Not a good idea, actually, but they were shouting
for it loudly.) Now that they control
the government, the only Constitutional Amendment being pushed is one to discriminate
against gay families.
LEA,
AMP, AXP
The smart friend who suggested LEA around $28 not
long ago – it’s dropped to $24 on bad news – says he’s holding on but not
buying more. He still thinks it could be
a $40 stock in a couple of years, but then again, it might not. He did not expect this news.
We’ve done better with American Express, especially
those who bought LEAPS (which raise the risk but lever the reward). The stock is barely a point higher than the
$52.50 at which it was suggested last May, but that’s after we got a share of Ameriprise (AMP) for
each five shares of (AXP). With AMP at
$44, that adds nearly $9, so we’re up just shy of 20% in eight months. Both AXP and AMP are probably worth hanging
onto (as are the 2007 and 2008 LEAPS you may own); but if you have them in a
nontaxable account, you might take your profit in AMP and either reinvest it in
more AXP or . . . if you’re ready to branch out into something new . . . buy a few shares (or LEAPS) of Wal-Mart
(WMT), $45.74 last night. It could be $65
or $70 by the end of next year. (If you’re
boycotting Wal-Mart, that’s another matter; but boycotting Wal-Mart may have
less practical, positive impact than using the profit from its stock, if you
make one, to further the causes you believe in.)
LINKING
TO THE TIMES
Alan
Atwood: “In
today's column you posted
a link to the story about the IRS seeking to deny ‘fraudulent’ refunds to low
income Americans while ignoring fraud from the wealthy. The thing with the New York Times is that after a period of time all their stories go
into their archive and are available only to paying subscribers. If two weeks from now someone were to pull up
your column and try to follow the link, all they would get is an abstract and
an offer to buy access or sign up for Times Select. Thankfully, there is a
way to generate permanent links to most New
York Times stories with a tool that the Times itself endorses and makes
available with bloggers in mind. The tool generates a permanent link which never goes
behind the archive firewall. They even
have a ‘bookmarklet’ that you can drag to your Internet
Explorer or Firefox bookmarks bar to make link
generation as simple as a single click while you’re viewing a Times story. For example, this is the
non-expiring link to David Cay Johnston's story on the IRS withholding refunds
from the poor.”
F Thanks! I’ll try to remember to
use this. I do have a Times Select
subscription, not least because the New
York Times is a company I hope to see thrive.
PETER
BROWN’S SUGGESTION FOR NEW ORLEANS
To the Editor
New Orleans Times-Picayune
I am a New Yorker, but the incredible reputation of New Orleans' creative food
innovations has inspired me to propose that the City of New Orleans create a
brand new taste treat, which could be marketed nationally, with the proceeds
used in the rebuilding effort. It is:
THE NEW ORLEANS
BROWNIE
Baked in New Orleans,
every package sold will contain a certificate stating that the consumer has
contributed to the rebuilding of your great city. It would memorialize the famous observation of President Bush:
“BROWNIE, YOU'RE DOING A HECK OF A JOB,” and become known as the brownie that
helped save New Orleans.
Peter A. Brown
New York City, New York
1/7/06
Have a
great weekend. (Don’t forget to send in
your fourth quarterly estimated tax payment by Tuesday, if you need to.)