"Pay their fair share of taxes" Biden asks of corporations showing 2017 predecessor tax cuts did not increase investment and added $100 billion yearly to the US Deficit

03/08/2024

By paying their fair share of taxes Biden says in State of Union speech to US Congress 2024 one can increase investment in education, affordable childcare and better living for seniors in their homes, and still cut the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. What is fair share? Certainly not zero percent that 55 of the largest corporations paid on $40 billion in profits in 2020, and corporate minimum tax was introduced at levels of 15% for which most ordinary Americans are not eligible for. And certainly not 8.2% that Biden said was being paid by 1000 billionaires in the US. Not a single penny more is being asked of hard working Americans earning less than $400,000 a year. Biden said he wanted to see the corporate minimum tax at 21% not 15%, and the top corporate tax rate set at 28% not the 21% that it was reduced to in 2017 from 35%. In short his predecessor turned to help companies and billionaires profit from the popular distress of the shipping of jobs overseas and the 2009 financial crisis caused by Bank executives without investing the nation's capital resources in manufacturing at home in scale to match and exceed China's. And at the same time neglecting to do anything about the concerns of the people for ease of living- affordable access to childcare, preschool education, education, health care to match Europe/China/India in quality and cost, and aging transportation infrastructure of airports, subways, roads and bridges. The savings when this is done properly go to cut the deficit by over 4 trillion dollars and keep America as the leader of all G-20 economies.

Linked Articles

Biden Draws Sharp Contrast With Trump in State of the Union

WSJ 03/07/2024

Ken Thomas, Tarini Parti

WSJ 03/07/2024

Andrew Restuccia, Andrew Duehren, Richard Rubin

Try hard but not too hard-cutting yourself some slack improves health and concentration, the Andy Grove principle for slack in your work routine reinforces this

09/15/2023

People forget that this applies to sports athletes and high achieving people. Andy Grove, founder of Intel and of Silicon Valley, believed in keeping some slack in his work routine and schedule. He left Hungary in 1956 after the Hungarian revolution and Russian invasion as a refugee, and graduated first in his class in the City College of New York in chemical engineering 3 years later. In 3 more years he obtained a PhD from UC Berkeley. In his book Output Management he says productive arrangement is one that keeps slack in the way that highway planners know that having too many cars compared to capacity means everything comes to a halt. In his daily work he always believed in having some slack. Today people pile on work upon work forgetting these basic principles. The other principle is leveraging of activities which is where the output comes from. To leverage effectively concentration of mind is needed and a chance to reflect and think, which requires slack and slack that adds additional time for healthy living that aids mindfulness. This adds to Motivation and Training which Grove says affect Output. To do this requires some slack to think and reflect and healthy lifestyles that power this process. This is also why the competing styles today show contrasts between those of Boeing's top managers and Stellantis managers similar to Grove and Musk's style for Tesla also shown in WSJ in the last few months being just the opposite.

Linked Articles

Burnt-out from work? Try following Hugh Jackman’s 85% rule

The Guardian 09/15/2023

WSJ 09/11/2023

Rachel Feintzeig

How the Russian invasion of a neighboring country has not worked in line with European history

04/07/2023

Scholz of Germany says Putin started this war for absurd reasons. NATO he says was never a threat to Russia. Russia invaded a neighboring country with the idea of conquering it. Scholz says Putin was taking a felt tip pen across the European landscape and drawing this is yours, this mine. And he says Germany would never accept that. Brendan Simms in his History of Europe- The struggle for Supremacy 1452 to the Present, is on German chancellor Scholz's reading list since 2021. It shows that for 500 years no dominant European power was able to do act with impunity without the rest of Europe joining together to prevent it. This war is not an exception. The European Union countries stuck together to make it possible for Ukraine to carry on even with generators to keep the lights on and supermarket shelves well stocked. In this sense the outcome of this war is already known. It has followed what Brendan Simms has pointed out already.

Linked Articles

Germany's Scholz says Putin started war for 'completely absurd' reasons | DW | 21.08.2022

DW.COM 08/23/2022

SPIEGEL ONLINE 04/07/2023

Michael Kröger, Benjamin Bidder, Der Spiegel

Nature walks and improved health and wellbeing- Essential during the Coronavius Pandemic

10/09/2021

Walks taken out in parks, nature settings, and further out in wooded areas are seen as essential for health and wellbeing during the pandemic. This is becoming increasingly popular in the UK and can be pursued in the US, other parts of Europe, India, other parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa as a way to promote neglected mental health during the pandemic. Vaccines are doing their part for body health yet much remains to be done for mental health which has taken a big hit during the pandemic.

Linked Articles

‘These salt marshes saved my life’: how nature is helping mental health

The Guardian 10/09/2021

The Guardian 06/13/2019

How the Coronavirus test in the U.S. got delayed for 3 crucial weeks in February letting the pandemic spread quickly

08/21/2020

Three lost weeks in February starting February 9 when the FDA realized its third component of the test to test mutated virus had failed in use by labs but continued to persist in doing this on its own. Private labs of well known medical companies and university teaching hospitals were ready to develop and use their own tests with lightning speed and yet the FDA required its approval stalling that effort. FDA and HHS failure in the crisis led to the quick spread of the virus in Feb- March making any use of test and contact trace for containment ineffective. a crucial window of time was lost!

Linked Articles

FDA’s Authority to Regulate Lab Tests Is Curtailed

WSJ 08/21/2020

Thomas M. Burton

WSJ 08/18/2020

Stephanie Armour, Brianna Abbott, Thomas M. Burton, Betsy Mc Kay

Do tax cut benefits go mainly to the 10% of Americans who own 84% of the stocks- evidence of corporate buybacks vs increasing wages/new capital investment for growth to help the middle class

03/01/2018

Linked Articles

Boom in Share Buybacks Renews Question of Who Wins From Tax Cuts

WSJ 03/01/2018

Akane Otani, Richard Rubin, Theo Francis

The New York Times 12/19/2017

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Why initiating Brexit by invoking the Lisbon Treaty's Article 50 could go into 2017, or even past 2020 into new general elections- (1) the pro stay vote in Ireland and Scotland

08/16/2016

Theresa May, Britain's prime minister, is deeply committed to the idea of the union of England with Scotland and Ireland. Invoking Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty, a step necessary for Brexit, would also lead to Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party to initiate plans for a second referendum for Scottish independence, as Scotland votd to remain in the European Union. The issue of Ireland and Northern Ireland's vote to remain in the EU would also lead to serious repercussions. In short it will be hard to separate the leave vote in England from the stay vote in Scotland and Ireland, as it will be difficult for most British people to imagine a England without a British identity. If the referendum had asked the second question "Do you still vote leave if this means the end of Britain or the United Kingdom?" the vote could have turned out differently for nationalist voters.

Linked Articles

Wait and see: Theresa May is in no hurry on Brexit | Europe | DW.COM | 15.08.2016

DW.COM 08/15/2016

Bernd Riegert / Db

DW.COM 07/25/2016

Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariff on China's exports to the U.S.- how a policy of bringing jobs home could lead to the loss of 1 million U.S. jobs

03/08/2016

By damaging the international trading system including with allies such a Canada, Britain, France and Germany, the result of a downward spiral through higher tariffs in other countries, could end up costing the U.S. 1 million jobs. Under such a system the U.S. would lose many of the advantages of its booming tech sector, its tech driven global advantages in many industries, without signifcant gains in low cost imports such as clothing which would simply migrate to other countries such as India. The problem of worker wage stagnation in the U.S., and loss of jobs in certain sectors, is very real, but this is the wrong way to tackle the problem. China is already moving towards a consumer driven economy. Economists show that trade with Mexico would be seriously hurt both ways, creating more pressure of migrants at the border under such proposals as a 45% tariff and its indirect effect on Mexico, when the actual fact is that net migration from Mexico is the lowest it has ben in decades. Politics can do strange things as when two senators Smoot and Hawley from agricultural states Utah and Oregon, at the head of important committees in the U.S. Congress pushed and passed legislation for a 60% tariff in 1930 for the industrial sector they had no idea about. When Smoot and Hawley lost reelection in 1932 they left behind a lot of damage, especially for the farmers and workers they thought they were fighting for.

Linked Articles

How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire

Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016

Bob Davis, Bob, Davis

Wall Street Journal 03/08/2016

Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Holman, W., Jenkins, Jr.

Trump's casinos and Griffin's Citadel hedge fund- risky financial investments and path from collapse to recovery

08/04/2015

WSJ reporters Grant and Berzon on Trump, and Copeland on Ken Griffin of the Citadel hedge fund provide an inside look at the financial dealings and maneouvring of Trump, the huge risk and leverage taken on at Citadel by Griffin. In doing so they provide insights into the manner of operating and personality of the two businessmen.

Linked Articles

Trump and His Debts: A Narrow Escape

Wall Street Journal 01/04/2016

Peter Grant, Peter, Grant, Alexandra Berzon, Alexandra, Berzon

Wall Street Journal 08/04/2015

Rob Copeland, Rob, Copeland

Ban on election advertising on commercial television and radio in Britain and strict limits of $29.5 million for each party in general elections- contrast with the U.S.

05/02/2015

Britain disproves the popular belief that an ever upward trajectory for election spending is inevitable. The 2010 general election in Britain cost half that of the 1880 general election in 2002 prices, say researchers. In the U.S. spending has increased to the point where candidates may be spending more time fund raising than talking about the issues. The 2016 presidential election in the U.S. is estimated to lead to $10 billion in spending. India, Brazil, and other developing countries face a similar situation.

Linked Articles

Britain’s Campaign Finance Laws Leave Parties With Idle Money

New York Times 05/04/2015

Stephen Castle, Stephen, Castle

New York Times 05/02/2015

Eric Lichtblau, Eric, Lichtblau

Tech Startup Box Inc. in cloud computing- travails of co-founders Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith with the IPO process and changing market sentiment

04/19/2015

Changing market sentiment about Box Inc. consistent losses as it goes after rapid growth, with one anayst calling it "a house of horrors," a long IPO process and investor demands, have an unnerving and distracting effect on the founders. Langley and Hardy describe the experience of startup founders as competition and market perceptions change.

Linked Articles

Rich, but Not Silicon Valley Rich for Founders of Box

Wall Street Journal 04/24/2015

Monica Langley, Monica, Langley

New York Times 04/19/2015

Quentin Hardy, Quentin, Hardy

BaFin, German federal financial regulatory authority, and the problems at Deutsche Bank- regulators slow to act on information

03/28/2014

Eyk Henning of the WSJ points out the slow response of regulator BaFin to information about problems at Deutsche Bank that suggest a broken culture in a report on March 28, 2014. This comes 6 years after the WSJ first reported the LIBOR rate manipulation in 2008 leading to British and U.S. regulatory investigations. In April 2015 Deutsche Bank made a legal settlement for LIBOR rate manipulation of $2.5 billion with U.S. and British regulators. As the time when regulatory authority passes to the European Central Bank, and after a period of 7 years since the 2008 WSJ report, BaFin finally sends its report on the broken culture at the bank. A month later the two co-CEO's at the bank resign.

Linked Articles

Germany Blasts Deutsche Bank Executives Over Culture

Wall Street Journal 07/17/2015

David Enrich, David, Enrich, Jenny Strasburg And Eyk Henning, Jenny, Strasburg, And, Eyk, Henning

Wall Street Journal 03/28/2014

Eyk Henning, Eyk, Henning