Tag Archives: Middle Class Dismissed

Scranton Residents Plead for Bankruptcy vs. Higher Taxes

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“City officials in Scranton Pennsylvania have ignored pleas from residents pleading for bankruptcy.  Instead, the city raised property taxes and trash fees nearly 60% and tripled rental registration fees. The city’s school district, which faced a $4-million deficit, raised taxes 2.4%. The City Council, which in 2012 passed a 5% amusement tax on live entertainment, is now discussing a 10% drink tax.  As a result, taxpayers who can are fleeing the city.  The taxes are especially egregious to some because so many of the city’s residents are elderly and living on fixed incomes. The median household income in Scranton is $37,000, and nearly one-fifth of residents live below the poverty line.”

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/01/scranton-residents-plead-for-bankruptcy.html

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Why the Working Poor and Banks Are a Bad Match

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“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to draft rules governing payday lending this year. But the conventional wisdom that will likely guide it is based on false perceptions about the working poor and the best way to serve them.  So argues Lisa Servon, a professor at The New School in New York, who spent four months as a teller at a check-cashing business in the South Bronx and three at a payday lender in Oakland, Calif. Servon’s conclusion is that many low-income consumers fulfill their financial needs outside the regulated banking system by choice and in many cases are better off for doing so.”

http://www.americanbanker.com/video/why-the-working-poor-and-banks-are-a-bad-match1064854-1.html

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The Countdown to the Nationalization of Retirement Savings

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“Even before the new myRA program was announced, there had been whispers about the need for the US government to assume some risk for US retirement accounts. That’s code for forced conversion of private retirement assets into government bonds.  With foreigners not buying as many Treasuries and the Fed tapering, the US government has been searching for new buyers of its unwanted debt. And this is where the new myRA program comes in.  In short, it’s ostensibly a new way for people to save for retirement. Of course, you can only invest in government-approved investments—like Treasuries—which probably won’t even come close to keeping up with the real rate of inflation.”

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/countdown-to-the-nationalization-of-retirement-savings

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Jim Rogers and Ron Paul on IRA Confiscation

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Your Stocks and Bonds Are No Longer Your Property

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“Your stocks and bonds are not safe anymore… and haven’t been for the last decade. If your broker goes broke, there’s a chance you’ll be left holding the bag. Discover the ugly truth – and how to protect yourself.   If you have a 401(k), IRA, or brokerage account of any kind, you must read(In)Securities: Why Your Stocks and Bonds are No Longer Your Property to protect yourself.”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/special-reports/your-stocks-and-bonds-are-no-longer-your-property

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EU sees personal savings used to plug long-term financing gap

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“The savings of the European Union’s 500 million citizens could be used to fund long-term investments to boost the economy and help plug the gap left by banks since the financial crisis, an EU document says.  ‘The economic and financial crisis has impaired the ability of the financial sector to channel funds to the real economy, in particular long-term investment,’ said the document, seen by Reuters.  The Commission will ask the bloc’s insurance watchdog in the second half of this year for advice on a possible draft law ‘to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing’, the document said.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/12/us-eu-banks-savings-idUSBREA1B1ZI20140212

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Companies Squeeze 401K Plans From Facebook to JPMorgan

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“Employers are squeezing their workers’ retirement savings, holding back on both the amount and the timing of 401(k) matching funds and dragging out vesting schedules. Taken together, these measures are making it more difficult to save for old age.  Major companies that have engaged in such practices in recent years include Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM), Facebook Inc., Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Caesars Entertainment Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.  The most frugal have been scaling back company matches and setting lower limits for the maximum annual payment they’ll make to a 401(k) account, according to hundreds of government filings analyzed by Bloomberg.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-14/companies-squeeze-401-k-plans-from-facebook-to-jpmorgan.html

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Gas Station Owner Says IRS Grabbed $70K From His Bank Account

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“He says he’s an innocent man, never charged with any crime, who doesn’t understand why — or how — the IRS could snatch $70,000 from his bank account.  Mark Zaniewski, owner of Metro Marathon in Sterling Heights, said the IRS emptied out his bank account twice over the course of a week this spring.  What’s he charged with? Nothing. What did he do? His attorney says he drew the suspicion of the IRS for repeatedly depositing less than $10,000 cash in his account. At $10,000 banks have to report the deposit to the feds, and under law, the IRS can seize assets under civil forfeiture laws if there’s a suspicion you’re trying to avoid the bank’s reporting mechanism.”

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/11/14/sterling-heights-gas-station-owner-says-irs-grabbed-70k-from-his-bank-account-for-no-reason/

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Venezuela students protesting economy shot dead by gunmen

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“At least three people were shot dead as violence erupted during anti-government protests in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Wednesday.  Students in the western states of Tachira and Merida have been at the forefront of the protests, saying they are fed up with the lack of security and the poor state of Venezuela’s economy.  The country has the highest inflation rate in the region at 56.2% in 2013, according to official figures.  It is also beset by shortages, with shoppers often having to search a number of supermarkets for staples such as milk and toilet paper.  The government has blamed the shortages on ‘saboteurs’ and ‘profit-hungry corrupt businessmen’.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26166094

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Canada Signs U.S. FATCA Deal, IRS To Get Data

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“Canadians often feel slighted by their own government when it comes to the big Washington machine down south. It’s about to get worse, now that the two nations inked a tax-information sharing agreement. The broad deal is one of 22 intergovernmental agreements (so-called IGAs) the U.S. has signed to crack down on tax evasion.  FATCA is the U.S. law that requires banks everywhere to pony up information on Americans or face serious sanctions. The sanctions are so bad that virtually every institution or every nation seems to be striking a deal. Indeed, it is not exaggeration to say that banks and countries everywhere are scrambling, trying to appease the U.S. taxing authorities.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/02/07/canada-hungary-sign-u-s-fatca-deals-irs-to-get-data/

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