I can recall sending out our truck drivers routinely to make deliveries to hospitals and clinics around the US. And, because our company was growing by leaps and bounds (we averaged 220% growth from year 2 to year 12 (the first two years manifested even greater growth), we sent them out with enough cash to get to their destinations. Then, as our payments rolled in, we got them money for their return trip.
Continue reading When do we enforce the usury laws?
Do you remember the great deficit bugaboo? Where a certain party (you know, the Chicken Little one) kept screaming that the deficits would ruin America? Which continued through the next Presidential election? 
If you’d check my blog, I clearly stated the facts. That the deficit only looked overwhelming because our economy was in free fall. (As I quoted Ben Bernanke yesterday, the 2008 recession (aka ‘the Great Recession’) was far worse for the economy than the Great Depression. And, now that our economy is recovering (although wage rates have not done so), our deficit is no longer a problem. (Don’t even think that the “fixes” offered by Congress made a difference- they won’t kick in for a few more years, yet.)
Continue reading What Austerity Really Brings
Soooo. You’ve heard it. You know it. Corporations all complain about that 35% tax rate- but few, if any, are paying taxes at that rate. Big companies pay virtually ZERO % and middle-market companies pay 15 to 18%. (By the way, a whole slew of single-owner corporations pay a mandated 35% tax rate!) And, our clients- the ones we convinced to form LLC’s and S entities to save on taxes want us to explain how come they are not paying taxes at the 15% to 18% rates. Continue reading Tax Rates- Pass Throughs and C’s
I read a manuscript today and realized that I am guilty of believing in myths. Perhaps, you are guilty of the same crime. Crime, you ask? Yes, it’s a crime when we don’t get paid for the value we provide our clients.
Time. It’s important- mostly because of what we do with it. Or, what we don’t.
We used to tell time with sundials. Until we were able to develop sophisticated mechanical pieces that made our obsession with the time be possible, regardless of the weather. My religion uses the concept of hours- but those hours change in length as the day gets longer or shorter- since daylight is defined as containing 12 ‘hours’- and so is night-time.
Continue reading Baby, it’s dark outside!
So, we talked about crowdfunding. What about peer-to-peer lending? This has been around for a while. And, it has some advantages- but it won’t fund a company. It could possible get a small company out of a jam. And, it certainly can work for certain individuals. But, the limit of the loan via this process seems to be about $35K.
It’s time for a little truth. One that has probably eluded you for years- because your employer provides your health insurance. But, if you have to buy your own insurance- or, worse yet, have no insurance, you probably have an inkling of these insidious practices.
Continue reading What’s behind that curtain?
We thought it was the Arab Spring. But, now, the revolts in Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, Chile, Russia, and the various US states are showing that was too simple an explanation. These revolts (with the probable exception of Russia) are now aimed at democratically elected governments.
Continue reading Arab Spring? I think not.
Uh-oh. This time it could be for real. That oft-quoted, hardly found marriage penalty? I guess it finally had to come about, since Peter has been calling Wolf so long.
Continue reading Marriage Penalties
We all have heard (or read) how middle class wealth has been devastated over the past quarter century. Even now, as the economy seems to be perking up, it’s only the very wealthy that are seeing those gains. Mostly because the stock market is way up (interest rates are so low, it’s the only place for the wealthy and the retired to park their funds)- and housing has still not recovered (which is where the bulk of middle class wealth is found) to those pre-2009 levels.
Continue reading Is the Tax Code Fair?