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Manchester’s money
Whitman joined Ebay in 1998 when it had 30 employees and $4.7 million in revenues. During her time it grew to 15,000+ employees and $7.7 Billion in revenues. I wont say she deserves all credit but this is a succesful business that created many jobs while she was in charge. As for the selling of fake goods, Ebay has worked with governemnt agencies to regulate that as best as possible and (unlike Craigslist) has been cracking down on illegal items (no guns, tobacco, alcohol,etc.) and does not allow animals to be sold on the site. They also built a LEED-certified HQ in San Jose that has a huge solar array and is a great example of environmental responsibility. Lastly, you say we cant afford a political "neophyte." Where have all the "experienced" polticians in California got us? This legislature, along with past and present governors have run this state into insolvency, which has resulted in outdated infrastructure, poor schools and future debt payments that will strangle the state for decades. Now, I am not saying I love Meg Whitman for governor, but at this point I'd rather have someone who has succesfully run a complex business with a bottom line vs. a career politician who has been asleep at the wheel while the state has sunk.— July 10, 2009 5:03 p.m.
La Madrid, Others, Charged Criminally for $30 Million Fraud Case
Since they will be flight risks, they will probably not go to low security prison, but to a medium security prison which have cells instead of dorm rooms. Maybe Lompoc or Victorville, unless they move them out of state which is quite common. "Cells are approximately 4 × 2 m (13 × 7 feet) in size equipped with a bunkbed, a stainless steel sink-toilet combination and a small table with a non-removable stool. Cells are usually occupied by two inmates and are air conditioned."— July 10, 2009 4:45 p.m.
Bruce Henderson: no room for a Chargers stadium downtown
Also, any downtown library or convention center expansions (with hotel!!) are just a waste. We have less than 50% hotel room occupancy downtown now and small satellite neighborhood libraries have been proven in almost every city to be more effective in terms of use (visitors per square foot) and value (use vs. cost) than large "downtown" libraries.— July 10, 2009 4:32 p.m.
Bruce Henderson: no room for a Chargers stadium downtown
Definitely agree that CCDC and SEDC should be shut down. They have been acting outside the rules as "independent" agencies while corruption has thrived. The charges against Carolyn Smith AND Nancy Graham are really the tip of the iceberg.— July 10, 2009 8:54 a.m.
La Madrid, Others, Charged Criminally for $30 Million Fraud Case
Deeds finally catching up. Hope they enjoyed the luxury lives they led while they had it. Will be very different for the next few years.— July 10, 2009 8:47 a.m.
Burdick’s back taxes
Credit Card Debt and Medical Debt More than one half of the debtors did not list any medical debt on Schedule F of their petitions.4 Their credit card debt was higher than that of debtors who reported medical debts, and was more than twice as high as for debtors who listed at least $5,000 in medical debt. Conclusion Credit card debt is a significant factor in many bankruptcy cases, and nearly $20 billion is discharged in chapter 7 cases per year. Cases where the debtor has at least $50,000 in credit card debt account for nearly one-third of this amount. Credit card debt levels are particularly high among joint filers, high-income debtors, elderly debtors and debtors with no listed medical debts. They tend to be lower among low- to moderate-income debtors, female debtors, debtors under the age of 35 and debtors with very high medical debts.— July 3, 2009 10:34 a.m.
Burdick’s back taxes
In that Harvard study only 34.7% of BK surveyed had medical bills greater than $5,000 or 10% of their income. My point is unless you can look at their credit card debt, auto debt and mortgage debt you cant get the whole picture. For instance when a family buys a house with a $400,000 mortgage, has car loans of $30,000 runs up $50,000 in credit card debt and then has $15,000 in medical bills when they file BK, that would be classified as a "medical related" BK. A better study would be medical bills as a percentage of their overall debt. Also what should be studied is credit card debt as a percentage of their overall debt. Plenty of people live within their means so if they have unexpected medical bills they can pay them with savings or excess income. When people are buying (or renting) houses they cant afford, shopping with credit cards and have high car loans, then they cant afford unexpected medical bills.— July 3, 2009 10:29 a.m.
Burdick’s back taxes
"The medical debt causing these bankruptcies isn't overwhelming in many circumstances. Statistics available in 2003 are as follows: about 20% of bankruptcy filings involve a medical debt of less than $1,000; about 40% involve a medical debt of less than $5,000; and 13% of bankruptcy filings involve a medical debt of over $10,000. One would think these people could make some sort of payment arrangements to pay off the debt rather than file bankruptcy."— July 3, 2009 10:15 a.m.
Burdick’s back taxes
Surf, I know she eventually paid the taxes, it says so in the article: "Burdick said she finally finished paying off the back taxes she owed to the State of California in March 2005 and to the IRS in November 2007" But she did not pay them on time and took 3-5 years to pay them off. (also not fiscally responsible since the taxes are based on previous taxable income she had earned) Also, your premise that 80%+ of all BK's have to do with job loss or medical bills doesnt apply. She even stated her business slowed because of "dot-com" bust and aftermath of 9/11. So in this case it very much has to do with fiscal responsibility. You cant sign long leases and then just walk away when business slows down. (or she shouldnt have signed such an expensive lease in the first place). If yopu dig deeper into the data about medical bills contributing to BK, most of those people have medical bills under $5,000 and only 14% have medical bills over $10,000, so those bills are usually not the primary cause of BK. You could look at the BK data and say that 95% also had credit card debt (and almost always for more than medical bills), so they "fell victim" to credit card spending.— July 2, 2009 4:35 p.m.
Sticking with Stocks
Happy to be a Milt fan! I think we'll see rates creeping up by end of this year and by end of 2010 the world's demand for U.S. debt will be subsiding. 2010 will be a very interesting year for rates and inflation. I think Prime will be above 5% and climbing towards 6% by end of 2010.— July 1, 2009 11:14 a.m.