Barack Obama Photographed in Flip Flops; More Time for Tax Returns This Year; Olek's Yarn Exhibit Is Back

Braun flip-flops on tax returns
Chicago Mayoral Candidate Carol Moseley Braun on Monday reiterated that she won't make her Tax Returns public before next month's election, but gave a new explanation as to why. "Because I don't want to," Braun told reporters. Later Monday she backtracked and said she would release the returns. On Monday morning, Carol Moseley Braun reiterated that she wouldn't make her Tax Returns public before next month's election, offering a short explanation as to why. "Because I don't want to," Braun told...

More Moseley Braun tax returns show two failing business - not just one
On Monday of this week, Chicago Mayoral Candidate Carol Moseley Braun was asked by the media to explain why she hadn’t released her Tax Returns to the public yet, and she arrogantly snipped that she didn’t want to release them - that's why!  After the understandable media flurry surrounding her response, she unleashed her first few embarrassing Tax Returns from 2008-2009 on Tuesday.  With the revealed financial loses, she claimed that she had taken a financial beating due t...

Barack Obama Thinks Maybe Bipartisanship Might Be a Good Thing
Oh man! Get a load of this… President Obama, returning to Washington from his Christmas Vacation in Hawaii, urged House and Senate GOP leaders to put partisan politics aside in the name of working to boost The Economy… "And that our job this year is to make sure that we build on recovery," he added. "We started making good progress on that in the lame-duck, and I expect to build on that progress when I get back." Well, of course he'd urge the Senate and Hou...

Is LinkedIn Planning an IPO This Year?
LinkedIn, a social network service that connects business people to one another, doesn't have the brand name, dazzle, or appeal of Facebook or Groupon. But that may not stop it from an initial public offering this year. Reuters, quoting unidentified sources, reports that LinkedIn has hired Morgan Stanley (MS), Bank of America (BAC), and JPMorgan (JPM) to handle the underwriting duties for an IPO. The news service also reports that shares of LinkedIn recently traded on private markets indicate...

December retail sales dented by blizzard, frugality
By Phil Wahba NEW YORK | Thu Jan 6, 2011 7:35am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several top U.S. Retailers missed Wall Street's high expectations for December sales as a paralyzing post-Christmas blizzard on the East Coast slowed what had been a two-month shopping spree. Analysts are expecting an average rise of 3.4 percent in December sales at stores open at least a year for the 28 major Retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters. That would cap the best Holiday Season since before the Recession. The res...

Stock futures indicate slightly higher open for Wall Street
LONDON | Thu Jan 6, 2011 5:47am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures indicated a slightly higher open for Wall Street on Thursday, the day after it reversed losses to close in positive territory following data on jobs creation that suggested the world's biggest economy was recovering strongly. At 0932 GMT (4:32 a.m. ET), futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ were all up 0.1 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of leading European shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,148.41 p...

December retail sales dented by blizzard, frugality
By Phil Wahba NEW YORK | Thu Jan 6, 2011 7:35am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several top U.S. Retailers missed Wall Street's high expectations for December sales as a paralyzing post-Christmas blizzard on the East Coast slowed what had been a two-month shopping spree. Analysts are expecting an average rise of 3.4 percent in December sales at stores open at least a year for the 28 major Retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters. That would cap the best Holiday Season since before the Recession. The res...

Volcker Steps Down As Obama Overhauls His Economic Team
Photo: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images According to Reuters, Paul Volcker is about to go the way of Larry Summers and Christina Romer. Sources say Obama is expected to announce Friday that the 83-year-old decided to step down as head of a panel of experts advising the president on The Economy. Volcker's camp says he'll still be willing to advise Obama on an informal basis as often as the president would like. Along with the announcement about Volcker, Obama is expected to announce a ...

Retailers report surprisingly weak December...
As merchants report their figures Thursday, many Retailers including Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Macy's Inc. reported gains below Wall Street expectations. Bon-Ton Stores Inc.'s sales were virtually flat and company officials blamed the severe snowstorms. The figures are based on revenue at stores opened at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health. "It's not shaping up to be a blowout holiday for retailers. It's slow and steady," said Ken Perkins, presi...

Kohl's key Dec. revenue metric up, misses Street
Kohl's Corp. said Thursday that a key revenue metric rose 3.9 percent in December, but the performance missed Wall Street's expectations. The Department Store operator also raised the low ends of its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings outlooks, but the full-year guidance is below analysts' estimates. Its stock fell 48 cents to $53.42 in premarket trading. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 4.3 percent increase in revenue at stores open at least a year. This figure is a key indica...

Costco Dec. sales figure up but misses Street view
Costco Wholesale Corp.'s sales at warehouse clubs open at least a year climbed 6 percent in December, narrowly missing Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a 6.2 percent rise. The figure is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores opened or closed in the past year. Sales at U.S. warehouse clubs open at least a year increased 4 percent for the five weeks ended Jan. 2. Internationally the figure climbed 12 percent. Taking ...

Obama Sure Does Spend a Lot of Time Golfing
If President Obama was a Republican this would be Scandalous. But he’s not, so he gets a pass. Since taking office he’s spent about two months golfing. President Obama has gone golfing a total of 59 times in just under two years as president, a blistering pace that puts him on the Golf Course an average of about once every two weeks, including winters. According to statistics compiled by CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who keeps close tabs on the president’s act...

House leader optimistic on Obama cooperation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Thursday said he is optimistic that Republicans in Congress can work with President Barack Obama to cut federal spending and reform the U.S. tax code. In television interviews, the Virginia Republican said he spoke to Obama by telephone on Wednesday to discuss Spending Cuts and urged the president to see last year's Compromise on Bush-era Tax Cuts as a blueprint for Tax Reform going forward. Republicans, who officially took control of t...

Gallup has some good news and some really bad news for President Obama
Finally, some good news to please President Obama in a new Gallup Poll. The survey finds that more Americans still identify themselves as Democrats (31%) than call themselves Republicans. Now, the bad news: That 31% ties the lowest annual average of Democrats since 1988, when fellow Harvard Law alum Michael Dukakis got thumped by the first Bush to become president.     In fact, in the 717 days since Beyonce sang "Moon River" or something to this dancing Democrat, the per...

House leader optimistic on Obama cooperation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Thursday said he is optimistic that Republicans in Congress can work with President Barack Obama to cut federal spending and reform the U.S. tax code. In television interviews, the Virginia Republican said he spoke to Obama by telephone on Wednesday to discuss Spending Cuts and urged the president to see last year's Compromise on Bush-era Tax Cuts as a blueprint for Tax Reform going forward. Republicans, who officially took control of ...

House leader optimistic on Obama cooperation (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Thursday said he is optimistic that Republicans in Congress can work with President Barack Obama to cut federal spending and reform the U.S. tax code. In television interviews, the Virginia Republican said he spoke to Obama by telephone on Wednesday to discuss Spending Cuts and urged the president to see last year's Compromise on Bush-era Tax Cuts as a blueprint for Tax Reform going forward. Republicans, who officially took ...

Obama Lost His CharismaNot His Political Skill
Obama’s presidency is surviving on what little personal charm he has left despite his complete loss of charisma as a leader. And yet, the pared down president is revealing himself to be a skillful and dangerous political opponent with moves this week that show he’s been biding his time while giving the Republicans room to make their own mistakes. Long before November’s loss, Obama telegraphed that the second phase of his presidency would be quite different from the first. Tho...

Barack Obama the Hot Doctor and Club Kid Saves American Healthcare
Well, at least that’s how the Taiwanese at NMA TV portray it. OK, you just have to watch it to see what I’m talking about. It’s funny but makes some good points. Yeah, I know you cryin’ now, John Boehner, because you really didn’t look like a hero in this animation and you’re the one who will boo-hoo over “ObamaCare”, not the President… You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback ...

I.G. report: I.R.S. having trouble with prisoner tax fraud
Prisoner Tax Refund Fraud is on the rise, and the Internal Revenue Service was having problems using tools given to it in 2008 congressional Legislation dealing with that issue, according to a new report. The Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act, the 2008 legislation, allowed the I.R.S. to give prisoner tax information to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and was later amended to include state corrections departments. But the Treasury Department's Inspector General for tax administration found that, as...

NOM Releases Partial 2009 Tax Return
NOM has released a partial version of their 2009 Tax Return. The HRC-sponsored site NOM Exposed reports: Most of the $7.1 million in revenue in ’09 came from a few very large Donors. These donors could be individuals or corporations. Here is how NOM’s top donations break down. 1. $2,475,000 2. $1,230,000 3. $1,100,000 4. $400,000 5. $150,000 Running the numbers, this means that 3 wealthy donors contributed 68% of their total donations; 4 donors gave 73% and 5 donors gave 75%. These figures...

Cant anybody play this game?
* For reasons unknown to mere mortals, Carol Moseley Braun extended the media coverage of her initial refusal to release her Tax Returns by dribbling out a bit more information yesterday. And she actually plans to keep the story alive by releasing more information sometime today… Carol Moseley Braun on Wednesday released longer versions of her 2008 and 2009 tax returns, expanding on the two-page summaries she put online the day before. Her disclosure brought her closer to matching two of...

What was really taking people on Christmas Day?
Why not introduce a single tax? Can the taxman fix the system? More people had tax on their minds this Christmas than during the previous festive period. Some 845 people filed their online Tax Return on Christmas Day - up from 620 the previous year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said. A further 2,408 submitted their self-assessment data on 26 December, HMRC said. A deadline for online tax returns is looming with entries required by 31 January. However, those filing online for the first time mu...

Federal Eye: IRS extends tax filing deadline to April 18
Taxpayers across the country have three extra days to turn in their Tax Returns this year thanks to a holiday in the District of Columbia. The Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday that taxpayers have until Monday April 18 to file 2010 Tax Returns because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District, falls on Friday April 15, the traditional tax deadline. By law, the IRS must observe District holidays as it does federal holidays for tax filing purposes. Taxpayers requesting an e...

IRS dithers while prisoners file phony tax returns, collect millions in refunds
The number of Prisoners who file false Tax Returns with the Internal Revenue Service has more than doubled in the last five years, according to a new Treasury Department report, and the amount of money the IRS has mistakenly refunded to those Prisoners has nearly tripled. Meanwhile, the report, from the Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration, accuses the IRS of failing to enforce a law passed by Congress in 2008 to Crack Down on false returns coming from the nation's Prisons. Acco...

Braun tax returns reveal struggles
Mayoral Candidate Carol Moseley Braun released portions of her most recent Federal Tax returns Tuesday that suggest the former U.S. senator and ambassador is struggling financially, with net income of only about $15,000 in 2009 and losses of $225,000 the year before. After saying Monday she would not release her taxes "because I don't want to," Braun's reversal offered a less-than-complete picture of her financial health. She did not release schedules or attachments to explain her 1040 forms an...