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Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Video: Gov. Chris Christie asks reporter: "Are you stupid?" (cbsnews)
Monday, July 2, 2012
Video: Housing Rebound or Relapse?
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US may feel effects of Barclays rate scandal
Olivia Harris / Reuters
A man walks past a branch of Barclays Bank in London. The rate-fixing scandal that has rocked the bank could soon wash up on American shores.
By Roland Jones
The rate-rigging scandal that claimed the career of Barclays Bank Chairman Marcus Agius Monday may appear confined to the United Kingdom, but it has implications for this side of the Atlantic too.
Agius resigned Monday, less than one week after the British bank agreed to pay $453 million in fines to the U.S. Justice Department and the U.K.?s Financial Services Authority over charges it manipulated a short-term interest rate that is used to set the rates for all sorts of consumer bank loans, from mortgages to credit cards.
?This is very serious,? Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told CNBC Monday. He noted that the rate is used as a ?wholesale? rate between the largest and most sophisticated banks in the world. The rest of us have to pay a ?retail? rate on top of it.
?Barclays tried to 'rig the market' on its behalf," Gensler said, adding that the issue is likely to touch American pocketbooks, as there are many Americans with credit cards, mortgages and tens of thousands of small businesses who rely on ?honest benchmark rates.?
Much of the initial fallout from the LIBOR scandal has taken place in the U.K., but the scandal could soon spread overseas.
Barclays is one of a handful of international banks under investigation for rate-rigging misconduct and the first to reach a settlement with regulators. The bank has agreed to help U.S. investigators?find?other wrongdoing inside its own bank, and also at rival institutions -- potentially divulging collusion on rate-rigging among banks across the globe.
Other banks that have disclosed that they are under investigation for LIBOR manipulation include big U.S. banks, such as Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, and also HSBC, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Fourteen Barclays traders based in London and New York who were at the center of the rate-fixing scandal are under?investigation by the FBI, the U.K.?s Sunday Times newspaper reported this weekend.
?LIBOR,? or the ?London Interbank Offered Rate,? may include the word London, but it is a global rate for some $360 trillion worth of financial products worldwide, such as loans, derivatives, mortgages and bonds.
The rate-fixing scandal is significant because it means Barclays -- and potentially several other banks under investigation -- has manipulated a market that affects borrowing costs on both sides of the Atlantic, meaning that borrowing costs might have been too high or too low for businesses and consumers.
Banks use LIBOR rates when they lend to one another using short term loans. During the financial crisis in 2008, LIBOR rates shot up when nervous banks stopped lending to each other, and LIBOR became one of the most closely-watched indicators of confidence in the financial system. Barclays is accused of rigging it at an artificially low rate to improve perceptions of its financial strength and then using the distorted rate to make trading profits for the bank.
Shareholders and British politicians are among those calling for Barclays CEO Bob Diamond to resign from his position. Both Agius and Diamond face the possibly of criminal charges in the U.K., and they?re both due to appear before the Treasury Select Committee in the U.K.?s Parliament this week to answer questions about the LIBOR scandal.
Roy C. Smith, a professor of finance at New York University?s Stern School of Business, noted that Diamond is unlikely to enjoy the same fate as his?fellow banking CEO Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan, who recently survived two rounds of questioning on Capitol Hill after announcing that his bank had suffered a multi-billion loss on a complex derivatives trade in the second quarter of this year.
?This is different,? Smith said. ?To what degree was the conduct corrupt? That?s what Dimon isn?t facing, but Diamond is.?
Smith also noted that the LIBOR scandal has enraged the U.K. public, now feeling the squeeze of austerity measures after being hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis. The British public has a much lower tolerance for bank misconduct than the U.S. public, he said.
?A bank?s board can only defend you to the death for a short time,? Smith said. ?After that, the board will say it?s you or us, and so they?ll undercut you. Boards tends to get very skittish when their reputation is at risk.?
He pointed to the departure of the Chief Executive of UBS Oswald Gruber after the bank lost $2.3 billion as a result of unauthorized deals at the Swiss bank by ?rogue trader? Kweku Adoboli.
Diamond?s apology and his announcement that he will forgo his bonus for the year likely won?t be enough to assuage the anger of the British public, Smith said.
?My guess is Diamond has a harder job hanging on to his job than he thinks,? he said.
Discussing the resignation of Marcus Agius of Barclays with the CFTC's Gary Gensler.
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Verdict?s in: SCOTUS upholds passel of health care tax provisions
The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can require people to either have health insurance or pay a tax if they don?t. The political fate of the Affordable Care Act remains to be seen, of course, but at least we know it is constitutional.?
This artist rendering shows Chief Justice John Roberts, center, speaking at the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012. The Supreme Court upheld President Obama's health care act by ruling it's mandate a constitutional tax.
Dana Verkouteren/AP
EnlargeIn its long-awaited decision on the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can require people to either have health insurance or pay a tax if they don?t. ?
Skip to next paragraph Howard GleckmanHoward Gleckman is a resident fellow at The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the author of Caring for Our Parents, and former senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Business Week. (http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org)
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Because the High Court found that the penalty for not having coverage is a tax and not a fee or a banana, it ruled?Congress has the constitutional authority to impose such a levy. In effect, the 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice Roberts concluded that Congress can tax you for failing to acquire insurance. Thus, the mandate as created by the ACA is constitutional.
But the Court rejected the White House?s main legal argument?that?Congress has the authority under the Commerce Clause to require people to get insurance. It will be interesting to see how legal scholars read this in the coming weeks: Is the Court saying that tax policy is the only tool Congress has to enact certain social welfare programs? If so, it would put an already-stressed tax code under even greater pressure. ?
The 5-4 decision is very complex. With dissents and concurring opinions, it runs 193 pages. Chief Justice Roberts joined Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan to uphold the ACA. Four justices?Thomas, Scalia, Alito, and Kennedy?concluded that the entire ACA is unconstitutional.
Oddly, while the Court ruled the no-insurance penalty is a tax for the purpose of determining its constitutionality, it also said that it not a tax for other purposes. A law called the Anti-Injunction Act says that no-one can sue to stop the collection of a tax until after they have paid it. And some argued that the ACA was not ripe for legal review since no-one has yet paid the fee. But the Court concluded that, since Congress never called the penalty a tax, the law it not subject to the Anti-injunction law. ?????
The ACA includes a number of tax provisions?only a few of which are related to insurance reform.
Among them:
The tax on those who don?t have health insurance. The key to the individual mandate, this provision would penalize those who do not have insurance starting in 2014. The penalty begins at $95?and phases up to a maximum of $695 or 2.5 percent of income by 2016.
Subsidies for buyers. These subsidies are aimed at helping low-income households purchase individual insurance through the health exchanges created by the law. The subsidies are effectively refundable tax credits managed by the Internal Revenue Service.
Small business tax credits. These subsidies, initially up to 35 percent of an employer?s premium contribution, are already in effect. The subsidy gradually phases out as the firm?s average wage and the number of its employees increase.
Medicare payroll tax. Starting in 2013, the ACA raises the Medicare Part A payroll tax by 0.9 percent for those making $200,000 or more (couples making $250,000). ?
Taxes on unearned income. The law also imposes a new 3.8 percent tax on investment income and other unearned income for wealthy?households, also starting in 2013.
Increasing the threshold for itemized medical expenses. Today, taxpayers can deduct medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. The ACA raises that threshold to 10 percent beginning next year.
Taxing high-value employer-sponsored health plans. Technically imposed on insurers, the law sets an excise tax on individual coverage that exceeds $10,200 or family coverage of more than $27,500. The levy, effective beginning in 2018, is equal to 40 percent of the premiums?that exceed these thresholds. Because it is indexed by the rate of the consumer price index (which rises more slowly than medical costs), the tax will gradually apply to less generous policies. ???
Other revenue raisers. The law includes a number of other minor taxes intended to help pay for the health coverage expansion. These include new penalties on Health Savings Accounts, limits on Flexible Savings Accounts, and an excise tax on indoor tanning salons.
The Court upheld all of these taxes with the rest of the law (except for a requirement that states expand their Medicaid coverage for the working poor).
The political fate of the ACA remains to be seen, of course. But the Supreme Court has at least settled the dispute over whether it is constitutional. ??
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
Washington Nationals 5-4 Over Atlanta Braves On Michael Morse's Eighth Inning HR.
? Delgado vs Det: Chipper Jones made it over into foul territory off third to catch a low pop on the seventh pitch Washington Nationals' leadoff man Steve Lombardozzi saw in the opening at bat of the first game of the Nats' three-game series with the Atlanta Braves tonight in Turner Field. Jones had no chance to get Bryce Harper at first on a swinging bunt that rolled toward the left of the mound, however, and the Nats' 19-year-old outfielder was on with one down and Ryan Zimmerman up against the Braves' 22-year-old right-hander Randall Delgado.
The suddenly-red-hot Zimmerman, who's 9 for 23 in his last five games, started tonight's contest against the Nationals' NL East rivals with a single through second that moved Harper into scoring position, but Adam LaRoche grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 that brought a 23-pitch first by the Braves' starter to a close. Nats' lefty Ross Detwiler need just 13 pitches to retire Atlanta's first three batters in order in the bottom of the first and he had 13.1 scoreless in a row on the board when he was done with the inning. 0-0 after one.
? DIY: In spite of his recent hamstring issues, Michael Morse was able to go first-to-third? in the second when Danny Espinosa followed Morse's leadoff single with an expertly-executed one-out hit-and-run grounder through the right side of the infield. Espinosa almost got caught in a run down making his way to second on a 3-1 pitch to Jesus Flores, (did he think it was ball four?) but with Morse on third the Braves hesitated long enough for the Nats' second baseman to scurry back to first safely ahead of the throw. Flores K'd swinging looking for out no. 2, leaving it up to Ross Detwiler, who helped himself with an RBI single to right that dropped in front of Braves' right fielder Jason Heyward for an RBI single. 1-0 Nationals after one and a half. Det's hit breaks on 0 for 14 streak at the plate in 2012. After giving himself a 1-0 lead, Ross Detwiler retired the Braves in order for the second-straight inning in a 12-pitch bottom of the frame. Six Braves up, six Braves down.
? E's: Jack Wilson bobbled a grounder to second by Adam LaRoche, putting the Nationals first baseman on with two down in the top of the third. Michael Morse hit a sharp grounder to third that Chipper Jones couldn't wrangle in the next at bat, and Andrelton Simmonds made an ill-advised attempt to catch LaRoche sleeping at second, recovering it and throwing by the bag instead for the second of two errors commited on the play. E 4, E 5 and E 6 on consecutive plays, and of course Ian Desmond then came through with a two-out, two-run double to left that made it 3-0 Nats. Desmond attempted to take third on the throw home trying for Morse and made it safely, but got tagged when he popped up from the slide and came off the bag. 3-0 Nationals after two and a half. (ed. note - "The E:5 on Chipper was eventually taken away.")
? There Goes The... [Drinks]: Ross Detwiler gave up a leadoff walk to Freddie Freeman in the Braves' third, but retired the next two batters with Delgado bunting Freeman over for out no.2. Michael Bourn then hit a two-out infield single to put runners on the corners before Andrelton Simmons grounded out to end the third.
? You Don't Hang Curves to The Jesus: Jesus Flores got a hanging 78 mph 2-2 curve from Randall Delgado and crushed it for a one-out blast in the top of the fourth. Long fly ball to left and into the stands, 4-0 Nationals on Flores' third home run of 2012. Ross Detwiler retired the Braves in order on nine pitches in the fourth, extending his scoreless inning-streak to 16.1 without allowing a run (or 17.1 if you count the three batters he retired after giving up a leadoff HR in the second inning of a two-inning outing in relief against Boston on June 8th.) 50 pitches, 33 strikes for Detwiler after four scoreless.
? Detwiler Gets In and Out of Trouble: Ryan Zimmerman (2 for 3) and Michael Morse (3 for 3) hit one-and-two-out singles, respectively, off Braves' reliever Cristhian Martinez in the fifth, but the Braves' right-hander retired Ian Desmond and escaped further damage. Matt Diaz started the Braves' fifth with a double off Ryan Zimmerman's glove and into left field. Two outs later, Detwiler hit pinch hitter Juan Francisco to put two on with two out and the Nats' starter then mishandled a grounder back to the mound by Michael Bourn, E:1 and the bases loaded with two down. Andrelton Simmons popped to right to leave'em loaded though, and it was 4-0 Nats after five with Detwiler up to 67 pitches after a 17-pitch 5th.
? 6.0 Scoreless: The second Braves' reliever, Anthony Varvaro threw a quick 17-pitch, 1-2-3 top of the sixth, after which Ross Detwiler threw his sixth scoreless inning of the night, retiring the Braves in order in a seven-pitch inning. 18.1 scoreless for Detwiler. 74 pitches after six innings in Atlanta. Steve Lombardozzi doubled to left field and over Matt Diaz's head to start the seventh. 10th double of the year for Lombo, but Harper, Zimmerman and LaRoche went down in order to end the top of the frame. 2.0 scoreless in relief for the Braves' Varvaro. 4-0 Nats after six and a half.
? A Run? On Det?: Ross Detwiler hit Freddie Freeman in the shoulder with a slider to put a runner on with one down in the Braves' seventh. Jack Wilson dropped a bunt down that Detwiler couldn't pick up cleanly enough to make a play. Two on with one out, and a balk moved both runners into scoring position. Martin Prado sent an RBI single through second in a pinch hit appearance in the next at bat and it was 4-1 Nationals with runners on the corners and one down. Detwiler's scoreless-inning streak was over. A sac fly to left by Michael Bourn made it 4-2, and a two-out, two-run HR by Andrelton Simmons tied it. Simmons crushed a letter-high 1-2 slider for his 3rd HR of 2012. 4-4 game. Detwiler's done. Sean Burnett got Jason Heyward swinging to end the seventh.
? MORSE CRUSH: Braves' right-hander Chad Durbin took over in the eighth and gave up a solo HR to right by Michael Morse on the first pitch he threw. HR no. 3 for Morse, 5-4 Nationals. 4 for 4 on the night for Morse. Jesus Flores doubled with two down to chase Durbin. Roger Bernadina got a pinch-hit single on a grounder up the middle off Jonny Venters that Simmons could only knock down. Runners on the corners, and then bases loaded after Sean Burnett worked a walk, but Bryce Harper K'd swinging to end the inning. Sean Burnett came back out for the eighth, and surrendered an opposite field leadoff single to right by Chipper Jones, but Brian McCann K'd swinging at a filthy 1-2 slider and Matt Diaz grounded into an inning ending 6-4-3. 5-4 Nats after eight.
? Clipp'd: 5-4 Nationals after eight and a half when Jonny Venters pitched a scoreless top of the ninth. Tyler Clippard entered the game looking for his 13th-straight converted save opportunity since taking over as the Nats' closer. Freddie Freeman lined a 92 mph fastball to right-center for a leadoff double and just the second hit Clipp's allowed since May 20th. The first since 6/9. Eric Hinske flew to center in the next at bat, ONE!, but Clippard walked Martin Prado to put two runners on with one out. Michae Bourn flew to center on a 1-0 fastball for out no.2 and Andrelton Simmons flew to Harper in right to end it. 13 for 13 since taking over as closer. 5-4 final, Nationals win,.
? Miss The Game? The D.C. Faithful Were Watching...
? Doghouse's Post Game WPA Graph: "Game 75: They just can't make it easy.":
Via FanGraphs
- So Close: Ross Detwiler (-24.2% pitching, +10.7% hitting) has the lead for most of his 6.2 IP with only 1 K and 1 BB, but finally coughs up a tying two-run homer (-37.3%). However, he did get a two-out RBI single for the early lead (+11.3%).
- Is this clutch? Ian Desmond (+9.3%) gets a two-out, two-RBI single to put the Nats up by three (+16.0%).
- Setup: Sean Burnett (+14.3%) gets four scoreless outs in relief to earn a shutdown.
- Best mode: Michael Morse (+35.6%) seems to have finished his spring training with a 4-4 night, including a go-ahead HR in the 8th (+27.5%).
- Closed: Tyler Clippard (+16.8%) makes it interesting but gets through a scoreless 9th to win it.
Nationals now 44-31.
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