Perhaps a bit early to break out the champagne, but it seems Americans are managing finances better these days and appear to have more savings than credit card debt.

Think about it….

“Unemployment in the U.S. rose to nine percent in mid-February, up from 8.3 percent a month earlier, according to a new Gallup survey. The polling company said this suggests that it is “premature” to assume the economy will not feature prominently in the 2012 election season.

Gallup figures typically provide an indication of what the government will report at the end of the month.

“The U.S. unemployment rate, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is 9.0% in mid-February,” Gallup said in its mid-month unemployment survey, released on February 17. “The mid-month reading normally reflects what the U.S. government reports for the entire month, and is up from 8.3% in mid-January.”

Gallup said the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would likely report a rise in the official unemployment rate in early March, when it publishes its February figures….”

Full article

For all those looking into small government as a survival option for America it makes sense to cut excess.

Full article

The question is why and for whom ?

A revealing article behind tax cuts for the wealthiest. 

A great piece examining the political inroads from The Gipper till now…

Tough times for many in our nation….

“His whole face looked broken.”

Full Article

The Boss explains why there is a critical, questioning and angry patriotism at the heart of his new album Wrecking Ball

Put aside pre conceived notions of those who have not had work for a year or more. Learn about the real people suffering this blight…

As part of doing business with the federal government, large U.S. corporations receive annual multi-million-dollar contributions to their private pension funds.

Full article

Identity theft and phishing top the federal U.S. tax service’s list of “dirty dozen” scams, which tend to peak this time of year as millions of Americans gear up to file their tax returns.

“Scam artists will tempt people in person, online and by email with misleading promises about lost refunds and free money. Don’t be fooled by these scams,” Internal Revenue Service(IRS) Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a statement.

While the “dirty dozen” schemes are common year round, many occur most frequently during tax filing season, the IRS said. The filing deadline for 2011 taxes is April 17.

The IRS did not give figures in its annual list for the amount stolen or not paid through scams.

Identity theft occurs when thieves use a taxpayer’s identity and personal information to file a tax return and claim a fraudulent refund.

The IRS blocked more than $1.4 billion from going to the wrong person last year through identity theft, the statement said.

Phishing is usually carried out through an unsolicited email or a fake website to lure potential victims and prompt them to provide personal and financial information.

“Armed with this information, a criminal can commit identity theft or financial theft,” the statement said.

Among other scams, about 30,000 people have voluntarily disclosed foreign financial accounts since 2009 under a program to pay taxes on money returned to the United States.

The program was reopened this year. The IRS has collected about $3.4 billion under the 2009 program, and another $1 billion in upfront payments under a 2011 program.

The “dirty dozen” list is rounded out by:

• fraud by return preparers;

• scams promising “free money” from the IRS or tax schemes involving Social Security;

• false or inflated income and expenses;

• false claims for refunds from Form 1099, which reports income other than wages, salaries and tips;

• frivolous arguments;

• falsely claiming zero wages;

• abuse of charitable organizations and deductions;

• disguised corporate ownership;

• misuse of trusts.

Full article

Why?

It is a fascinating glimpse into the Human (or is it American?) Psyche — and I am very curious about it:

via Washington Post

In case you needed more evidence of an impending apocalypse: Hundreds of dead birds dropped from the sky over I-95 during the Wednesday evening commute, according to WJLA.

Hundreds of dead birds lie along Morganza Highway in Pointe Coupee Parish, La., in January 2011. (Liz Condo – AP)

The deceased starlings scrambled traffic in the northbound travel lanes in Laurel and startled commuters, some of them no doubt familiar with similar events in Arkansas in early 2011 — and again this January — in which thousands of otherwise healthy birds dropped from the sky.

But don’t get excited, Doomsday theorists: Loud noises (possibly fireworks) were identified as the culprit in the January 2011 dropping, and bad weather can also send frenzied birds into stationary objects. Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologist Peter Bedel said the I-95 birds probably just flew into a truck.

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGRBq5fjFjc 450 300]

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — States are getting $2.5 billion from the national mortgage settlement, but not all of that money is going to help troubled homeowners.

At least two states — Missouri and Wisconsin — are using the funds to plug big holes in their budgets. This does not sit well with some consumer advocates, who would prefer to see the money go to help those suffering from the housing crisis.

Federal and state officials last week announced a $26 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the largest home lenders over allegations of improper foreclosures based on robosigning and faulty paperwork. The vast majority of the funds will be used to provideprincipal reduction or refinancing, as well as payments to borrowers who lost their homes.

States, which took the lead in negotiating the deal, also got a tidy bundle. The settlement says the attorneys general may distribute the money to foreclosure relief and housing programs, such as counseling, legal assistance and mediation initiatives.

But, like in the 1998 tobacco settlement that was supposed to fund health programs, states have some leeway in how they use the money.

Full video/article

Purists: continue to argue among yourselves over stimulus period.

For those who understand the need for it; let’s push for more laser focused appropriated funds. Articles about unskilled workers should only be a opportunity for business and government to help citizens re-educate and re-tool America.

Full article

You know they will not, but the only choice to raising wages in the service sector is either create better paying jobs or strengthen our currency to create more buying power.

A friend of mine told me that cattails can produce more ethanol than corn per acre. Something like 300% more with less fossil fuels and water needed to produce the fuel additive.

Granted we just ended ethanol subsidies saving taxpayers $6 billion a year, but it behooves us all not to waste money in the first place given the state of our economy and deficits.

It is just another reason to reconsider your future leaders….

Full article

via WSJ 

Joe Kline for The Wall Street JournalFedEx Ground delivery-truck driver Ed Weiland organizes packages in the back of his truck in Bend, Ore.

The morning after Jeremy Lin sank a thrilling, last-second three-pointer that lifted the New York Knicks over the Toronto Raptors and gave “Linsanity” its latest, rapturous chapter, the mysterious basketball oracle who saw it coming almost two years ago woke up in Bend, Ore., and blended himself a healthy green shake: celery, spinach, kale, orange juice. He put on his uniform, packed some trail mix for the road and pulled on his winter hat.

Then he went off to his day job: driving a FedEx Ground delivery truck.

In May 2010, an unsung numbers hobbyist named Ed Weiland wrote a long-term forecast of Jeremy Lin for the basketball website Hoops Analyst. At the time, Lin was a lightly regarded, semi-known point guard who had completed his final season at Harvard. But Weiland saw NBA material. He emphasized how well Lin played in three nonconference games against big schools: Connecticut, Boston College and Georgetown. He noted how Lin’s performance in two unsexy statistical categories—two-point field-goal percentage (a barometer of inside scoring ability) and RSB40 (rebounds, steals and blocks per 40 minutes) compared favorably to college numbers put up by marquee NBA guards like Allen Iverson and Gary Payton. Weiland concluded that Lin had to improve on his passing and leadership at the point, but argued that if he did, “Jeremy Lin is a good enough player to start in the NBA and possibly star.”

In the wake of Lin’s historic New York explosion, Weiland’s eerily prescient post has quickly recirculated around the Internet, as a rare example of someone who saw potential in a player who wasn’t drafted and was abandoned by two teams before getting a chance with the Knicks. Traffic rushing to Weiland’s 2010 Lin piece briefly crashed the Hoops Analyst website after Lin torched the Lakers for 38 points Friday, and his wisdom has been compared with the groundbreaking number-crunching in the baseball best seller “Moneyball,” which became a recent Hollywood movie. A tribute to Weiland’s foresight on the Yahoo Sports site The Post Game ended with, “Brad Pitt’s on line 1.”

Monitoring from his silver Toshiba laptop, Weiland has been amused by the new appreciation of his work. A 51-year-old father of two, grandfather of one, vegan and amateur trail runner who lives by himself in a region full of cyclists and snowboarders, Weiland doesn’t fit the profile of a 21st-century sports wonk.

“You were probably expecting a 22-year-old MIT graduate,” Weiland said Wednesday, in his first interview since Lin-mania began.

A Bench-Warmer’s Star Run

European Pressphoto Agency

Weiland grew up in Upper Michigan, near Norway, a city about a two-hour drive north of Green Bay, Wis. He played basketball, but never on a school team. He enrolled at Northern Michigan University but didn’t graduate. But he remained intrigued by mathematics. In the 80s Weiland became fascinated by the work of Bill James, an ex-security guard whose detailed baseball analysis would later help revolutionize that sport. For fun, Weiland began to compile his own data. “As long as I remember, he’s had spiral notebooks full of numbers,” said Weiland’s daughter, Jana, 29. “He had so much random knowledge of players and teams.”

A fan of the Michael Jordan Bulls, Weiland was living in Chicago when he began to find like-minded hobbyists on the Internet. He began self-publishing his insights online. Weiland connected with Hoops Analyst in the mid-2000s. “He had a special interest in translating how NCAA players would do when they came to the NBA,” said the site’s founder, Harlan Schreiber. “Jeremy Lin is just an example of what he’s been doing for years.”

Weiland is quick to point out he wasn’t the only stathead to take an early interest in Lin, and adds that he’s made plenty of head-slapping mistakes, like badly shortchanging Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge. But what makes his 2010 post stand out is how sharply it sees Lin’s athleticism and ability to rise up in big moments, the very traits the 23-year-old has displayed since being inserted into the Knicks lineup. Weiland made Lin a centerpiece of his 2010 pre-draft analysis, a possible hidden surprise. “Part of my thinking was that maybe he’d break out,” he said.

More ‘Linsanity’

• The Daily Fix: We Should’ve Seen Lin Coming
• Lin’s Legend Grows With Late Theatrics
• What Linsanity Says About New York
• Some Lin-iment for the NBA
• Speakeasy: Lin on Kobe Bryant, God and His Fast Break to Fame
• Daily Fix: Linsanity Officially Crosses the Border
• Opinion: Jeremy Lin Is All American

But Weiland never expected Lin to go as “Linsane” as this. Entering Wednesday night’s Knicks-Kings game, Lin was averaging 27.2 points and 8.8 assists in five scintillating starts. He is on the current cover of Sports Illustrated, and was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference player of the week. Weiland believes Lin’s numbers will come down when Carmelo Anthony returns to the New York lineup, but not drastically.

“When this all flattens out, I’m guessing he’ll be scoring in the high teens, say 18 points, with 10 assists,” he said. “That’s an All-Star point guard, or at least borderline.”

Meanwhile, Weiland continues to scour the NCAA, and he shared his enthusiasm for a pair of current players: Tony Mitchell of North Texas, and Jae Crowder at Marquette. By now, many of Weiland’s friends and colleagues know about his side life examining sports. “He’s got a real knack for numbers,” said Weiland’s boss, Vince VandenBosch. “Real smart guy.”

“I don’t think he set out to get recognized for this,” said Jana Weiland. “I think it’s really cool.”

Ed Weiland said that he’d once hoped to turn his stats hobby into a professional career, but it was “never a burning ambition.” He compared it to friends who played music for love. He confessed he’d never even spoken to Schreiber, the Hoops Analyst founder, communicating with the website only via email. Until late Wednesday, Schreiber had no idea what Weiland did for a living.

“I’ve lived a happily quiet life,” Weiland said. “And it’s still happily quiet.”

And with that, the man who anticipated the beginning of “Linsanity” said goodbye. There were deliveries to be made, and he needed to get to his truck.