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With Humor, Palin Attempts Media Truce

With Humor, Palin Attempts Media Truce

Former Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, never a big fan of the mainstream media, stepped into the lion’s den Saturday night and attempted to call a truce, of sorts.
Ms. Palin spoke at the winter dinner of the Gridiron Club, an organization of Washington journalists where parody and satire are the required entertainment form, and made light of her jousting with the Fourth Estate.
“Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts,” she told the assemblage of senior Washington journalists. “And when you don’t, you end up in a place like this.”
With Humor, Palin Attempts Media Truce - Washington Wire - WSJ


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Get Ready for 2010—the Year of the Roth IRA

Get Ready for 2010—the Year of the Roth IRA

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New tax rules are about to give more people access to a Roth individual retirement account, one of the most effective vehicles in which to accumulate money for retirement or heirs.
Roth IRAs are currently off-limits to a whole group of people. Individuals with modified adjusted gross income of $120,000 or more can't contribute to one of these accounts. For married couples, the threshold is $176,000. And individuals with modified adjusted gross income of more than $100,000 and married taxpayers who file separate returns are barred from moving assets held in traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs.
But starting Jan. 1, Uncle Sam will permanently eliminate both the income and filing-status restrictions on transferring money from a traditional IRA to a Roth -- a procedure known as converting. So, anyone willing to pay the income taxes due upon making such a move will be able to funnel retirement savings into a Roth, where it can grow tax-free.
Get Ready for 2010—the Year of the Roth IRA - WSJ.com


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The Copenhagen Concoction

The Copenhagen Concoction

The U.N.'s climate confab runs into the reality of costs and science.

For months, the U.N. climate change summit that began yesterday in Copenhagen has been billed as the world's last best hope to match the scientific consensus on global warming with a policy consensus. But now it turns out there is little of either, and Copenhagen looks like it will go down as one of the more remarkable cases of political hubris in recent memory.
That's no bad outcome, given the ambitions of Copenhagen's organizers to impose heavy new carbon taxes on top of a struggling world economy. The Australian Senate last week defeated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's cap-and-trade legislation, largely due to its job-killing potential in the coal-producing continent. Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, said Thursday "there is no question of India accepting a legally binding emission reduction cut." China has promised to cut the rate of growth in its carbon emissions, which would nevertheless double over the next decade even on the most optimistic scenario.
As for the U.S., it has become clear even to liberals that it was not the Bush Administration alone that was standing in the way of a global climate deal. Last Thursday, nine Senators sent a letter outlining the terms of their support for cap-and-trade legislation, including that every other country enact and enforce carbon legislation of their own. And those were Democrats.
Copenhagen, Cap and Trade, and Political Hubris - WSJ.com

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A delegate walks in front a light installation at the entrance of the Bella centre of the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.


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More, More, More

More, More, More

Watch what they spend, not what they say.

When it comes to spending, the Democrats who run Washington can't decide on their message. On the one hand, as President Obama said this week, they claim we have to "spend our way out of this recession." On the other, they keep telling us the deficit is too large and isn't "sustainable." In this tug of political spin, watch what they spend, not what they say.
And that means watching this weekend's expected Senate vote on a 1,088-page $445 billion "omnibus" package of spending bills to fund the government for fiscal 2010. The House passed a similar elephant earlier this week, allowing federal agency budgets to increase spending by some $48 billion, or about 12% from 2009. That increase—when inflation is negligible—is in addition to the $311 billion in stimulus already authorized or out the door for these programs. Adding this new stash means that federal agencies will have received a nearly 70% increase in the last two years.
Another Omnibus Spending Bill - WSJ.com

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Not All Banks Are Created Alike

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Not All Banks Are Created Alike

Only a few institutions make large trading profits. They should be regulated differently.

Congress is moving rapidly toward new financial-services regulation, focused on limiting the sort of "systemic risk" said to have helped bring on the current recession. But we are also in a period where there is great concern about the limited availability of credit to fund companies whose growth could bring down the country's persistent high unemployment.
Any new regulation of the financial industry must distinguish between firms engaged primarily in speculative trading and lenders linked to the real economy of Main Street. The great danger is that regulation of the former might inadvertently strangle the latter.
Yet Congress at least should consider requiring that financial institutions account separately for their trading and their traditional banking businesses, so the public can see what's going on. Such transparency would make it clear which institutions engage in high-risk investing—and which should bear the cost of potential clean-ups—whether through special fees or higher capital reserves.
Robert G. Wilmers: Not All Banks Are Created Alike - WSJ.com

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Brazil Steers an Independent Course

Brazil Steers an Independent Course

Washington needs to rethink its assumptions on South America.

Until recently, the Obama administration assumed that Brazil and the United States were natural allies who shared many foreign policy interests, particularly in Latin America. Brazil, after all, is a friendly democracy with a growing market economy and Western cultural values.
It will soon be the fifth largest economy in the world. It recently discovered billions of barrels of petroleum in the deep waters off its coast and is an agricultural powerhouse. It has also made significant progress in eradicating poverty. It therefore seemed only natural to expect that as Brazil became "more like us," it would seek to play a more active and constructive role in this hemisphere, and that U.S. and Brazilian political and security interests would largely coincide.
Stated differently, Brazil's multilateral efforts in the region seem to value the appearance of leadership over finding real solutions to the growing political and security threats facing Latin America. These conclusions do not imply that the U.S. and Brazil have no overlapping interests, or that they cannot work together to solve particular regional or even global issues. They do mean Washington may need to rethink its assumptions regarding the extent to which Brazil can be relied on to deal with political and security problems in Latin America in ways that are also compatible with U.S. interests.
Susan Kaufman Purcell: Brazil Steers an Independent Course - WSJ.com


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UPS: A Green Shoot Worth Mentioning?

UPS: A Green Shoot Worth Mentioning?

Given that UPS (UPS) has been a core holding for me for quite some time, I was quite pleasantly surprised by its activity on Friday. At one point, it was up over 5%, before pulling back a bit, but still closing up 4.81% on the day. Arch rival, FedEx (FDX), also popped, apparently in sympathy, but to a lesser extent, closing up 2.48%.
I've always favored UPS over its rival FedEx, because of the way UPS has structured its model. Regardless of whether a shipment was an overnight express, or a regular ground service shipment, the same driver would pick up all outgoing shipments at the same time. FedEx, for whatever reason, opted to essentially build a parallel ground service system, meaning more drivers and more trucks to cover the same amount of ground. Another issue that weighs against FedEx, is the fact their ground service drivers are considered "independent contractors" by the firm, which has resulted in an on-going court battle with the IRS. Perhaps FedEx may ultimately prevail (unlikely, in my opinion), but even so, the battle consumes both cash, and management attention, in the mean time.
UPS: A Green Shoot Worth Mentioning? -- Seeking Alpha

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Scott Brown: 'People Aren't Stupid'

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'And leaders should figure out they're better informed now than ever.'

When I arrived at his cramped state senate offices, Scott Brown had just opened one of the many packages he's received since his stunning U.S. Senate victory 11 days ago. A local artist has done up a version of the iconic red, white and blue collage from the 2008 presidential campaign that shows Barack Obama with the word "Hope." This one features a smiling Mr. Brown instead, but the word below is different. It reads "Change."
By filling the seat vacated by liberal lion Ted Kennedy in a state Mr. Obama carried by 26 points barely over a year ago, Mr. Brown has certainly changed the political landscape. We sit down the morning after President Obama's State of the Union message, an address in large part shaped by what's been called "the Scott Heard 'Round the World." Mr. Obama uncharacteristically recognized some unforced errors in pushing his liberal agenda, along with expressing some new flexibility on issues ranging from small business tax cuts to offshore oil drilling to nuclear power.
Mr. Brown says he designed his campaign to revolve around four issues: taxes, excessive spending, terrorism and health care. But it's clear that voter angst over ObamaCare was the rocket fuel propelling him to victory. "People got where I was," he says. He was often asked to sign his autograph with the number "41" next to it, meaning he was running to be the key vote to block health-care legislation from final passage.
John Fund: Scott Brown: 'People Aren't Stupid' - WSJ.com

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Argentina Seizes the Central Bank

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President Cristina Kirchner wants to pay foreign creditors but doesn't want to use treasury revenues.

After a month of wrangling, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner succeeded in sacking central bank President Martin Redrado last week. In his place she named Mercedes Marcó del Pont, a Yale-trained economist who has expressed the view that central bank autonomy ought to be limited.
The opposition howled at the news. Felipe Sola, former governor of Provincia de Buenos Aires, warned that the new bank president "is going to do what the executive decides and they are going to modify the bank charter to justify her doing what the executive tells her."
Of course that would seem to be the point. Mr. Redrado was fired because he refused to turn over $6.6 billion in bank reserves to Mrs. Kirchner, who wants to pay foreign creditors but doesn't want to use treasury revenues. Ms. Marcó del Pont, if she wants to keep her job, will follow the orders of the president.
Mrs. Kirchner is not the first politician to covet the wealth available from the monetary authority. Closer to home, there is Barack Obama, who didn't back Ben Bernanke's controversial second term as head of the Federal Reserve out of magnanimity. Mr. Bernanke kept his job because he has shown a willingness to finance Mr. Obama's big-government agenda.
O'Grady: Argentina Seizes the Central Bank - WSJ.com

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What the GOP Should Say at the Health Summit

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It is risky to correct a president to his face, but it must be done.

The congressional Republicans at today's televised health-care "summit" at the White House naturally want to prevent the president from turning it into a PR stunt. This is no easy task. They'll not only have to point out problems with his plan and offer their own ideas, but correct the president when he makes statements that are not true.
The GOP participants appear ready for the first two tasks. In an unusual approach, House and Senate members prepped together the way a candidate preps for a presidential debates—by pulling together debate books and conducting mock sessions. But the third task is the most critical and the most difficult.
President Obama has a habit of making false statements, and getting away with them. At a Republican conference in Baltimore last month, for example, he denied that his budget nearly triples the national debt over 10 years. He got away with it because he didn't face follow-up questions or objections.
Karl Rove: What the GOP Should Say at the Health Summit - WSJ.com

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I Will Be Back Soon.

I'm leaving tonight to help out with the earthquake in Chile and I hope to be back soon. In the meantime
USA TRKR will be helping out with the STC Newsletter.
I trust that all the FXF members here will be in their best behavior while I'm gone.:clap:

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