Author: Biz India

Book Review – The Immigration Crucible

Book Review: The Immigration Crucible Author: Philip Kretsedemas Publisher:ColumbiaUniversity Press – 212 pages Book Review by:  Sonu Chandiram Philip Kretsedemas, a professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, writes that at the very outset of this book that he is not taking sides in the ongoing (and it seems never-ending) immigration debate. He does not make arguments for, or against, either kind of immigration – illegal or legal. Rather, he shares his research, knowledge, experience and insight developed over the years, on this issue so you can enlighten yourself on it, understand it better and look...

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NJ Property Taxpayers Need Direct Relief

  By NJ Assemblyman Jay Webber A Property Tax Relief Fund actually should bring relief to property taxpayers. Too often, however, funds collected by our state government intended for “property tax relief” really just fuel additional government spending. Nowhere was that sad reality more apparent than from my seat on the Assembly Budget Committee, which recently held a hearing on the Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Relief Fund. The mayors of two large towns in central New Jersey, one a Democrat and one a Republican, testified at length about how their municipalities should get millions more from that Property Tax Relief Fund. The first mayor spoke for several minutes about how those millions could be spent on this, that and the other thing — but never mentioned dedicating any portion of that additional money to lowering the property tax bills of her residents. The second mayor testified that the money in the Property Tax Relief Fund “is our money” and demanded that it be given back to “us.” By “our” and “us,” the mayor wasn’t referring to the taxpayers. No, for that mayor, unfortunately, the phrase “our money” meant money belonging to his governing body, for use as that governing body sees fit. I couldn’t disagree more with that idea. Local elected officials face many challenges, and no one should minimize the difficulty of their jobs or the significance...

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Detroit Will Go Broke By Next Friday Unless…..

By Suzette Hackney and Matt Helms -Detroit Free Press Staff Writers Detroit Mayor Dave Bing Detroitwill run out of cash a week from today if a lawsuit challenging the validity of the city’s consent agreement with the state is not withdrawn, city officials said this morning. Jack Martin, the city’s new chief financial officer, said the city will be broke by June 15 but should be able to make payroll for its employees. He said the city will be operating in a deficit situation if the state withholds payments on a portion of the $80 million in bond money needed to help keep the city afloat. The battle ultimately could lead to an emergency manager if state officials deem the city to be in violation of the consent agreement that gives the state significant control overDetroit’s finances. Deputy Treasurer Thomas Saxton told the city Thursday that the lawsuit against the consent agreement could force the state to hold back $80 million in revenue sharing that was used, essentially, as collateral for interim refinancing of bonds issued in March soDetroit would not run out of cash. Detroithas already used $35 million of the $80 million. The money is in an escrow account, but based on Saxton’s letter city officials will not be able to draw down any more of the money, Martin said. “If our city runs out of money,...

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Printing of Still More Paper Currency By the Fed Will Not Help U.S. Economy!

By Mike Larson Friday, June 8, 2012 at 7:30am In all my years of following the interest rate markets, I can’t recall a moment like this. The so-called “experts” on Wall Street are completely, utterly obsessed with a simple question: “Will Fed officials wave their magic monetary wand again or won’t they?” You want to hear MY shocking answer? Who the heck cares!! I know it’s almost heresy to speak such words. Certainly the people trying to sell ads on CNBC, or the Fed “mouthpiece” reporters at various media outlets, don’t want to hear them. And many observers enjoy nothing more than blathering on endlessly about things like the latest comments from Ben Bernanke, who testified before Congress yesterday. (My very brief take: He punted to fiscal policymakers here and European politicians overseas, saying they need to do the heavy lifting, not the Fed.) But the simple fact is, Fed policymakers and their counterparts overseas are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Let me explain why … The level of interest rates is NOT the problem, so more “QE or Quantitative Easing (Printing of Paper Currency) would be essentially useless! Take a look at this chart of the 10-year Treasury Note yield. You can see it has been trending down and down and down for months on end. In fact, it just plunged to 1.453 percent. That’s the lowest in recorded U.S....

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Oscar-Winning Producer Presents ‘2016’: Investigative Obama Documentary, Based on Dinesh D’ Souza’s Book

By Breitbart Director Steven Spielberg, who donated more than $87,000 to the Democratic Party in the last election cycle, has a co-producer who feels a little differently than he does about President Barack Obama. Meet Gerald R. Molen: Spielberg’s co-producer on Hollywood blockbusters such as “Schindler’s List,” “Jurassic Park” and “Minority Report.” Molen is the driving force behind “2016,” a documentary — based on “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” a book written by Dinesh D’Souza — about President Obama scheduled to hit theaters this summer. Molen promises, that like D’Souza’s book, the film will take viewers deep into the...

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