Personal Finance

If a person wants to go into business as a taxicab owner, what requirements should be imposed to protect the public? The prospective taxicab owner should show that he is honest and can operate a vehicle safely. His vehicle should pass a safety inspection, and he should have a liability insurance policy. Some cities require the purchase of an existing license, sometimes called a medallion. A…

What would you think of an individual or a company that earned a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million in one year, paid nothing in taxes and still received a $3.5 million refund? Am I speaking of Donald Trump? No, it is The New York Times Company. Forbes magazine studied the newspaper's 2014 annual report, in which the company explained: "The effective tax rate for 2014 was favorably affected by…

As anyone even vaguely familiar with Rush Limbaugh and the Clintons is aware, he has a thing about them, as do they about him, and it goes back decades. And when Limbaugh goes on a tear about Hill and/or Bill, it is a takedown to behold. Such was the case for Limbaugh's listeners today after a weekend of monolithic media condemnation of GOP nominee Donald Trump in the wake of the New York Times…

New York State’s Department of Labor recently made headlines with its rules mandating that employers paying their workforces with prepaid debit cards ensure that employees have “unlimited, free withdrawals” from at least one nearby ATM. This must be the case even if the employees have no bank accounts.  

Think old media are biased? New media is vying to be worse. Spotify, the streaming music service with 100 million active users, is rolling out an election issues video series targeting millennials through a partnership with Mic. And from the start it is leaning left. The Clarify video series will address a number of subjects like student debt, gun control, the economy and civil rights, according…

On the eve of the Democratic convention, CNBC’s Joe Kernen wanted to know why the media have failed to challenge Hillary Clinton on the issue of her personal wealth and the controversy surrounding the Clinton Foundation. Kernen, a Squawk Box co-anchor, pointed out that the media have been suspiciously silent on the subject of Clinton’s finances. During a discussion regarding a recent book about…

A recent ruling by the U.S. Department of Commerce dramatically increased tariffs on some Chinese steel products, such as cold-rolled steel, which is used to make appliances, cars and electric motors. Tariffs were raised by 500 percent on some other Chinese steel products. President Barack Obama and the major 2016 presidential aspirants, particularly Donald Trump, believe this measure will…

In a remarkable "Who do they think they're kidding?" exercise seen on Thursday, a New York Times editorial cited the findings of a Federal Reserve study released in late May showing that 76 millions are, in the Fed's words, "struggling to get by" or "just getting by." Gosh, I wonder why? The Times apparently wants readers to believe that these conditions couldn't possibly have anything to do…

President Obama and GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan want to expand it. Tax preparation companies and illegal immigrants are cashing in on it. Fraudsters have found bottomless ways to exploit it. The earned income tax credit, a bipartisan-supported "anti-poverty" benefit, is robbing honest, law-abiding Americans blind.   

Barely a minute into Wednesday’s PBS town hall event with President Barack Obama, PBS NewsHour co-host Gwen Ifill took a few digs at the people of Elkhart, Indiana where the event was being held for not giving Obama “any credit” for their unemployment drop to the point that she exclaimed: “What gives?”

In an analysis for the front page of Wednesday’s New York Times business section, Eduardo Porter trumpeted that the real issue ailing the American economy and impeding on its improvement is the lack of mass government jobs programs similar to its “large and underappreciated role in reshaping” the country during the 19th and 20th centuries. 

“President Obama gave the commencement speech at Howard University: He told graduates their future is bright.  Unless they want jobs.” - NewsBusted’s Jody Miller

Today's report from the government on retail sales was awful — "unexpectedly" so, according to both Bloomberg and Reuters. Following on the heels of a 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted decline in January and a flat February, March sales fell by 0.3 percent. Two of the three main U.S. business wire services blamed the American people, not the worst post-recession economy since World War II during…

For the past month, the conventional wisdom about the U.S. economy has been that consumer spending and "(not really) robust" job growth will continue to prop up the economy, even as weaknesses in manufacturing, trade and other areas continue to present problems. President Obama bragged in early March that the economy is "pretty darned good now." Today, the first of those two pillars got pulled.…