Greed Is Good

Greed is Good – 03.02.2009

March 3, 2009 — By

Greed is Good Episode II.

 

Finance

  • Market Recap
  • Things to Come
  • Obama Tax Increases
    • $1 Trillion in higher taxes for wealthiest Americans
      • Over $250,000 in household income
      • Occurs at end of 2010
    • New top tax brackets of 36% and 39.6%
      • Up from 33 and 35%
      • Affects 2.6 million taxpayers
    • Raise Capital Gains and Dividends to 20  % (up from 15%)
    • Cap the value of deductions
      • Charity, mortgage interest,
    • Stop repeal of estate tax in 2010
      • 45% on marrid couple’s estate of $7 Million
    • OPPOSITION
    • Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, said in an e-mail, “You cannot help the job-seeker by punishing the job creator.”
  • AIG More bailout money
    • Once one of the world's largest insurers, AIG has already received $150 billion in loans from the government. In return the government has taken an 80 percent stake in the insurer.
    • Shares of AIG closed at 42 cents on Friday. The stock, which traded at $49.50 a year ago, has lost nearly all of its value since the market meltdown began in September.
  • Obama Budget
    • 1) Cut Deficit in half by 2012
    • 2) Sharply raise taxes on rich (see above) ; tax cuts to others
    • 3) Allocate
      • Put a price on carbon

 

Politics

  • Withdraw combat troops from Iraq by 2010
  • Problems in the E.U.
    • Eastern, poorer countries need financial assistance vs. Western, wealthier countries who do not want outside assistance
  • Health Care
    •  
    • the budget begins paying for investments that would eventually allow Medicare officials to refuse to pay for medical treatment that does not show evidence of improving health. If successful, that change would vastly reduce the government’s long-term budget deficit. It is also likely to bring down private health costs, since insurers typically follow Medicare’s lead.
    • He would also increase premiums charged to Medicare beneficiaries with higher incomes for prescription drug coverage.
    • Would speed the approval of low-cost generic versions of expensive biotechnology drugs by establishing “a new regulatory pathway” at the Food and Drug Administration.
    • Mr. Obama asked Congress to set aside $634 billion in a “reserve fund for health care reform.”
    • Mr. Obama would, for example, require drug companies to give bigger discounts, or rebates, to Medicaid, the health program for low-income people.
    • Mr. Obama said he would save $176 billion over 10 years by cutting Medicare payments to health insurance companies that provide comprehensive care to more than 10 million of the 44 million Medicare beneficiaries.
    • Doctors praised one aspect of Mr. Obama’s budget. He assumes that Congress will protect doctors from cuts in Medicare payments scheduled to occur under current law — cuts of 21 percent in 2010 and about 5 percent in each of the next few years.
    • “We are very pleased,” said Dr. Nancy H. Nielsen, president of the American Medical Association. “All previous budgets assumed cuts in doctor payments.”

 

Current Events

  • George Mason pulls out of Emirates
  • Corporate Sponsorships
  • Job Market
  • Cornell News
    • Convocation Speaker
    • David Plouffe, left, President Barack Obama's campaign manager, will deliver this year's convocation address in May.
    • Basketball loses to Harvard 71-70, must win to clinch Ivy Title