An Arkansas judge has ruled that a woman who found a $1 million lottery ticket in a convenience store garbage can must return the winnings to the person who discarded the ticket.
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Concerns are rising over the recent defections of key executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Even as news broke this week that home ownership in America has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years, the Phoenix housing market continues to surge. While increased demand bodes well for a recovery, there are concerns that it may be too much, too soon. Click here to read Phoenix Business Blog article. thomsonreuters.com: Today in Missoula, Montana, a lawsuit against the author of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, was thrown out today with the judge citing “flimsy” claims by the Plaintiff:
thomsonreuters.com: The Supreme Court has agreed to decide the application of its two year-old ruling on immigrants have a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel and must be told about possible deportation as a result of a guilty plea:
huffingtonpost.com: A federal judge has halted plans to “de-fund” Planned Parenthood in Texas:
azcentral.com: According to this article, “[t]he Arizona Housing Alliance, made up of leaders in the housing industry, is considering legal action to stop a proposed $50 million sweep from the mortgage settlement fund to balance the state’s budget.” azcentral.com: The legislature struck a compromise and electronic billboards are now approved in Phoenix and southwestern Arizona, but nowhere else in Arizona. The governor previously vetoed the original bill and the new bill is revised. Zillow says the housing market has hit bottom in more than half the metro areas on its tracking list, but believes there’s still a way to go for areas that continue to decline. Physcians Practice: “The next 60 days marks the final push to sell physicians across the United States tax plans of both good and questionable value. Promoters of various plans are well aware of the pressures affecting your income and will make a variety of frivolous arguments that appeal to your desire to save. As always a great CPA is your first line of defense against both tax exposure itself and the risk of committing tax fraud through an overreaching plan, but there are a number of common markers that are easy to spot. The IRS creates an annual list of the “Dirty Dozen” tax schemes; here’s a breakdown of the top ones that affect or target doctors. Remember that the higher your income, the more likely you are to face an audit and substantial civil and criminal penalties that I guarantee will exceed any short-term savings gleaned from any bad planning.” Financial Planning Association: “The odds are extremely good that my wife will outlive me. Whatever the reason - genetics, a healthier diet, the fact that she uses our treadmill as something other than a clothes rack - there will likely come a day when she bids me adieu. Most people know that women have a longer life expectancy than men, living about 81 years compared to 76 for the average male. But what they may not have considered is what this statistic means in reality: namely that the overwhelming majority of people in retirement are women. In the U.S., women make up nearly 60 percent of the population over age 65 and nearly 70 percent of the population of those over age 85.How should that reality affect the retirement planning of the fairer sex?” AARP: “A widow just shy of her 90th birthday recently asked me to review her investment portfolio. This happens a lot: Much of my practice involves giving second opinions to other financial planners’ clients. This widow had a reason to worry. She had been sold two expensive annuities — just about the last thing a 90-year-old needs — and the rest of her portfolio consisted mostly of risky stock funds and junk bond funds. The planner was making a fortune as the widow’s nest egg dwindled. A natural reaction would be to file this story next to that of Bernie Madoff or other brazen crooks. But that would be too easy. Like every financial planner I know, the widow’s adviser really seemed to believe that she was doing her client a great service. In fact, she considered her a dear friend. My point is this: Bad advice is epidemic in my industry, and it doesn’t come only from villainous fraudsters such as Madoff. It also comes from pleasant, empathetic folks who are merely responding predictably to my industry’s perverse incentives and self-serving ethical standards. We financial planners are masters at persuading ourselves that what’s in our best interest also happens to be the moral thing to do. By and large, we’re good people, which is why we can be so convincing — and so potentially dangerous to your money.” Legal Insurrection: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today about Arizona’s controversial illegal immigratio law, SB 1070. Based on the initial reports, it appears that the Court may uphold at least one key provision of the law, which allows state law enforcement to inquire about a person’s immigration status. Even some of the Court’s liberal Justices seemed skeptical about prohibiting state law enforcement from checking the immigration status of a person within the state’s borders. What remains unclear is how the Court will view the provisions of the law that make it a state crime to violate federal immigration law. Arizona voters will decide in November whether to allow businesses a break on property taxes for newly acquired equipment. The Arizona House of Representatives passed a measure seeking the return of approximately 48,000 square miles of federally owned land. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations that Wal Mart has been guilty of systematic bribery in an effort to expand its business in Mexico. According to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index, U.S. home values have declined for six consecutive months, but cities like Phoenix, San Diego and Miami are seeing prices rise. findlaw.com: On Wednesday, April 25, the Supreme Court will hear from both sides of the argument as to whether states can adopt their own policies on handling illegal immigration. Arizona’s lawmakers appear to be staunchly supportive of such sovereignty:
Five states have adopted policies similar to Arizona’s. For the entire article on this hotly debated issue, click here. time.com: An employment opening on craigslist.com offers a position to someone who can update the user experience. This article imagines the possibilities. kliv.com: A home depot worker has sued against the major chain store for denying the worker a chair to use as he greeted customers. The lawsuit is taking place in East Palo Alto, California. California has been home to several attorneys who have filed literally hundreds of lawsuits alleging ADA discrimination, according to this article in Time magazine. cnn.com: John Edwards’ trial began today in Greensboro, North Carolina. The prosecution claims that Mr. Edwards broke the law to hide the fact that he was going to have a baby with his mistress. According to cnn.com, Mr. Edwards faces prison time if convicted of the charges of filing false and misleading campaign disclosure reports. $100,000 Fine
A small cardiac practice with offices in Phoenix and Prescott has settled with the Department of Health and Human Services for alleged HIPAA violations. Apparently, the practice was publishing appointment data on the internet that could be accessed by the public. You can read more here. Breitbart: “the average private sector worker in America earns $61,000 annually in pay, pension benefits, and health care benefits. That compares to state and local government workers who make $80,000 and federal workers who bag $120,000 taxpayer dollars in pay, pension, and benefits.” Congress passed laws that ban the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs because our leaders know what is best for us. 100 watt incandescent bulbs cannot be manufactured in the U.S. now and beginning in 2014 the manufacture of incandescent light bulbs of 40 watts or greater will be banned. The U.S. Department of Energy had a contest called “Bright Tomorrow” for manufacturers of energy efficient alternatives to the 60 watt bulb. Guess what? Only one company entered the contest and it was a Dutch company. Yes, it was the winner. BBC News: “Made by Dutch electronics giant Philips, the bulb swaps filaments for light-emitting diodes to provide illumination. Using LEDs endows the light with a long life and a hefty price tag. The first versions are set to cost $60.” I just counted 25 60 watt light bulbs in my house. At $60 a bulb I would pay $1,500 to replace those bulbs. The simple result of this ban on incandescent bulbs will be that people will have fewer light fixtures because they cannot afford the new high tech bulbs. Congress and other state and local governments now routinely pass laws and ordinances that take away our freedoms. Yahoo News: “The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work. A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t fully use their skills and knowledge. Young adults with bachelor’s degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example. . . . About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years” Business Insider: “With law firms cutting back, thousands of law school graduates are still unemployed while stuck with six-figure student loan debt. Some students have filed class-action law suits against more than a dozen schools alleging that officials misled them about their job prospects after graduation. ‘The system of legal education is completely broken now,’ former Chicago-Kent College of Law student Richard Komaiko told us. ‘Almost everyone I know from law school is unemployed or seeking alternative employment.’ We wanted to hear the truth behind the crisis, so we interviewed several recent graduates, including those who have gone into entirely different fields, and one who is living just above the poverty line.” Arizona Department of Health Services: The Department of Health Services in Arizona is considering adding four new conditions to the approved list for “debilitating” conditions. Apparently the health department has made it through the first phase of deciding whether to add (1) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; (2) Generalized Anxiety Disorder; (3) Migraines; and (4) Depression. A public hearing will be held on May 25 from 1-4pm regarding these conditions and whether they will be added. Stay tuned… The Wall St. Journal: “The case for the Buffett tax keeps eroding. When President Obama announced the idea, he said it would help ‘stabilize our debt and deficits over the next decade.’ Then came the inconvenient revelation that the new 30% millionaire’s tax would raise only $46.7 billion over 10 years, and would leave about 99.5% of the deficit intact in 2013. It was a far cry from ‘stabilizing the debt.’ Now we learn that the Buffett tax the Senate is expected to vote on early next week will make the deficit worse. That’s because both Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats have made it clear that their new ‘fairness’ tax is to offset the revenue loss from another provision related to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Martin A. Sullivan’s article “Busting Myths About Rich People’s Taxes” published in Tax Analysts on April 16, 2012, is a must read. It dispels many commonly held myths about the rich and federal taxes. Here are some statements from the article:
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