Miccheck Archives
Tag: Money
Money Money Money
Cashing In
Each year, Parade magazine releases its annual "What People Earn" survey, which compares the income of famous faces to everyday folks. Some of the top earners included Tiger Woods ($110 million), Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($3 billion), and Twilight" series actress Kristen Stewart ($16 million). But surprisingly, Nicole "Snookie" Polizzi, star of reality TV's "Jersey Shore," grabbed headlines, but only made $2,200 dollars in 2009. Depressing fact: The magazine found that celebrities made more than 450 times the "normal" folks' salaries. Wow. [CBS News]
Posted 12:25 PM | Friday, April 9th, 2010 | Permalink
Star Gazing
Source: flickr/gageskidmore
Show Me The Money
How much does it pay to be Glenn Beck? $32 million, according to Forbes. Beck pulled in the money through a revenue stream that includes books, radio, TV, digital media, and speaking fees. But, according to Forbes, Beck earned the least amount of money through his Fox News contract. Beck earned $12 million from book sales, $10 million from his 5-year contract with Premiere Radio Networks, ads from his website earned him $4 million, speaking fees and events like his "Bold Fresh Tour" with Bill O'Reilly earned him $3 million, and his Fox News contract brought in $2 million. Add in a final $1 million from his Fusion magazine, and Beck had a $32 million year. [Huff Post]
Posted 1:37 PM | Thursday, April 8th, 2010 | Permalink
Just Plain Cool
Remember that kid?
We are not lawyers, but this seems a little out of the ordinary. A women has filed for child support after the fact -- WAY after the fact. The mother who filed the suit is 81. And the child in question? He’s actually a retired grandfather. 60 years later, though, the tab isn't as bad as we expected; $57,000. [Houston Chronicle]
Posted 2:48 PM | Monday, April 5th, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
No Money, Big Problems
The Republican National Committee has been spending big money lately on a number of controversial things, but it may be the not-so controversial that cost them.
Aggressive spending helped bring stunning victories in off-year gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last November, and in the Massachusetts special election that broke the Democratic Party's filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate in January. But apparently the RNC wound up outspending its own revenues by about the same margin as it has outspent the Democratic National Committee since last summer, according to financial disclosure documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Analysts say that fact, combined with new revelations this week about lavish spending, could hobble the RNC as an engine of Republican fund-raising in this year's battle for Congress. [Yahoo]
Posted 2:10 PM | Thursday, April 1st, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Source: flickr/webhostingreview
License and Registration, Please
As police departments look for ways to increase revenue, we have some bad news. That 10-mile-per-hour speed enforcement “cushion” is vanishing. Instead of allowing drivers a 5-10 mile window, police have started ticketing if you’re just two or three miles over. Experts say the no tolerance policy could also be attributed to increasing speed limits around the country. The story is not as simple as headline suggests, though, since one of the reasons there’s a cushion is to provide a margin of error to satisfy the courts. [USA Today]
Posted 2:02 PM | Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Skyrocketing Rent
What's the difference between New York City and Washington, D.C.? One hundred and thirty five dollars, according to a new report that lists the most expensive cities in the country to live in. San Francisco comes in as the most expensive city for housing, averaging $1,760 a month for a two-bedroom unit. Surprisingly, the District not only ranked ahead of New York City on the list, but it also beat Los Angeles, which ranked at number ten. To read the whole list, click here. [NBC4]
Posted 1:04 PM | Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Permalink
And Justice For All
Source: flickr/Rennett Stowe
Unmarried Women in Society
1) Married Women Vs. Unmarried Women
- Less educated: Unmarried women achieve lower levels of educational achievement; 48 percent have a high school education or less. [Greenberg Research]
- Age difference: Unmarried women are both younger and older than their married counterparts; 52 percent of unmarried women are under 45 compared to 43 percent of married women. [Greenberg Research]
- More Diverse: Unmarried women are more racially diverse; only 68 percent of unmarried are white, compared to 80 percent of married women. [Greenberg Research]
2) Disparity Stats
- In today's society, nearly half of women are unmarried; half have household incomes less than $30,000. [Greenberg Research][CAP Unmarried Women]
- Statistics found that almost every woman in today's society will spend at least part of her adult life as the sole supporter of herself or family. [CAP Unmarried Women]
- Unmarried represent 63 percent of unemployed women, 60 percent of women w/o health insurance, and 75 percent of women in poverty. [Ms Blog]
3) Why These Inequities Exist
- Like all women, unmarried face wage discrimination, juggle several jobs, and earn less than married women. [CAP Wage Gap][NBC News]
- Many unmarried women hold lower wage jobs that do not support a sufficient amount to live on. [CAP Unmarried Women]
- Many workplaces are not family friendly; unmarried women have family responsibilities that could conflict with their job. [Harvard][CAPAF Family Friendly]
- Finally, many policies (including health care and retirement plans) are based on the 1950s notion of a nuclear family, putting unmarried women in an unfortunate economic position. [CAP Unmarried Women]
4) Unmarried Women & Contributions To Society
- Unmarried women are more than a fifth of the nation's workers, working mostly outside of the home. [CAP Unmarried Women]
- The unmarried are also a growing consumer group, representing a fifth of homebuyers in 2008. [CAP Unmarried Women]
- Unmarried women also serve as the economic decision makers for a number of people, including elders and children, affecting all areas of our economy. [CAP Unmarried Women]
5) Legislation Benefiting the Unmarried
- Key areas of legislation in the 111th Congress include: good jobs, policies for single mothers and their children; quality affordable health care, adequate, affordable housing, financial protection and a secure retirement. [CAP Unmarried Women]
- There is also a proposed reauthorization and expansion of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which would provide subsidies for child care to low-income families. [CAP Unmarried Women]
- The Paycheck Fairness Act, which the Senate is hoping to consider this year, would help strengthen legal protections against wage discrimination. [TPMDC] [CAP Unmarried Women]
Posted 11:46 AM | Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Permalink
Just Plain Cool
Maybe You Won, But We’re Related!
Lawyers' fees might eat this all up, but two Connecticut sisters in their 80s are suing for their share of a Powerball jackpot. The 87-year-old sister won, but the 84-year-old sibling says they should split the $500,000 jackpot. They had a history of group gambling; they even went so far as to draw up a joint bank account for their winnings. But that was five years ago, before Powerball. A judge is expected to rule on the case soon. [Hartford Courant]
Posted 4:20 PM | Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 | Permalink
Nerd Alert!
Source: flickr/DON PUGH PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA
National Parks Rock!
In a tribute to national parks, the U.S. Mint today unveiled designs for the first five quarters in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. Mint officials say the series will honor 56 national parks and other sites across the country and in U.S. territories. The first coin, featuring Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, will be available April 19. [USA T]
Posted 1:36 PM | Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Join A Gang?
This is old new that is new news. In December, disgraced runner-of-panzi-schemes, Bernie Madoff, was apparently beaten badly by another inmate in prison. According to a prison source, the injuries included a “broken nose, fractured ribs and cuts to his head and face.” Madoff denies being beaten. [Wall Street Journal]
Posted 3:41 PM | Thursday, March 18th, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Economic Uncertainties
While the economy may be turning the corner, Americans are still feeling the effects of recession. A bit fewer than half of Americans count themselves as middle class -- but many of them aren't sure how long it will last: Among people who say they're in the middle class now, four in 10 also say they're struggling to remain there. Beyond that, while 52 percent in the middle class say they're there comfortably, only 6 percent see themselves as moving up beyond their current status. [ABC News]
Posted 1:11 PM | Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Permalink
Just Plain Cool
Charity Begins At Home
President Obama received $1.4 milllion in prize money for winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year. While we'd probably blow the whole thing on iPhone apps and Mad Men Barbies, POTUS selected ten charities and divvied it all up among them. Among the chosen charities: The Bush-Clinton Haiti Fund ($200K), the Fisher House to benefit veterans' families ($250K), the Hispanic College Fund ($125K) and The Posse Foundation which finds public high school students with great potential but who may be overlooked by the traditional college selection process ($125K). Click the link to see the rest of the list. [Washington Post]
Posted 7:34 PM | Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Safe, Sound, Secure
What Money?
Here comes a flashback - the State Department is failing to properly oversee nearly $2 billion in contracts to battle the drug trade, build infrastructure and train police in Afghanistan, according to a bluntly worded internal assessment. De ja vu? Didn't we read about this with another war?
The report by the department's inspector general questions whether the U.S. will be able to stabilize the country in time to meet President Obama's goal of withdrawing some troops by June 2011. [USA Today]
Posted 4:05 PM | Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Source: flickr/Tracey O
Billions Unclaimed
Were you one of the 1.4 million people who didn’t file a tax return in 2006? Then, the IRS may owe you money. According to a new report, the IRS says it has more than $1.3 billion in refunds for 1.4 million people who didn't file a 2006 return. The money will become the property of the U.S. Treasury if those due money don’t file a claim by April 15. [CNN]
Posted 1:02 PM | Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Art Crime Black Market Fueling Organized Crime, Terrorism
Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Ulrich Boser is the author of "The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft," which comes out in paperback next week. Boser looks into the infamous robbery specifically, and more broadly takes a look at often-overlooked global problem of art crime.
1.) The Gardner Heist [USA Today]
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March 18, 1990: robbers stole $500 million in art from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - a dozen artworks, including a Vermeer, three Rembrandts and five Degas.
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Twenty years later, still no sign of the art and no solid leads on who perpetrated the crime
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Boser took up the chase after inheriting the case files of art-theft detective Harold Smith, who pursued the Gardner "caper" (as Boser repeatedly refers to it) for years until his death in 2005.
2.) The Dark World of Art Crime [FBI]
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Art and cultural property crime - which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines -- is a looming criminal enterprise with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually.
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To bring these criminals to justice--the FBI uses a dedicated Art Crime Team of 13 Special Agents to investigate, supported by three Special Trial Attorneys for prosecutions and mans the National Stolen Art File, a computerized index of reported stolen art and cultural properties for the use of law enforcement agencies across the world.
3.) Terrorism and Art Crime [Israel News Agency]
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"Perhaps the best documented case of stealing property and valuables to finance terrorism was when the Sir Alfred Beit Art Collection was stolen by the IRA in 1974," said Dick Ellis of Swift-Find, who previously served as General Manager of Christie's Fine Art Security Services and created the Art and Antiques Squad at the Scotland Yard. This was the world's largest art theft for terrorism with the IRA carrying away canvas after canvas of Rubens, Goya and Vermeer.
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The theft was calculated at $32 million at the time - today that value would be $100 million. It is noted that 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta attempted to peddle stolen art to pay for his terrorism training.
4.) There's an Think Tank for That [ARCA]
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The Associate for Research into Crimes Against Art is an interdisciplinary think tank/research group on contemporary issues in art crime. This international non-profit organization studies issues in art crime and cultural property protection, runs educational programs, and consults on art protection and recovery issues brought to them by police, governments, museums, places of worship, and other public institutions.
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They hold events and conferences around the world and you can even complete a master's degree in International Art Crime Studies.
5.) The Book - The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft [Amazon]
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Out in paperback the week of March 15th
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The reviews: "A vivid portrait of the high-stakes world of art crime." (Associated Press); "Artfully done... Grade: A Minus." (Boston Herald); "Boser cracks the cold case of the art world's greatest unsolved mystery." (Vanity Fair); "Boser has produced a captivating portrait of the world's biggest unsolved art theft." (Wall Street Journal)
Check our our podcast interview with author Ulrich Boser here.
Posted 11:25 AM | Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Shocker: Hypocrisy in D.C.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has been attacking Democrats for not returning contributions from Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), who this week stepped down from his Ways and Means chairmanship over an ethics investigation, calling his donations "tainted money." But House Minority Leader John Boehner doesn't have a problem with the "tainted money" Rangel gave to Rep. Parker Griffith (AL), a Democrat-turned-Republican who switched parties in December. In an interview with an Alabama TV station during a fund-raising visit Monday for Griffith, Boehner said it didn't matter to him if Griffith accepted Rangel's money. [Talking Points Memo]
Posted 2:42 PM | Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
CASH-FOR-CLUNKERS PART DEUX
Nearly 30 states will launch programs to issue almost $300 million in rebates to consumers buying energy-efficient appliances in March and April of this year. Similar to the cash-for-clunkers auto rebate, the programs are intended to improve energy efficiency and stimulate the economy. Eight states have already launched programs, including New York, which offered $50 to $75 rebates on refrigerators, washers and freezers. [USA9]
Posted 1:04 PM | Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Permalink
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