July 2009

Just this week, Wal-Mart raised eyebrows across the country when it came out supporting an employer health insurance mandate.   Now, Wal-Mart has got to know that its endorsement is probably not good for its profits. Wal-Mart is the country's biggest employer, with more workers than the US Army.   What’s going on here? read more

The news that the Vatican is now making official inquiries into Catholic nuns in America and whether they are adhering to church doctrine obscures a very important history about nuns in this country. For nearly three centuries, Catholic nuns have worked heroically, unselfishly, tirelessly, against all odds, to make this great country what it is today. The US economy would not have come so far ... read more

Don't lose sight of the real scandal in the latest AIG bonus controversy--the fact that the US Treasury under former secretary Henry Paulson used your money to make whole Wall Street firms who had bet against AIG, 100% whole, 100 cents on the dollar. The news breaking now is that AIG is forking over another round of bonuses and that the administration's newly appointed pay czar can't do a thing ... read more

Goldman Sachs Group (GS) has just come out with a quarter that will please everyone. Unfortunately, this was telegraphed by recent analyst calls with above-estimate forecasts.  The investment banking giant -- a.k.a. “bankless” bank-holding company -- posted earnings at $4.93 a share versus $3.54-a-share estimates, on revenues of $13.76 billion versus estimates of $10.6 billion. The ... read more

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will come out swinging when he takes to Capitol Hill on Thursday to testify once again about whether he was the shotgun behind the wedding between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. Paulson plans to tell U.S. lawmakers he acted appropriately in warning Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis that the firm's management could be ousted if it walked away ... read more