The oft-discussed possibility of a double-dip recession still looms darkly on the near horizon. Sure, the Stock Market is more often up than down, but those numbers represent only about 40% of the economy. Unfortunately, some 1% of the people in the economy control and profit from the 40% takings from that particular casino. For […]
#Tech: ATT Fights Legal Battle Against Its (Business) Customers
The body blows between AT&T and the business and federal regulatory communities continue to mount. In July, the law firm of Bursor & Fisher established a website for AT&T customers to sign into a class-action lawsuit to fight the merger. Last week, AT&T launched a countersuit against the firm, stating that outside arbitration has no […]
#Communications: AT&T’s Arguments for T-Mobile Buyout Look Ever More Disingenuous
Last Friday we surveyed the arguments presented by AT&T about its desire to purchase T-Mobile for $38 billion. AT&T’s proposal discussed opportunities to bring 3G and next-generation LTE network speeds to almost 90% of its (and hitherto T-Mobile’s) customers, and the creation of jobs required to meet that goal. But AT&T fumbled the ball about […]
#Communications: Can We Trust AT&T – T-Mobile Merger Promises?
Or is the merger only promising to be a trust? AT&T has been working through the logistics, regulatory maze, and public-relations (snow?)job for a year or so in its efforts to purchase T-Mobile for $39 million dollars. The merger would make AT&T and Verizon the only major carriers of mobile/4G/LTE networking services in the country. […]
#Aging: Health-Care Reform Showing Small Advantages For Medicare Recipients
Politics have roughed up most of our attitudes towards health reform. Sometimes it is difficult to sort out what has changed, what seems to be improvement or expansion or cut in service or cost. As the reforms of 2010 move through the courts, we all might need ever greater concentration to keep an eye under […]
#Aging: Medicare On The Chopping Block Of Debt ‘Compromise’
As most of us raise a sigh of relief that the debt ceiling was raised and a vague compromise to trim $1.2 trillion of the national debt was reached, we should not assume that all government spending will be trimmed equally. The social safety net weaved by Social Security and Medicare remains the most conspicuous […]
#Aging: Likely Further Medicare Cuts Hurt Stocks Of Numerous Care Companies
While the ‘compromise’ over the debt ceiling was being shouted over, many analysts noted that the world’s stock markets were, at most, simply unnerved. They were not panicked because investors were confident that some kind of deal would be found and default was not really going to happen. What kind of deal drawn up to […]
#Aging: Medicare’s Support To Home Health Agencies Likely To Be Cut 3+%
With government cuts (or default) looming, everyone is talking about cuts. The battle is really over how much cutting will be done, and who will bleed most. The two federal programs that are most often discussed as targets for cutting are Social Security and Medicare. And every political stripe agrees that as the growing number […]