Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Fiat Chrysler-Peugeot Merge To Become World's Fourth-Largest Automaker

Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot Parent Company Merge To Become World's Fourth-Largest Automaker

Neer Varshney

December 18, 2019

Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) and Peugeot's (OTC: PUGOY) parent company Groupe PSA have officially signed a merger, the two companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

What Happened

Both Fiat Chrysler and PSA will own a 50% stake each in the combined company, which will have estimated revenue of about $189.2 billion and an operating profit margin of 6.6% based on the companies' individual 2018 performance.

The statement said the combined company would be the world's fourth-largest automaker in terms of volume, and the third-largest in terms of revenue.

The new company will be domiciled in the Netherlands. Its stock will list at the New York Stock Exchange in the U.S., at Euronext N.V. in France, and the Borsa Italiana S.p.A. in Italy.

Fiat Chrysler's chairman and a descendant of Italy's Agnelli family, John Elkann, will continue in his role at the new company, while PSA's chairman Carlos Tavares will take over as the chief executive officer.

"Our merger is a huge opportunity to take a stronger position in the auto industry as we seek to master the transition to a world of clean, safe and sustainable mobility and to provide our customers with world-class products, technology and services," Tavares said on the merger.

Price Action

Fiat Chrysler's shares closed 1.52% higher at $15.33 on Tuesday. Peugeot's shares closed 0.88% higher at $24.70 in the OTC market.

Above is from:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fiat-chrysler-peugeot-parent-company-113246056.html

Friday, December 13, 2019

Great quote for our times

You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.


--Robert Heinlein

Take a look at this when heading East on State leaving Rockford


By Derek BarichelloEmailFollow

7:52 am

This digital billboard geared toward U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, was put on display in Rockford near 5411 E. State St. and will run for 12 days. It is paid for by Republicans for the Rule of Law.


Congressman Adam Kinzinger is one of 12 House Republicans targeted in an ad campaign a conservative group has launched this week saying President Donald Trump obstructed the impeachment proceedings.

The congressman, however, responded Thursday with a statement calling the impeachment inquiry a distraction from other issues facing the nation.

The digital billboard, which will be on display for a dozen days near 5411 E. State St. in Rockford, features photos of Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani with duct tape across their mouths. It asks "What is Trump hiding?" and says "Rep. Kinzinger, we need the whole truth."

The billboard is paid for by the Republicans for the Rule of Law, which describe themselves as "a group of life-long Republicans dedicated to defending the institutions of our republic and upholding the rule of law."

The group said it is asking why the White House is blocking the testimony of key witnesses in Trump's impeachment inquiry.

"The president doesn't own the government and he's not above the law," said Republicans for the Rule of Law spokesman Chris Truax in a statement.

The House Judiciary Committee took the first steps Wednesday night toward voting on articles of impeachment against Trump, beginning a two-day session at the Capitol. The impeachment inquiry centered on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from Ukraine for his re-election.

Kinzinger, a Channahon Republican, who has been critical of the president's comments on Twitter at times, has said he wants to know what happened with Trump and his communications with Ukraine's president, but he's also said Democrats went too far by starting an impeachment inquiry, stating their motivation is to overturn the election results.

"The articles of impeachment drafted (Wednesday) are the culmination of that anti-Trump fever, leaving us even more divided than before," Kinzinger said in a statement. "There will be another presidential election in 11 months and the voters will have the final say, as was designed by our founders."

Kinzinger believes the impeachment process is a distraction.

Right now, we need to get back to work for the American people," he said. "We need to find solutions to lower drug prices, maintain the incredible job growth and wage increases from this booming economy, and better protect our borders and overall national security. The continued drumbeat towards impeachment has delayed and prevented this work from occurring, and that is a disservice to the hardworking people we serve."

Kinzinger was the lone Illinois congressman targeted in the ad campaign.

The districts of Reps. Greg Walden (Ore.), Mac Thornberry (Texas), Paul Mitchell (Mich.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Fred Upton (Mich.) Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Morris Brooks (Ind.), John Katko (N.Y.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Francis Rooney (Okla.) and Martha Roby (Ala.) also were chosen for the ads.

"We’ve chosen this list of House Republicans as they have shown signs of independence, and we think they might stand up and call on the administration to let the witnesses testify," said Carson Putnam, chief of communications for the Republicans for the Rule of Law.

While not in favor of impeachment, Kinzinger has been critical of the president's comments on Twitter. He called on the president to redact a post referencing "lynching" and called another one of his tweets that mentioned a Civil War-like fracture if the president was removed from office "beyond repugnant." He's also been critical of the president's decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria where they were supporting Syrian Kurds.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Kinzinger votes 83% of the time in line with the president's position.

Kinzinger has no opponent in March's Republican primary in the 16th Congressional District, which covers parts of DeKalb, Will, Winnebago, Ford and Stark counties, and all of La Salle, Grundy, Bureau, Lee, Livingston, Ogle, Putnam, Boone and Iroquois counties. Two Democrats Dani Brzozowski, of La Salle, and Benjamin Baer, of Coal City, are running for the district seat.

The ad accuses Trump of keeping key witnesses from testifying against him in the impeachment inquiry.

"President Trump has been given every opportunity to answer the charges against him," Truax said. "He demands friendly witnesses, yet refuses to allow

his most loyal supporters to testify. He complains the proceedings are unfair, yet refuses to allow his lawyers to participate in the hearings."

In addition, a video with a similar message to the billboard will air as a commercial on "Fox & Friends" in the 16th Congressional District, and will also be promoted online.

"If President Trump really could prove he is innocent of the impeachment charges against him, he would have made some effort to do so by now," Truax said. "If the President really does think the facts will exonerate him, why won't he let those facts come out?"

Above is from:  https://www.mywebtimes.com/2019/12/12/conservative-group-urges-rep-adam-kinzinger-to-take-action-in-impeachment-process/anlh878/

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

What happened to these early supporters of Pres Trump?



The 1st and 2nd members of Congress to endorse Trump will plead guilty to federal crimes, resign



Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. (R-Calif.) said Monday he will plead guilty to one count of campaign finance violations on Tuesday and hinted he will step down from Congress, typically a precondition for the type of plea deal Hunter is accepting. Hunter is the second Republican member of Congress to plead guilty to federal crimes this fall, following Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and resigned in October. Coincidentally, Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2016 and Hunter was the second.

Hunter, 42, was first elected to his San Diego district in 2008, taking over from his father, Duncan Hunter Sr., who held the seat since 1980. The Hunter dynasty almost ended in 2016 when the younger Hunter, already under indictment, narrowly won his seat against a political unknown, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.

Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, initially pleaded not guilty to about 60 counts of campaign finance violations tied to flagrant misuse of campaign funds on personal expenses. Margaret Hunter changed her plea in June and agreed to testify against her husband. Faced with Duncan Hunter's continued denial of guilt, prosecutors disclosed more details in court filings this year, including evidence that Hunter used campaign funds to conduct extramarital affairs with at least five women, reportedly including three lobbyists and two congressional staffers.

Trump had nothing to do with the crimes to which Hunter and Collins pleaded guilty — though he did complain about their indictments. But including last month's conviction of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, at least six Trump campaign associates have pleaded guilty or been convicted of federal crimes — Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, and George Papadopoulos — and his current personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other associates are in the federal barrel now, too.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/1st-2nd-members-congress-endorse-054447472.html

Monday, December 2, 2019

FIAT to reinvest in Belvidere Plant


Fiat to invest in Belvidere plant as part of deal with UAW

The automaker agreed not to close assembly plants during the life of the contract.

CoStar Group

(Bloomberg)—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV clinched a new tentative labor contract with the United Auto Workers by agreeing to double up on a major investment in U.S. production announced earlier this year.

Fiat Chrysler agreed not to close assembly plants during the life of the contract and to invest in its factory in Belvidere, Illinois, east of Rockford, that makes Jeep Cherokee SUVs and employs almost 3,700 hourly workers, people familiar with the talks said earlier.

The fate of the facility had been a subject of speculation because the company eliminated a third shift there earlier this year, dismissing more than 1,300 workers.

The Italian-American carmaker, which said in February it would spend $4.5 billion to boost output of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram trucks, will invest another $4.5 billion over the course of the next four years, Cindy Estrada, a UAW vice president and head of the union’s Fiat Chrysler department, said in a statement. The company will add 7,900 jobs during that span, according to the union.

Fiat Chrysler made the spending and job commitments to the union in the midst of negotiating a merger with Peugeot maker PSA Group. The companies have won over the French state in part by assuring that they can generate synergies without closing any plants. Adding production capacity amid a global slowdown in vehicle sales could be a risky gambit for the combined carmaker.

In a statement, Fiat Chrysler confirmed it had reached a deal with the UAW and said further details will be provided later. The union said its national council will meet Dec. 4 to review the tentative agreement and decide whether hourly and salary members should start voting on ratification beginning Dec. 6.

The UAW and Fiat Chrysler were close to reaching a deal that included $9,000 signing bonuses, people familiar with the negotiations said on Friday, matching what Ford Motor Co. recently agreed to pay senior workers. The union secured $11,000 ratification bonuses from General Motors Co. following a 40-day strike that ended last month.

Above is from:  https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manufacturing/fiat-invest-belvidere-plant-part-deal-uaw

Second Democrat ready to challenge Rep Kinzinger


Teacher Files for Election in 16th District Congressional Race

Benjamin Baer photo

(Benjamin Baer photo)


  • An additional challenger has filed for election in the 16th Congressional District, currently held by Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. The district covers portions of the WSPY listening area.

Benjamin Baer, a social studies teacher at Coal City High School, filed petitions on Wednesday and will run as a Democrat. His filing, currently creates a contested primary.

As WSPY previously reported, Dani Brzozowski of LaSalle, who is the LaSalle Co. Democratic Party Chair, announced her candidacy in September.

Baer said in a post, "as your representative, I would pledge to listen to my constituents and be your tireless advocate in Washington."

Baer additionally said, "I would advocate for improvements in education by de-emphasizing testing, stand for labor movements and measured regulation to protect consumers, and fight for more people to receive health care."

Baer said those initiatives would be paid for, "by promoting a progressive tax structure and closing tax loopholes."

Congressman Kinzinger is now in his fifth term. Primary and general elections take place in 2020.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

No strike for Belvidere Assembly Plant?



Fiat Chrysler Reaches Tentative Labor Deal With United Auto Workers


By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCHA.MI> and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Saturday announced a tentative agreement for a four-year labor contract, a boost for the automaker as it works to merge with France's Groupe PSA <PEUP.PA>.

Italian-American Fiat Chrysler and PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen, last month announced a planned $50 billion merger to create the world's fourth-largest automaker.

The tentative agreement with Fiat Chrysler, which is subject to ratification by the union members, follows contracts that the UAW already concluded with Ford Motor Co <F.N> and General Motors Co <GM.N>.

The deal with GM followed a 40-day strike in the United States that virtually shuttered GM's North American operations and cost the automaker $3 billion.

The UAW on Saturday said the contract with Fiat Chrysler included a commitment from FCA to invest $9 billion, creating 7,900 new jobs over the course of the four-year contract. Of the $9 billion, $4.5 billion was announced earlier this year, to be invested in five plants and creating 6,500 jobs.

Detailed terms of the tentative agreement were not released, but they are expected to echo those under the new contracts with GM and Ford, as the UAW typically uses the first deal as a pattern for the others.

"FCA has been a great American success story thanks to the hard work of our members," UAW acting President Rory Gamble said in a statement. "We have achieved substantial gains and job security provisions for the fastest growing auto company in the United States."

Ratification is not a sure thing. Rank-and-file UAW members at FCA in 2015 rejected the first version of a contract. In addition, a lawsuit related to a federal corruption probe could also raise doubts among union members about the terms agreed.

The federal corruption led GM to file a racketeering lawsuit against FCA, alleging that its rival bribed union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars. FCA has brushed off the lawsuit as groundless.

Under the UAW's deal with GM, the automaker agreed to invest $9 billion in the United States, including $7.7 billion directly in its plants, and to create or retain 9,000 UAW jobs.

Ford's contract included commitments to invest more than $6 billion in its U.S. plants and to create or retain more than 8,500 UAW jobs.

The deals with GM and Ford also created a pathway to full-time employment for temporary workers and left healthcare insurance coverage unchanged.

Both automakers also agreed to signing bonuses, with $9,000 for full-time Ford workers and $11,000 for workers at GM.

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Above is from:  https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2019-11-30/fiat-chrysler-reaches-tentative-labor-deal-with-united-auto-workers

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Trump donated his salary but he made a lot more playing golf?



Trump Has Spent $115 Million On Golf Trips ― Or 287 Years Of Presidential Salary

HuffPost S.V. Date,HuffPost 4 hours ago


  • The president's motorcade arrives at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 27, 2019. Trump is spending Thanksgiving week at his nearby Mar-a-Lago estate. (Photo: Susan Walsh/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

With his Thanksgiving vacation, President Donald Trump’s golf hobby has now cost Americans an estimated $115 million in travel and security expenses ― the equivalent of 287 years of the presidential salary he frequently boasts about not taking.

Of that amount, many hundreds of thousands ― perhaps millions ― of dollars have gone into his own cash registers, as Secret Service agents, White House staff and other administration officials stay and eat at his hotels and golf courses.

The exact amount cannot be determined because the White House refuses to reveal how many Trump aides have been staying at his properties when he visits them and will not turn over receipts for the charges incurred.

In response to a HuffPost query on Wednesday asking if she knew how many administration officials other than herself are staying at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, during his Thanksgiving stay, and how much it is all costing, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham responded with a one-word answer: “No.”

But lawsuits filed by news organizations and watchdog groups against other executive branch agencies ― the White House is exempt from Freedom of Information Act queries ― have revealed payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, arguably in violation of the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause, which prohibits Trump from accepting benefits beyond his salary from the federal or any state government.

ProPublica, for example, found that Mar-a-Lago charged taxpayers $546 a night for rooms ― three times the per-diem rate and the maximum allowed by federal rules ― for 24 Trump administration officials who stayed there during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017. Taxpayers also picked up a $1,006.60 bar tab for 54 top shelf drinks ordered by White House staff.

The group Property of the People recently revealed payments totaling $254,021 from the Secret Service to various Trump properties in just the first five months of his presidential tenure. Over that period, Trump had golfed 25 times. As of Wednesday, he has spent 223 days at a golf course he owns. If the first five months are an accurate indicator, that means the Secret Service has likely spent nearly $2.3 million in taxpayer money at Trump’s businesses, of which he is the sole owner.

“It’s becoming abundantly clear that Donald Trump uses his presidency as a way to put money into his pocket,” said Jordan Libowitz of the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “The issue isn’t that he likes golf. The issue is that he has spent a huge amount of his presidency making promotional appearances at his struggling golf courses, and leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.”

Trump, like many Republicans, repeatedly criticized then-President Barack Obama for playing golf so frequently during his years in office. “I play golf to relax. My company is in great shape. @BarackObama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain,” Trump tweeted in December 2011.

During his campaign for the Oval Office, Trump claimed that as president, he would be too busy working to have time for any vacations at all. “I love golf, but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry again. I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again,” he told a rally audience in February 2016, referring to two Trump-owned courses. “I don’t ever think I’d see anything. I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off.”

Despite those remarks, Trump is on schedule to spend far more time on the golf course than Obama did. At this point in Obama’s first term, he had spent 88 days on a golf course. But Trump’s visit to his course in West Palm Beach on Wednesday was his 223rd day at one of his own courses ― two and a half times as many golfing days as Obama.

Further, Obama played the majority of his rounds at courses on military bases within a short drive of the White House, while Trump has insisted on taking numerous trips to visit his courses in New Jersey and Florida, both of which require seven-figure travel and security costs.

A Government Accountability Office report earlier this year found that each Mar-a-Lago trip costs taxpayers about $3.4 million. Much of that is to fly Air Force One and the various cargo planes needed to ferry the president’s armored limousine and other vehicles in his motorcade. Based on the report’s analysis and methodology, HuffPost estimated costs for Trump’s other non-Washington-area golf trips as of May and found that the total had passed $100 million. And that was even before Trump scheduled a June stopover in Ireland ― involving costly and elaborate preparations by the State Department ― primarily to visit and promote his resort in Doonbeg.

Trump’s visit to his resort in Turnberry, Scotland, in 2018 cost taxpayers an extra $3 million beyond what it would have cost had he remained in London prior to leaving for Finland. Of that, $1.2 million was just the expense of renting all the additional vehicles needed by the massive entourage that a foreign trip entails.

Trump’s current trip to Palm Beach is the 25th of his presidency. Wednesday was his 58th day golfing at his course in West Palm Beach. He has golfed 77 days at his Bedminster, New Jersey, course; 77 days at his Northern Virginia course; four times at his Jupiter, Florida, course; three times in Doonbeg; twice in Turnberry; and once each at his courses in Los Angeles and Doral, Florida. Since taking office, he has golfed only twice on a course he does not own, both times in Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during official visits.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-golf-trips-millions-thanksgiving-221349040.html

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

GM sues Fiat Chrysler


GM sues Fiat Chrysler, alleging union bribes cost it billions



By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co <GM.N> on Wednesday filed a racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCHA.MI> <FCAU.N>, alleging that its rival bribed United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars.

GM also alleged that Fiat Chrysler's former chief executive, the late Sergio Marchionne, was central in the scheme.

The No. 1 U.S. automaker said it will seek "substantial damages" from FCA that it said would be reinvested in the United States to create jobs, but did not specify an exact amount.

The lawsuit comes at a delicate time for FCA, which is working on a planned merger with French automaker PSA <PEUP.PA> and is negotiating a four-year labour contract with the UAW.

"We are astonished by this filing, both its content and its timing," FCA said in a statement. "We can only assume this was intended to disrupt our proposed merger with PSA as well as our negotiations with the UAW."

FCA and PSA last month announced the planned 50-50 share merger to create the world's fourth-largest automaker, seeking scale to cope with costly new technologies and slowing global demand.

GM's general counsel, Craig Glidden, told reporters at GM's headquarters that the lawsuit has nothing to do with the planned merger of PSA and FCA and the automaker does not intend to file suit against the UAW.

PSA declined to comment.

The UAW has targeted FCA last out of Detroit's three automakers for contract talks. UAW workers at Ford Motor Co <F.N> ratified a new contract last week, while GM workers approved a deal in late October that ended a 40-day U.S. strike.

"It (the lawsuit) can't help but complicate the already difficult task of getting a UAW-FCA agreement in place," said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labour and economics at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Michigan.

The UAW said in a statement, "We are confident that the terms of those contracts were not affected" by the actions of FCA or UAW officials. It said it was "regrettable" that these issues can cause doubts about the contracts.

The lawsuit also names as defendants three former FCA executives who have pleaded guilty in an ongoing federal probe into the UAW and FCA. GM said that probe, coupled with its own investigation, resulted in the lawsuit.

RACKETEERING

GM's Glidden said a "pattern of racketeering" by FCA from 2009 to 2015 left GM paying higher wages than Fiat Chrysler, and allowed the latter to use more temporary workers and lower-paid second-tier workers than GM.

"As part of this bribery scheme, and to lock in the competitive efficacy of the purchased benefits, concessions and advantages for FCA, GM was denied similar union commitments and support," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims that among the "benefits, concessions and advantages illegally purchased by FCA" was UAW support for "World Class Manufacturing," a version of Toyota Motor Corp's <7203.T> lean production strategy but adapted to the culture of Italian automaker Fiat.

That system has been credited in part for helping to turn around struggling operations like FCA's plant in Toledo, Ohio, that makes the popular and profitable Jeep Wrangler.

The suit also claims that after a failed bid to take over GM in 2015, FCA corrupted the collective bargaining process by structuring terms through bribed UAW officials that "forced unanticipated costs on GM."

The lawsuit says that under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), FCA would be liable to pay GM three times the actual damages caused, plus interest, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

GM alleges that FCA, under the leadership of former CEO Marchionne, used bribes to UAW officials to corrupt the collective bargaining process from 2009 through 2015. Marchionne died in 2018.

Fiat took control of Chrysler after it emerged from a U.S. government-funded bankruptcy in 2009.

"Marchionne was a central figure in the conceiving, executing and sponsoring of the fraudulent activity," Glidden said.

When GM rejected a merger bid from FCA, the lawsuit alleges Marchionne conspired to negotiate a new four-year contract "designed, through the power of pattern bargaining, to cost GM billions."

The UAW has been the focus of a spreading federal corruption probe.

Gary Jones, the UAW president who recently had taken a leave of absence, on Wednesday resigned effective immediately just hours after the union said it would seek to remove Jones from office, a union source told Reuters.

Jones' lawyer Bruce Maffeo told the Detroit News the decision was based "on his belief that his continuing to serve will only distract the union." A UAW spokesman could not confirm the resignation.

Last week, the UAW's acting president unveiled a series of reforms designed to prevent further scandals.

Glidden said the automaker supports those reform efforts.

(Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit; Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, Gilles Guillaume in Paris and David Shepardson in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewisand Leslie Adler)

Above is from:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gm-sues-fca-alleging-bribery-172805199.html

Monday, November 18, 2019

ILLINOIS CELLPHONE TAXES ARE HIGHEST IN NATION, AVERAGE $374 A YEAR


Brad Weisenstein

Editor

Brad Weisenstein

/ BUDGET + TAX

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = "[default] http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" NS = "http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" />

Illinois cellphone taxes are highest in nation, average $374 a year

Taxes alone hike the average Illinois cellphone bill by 31%.

It might be best they can’t hear you now, because you might be saying some unkind words.

Illinois in 2019 again topped the nation for how much residents are taxed on their cellphone service, according to a new survey by the Tax Foundation. The Illinois average was $374 a year for the typical family paying $100 a month for four cellphones. The national average was $260.

Thanks to competition and more users, average cellphone bills nationwide have dropped to about $38 per line from $50 per line in 2008. But taxes have offset those gains for consumers. The Tax Foundation found the average tax burden during that time jumped to nearly 22% nationally from about 15%.

In Illinois, that burden is now 31%, which comes from five different layers of taxes:

  • 7% state telecom excise tax
  • 6.5% simplified municipal tax (the Tax Foundation uses the average of a state’s capital city and largest city rather than gathering tax rates from every municipality. In the case of Illinois, Springfield’s rate of 6% and Chicago’s rate of 7% are used)
  • 8.59% for combined state and local wireless 911 tax
  • 0.05% fee for telecommunications for persons with disabilities
  • 9.05% federal universal services fund surcharge

Illinois’ average cellphone tax increased by almost $44 over the prioir year, compared with a $31 increase nationally. Illinoisans also saw a $36 bump between 2017 and 2018. Illinois’ taxes were the nation’s highest this and last year, but ranked No. 4 in 2017.

And it’s worse if you live in Chicago.

“Excessive taxes and fees, especially the very high per-line charges like those imposed in Chicago and Baltimore, impose a disproportionate burden on low-income consumers. In Chicago, taxes on a family with four lines of taxable wireless service paying $100 per month are more than $500 per year – about 43% of the bill,” the Tax Foundation wrote.

The unfair burden on low-income and young people is aggravated because they are more reliant on cellphones. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 57% of all adults live in wireless-only households, but for those living in poverty the rate is 67% and for adults younger than 35 the rate is 76%.

During former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, Chicago twice drove up phone service taxes to deal with budget deficits driven by city worker pensions. In 2014 the city hiked its 911 tax on every phone line by $1.40 to $3.90 to increase contributions to the city’s laborers pension fund. In 2018 the city hiked the 911 fee by $1.10 to $5 per line.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is facing an $838 million shortfall in the city’s $11.65 billion budget, again driven by public pension costs. She sought state lawmakers’ help but failed to gain it during the November veto session to increase a progressive “exit tax” for those selling real estate and to get a bigger cut of any Chicago casino taxes.

Lightfoot inherited four city pensions that are $29 billion in debt and only 25% funded. Chicago residents are responsible for eight local public pension systems that total $46 billion in pension debt, with payments expected to rise by $1 billion during the next four years.

Add to that the nation’s worst statewide pension debt – pegged at $137 billion by the state’s estimates, but at $241 billion by a less-generous analysis – and the reason Illinois ranks as the “least tax-friendly” state in the nation becomes clear.

Still, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pushing a ballot initiative to drive Illinois taxes $3.4 billion higher to pay down pension debt. Voters on Nov. 3, 2020, will be asked to scrap the Illinois Constitution’s flat state income tax protection. The change would grant state lawmakers greater power to change tax rates by income brackets, which nearly half of voters polled recently saw as a “blank check” for politicians to spend more.

In the past 30 years only Connecticut chose to implement a progressive income tax, sold as a way to relieve the middle class’s tax burden and cut property taxes. It did the opposite: middle class income taxes increased 13%, property taxes increased 35%, it cost the state jobs, increased poverty and did nothing to fix the state’s finances.

Pritzker is using the same sales pitch to sell Illinois voters on his tax hike proposal.

Illinois already tops the nation for the money it spends on pensions and set a record last year of $10 billion, which is 25% of the state’s general revenue funds. That is expected to climb to $11 billion and 27% of the budget during the current budget year.

The real solution to pensions was never increasing taxes, whether on cellphones or on income, but rather to control future growth. That requires a constitutional amendment to protect already-earned pension benefits while allowing the state to bring the growth rate of future benefit accruals in line with inflation.

Above is from:  https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-cellphone-taxes-are-highest-in-nation-average-374-a-year/

End of Asylum Immigration?


POLITICS

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 / 5:35 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

U.S. to change migration rules in a bid to send asylum seekers elsewhere

Ted Hesson

3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is set to harden the rules this week on those allowed to seek asylum in the United States, as it attempts to stem a wave of migration on its southern border with Mexico.

In a fast-track regulation set to publish in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the administration has created a framework that will allow asylum seekers to be sent to other nations that have negotiated bilateral agreements to accept them.

Previously, officials in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump have argued that migrants with a valid need for asylum should seek protection in the first ‘safe’ country where they have the chance to apply, since many migrants travel through multiple countries on their way to the U.S. border.

However, the new regulation states that asylum seekers may be sent to any other countries with which the United States has asylum agreements that permit such an action - even if they did not first transit through those nations.

The regulation is the latest action by Trump to restrict asylum access in the United States. Trump has made immigration - and curbing the number of mostly Central American migrants arriving at the border - a major theme in his reelection campaign.

The United States already maintains a bilateral asylum deal with Canada. Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have also signed such deals in recent months, but the pacts have not been finalized.

The regulation released on Monday will amend U.S. guidelines to permit similar deals with other nations.

Other Trump measures have sought to restrict asylum eligibility or force migrants to wait in Mexico pending the resolution of their claims, but not force asylum seekers to pursue their claims in another country.

Migrants who may be sent to a third country under the new regulation will have an opportunity to prove that they’re “more likely than not” to be persecuted or tortured in that country, but advocates argue that will be a high hurdle.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the pro-migrant American Immigration Council, said the regulation could reshape the U.S. asylum system.

“If this rule fully goes into effect, virtually no one who arrived at the southern border would ever be allowed to ask for asylum in the United States,” he said.

A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said on Saturday that implementation of the asylum agreement with Guatemala would occur soon, but did not provide a specific timeline. The department did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Reporting by Ted Hesson, additional reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

Above is from:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-border-asylum/u-s-to-change-migration-rules-in-a-bid-to-send-asylum-seekers-elsewhere-idUSKBN1XS2NT

Half trillion dollars if IRS increases auditors?


This former top Obama official says one silver bullet would raise $500 billion in personal-income tax

Published: Nov 18, 2019 3:37 p.m. ET

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121

‘Today, the IRS has fewer auditors than it had at any point since World War II’

By

ANDREWKESHNER

REPORTER


Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers recommends more investment in the IRS.

It wouldn’t take much to rake in a lot of tax money, according to research published Monday by former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, a high-profile economist who served in two Democratic presidential administrations.

The federal government could have $535 billion more in its coffers in the coming decade if the Internal Revenue Serviceaudited returns as often as it did back in 2011 — when audit rates were higher than they are now — and focused those audits on millionaires and billionaires, Summers said.

Under-reporting is more than five times as high for individuals who earn $10 million or more annual than it is for those who make under $200,000 a year.

High-net-worth returns may take more time to review, but they are well worth the time investment, according to the research. “Under-reporting is more than five times as high for individuals who earn $10 million or more annual than it is for those who make under $200,000 a year,” Summers wrote.

Under-reporting is when taxpayers intentionally report less income than they actually have. It’s one of the problems that leads to uncollected taxes, which is projected to cost the government about $630 billion in 2020, according to research by Summers.

In 2011, the IRS peaked with an audit rate of 1.1% for all individual returns and has since fallen to 0.5% in 2018, according to Summers, the onetime Treasury Department secretary in the Clinton administration and director of the White House National Economic Council in the Obama administration.

Returning to 2011 audit rates would mean approximately 131,000 more audits on individual tax returns, said Summers, now a professor at Harvard University, where he was once president.

Summers wrote the study with University of Pennsylvania law professor Natasha Sarin.

Others argue IRS audit policies need a hard look because they already disproportionately go after low-income taxpayers.

The IRS referred a request for comment to the Treasury Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


At a time when Democratic presidential candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders are calling for new taxes on the super-rich, the paper focuses on the money that the government leaves on the table right now.

All together, the feds could take in over $1.1 trillion in tax revenue using the paper’s proposals, which include more audits on the highest end of the income ladder and other measures.

There’s a difference though between ideas on papers and politics in action — especially on Capitol Hill. After all, President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry is roiling an already-divided Congress. Meanwhile, a 2017 tax code overhaul passed without a single Democratic vote.

But Summers told MarketWatch his call for more audits and other reforms could be achieved.

“It’s the easiest lift to raise a trillion dollars there is, because all it requires is a change in budget score-keeping rules, which are made by political leaders,” he said. On both sides of the aisle, “almost everyone’s vision for America requires new tax revenue, whether it’s to finance tax cuts or public investments or deficits reductions.”

As for the possibility of more taxes on the wealthy, Summers said, “This may not be where the tax discussion should end, but it’s where it should begin.”

The IRS will collect an estimated $630 billion less than is due in 2020. Between 2020 and 2029, it will collect $7.5 trillion less than it’s owed, the study estimated.

The IRS will collect an estimated $630 billion less than is due in 2020. Between 2020 and 2029, it will collect $7.5 trillion less than it’s owed, the study estimated.

The paper also scrutinized the consequences of a shrinking IRS staff. The organization had 73,519 full-time equivalent positions in 2018, down 15.5% from 2013, statistics show.

“Today, the IRS has fewer auditors than it had at any point since World War II,” the researchers wrote.

More audits for the wealthy are the biggest way to address tax underpayments going forward, Summers and Sarin said. Combined with audits for filers like businesses and estates at 2011 rates, enhanced enforcements could yield $715 billion between 2020 and 2029, according to their paper.

The IRS could claw another $450 billion in that time by increasing its investment in computer analysis of tax returns and increasing certain reporting requirements, they said.

Above is from:  https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-former-top-obama-official-says-one-silver-bullet-would-raise-500-billion-in-personal-income-tax-2019-11-18?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Barr attempts to rewrite impeachment proceedings



William Barr is racing to deliver a report that blows up the impeachment inquiry—and everything else

Mark Sumner

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday November 06, 2019 · 1:21 PM CST

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WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 11: U.S. President Donald Trump makes a statement on the census with Attorney General William Barr in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump, who had previously pushed to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, announced that he would direct the Commerce Department to collect that data in other ways.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Attorney General William Barr is racing to complete a new “report” before Thanksgiving. And if Barr’s very poor summary of the Mueller report threw Trump a lifeline by distorting the real findings of the special counsel investigation, this new report looks to be more like an atom bomb, designed to incinerate Washington by putting the whole Justice Department behind a conspiracy theory that rewrites history and declares open warfare on political opponents. And Republicans are already meeting with Barr to plan a “roll out” for this supposedly classified report in order to maximize its impact.

Barr appears to have taken the results of an inspector general report that was expected to end weeks ago, rolled it together with the investigation-into-the-investigation that he launched under the nominal control of prosecutor John Durham, and capped it all with the “findings” of a world tour that included attempts to get the Australian government, the Italian government, and the U.K. government to participate in attacks on U.S. intelligence agencies. What’s going to come out the other end could be a dud, but it could launch an effort to derail the impeachment process—and more.

Barr’s effort to create a comprehensive, all-conspiracy-theories-combined report seems to have delayed delivery of the long-expected findings from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Republicans were generally thrilled by Horowitz’s earlier report in which he was critical of former FBI director James Comey for his handling of some classified materials. That report had right-wing news outlets clamoring over potential charges against Comey. But despite claims that the findings justified Republican attacks on the entire Russia investigation, the actual complaints were minor and led to nothing.

That seems unlikely to be the case this time. As The Washington Post reports, Barr has subsumed Horowitz’s work because “the inspector general does not have the authority to declassify information” and Barr apparently intends to release information that dips into classified documents at both the FBI and CIA to tell his story of how the Russia investigation was unjustified from the start.

Barr is having advance meetings (including one on Wednesday with Senate Judiciary chair Lindsey Graham) so that talking points and presentations can be ready in advance of an official release.

Interestingly enough, Michael Horowitz does not appear to be attending the meetings on how to release information supposedly based on the material he assembled. But then, the investigation Barr is conducting has moved far beyond the sort of internal chastisement that might be delivered by Horowitz. The investigation he and Durham are conducting is now a criminal investigation, and is “pursuing potential crimes.”

But not crimes in the sense of the hundreds of connections between the Trump White House and Russia. Or crimes in the sense of Trump’s obstruction of the Russia investigation. Certainly not crimes in the sense of Trump directly lying to investigators in the written answers he provided to the special counsel’s office.

Instead, Barr is directly attempting to put some proof behind the claims that Donald Trump was trying to extort out of Ukraine: That there was never any real contact between Russia and the Trump campaign, that the DNC servers were not in fact hacked by Russia, that Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud was a CIA plant put in place to lure George Papadopoulos, that Australian official Andrew Downer was an instrument of U.S. intelligence, and that Ukrainian hackers conspired with Hillary Clinton to make it seem as if Russia stole data from the DNC and presented it to WikiLeaks, when all the while it was a scheme to justify launching an investigation into the Trump campaign.

Barr and his associates have been racing to complete this report so that it can be dropped on the impeachment inquiry before the holidays. Major parts of the report apparently remain unwritten, but the fact that the publicity campaign is getting underway in advance of the report’s completion is not exactly a sign that this is going to be a contrite “nothing major found” report. And Barr has been at the center of forwarding Trump’s conspiracy theories and supporting attacks on the intelligence community. He’s already said, “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. I think spying did occur, but the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.”

The report coming back could declare no evidence to support Trump’s conspiracy theories and say that Barr found that “spying” to be “adequately predicated.” Don’t count on it. And don’t count on there not being indictments.

Barr did not shift to a criminal investigation because he doesn’t intend to arrest someone. There are going to be claims of serious wrongdoing. They are going to be aimed at not just creating a distraction to derail the impeachment hearings, but to provide “evidence” that Trump’s requests for investigations by Ukraine were justified. The question is going to be whether they are merely awful and damaging to the nation, or absolutely incinerate the rule of law.

Next week, open hearings are set to begin in the House impeachment inquiry, and it seems very likely that actual articles of impeachment will be getting a vote before the end of the year. So far, the best defense that Republicans have dreamed up is claiming ignorance—not attending meetings, not reading transcripts, and openly declaring that they’re not about to start.

But when Barr speaks, they’re all going to be listening.

Above is from:  https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/11/6/1897632/-William-Barr-is-racing-to-deliver-a-report-that-blows-up-the-impeachment-inquiry-and-everything-else

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Trump immigration actions increased migrant problems?


Report: WH ignored warnings from State Department officials about ending immigrant protections


Caitlin Dickson

Reporter

,

Yahoo NewsNovember 7, 2019

386 Comments


Sen. Robert Menendez. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Sen. Robert Menendez. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In late October of 2017, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received a memo from Trump appointees on his staff regarding the administration’s intention to terminate Temporary Protected Status to immigrants from Honduras, El Savador and Haiti, among other countries.

The memo acknowledged that career State Department diplomats, including then-Under Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon Jr., had issued explicit warnings that ending TPS for those three countries would pose serious risks to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. It also noted concerns that ending designation could also endanger the safety of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who would be forced to return to those countries, not to mention their U.S. citizen children.

Despite those concerns, the political appointees in the State Department urged Tillerson to accelerate the termination of protections afforded immigrants with TPS status. Although senior officials at State had already concluded that TPS status should not be ended quickly, those officials handpicked by Trump believed that the suggested 36-month timeline was too slow because it “would put the wind-down of the program directly in the middle of the 2020 election cycle.”

That memo is among dozens of internal State Department documents included in a new report published Thursday by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The report is the product of an investigation commissioned by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking Democrat on the committee, into the State Department’s role in the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for Honduras, El Savador and Haiti. It concludes that the White House not only disregarded repeated and explicit warnings against ending TPS from career diplomats, but suggests that the decision to do so may have been influenced by what the report calls “electoral calculations.”

“Today’s report documents something we’ve become all too familiar with: the administration seeking to use foreign policy not to further U.S. interests but the president’s political aims,” Menendez said at a Thursday press briefing. “Political appointees literally advocated for the accelerated termination of TPS … so it wouldn't be an electoral liability,”


Immigration advocates and allies gathered in New York City last month to launch an 18-day march to Washington. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In November 2017, President Trump first announced plans to end Temporary Protected Status — a designation allowing citizens of certain countries destabilized by armed conflict or natural disasters to live and work in the U.S. — for a number of countries, including El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti. The move, which is the subject of multiple legal challenges and has so far been blocked by courts from taking effect, would have an impact on approximately 400,000 TPS recipients living in the United States as well as their estimated 273,000 American-born children who would either have to return with their parents or remain in the U.S. alone. 

Among the dozens of State Department documents obtained through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s investigation are diplomatic cables sent by U.S. embassies in those three countries to senior officials at the National Security Council, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security during the summer of 2017. The cables urge that the TPS designations should be renewed, and warn that a failure to do so could destabilize the region and result in a new wave of illegal migration to the U.S. 

One cable, for example, sent by the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador on July 7, 2017, warned that “the lack of legitimate employment opportunities” in El Salvador would make repatriated TPS recipients, or their children, subject to recruitment by gangs like MS-13, which would likely be emboldened as a result.

“Make no mistake, the administration knew exactly what it was doing, consequences be damned,” said Menendez.



News reports about the cables — and the Trump administration’s decision to disregard them — first came to light last year. But the newly released documents show how then-Under Secretary Shannon, the State Department’s highest-ranking career diplomat, made a private appeal to Tillerson, in which he emphasized that the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti could not handle the quick return of the hundreds of thousands of nationals currently covered by TPS.

“It is our purpose to provide the best possible foreign policy and diplomatic advice,” Shannon wrote. “From my point of view that advice is obvious: extend TPS for the countries indicated.”

Shannon’s guidance echoed that of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, as well as the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and the secretary’s own Office of Policy Planning, all of which recommended that TPS should be terminated only for those countries after a period of 36 months.

The copy of the memo included in the report from political appointees at the State Department shows that Tillerson crossed out a reference to the department’s recommended 36 month extension for those three countries, and wrote by hand that the TPS designations should end in 18 months — which is what he ultimately wrote in his final recommendation to the Department of Homeland Security secretary. 

This memo offers “strong evidence that the decision was influenced by personal and political considerations of the Trump campaign,” said Tom Jawetz, Vice President for Immigration Policy at Center for American Progress. Jawetz was among those on a panel of experts who spoke about the implications of the report at Thursday’s press conference. He emphasized that the law requires that once a country has been designated for TPS, it must be extended until DHS has made a fact-based determination that the country no longer meets the conditions necessary to warrant that designation. 

He argued that the apparent political factors behind Tillerson’s final recommendation should be particularly relevant to the ongoing litigation over the legality of the administration’s decision to end TPS currently being considered by federal courts.

Menendez said he planned to share the report with his Republican colleagues on the committee, who have the power to convene hearings, as well as with the State Department inspector general.

“We do not comment on internal deliberations. We are aware that a report was released, but have nothing to add at this time,” a State Department spokesperson told Yahoo News via email.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/report-trump-administration-ignored-warnings-from-state-department-officials-about-ending-immigrant-protections-003021237.html

Monday, November 4, 2019

Bush’s Iraq War

The Wisdom Segment

  • I  Wikileaks released close to 400,000 files of information about the Iraq War.
  • II  The Center of Public Integrity discloses that the Bush Administration made up to 935 false claims about alleged threats from Iraq in the 2 year period following 9/11.
  • III  Regrets have been expressed by a number of news organizations who helped provide validation for the Bush administration's false statements before the Iraq War. They accepted criticisms that their pre-war reportings were too biased and unprofessional.
  • IV  An investigation made by the BBC revealed how large amounts of financial profit were made by private contractors off the war. They stated that it was probably the most profitable war in history. However, a U.S. gag order has been put in place to prevent any discussion of the accusations.
  • V  The Iraq War led to about 2.3 million people being driven out of their homes. As of 2008, 2 million Iraqis left the country. The neighboring countries had to deal with a massive wave of immigration and refugee camps.
  • VI  Many Iraqi women had to recur to prostitution to fend for themselves and their family, due to the widespread poverty caused by the Iraqi war. Prostitution was not frowned upon by religion at this point, because it was a means of survival.
  • Above is from:  https://www.heraldweekly.com/judge-judy-the-truth-behind-the-hot-bench/?utm_medium=yahoo&utm_source=368&utm_campaign=381767329&utm_term=FINANCE_US-c

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Rockford’s population loss near the top but Chicago tops them all



People Are Leaving These Major U.S. Cities In Droves, And We Can Relate To The Reasons Why

Updated 1 day ago on October 29, 2019

IMPACT |MICHAEL ROQUE

11. Rockford, Illinois – 18,789 Migrations

Rockford, Illinois has definitely seen better days. The city first came to light in the 1830s and was built at the end of the Rock River. This position gave it a lot of success in terms of industrial development. They produced a ton of heavy machinery all the way until the latter half of the 20th century. That’s when Rockford’s struggle began.

US Cities

kippy007 / Instagram

According to local newspaper the Rockford Register Star, Rockford currently holds the highest unemployment rate in the state of Illinois. With that in mind, it is no surprise that the state’s third biggest city is steadily shrinking. According to census data, Rockford has seen 18,789 residents leave in the past decade and a population dive of 3.2%.

1. Chicago, Illinois – 296,320 Migrations

While people from Indianapolis are reported to flock to Chicago, Windy City natives have respectively been packing up and leaving. According to census surveys, 296,320 people have fled the nation’s third-biggest city. Redfin has determined that most migrating population are leaving in favor of sunny Phoenix. We’re guessing that the warmer weather plays a huge part in that decision.

Chicago City

whoakimosabe / Instagram

Reportedly, complaints amid Chicago residents span issues like the city’s high cost of living (with a median home value at $229,00), the education system, amenities and property tax. One can’t forget to mention that Chicago has its fair share of crime. Still, for the nearly three million people in Chicago, it seems it’d take a lot more than that to phase them.



Above is from:  https://www.icepop.com/us-cities-migrating-populations/15/

How may this affect Belvidere Assembly Plant?

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot reach deal to merge

PUBLISHED WED, OCT 30 201912:24 PM EDTUPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Michael Wayland@MIKEWAYLAND

Phil LeBeau@LEBEAUCARNEWS

KEY POINTS

  • Peugeot maker PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler confirmed they are in talks to create the world’s fourth-largest automaker.
  • The confirmation of the talks comes about five months after Fiat Chrysler ended merger discussions with PSA’s French rival, Renault.
  • Fiat Chrysler, the world’s seventh-largest automaker, has been on a quest for a tie-up to grow scale and consolidate costs for several years.

Reusable: Peugeot 108

Jens Schlueter | Getty Images

DETROIT – From Daimler-Chrysler to Fiat Chrysler, the former American automaker Chrysler Corp. has gallivanted around the world to find partners to assist in its growth or help keep it afloat.

It now has its sights set on Peugeot maker PSA Group. Both the French carmaker and Fiat Chrysler on Wednesday confirmed they are in talks to create the world’s fourth-largest automaker with a roughly $50 billion valuation.

The PSA board approved the merger and the Fiat Chrysler board is set to meet Wednesday, a person familiar with the deal told CNBC. Executives have briefed regulators in the U.S. and France, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

Peugeot CEO Carlos Tavares is expected to lead the combined automaker as its CEO, while John Elkann, Fiat Chrysler chairman and heir of the Agnelli family dynasty that founded Fiat, would continue his role with the combined company, the WSJ reported.


Fiat and Peugeot owner PSA in talks to merge: Dow Jones

The deal gives Peugeot six board seats and Fiat Chrysler five, according to the WSJ.

“We will not comment beyond the press release issued this morning,” PSA Spokesman Pierre-Olivier Salmon said in an email, citing a press release issued earlier in the day that confirmed the two companies were holding “ongoing discussions aiming at creating one of the world’s leading automotive groups.”

Fiat Chrysler spokesman Niel Golightly said he had “nothing to add at this time.”

Reports of the talks, including a potential “all-share merger of equals,” as the Wall Street Journal first reported, sent shares of Fiat Chrysler surging as much as 8% on Tuesday. The stock rose by less than 2% in midday trading Wednesday.

The confirmation of the talks comes about five months after Fiat Chrysler ended merger discussions with PSA’s French rival, Renault. Fiat Chrysler, the world’s seventh-largest automaker, has been on a quest for a tie-up to grow scale and consolidate costs for several years.

‘Litany of obstacles’

Even if the deal wins approval from both boards, it faces a lot of obstacles. Challenges include consolidation, clashing corporate cultures and government and regulatory approval, among other issues.

Talks of a potential tie-up between Fiat Chrysler and Renault ended earlier this year largely due to the French government, which owns a roughly 12.2% stake in Renault. The French government currently owns a 13.7% stake in PSA.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy cited the French government’s ownership as one of a “litany of obstacles” facing such a deal. Murphy said similar to Fiat Chrysler’s potential tie-up with Renault, the “industrial logic” is “unclear unless there is massive headcount reduction.”

Such a deal, according to Murphy, also could alienate U.S. buyers, lowering the potential benefit of the two automakers combining.

Even if the merger is approved by shareholders and regulators, “there is a material risk American consumers may shift to Ford and GM products due to FCA possibly no longer being perceived as an ‘American’ identity, not to mention the potential political implications of this potential deal.”

Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said a merger between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot “has more logic” than one with Renault. He specifically cites the potential for Tavares to create “long-term value.”

“We ultimately think a deal could be made to work — this would be as much about raising performance as it would be about synergies,” he wrote in a Tuesday note to investors.

However, Warburton noted a deal between the two does little to increase business in China, the world’s largest auto market, and the timing is “sub-optimal” given FCA’s earnings are at all-time high.

Rewards

Analysts see the merger as a quick way for Peugeot to re-enter the U.S. market after a decades-long hiatus, while continuing to grow its European operations following the company’s acquisition of GM’s European business in 2017.

“This news is not unexpected, given that both companies have been actively exploring tie-ups with others to yield cost savings and other synergistic benefits,” said David Leggett, automotive editor at data analytics firm GlobalData.

For Fiat Chrysler, it would finally cement former CEO Sergio Marchionne’s vision of creating a global automaker with the resources to successfully compete in the ever-changing auto industry.

In 2015, Marchionne, who unexpectedly died in July 2018, called for industry consolidation in a presentation called “Confessions of a Capital Junkie.” Consolidation would save capital that was being wasted by automakers developing redundant technologies, he said.

“These were not hallucinations of somebody looking to grandstand in the industry,” Marchionne said at the time. “We have spent a lot of time trying to understand what makes this machine tick. And the machine can tick a lot better if certain things happened.”

Marchionne believed only a handful of the world’s largest automakers would survive and have the capital to compete as automakers push for autonomous and all-electric vehicles.

The deal with PSA would give Fiat Chrysler access to PSA’s newer vehicle platforms in Europe as well as emerging technologies.

Marchionne’s methodical combination of Fiat and Chrysler a decade ago is considered one of the more successful tie-ups for the auto industry in the recent years.

Chrysler’s previous “merger of equals” with German automaker Daimler-Benz in 1998 was a culture clash and failure that led to a divorce less than a decade later, followed by Chrysler spiraling into bankruptcy in 2009.

CNBC’s Michael Bloom and Meghan Reeder contributed to this article.

Above is from:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/another-merger-of-equals-fiat-chrysler-peugeot-tie-up-comes-with-risks-rewards.html

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Foxconn—Gov Walker’s disaster?

Foxconn finally admits its empty Wisconsin ‘innovation centers’ aren’t being developed

56

Took long enough

By Nick Statt@nickstatt Oct 23, 2019, 6:33pm EDT


Photo by Joshua Lott for The Verge

Electronics manufacturer Foxconn’s promised Wisconsin “innovation centers,” which are to employ hundreds of people in the state if they ever get built, are officially on hold after spending months empty and unused, as the company focuses on meeting revised deadlines on the LCD factory it promised would now open by next year. The news, reported earlier today by Wisconsin Public Radio, is another inexplicable twist in the nearly two-year train wreck that is Foxconn’s US manufacturing plans.

The company originally promised five so-called innovation centers throughout the state would that employ as many as 100 to 200 people each in high-skilled jobs, with the Milwaukee center promising as many as 500. Those jobs were to complement the more than 13,000 jobs Foxconn said its initial Wisconsin electronics manufacturing factory would bring to the US, in exchange for billions in tax breaks and incentives that Governor Scott Walker granted the company back in 2017.

THE INNOVATION CENTERS ARE NOT ONLY EMPTY, BUT NOW ON HOLD TOO

Yet after purchasing a building in Milwaukee and announcing plans to build the centers in other Wisconsin cities, Foxconn has done virtually nothing with the plans. In April, The Verge reported that the buildings Foxconn had purchased were empty, a report that the company disputed without providing any specific corrections or evidence to the contrary — and the company still hasn’t provided any 194 days later.

According to WPR, Foxconn has installed an HVAC system in one of two buildings it said it would purchase in Eau Claire, but no additional work has been completed. “That’s been about the extent of it, it’s pretty minimal,” Aaron White, Eau Claire’s economic development manager, told WPR. “We did get a visit from four Foxconn staffers and they reinforced their intent to move forward, but they gave no indication of a timeline.”

In Racine, another planned innovation center destination, there does not appear to have been any work done whatsoever. “Foxconn is focusing on the (Mount) Pleasant campus,” Shannon Powell, a spokesman for Racine Mayor Cory Mason, told WPR. “Should an innovation center in the city get up and running there would certainly be a grand opening event.”

Beyond the halted innovation centers, Foxconn’s general Wisconsin plans are similarly in flux. The company announced a partnership in September with an automated coffee kiosk company to help manufacture its product domestically, with plans to add the coffee kiosk to its manufacturing contracts for the planned Mount Pleasant factory.

But the factory doesn’t exist yet. The company is now aiming to open it in 2020 after repeatedly shifting its deadlines. It’s also reduced the planned number of jobs and the size of the factory from the original 13,000 jobs and 20 million square feet to a 1,500-employee, 1-million-square foot facility that will no longer produce the promised big-screen LCD TVs that were part of the initial contract. Earlier this month, the company announced, scrapped, and then re-announced plans to build a giant, nine-story glass orb that would serve as a data center.

Above is from:  https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/23/20929453/foxconn-innovation-centers-on-hold-wisconsin-mount-pleasant-trump-deal

Friday, October 4, 2019

Rep Kinzinger slighted by Re-elect Trump Committee


  • Kinzinger (copy)

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, speaks to the media in March 2019 at the White House in Washington.

AP photo/Jacquelyn Martin


  • The Republican congressman whose district includes Iroquois County still says he supports President Donald Trump, but the Trump campaign is giving him the cold shoulder.

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, was the only one of the five Republican congressmen from Illinois who was not named this week as an honorary co-chairman of the Trump re-election effort in 2020.

Kinzinger, who was born in Kankakee, has maintained a careful balancing act between backing the president and distancing himself from the president’s rhetoric.

A few days ago, he leveled some of his strongest criticism of the president after Trump quoted a pastor who suggested Trump’s removal from office could result in a civil war.

“I have visited nations ravaged by civil war,” Kinzinger tweeted. “I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant.”

In a story Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times said it learned Kinzinger’s “beyond repugnant” comment prompted the campaign’s decision.

According to the Sun-Times, Kinzinger shrugged off the campaign’s move, saying, “It’s fine.”

“I just don’t think it’s a decision probably the president made — probably his political operatives,” he said.

Kinzinger also is incurring the wrath of right-wing groups such as the Oath Keepers, a militia organization accused of supporting white supremacy.

Earlier this week, the Oath Keepers linked to a story about Kinzinger’s “beyond repugnant” quote.

“Trump’s real crime was winning the election. Period. All the rest is smoke and mirrors to justify reversing the election. And some in the GOP are in on it,” the group tweeted.

After the 2016 election, Kinzinger said he did not vote for Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton but would not say who received his support. Before the election, Kinzinger accused Trump of childish tweets and rhetoric.

Earlier this year, when Trump said four congresswomen of color should “go back” where they came from, Kinzinger took to social media to blast the president.

“What the President tweeted this weekend was wrong and does nothing but further divide us,” Kinzinger said.

In 2017, he condemned Trump for saying that “both sides” were to blame at a deadly protest in Charlottesville, Va., where a woman protesting white supremacy was killed by supremacists.

“In this moment, we need bravery, we need leadership, and we need a president who unites the people of this country,” Kinzinger said in a statement at the time. “Instead, with his remarks this week, President Donald Trump has furthered the divide and downplayed the morally repugnant hate on display this past weekend.”

A version of this story appeared in the Friday digital edition of the Daily Journal.

Above is from:  https://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/president-slights-kinzinger/article_60c73d72-e61a-11e9-91d7-83d1c94262a6.html

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Robert Morris University may become Roosevelt University?



Chicago Universities Plan Acquisition

Roosevelt University plans to acquire Robert Morris University in Chicago as a shrinking market bears down on the private nonprofit institutions.

By

Rick Seltzer

October 2, 2019

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JOSH FEENEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Robert Morris University of Illinois president Mablene Krueger and Roosevelt University president Ali Malekzadeh see upside in a planned acquisition deal.

Two private nonprofit universities under enrollment pressure in the difficult Chicago market plan a tie-up, with Roosevelt University acquiring Robert Morris University in a process leaders hope gains accreditor approval in the spring.

Roosevelt is the larger of the two institutions, with enrollment of about 4,100 students compared to Robert Morris’s 1,800. Roosevelt has a developed set of online programs but is built around a liberal arts and sciences core. Roosevelt also runs a broader set of graduate programs than does Robert Morris, which is career focused and brings two-year programs to the union.


Combining the two universities will hopefully create a single institution that can serve student demand for different types of education and programs, says Roosevelt’s president, Ali Malekzadeh. A student might be finishing a nursing degree and decide to stick around to earn a pharmacy doctorate, for example.

“Those who are ready to continue, it would be great to keep them,” Malekzadeh said. “From the students’ perspective, it’s really more and more choices.”

Assembling scale and a range of degree offerings could be an important strategy for the future for institutions in a part of the country where higher education is under intense stress. Illinois and the Chicagoland area have long been exporters of students as colleges and universities in adjacent states seek well-off families who might be willing to send their students away from home to earn degrees. And the pool of traditional-age undergraduates is expected to shrink in the coming years.

A Competitive Market and Falling Enrollment

A larger and larger share of Illinois high school graduates who attend four-year colleges have been going out of state over time, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education -- 48.4 percent in 2017, up from 46.6 percent in 2016. In 2002, just 29.3 percent of the state’s high school graduates who went on to four-year colleges attended out of state.

Illinois high school enrollment has declined over the last decade and is expected to fall more sharply in coming years. The result is a drop in higher education enrollments across institution type in Illinois. Fall head-count enrollment in private nonprofit institutions fell by 7.4 percent between 2008 and 2017, IBHE data show, to 209,197.

Declining enrollment means shrinking revenue for many private colleges and universities, because they are dependent on tuition. Both Roosevelt and Robert Morris have lost students and showed signs of financial stress in recent years.

Roosevelt has reported operating deficits every year since 2014. It launched a five-year plan in 2017 that Malekzadeh has said was intended to eliminate deficits and rightsize operations. Today the university points to a “three-pronged” approach intended to improve enrollments, grow revenues and cut expenses, all while investing in academic programs.

In June 2018, Moody’s Investors Service kept Roosevelt’s bonds in junk territory because of a “material structural imbalance, with large operating deficits and insufficient debt service coverage that require draws on the university’s reserves.” The ratings agency noted that upcoming class sizes seemed to be stabilizing and that the university’s management team had cut expenses.

But it kept a negative outlook on the university’s debt, citing low retention rates and large graduating classes pushing down overall enrollment, as well as high financial leverage and fixed costs that were becoming “increasingly unaffordable as its scale declines.”

Roosevelt has since restructured debt to free up funding for turnaround efforts. Its leaders expect a balanced budget in the coming year, Malekzadeh said. Projections show the budget balancing after the acquisition of Robert Morris.

The Situation Next Door

Robert Morris has been under its own financial pressures. It has been losing money for much of the last decade. In May, it moved to close a Springfield campus that enrolled 20 or so students. Then last month, it sold the campus to a credit union for just under $1 million.

Robert Morris has not stopped recruiting a new class of students for next year. The acquisition might increase Roosevelt’s enrollment, but it will not swell head count to previously seen levels on its own.

If Roosevelt and Robert Morris were combined today, the resulting institution would have about 5,900 students. That’s below Roosevelt’s enrollment level from 2008, which was almost 7,700 students. Robert Morris enrolled about 4,600 at that time.

Presidents at both universities stressed the educational and programmatic upside of the deal. Both institutions stress missions to promote diversity, access to education and enrollment of first-generation and minority students.

“Even though it is a tough market with the outmigration and the decreased number of students who are graduating from high schools, there is still such a great need for students who need or want to stay locally and go to school,” said Mablene Krueger, president of Robert Morris.

Acquisition Details

Several factors lined up to make the two institutions potential partners for a merger or acquisition.

Roosevelt’s and Robert Morris’s main locations are very close to one another. They are nearly back to back in Chicago.

“I’m 5'2", and it’s 256 steps for me,” Krueger said. “The vast majority of Robert Morris students take public transportation to come to class every day. As we were looking at the opportunity to acquire or be acquired, that’s very important.”

Leaders of the two universities also have a pre-existing relationship. Malekzadeh and Krueger became presidents of their respective institutions in 2015. The timing fueled a good relationship based in similar experiences, Krueger said.

The idea of a partnership first came up over a “friendly breakfast” between the two presidents, Krueger said. They were discussing ways Robert Morris students could have access to advanced science or math offerings, then they began talking about the possibility of providing Roosevelt students with career-focused programs. Talk moved into student housing, where the universities have worked together, and evolved from there.

Leaders at Roosevelt and Robert Morris were scheduled to tell their campuses about the acquisition Wednesday morning. They have submitted an application to their accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, that they hope will be approved in the spring. The deal also requires approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the U.S. Department of Education and each institution’s governing board.

Plans call for Robert Morris to be absorbed into Roosevelt University and take the larger institution’s name. Roosevelt will create a new college that will house many of Robert Morris’s existing programs. It will be called the Robert Morris Experiential College.

Robert Morris’s president, Krueger, will continue with the combined institution with the title of chief operating officer. Her focus will be growing the institution through external relationships with constituencies like employers and the City Colleges of Chicago.

Malekzadeh will remain president of Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s 35-member board will remain intact. Robert Morris’s 10-member board will not be integrated into Roosevelt and will dissolve, although individual board members could be brought onto the Roosevelt board as positions open up there over time.

Students will keep their enrollment at the merged institution, which will work to make sure they don’t lose credits, Malekzadeh said. Roosevelt plans to offer employment to all Robert Morris faculty and staff members.

Roosevelt employed 201 full-time faculty members and 379 staff members as of last fall, the latest date for which data are available. Robert Morris had 49 full-time faculty members and 115 staff members.

Both institutions have been run efficiently, Malekzadeh said. Student demand will determine program mix, facilities use and other spending priorities in the future.

Full financial terms of the deal aren’t being made public. University assets will be purchased from Robert Morris, but a spokeswoman declined further comment until the transaction is approved by the Higher Learning Commission.

Roosevelt has been working to boost its retention rates, Malekzadeh said. He sees that as a key strategy for the institution going forward.

“It’s a contracting market, and we need to be cognizant of that,” Malekzadeh said. “Adding the Robert Morris students to our students, we keep absolutely every one of them, if at all possible.”

Wider Ramifications?

Higher education merger experts have been skeptical of the idea that institutions with falling enrollments, relatively small endowments and significant liabilities can reliably increase their strength through mergers and acquisitions. Yes, the merged institution may add scale and certain areas of strength. But mergers and acquisitions are likely to add each institution’s weaknesses to the resulting university as well.

Still, in highly competitive markets with declining numbers of students -- like Illinois -- colleges and universities are likely to be under increasing pressure to find ways to cut capacity, add scale or realign themselves to meet changing student needs. That makes the Roosevelt and Robert Morris deal worth watching.

“An institution that’s going to acquire another institution is going to have to really scrub and look through and see if there are programs they want,” said David Tretter, president of the Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities. Tretter was interviewed before the deal between Roosevelt and Robert Morris had been announced. He was discussing mergers and acquisitions generally.

Infrastructure can make it hard for college mergers to pan out financially. Small institutions are the ones most likely to be in existential peril, so they are the most likely ones to be exploring deals. But two institutions that aren’t very large might not have enough scale to realize cost savings, even after a merger.

“It’s pretty hard to make that work with the cost of the physical plant and insurance,” Tretter said.

Institutions that are close to one another might be able to find merger partners. So institutions in urban areas could be more likely candidates for the type of deal that Roosevelt and Robert Morris are pursuing than ones in rural areas.

“Probably my greater concerns are those institutions in those rural areas where you’re not going to have an institution down the street,” Tretter said.

Malekzadeh is a former business school dean who has studied strategic management and mergers. He said talk of such deals has become popular among college leaders recently.

“Almost any university president I had lunch or breakfast with for the past year or two has been mentioning mergers and acquisitions,” he said.

Roosevelt’s and Robert Morris’s academic programs have about 40 percent overlap, Malekzadeh said. Robert Morris nursing programs and associate programs in allied health could fit with biology, biochemistry, allied health and health science administration baccalaureate programs at Roosevelt. Robert Morris has a master of information systems to be folded into Roosevelt’s computer science programs.

Making it all fit together while focusing on retention will be complicated.

“True integration is looking at what each institution does well -- what we both do well, what we separately do well -- and leveraging that to help everybody,” Krueger said.

Above is from:  https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/02/roosevelt-plans-acquire-chicago-neighbor-robert-morris