The Rich in America

On November 8, 2011 a judge approved a $410 million class action settlement against Bank of America (BofA) that gave customers a partial refund for a decade of overdraft fees. In December an episode of Harry’s Law reminded us that the big banks were bailed out in an effort to help the home owners with mortgages but that’s not what happened. Although on January 10, 2012 the Fannie Mae CEO resigned, the banks continued with large CEO salaries and business as usual. With government urging, on March 9 BofA agreed to expand its settlement and reduce the mortgage principals of more than 200,000 homes to their current values. May 1 BoA threatened to cut 2,000 investment banker jobs and it was said that in the Investment and Commercial Banking units 100,000 jobs are on the line across the financial services industry. I thought the JP Morgan-Chase issue would get people fed up but it didn’t. Let’s look at some others that are supported with the thought that we all benefit with the rich:

Wall Street: December 30 we heard Reebok spent $64 million in advertising a toning shoe and the Federal Trade Commission got them to pay consumers $25 million for false advertising (this same thing happened to Skechers, the leader in the billion dollar toning shoe industry, on May 15, they’re paying out $40 million for false advertising of their Shape-up shoe). January 13, 2012 CVS paid $5 million to settle charges of overcharging seniors and the disabled (March 3 we hear a New Jersey CVS pharmacy for months had mixed up the cancer drug Tamoxifen with children’s fluoride). January 24 Hewlett-Packard paid $425,000 to settle charges regarding their failure to warn customers of exploding laptop batteries (thing same thing happened February 11 when BMW agreed to pay $3 million for delays in reporting safety defects and recalls to the government). March 3 BP reached a $7.8 billion settlement with plaintiffs of Gulf oil spill (doesn’t include the US government). March 7 a Texas tycoon was convicted of bilking more than $7 billion from investors in a Ponzi scheme that went on for more than 2 decades. April 12 the US Justice Department alleged that Apple and 5 publishers conspired against Amazon discounts to price fix e-books; 3 publishers settled. April 24 MetLife paid nearly $500 million to settle multi-state death benefits claims. May 1 a New York (NY) Thoroughbred Racing Executive was put on leave after it was found that he didn’t pay $8.5 million in winnings to bettors. May 7 Abbott Laboratories agreed to pay $1.6 billion in criminal and civil fines for improper marketing of the anti-seizure drug Depakote to nursing homes (said it would treat aggression in Dementia patients). May 12 the co-founder of Facebook gave up his US citizenship and now lives in Singapore to try and save millions in taxes. May 18 Facebook said to be worth $104 billion starts selling shares (90%) to institutions and the mega wealthy (AmeriTrade required buyers to have $250,000 and Fidelity required $500,000 in an account) and then 10% was offered through discount brokers (the opening price for shares was $38 and even though it was expected to triple by the end of the day when the little guy could buy it, it ended at $38.23).

Cosmetics: April 10 regulators in California (CA) tested 25 nail polishes and found that 10 of 12 said to be free of toluene (a toxic chemical along with DBP and formaldehyde) contained said chemical; the chemicals can cause birth defects, asthma and other illness if there’s extensive exposure. April 30 it’s said that the average woman applies 12 beauty products to her body every day and about 120 chemicals (men apply 6 products and 80 chemicals); Europe banned 1,200 chemicals that were being used in cosmetics and the US banned only 10 so the companies make riskier products for Americans; cosmetic companies spent $3.5 million lobbying against an upcoming bill that will prohibit the use of chemicals linked to cancer or reproductive problems. In October 2011 we heard there were more plastic surgeries going wrong and doctors were offering Botox instead for some procedures (boobs, butt). May 11 the Beverly Hills, CA Omidi brothers (one with a revoked license due to dishonesty and the other suspended for 3 years because of gross negligence) had 5 lap band outpatients die in the last 3 years sparking lawsuits and a federal investigation; it’s said they make $21 million a month and aren’t concerned about a million dollar lawsuit. 

Americans: Last year over 300,000 men got Botox as a gift; many got plastic surgery as a Christmas gift. December 14 someone in NY bought the Apple Computer Company’s founding partnership agreement for $1.6 million. December 26 an Arizona man bought a 1941 fruitcake for $525 in online auction. John James Audubon’s book Birds of America (cost $1,000 in 1827) sold for $8 million on January 21, 2012. February 14 the Boston Red Sox agreed to pay David Ortiz $14.5 million for a one year deal; the Oakland A’s agreed to pay Yoenis Cespedes $36 million for a 4 year deal and on March 2 the Cardinals reached a $75 million deal with Yadier Molina. April 21 a group of billionaires began forming a company to drill asteroids. April 25 the Kardashians signed a reality show deal for $40 million. May 18 someone paid a record amount (more than $90 million) for a penthouse apartment on the 89th and 90^th floors of a NY building (December 20 the 22 year old daughter of a Russian billionaire spent $88 million for the penthouse apartment that overlooks Central Park and was owned by a CitiGroup Chairman).

I don’t believe many of the rich care about the average American but I do think we need to save them from their criminal or foolish spending ways; vote for the guy who wants to stop Wall Street and tax the rich.