11 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
Driver leads DPS on chase, stops in Phoenix neighborhood - KPHO Phoenix
10 Temmuz 2012 Salı
9 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
Phoenix moves to single-day trash, recycling collection - AZFamily
Video report by Ryan O'Donnell
Posted on July 9, 2012 at 8:45 AM
Updated today at 9:21 AM
PHOENIX -- The city of Phoenix is trashing its current garbage and recycling program in favor of a single-day collection plan.
For the past two decades, trash has been picked on one day and recyclables have been collected on another. Starting Monday, the city is picking up everything in one fell swoop.
The "New Way, Same Day" overhaul to the city's recycling and garbage program is expected to save Phoenix about $1.3 million per year and $6.5 million over the next five years.
City officials also say the single-day collection is good for residents because not only will they have to remember to put out their bins just once a week, their neighborhoods will be neater the rest of the time.
"By having containers out on only one day a week, neighborhoods will look cleaner and sidewalks and streets will be less cluttered," reads the city of Phoenix Public Works website.
Almost all of the 400,000 households in Phoenix will now roll out both their blue bins and their green bins at the same time, but the change has not been implemented for everyone. The residents who are affected received a flier about the change a month ago.
About 10,000 homes that are on narrow streets will not move to the same-day service. In addition, residents who throw away their garbage in an alley won't need to make any changes for trash service although they will have a new day to roll out their recycling bins.
According to the Phoenix city manager, the same-day collection, which was six months in the making, is more efficient all the way around.
There will still be two separate trucks -- one for garbage and one for recycling -- but instead of working four 10-hour days a week and not filling up, the trucks will work five days a week. Twelve routes will be eliminated, which means 12 fewer trucks and drivers on the road.
In addition, drivers will work most holidays so instead of pickup delays 11 days of the year, collection will only be affects on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
The city also hopes the same-day service will remind people to recycle on a consistent basis.
Glendale already offers same-day collection service to its residents, as do several cities throughout the country.
Trash and recycling containers must be in place on the curb by 5:30 a.m. on your assigned collection day. Be sure to keep the bins about four feet apart.
For more information or to learn your new collection day, visit Phoenix.gov/publicworks or call 602-262-7251.
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FOX 10 News - Phoenix, AZ | KSAZ-TVGov. Perry tells feds Texas won't expand ... - MyFox Phoenix
Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that Texas won't establish an online marketplace for patients to shop for insurance or expand Medicaid, two key elements of the federal health care overhaul.
In a letter sent to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Perry said both elements "represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state."
"I will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government," Perry said in a statement.
The Supreme Court upheld most of the federal health care law last month, although it said the federal government can't withhold states' entire Medicaid allotment if they don't expand Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled. If states choose not to set up a health care exchange, an online service for people to comparison shop for insurance, the federal government will establish one for them.
About 6.2 million Texans - a quarter of the state's population - are uninsured.
Expanding Medicaid would add millions of people "into the already unsustainable Medicaid program, at a potential cost of billions to Texas taxpayers," said Perry, a Republican. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has estimated the Medicaid expansion would cost the state $27 billion in the first 10 years, a number many Democrats dispute.
The state has estimated about 2 million people would be added to the Texas Medicaid rolls in the first two years if it went ahead with the expansion.
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, another Republican, said he hoped voters would address the issue by electing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has promised to repeal the health care law. He would not say what he thought the state would do if President Barack Obama is re-elected.
"There are a lot of stakeholders we'd need to hear from before we could make a decision on that," Straus said.
Texas Medical Association survey given to The Associated Press over the weekend found that the number of Texas doctors willing to accept government-funded health insurance plans for the poor and the elderly has dropped dramatically amid complaints about low pay and red tape.
Only 31 percent of Texas doctors said they were accepting new patients who rely on Medicaid. In 2010, the last time the survey was done, 42 percent of doctors were accepting new Medicaid patients. In 2000, that number was 67 percent.
Texas Democratic Party spokeswoman Rebecca Acuna called Perry's announcement "both cruel and negligent."
"Rick Perry's Texas solution is to let Texans stay ill and uninsured," Acuna said. "That is not a health care plan. Once again Perry is putting partisan political pandering in front of the interests of Texas."
A message left seeking comment from Sebelius' office was not immediately returned Monday.
__
Associated Press writer Chris Tomlinson contributed to this report from Austin.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
6 indicted in murder of border agent Brian Terry; $1M reward for outstanding ... - AZFamily
azfamily.com
Posted on July 9, 2012 at 7:20 AM
Updated today at 7:32 AM
PHOENIX -- The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California are expected to release new information about the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
The FBI says it needs the public's help finding the fugitives involved in his murder.
Terry's December 2010 death in a shootout with drug smugglers near the U.S.-Mexican border in Southern Arizona has been a major element in the Fast and Furious investigation.
Two of the guns linked to Terry's murder were traced back to the failed ATF "gun-walking" program that was supposed to lead investigators to high-level arms dealers who had eluded prosecution. Instead, those weapons landed in the hands of violent criminals.
Terry's family filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against the federal government earlier this year.
"I don't know if there is ever an amount or enough of an amount of money to compensate people for the enormity of the loss of a loved one," Pat McGroder, the attorney representing Terry's parents, told 3TV in an exclusive interview last month.
"They're not doing well," McGroder said of his clients. "They've lost their son and they don't have a reasonable explanation as to why he died the way he did. … The idea that he was killed by the very guns that 10 months before were sitting in a Phoenix gun shop is repulsive."
Shortly after Terry's death, the U.S. Border Patrol announced that four people had been arrested. One month later, the U.S. Marshals Service in Tucson said two more had been arrested.
At the time, the six suspects were being held on felony immigration charges and had not been charged in Terry's death.
Charges were later dropped against three of the suspects after the U.S. Attorney's Office said there was no evidence connecting them to the crime. Those three men were eventually deported to Mexico.
Three members of the ring accused of buying the rifles founds at the scene of Terry's death pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges earlier this year.
Off the more than 2,000 weapons believed to have been purchased as part of Fast and Furious, about 1,400 are still missing.
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FOX 10 News - Phoenix, AZ | KSAZ-TVEx-Mo. gov. gets probation for campaign payment - MyFox Phoenix
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Roger Wilson, a Missouri Democrat who was elevated to the governor's job after the plane crash that killed Gov. Mel Carnahan, was sentenced Monday to two years of probation for misusing money to make political donations.
Wilson, 63, pleaded guilty in April to one count of misdemeanor campaign finance fraud, the same day his federal indictment was announced. He admitted that he improperly steered $8,000 to the state Democratic Party in 2009 while serving as CEO of Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co., a state-created workers' compensation firm.
Wilson could have received up to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
He also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $5,000 in restitution. He must complete 100 hours of community service.
Chief Magistrate Judge Mary Ann Medler cited Wilson's otherwise exemplary record in nearly a quarter-century of public service in opting not to require jail time. Wilson apologized in court.
Wilson was a state senator for 14 years, then served two terms as lieutenant governor. He became governor for three months after Carnahan died in a plane crash in October 2000 while running for U.S. Senate.
Wilson's attorney, Robert Haar, filed a sentencing memo last month urging probation for the misdemeanor conviction.
Haar wrote that Wilson "was recognized across party lines as one of the truly good guys in Missouri government: someone who believed in public service and took great satisfaction in being able to affect people's lives in positive ways."
The letter said it is painful to Wilson to "recognize his legacy has been tarnished by the uncharacteristically poor judgment" in committing the crime.
After leaving politics in 2001, Wilson chaired the Missouri Tourism Commission and the Missouri Rural Economic Development Council before taking over at Missouri Employers Mutual.
The St. Louis law firm Herzog Crebs donated $5,000 to the Missouri Democratic Party in August 2009 but hid the cost in legal bills submitted to Missouri Employers Mutual. Wilson used his own money to hide an additional $3,000 donation from the law firm. The donations were made while Wilson was the insurance firm's interim CEO. He was named to the full-time position in January 2010, but removed by the board without explanation in June 2011, one month after being placed on administrative leave.
Wilson pleaded guilty on April 12, the same day he was indicted. St. Louis attorney Edward Griesedieck III, a former Herzog Crebs partner, was indicted and pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge.
According to Wilson's federal indictment, Missouri Employers Mutual board chairman Douglas Morgan asked Griesedieck to make the Democratic Party donation without the knowledge of other board members. Morgan also sought a second contribution for $3,000, which was questioned by the insurance firm's general counsel.
"Although there was nothing that prohibited MEM (Missouri Employers Mutual) from making such contributions, there was concern that it would inevitably invite solicitations from politicians throughout the state for similar contributions," Haar wrote on behalf of Wilson. "That resulted in the board member's proposal that any contribution be made through the law firm. Roger did not say 'no.' He did not pick a fight. He will spend the rest of his life regretting it."
Griesedieck, whose law license was suspended by the state Supreme Court pending the outcome of the criminal case, is also seeking probation. Morgan, who was under his own federal fraud indictment in an unrelated case, died in 2011.
Wilson also apologized for his wrongdoing the day he pleaded guilty. He has paid a $2,000 fine to the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Brewer says she's against proposed primary changes - MyFox Phoenix
PHOENIX (AP) - Gov. Jan Brewer says she's not taking any further steps to have legislators consider election-law changes but that it doesn't mean she likes an initiative measure to dramatically change Arizona's primary system.
Brewer and Republican legislative leaders had agreed to have a special session this week on a possible referendum on a related proposal. But that plan fell apart late Friday, and Brewer says she has nothing in the works now.
The initiative would allow voters to vote for any candidate on the primary ballot. It also would advance the primary's top two finishers to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
Brewer says she's concerned that the changes would weaken the current party-based election system. She supported requiring candidates to disclose their party affiliations, if any.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
8 Temmuz 2012 Pazar
Phoenix needs energy to get talent, companies to stay - Arizona Republic
by Steven Beschloss - Jul. 8, 2012 12:00 AM
My Turn
I remember clearly the first time I drove around downtown Phoenix. It was seven years ago, a July scorcher, not a soul to be seen. Where was everyone? The city felt so deserted, even if most people were hunkered inside.
But what about in November or even January? I knew the city was the sixth-largest in the country with nearly 1.5 million. I didn't see them out in droves then, either.
Of course, it never makes sense to rely on visual observation for a place you don't know well. After living in Los Angeles, I knew that its downtown could be a ghost town after dark, even with a city population of nearly 4 million.
But while I didn't expect to see 1.5 million Phoenix residents with my own eyes, I had expected to see a greater city dynamic, the magnetic kind where people engage each other, spur each other, make new things, create life.
This is the urban whirlwind that drags you out of the house; it's what helps persuade college grads and other up-and-comers to stick around and make things happen.
This is no mere lifestyle choice: This creative urban energy can be the difference between a city taking its place among thriving cities of the future or stuck as an afterthought, an also-ran in the global competition for jobs and opportunity.
It's easy to blame geographic sprawl, especially in Phoenix and other Southwestern cities where land speculators and real-estate interests saw their fortunes tied to luring newcomers away from city centers and to cheap land and open spaces. They tapped into the national craving for easy living.
As long as the population kept coming, it may have seemed that it didn't matter. After all, more people meant more dollars to spread around -- more buyers for shiny new cars, snappy new homes or even promising new towns, farther and farther out.
My friends in Pittsburgh, while deeply loyal and proud of their city, admit that they wish they had been growing like Phoenix rather than struggling with population decline. To a point, more people can solve a lot of problems.
But the quick, explosive growth of Phoenix -- it was the 99th-largest city in America with only 107,000 people in 1950 -- also has masked the failure to build the solid culture and secure the kind of deep attachments and loyalty that older, more established cities can assume and bank on. How else can we really explain that our baseball and football teams are not the Phoenix Diamondbacks and the Phoenix Cardinals?
This failure to bind may not matter so much when the economy booms, but an economic downturn painfully exposes a shallow talent pool, the crying shame of suburbs built on easy credit and the need for greater economic diversity to withstand business closings, job loss and relocation.
Which brings us back to the question of creative dynamism. Just as the nation depends on innovation and communication to spur new products, new businesses and new industries, so Phoenix (and every city) needs these things to thrive.
That takes more than building a state-of-the-art stadium or a smart new skyscraper, as alluring as this kind of hardware may be. It requires the more elusive attraction of brain power that combines to design something not yet seen or even imagined. The result can inspire loyalty and change a city's fortunes.
It's encouraging that Mayor Greg Stanton seemed to grasp this when he outlined his priorities in his April State of the City address. "We can't simply adopt a 'superblock' mentality for our downtown. We must focus our energies on attracting more people and events to our downtown to create a more modern, more lively center city."
Nonetheless, it's discouraging to realize that one of America's largest cities -- despite its relative youth -- is still just forming new organizations to make some noise. Kimber Lanning, founder and executive director of Local First Arizona, which supports locally owned businesses, explained the decades-old dilemma to me like this: "The Old Guard is still here -- and they don't know how to collaborate. They know they've given us a faulty product, but they don't know what to do about it."
Thirty years ago, when Pittsburgh struggled with the collapse of the steel industry and the loss of more than 150,000 jobs, it chose to focus on its universities and medical center to transform its prospects. Public and private leaders in the city and region took advantage of their history of strategic cooperation and belief in their ability to switch course.
It didn't hurt that they could draw on the philanthropy of loyal Pittsburgh residents who are also some of the country's wealthiest Americans, including the Heinz, Mellon and Carnegie families.
But the most important asset was their willingness to adapt and change, making it possible for the historic Steel City to become a brand-new Brain City with fresh reasons for people to come and stay.
By 2009, half of the 25- to 34-year-old population had earned a college degree, the fifth-highest percentage in the nation. Even more impressive, no other metro area in the country had as many young people 25 to 34 with a graduate or professional degree.
The reality in Phoenix is quite different. In just-released data from the Brookings Institution, a mere 27.2 percent of Phoenix metro residents had earned a college degree, ranking it a dismal 66th among the nation's top 100 cities.
While a college degree these days is no guarantee of success, it has shown to be a reliable marker of longer life expectancy, lower divorce rates and higher household income. Moreover, a solid core of college grads not only communicates to business leaders that the city possesses an able and ready workforce, it also helps drive the creative dynamic that attracts and holds talented people.
In contrast to our city, Austin is ranked eighth nationally with 39.4 percent of its residents holding a college degree. Given its similar climate, similar status as a state capital and similar reliance on a single major university (University of Texas-Austin), we might expect similar educational attainment.
Innovation-minded business incubators such as SkySong in Scottsdale, eco-minded projects like the Metro light rail and entrepreneurial-minded development projects like the Discovery Triangle near Sky Harbor International Airport are meaningful signs that the city may one day produce enough urban energy to inspire both locals and a diverse collection of prospective newcomers. But to reach that tipping point and secure Phoenix a slot amongst America's alluring cities of the future, it will take the commitment of more than a limited pool of urban enthusiasts.
Steven Beschloss is a Valley-based journalist. He is co-author of "Adrift: Charting Our Course Back to a Great Nation."
Westwind Prep team goes national, draws critics - azcentral
by Richard Obert - Jul. 7, 2012 09:09 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
It is a typical June basketball game in a stuffy gymnasium. A few onlookers. Running clock. No scorebook.
But this is the birth of a team that has Arizona high schools on alert -- from the young, up-and-coming player looking for something more to the high school coach fearful of losing his star player without a bylaw to get in his way.
On this day, because of vacations and some players running with their current high schools, Westwind Preparatory Academy's new "national" high school team has a few post-grad players sprinkled in to form a seven-man rotation that is crushing smaller, outmanned Phoenix Thunderbird.
Point guard Tate de Laveaga is making sharp passes inside to 6-foot-9, 228-pound forward Connor MacDougall for easy baskets.
It's over by halftime.
"It ought to be a lightning rod one way or another," Grand Canyon University coach Russ Pennell said about the formation of the team, which will travel nationally rather than compete locally. "I know the high school coaches are concerned about it."
Westwind Prep broke new ground under Gary Trousdale in Arizona five years ago when it started a post-grad program. Now it's breaking more ground under Arizona Magic club director Jeff de Laveaga, who is starting the national high school boys basketball team that won't be under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Interscholastic Association. It won't play against AIA-affiliated schools. It is working on scheduling 45 games beginning Oct. 6 against junior colleges in a tournament at Tohono O'odham Reservation.
The team intends to play national powerhouse Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep at least twice. It is working to secure games with Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and Concord (Calif.) De La Salle. The school is trying to secure a donor to build a gym on 5 acres of land the school owns at the Northern Avenue campus in north Phoenix.
De Laveaga, hired in April as the school's basketball director, plans to have two post-grad teams made from 24 players, from whom tuition monies (ranging from $10,000 to $18,000) will take care of the basketball budget, which de Laveaga figures to be between $150,000 to $200,000 to make it work.
Through early June, de Laveaga said 15 players signed for the post-grad team, paying the required $500 deposit.
De Laveaga had hopes of filling the 10 to 12 national high school roster spots with all Arizona players. In-state national high school players pay only a $200 participation fee, de Laveaga said. Non-Arizona residents on the national high school team and non-resident students pay full tuition.
Six local players have enrolled: Class of 2014 post player MacDougall and 2013 guard John Marshall, both from Desert Vista; 2013 guard Josh Braun, who helped Anthem Boulder Creek to a state title his freshman year and won't be able to play until November after undergoing knee surgery in late May; 6-6 wing Zylan Cheatham, who led Phoenix South Mountain in scoring and rebounding last season; and de Laveaga's sons, guards Kye (2013) and Tate (2014), who have left Phoenix Horizon.
Westwind picked up one out-of-state player so far, 7-0 center Namdi Okonkwo,a high-major recruit from Texas.
"I know Jeff made a lot of high school coaches mad," said Mesa coach Shane Burcar, whose team reached the state semifinals two years ago behind point guard Jahii Carson, now at Arizona State. "Here's the thing. We have the proof. ( Carson) was a top-25 player. He was the only high school player on Team USA (last summer). He was a Parade All-American. He could have gone to any prep school and played. But I don't think you need to take that path to reach your goals."
De Laveaga understands general sentiment among coaches isn't positive.
"It's not for everybody," he said. "The high school coach(es), of course, they don't want to lose their best players. But my whole point is, if they're doing right by their best players, those kids will never come here."
The curriculum at the International Baccalaureate school of about 300 students includes prepping for college-entrance tests. The training schedule is comparable to what players will find in college, with tutors, a conditioning coach and nutritionist.
"When I first heard about it, I was like, 'Oh, my God,' " Cheatham said. "It gives us an opportunity to play against kids we read about in (ESPN The Magazine) and see on TV."
There will still be an AIA varsity high school team. It could be viewed as a feeder. But Westwind Superintendent Debra Slagle said the national high school and post-grad teams are "kept completely separated from the varsity and JV teams."
"We understood that when we started the post-grad program and met with the AIA," Slagle said. "We wanted to be transparent with that process. We have kept that boundary for the national team."
But there are questions that the AIA would like answered.
"Students disappearing for their senior year is contrary to our mission statement," said Chuck Schmidt, the AIA's associate executive director. "There is a concern among members."
To avoid such conflict in its home state, Henderson (Nev.) Findlay College Prep, a six-year-old program started by UNLV booster Cliff Findlay, won't take Nevada players.
"We'll never have a Nevada kid, period," Findlay Prep coach Mike Peck said. "If we took the best players from the area, how do you think the high school across the street is going to feel? They're going to be mad at you. We didn't want to create any waves. We didn't want to create enemies in our own back yard."
Players and parents are treading new territory at Westwind.
"We had several meetings, and we talked to the various people in charge," said Lonny MacDougall, Connor's father. "We looked at the finances. We looked at the school. Certainly, they can use some help. They can use some breaks. But the people I met over there are constantly dedicated to making this better. The end-all is the idea that there is truly a place for a student-athlete that wants to excel."
The 6-4 Braun was one of Boulder Creek's more popular students. But he is projected as a shooting guard in college, and Boulder Creek needed him to play the post. At Westwind, he can play his natural position.
"As high school coaches, we have to think of the entire program, and it can be misconstrued as not looking out for the player," Boulder Creek coach Randy Walker said. "I have no hard feelings toward Josh and them. But I have concerns everything they're told comes true."
Braun has faith.
"I'm hoping we can put Arizona on the map," he said.
Westwind aspires to being a Findlay Prep.
"We're going to get our butt kicked physically," de Laveaga said. "That's going to be great for them. It's not about winning or losing. It's about developing. But if we beat one of those guys, then all of a sudden ESPN comes to us. Findlay started that way."
Steve Nash leaves legacy of revamping Phoenix Suns franchise - Arizona Republic
by Paul Coro - Jul. 7, 2012 07:44 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
Steve Nash has been booed, bloodied, body-checked and bid adieu as a Phoenix Sun.
Just about all of the other 5 million minutes on Planet Orange were bliss.
Nash and the Suns have been as symbiotic as bees and flowers for the past eight years. Nash breathed new life into a withering franchise in 2004, and the Suns blossomed with him in a mutually beneficial way.
Charles Barkley gregariously took the Suns to a popularity peak in 1993. Paul Westphal played and coached them to the NBA Finals. Walter Davis scored more than any Suns player. Dick Van Arsdale is the Original Sun. Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle and Tom Chambers teamed to transform them.
But none of them gave Suns fans and the NBA what Nash did in rebranding himself and the game with a style and level so engaging that he became a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and made the Suns a second favorite team for the nation.
"He has to be maybe considered the greatest Sun of all time," said Rex Chapman, a Valley resident who was one of Nash's first Suns teammates in 1996 and later a Suns executive who lured Nash back to Phoenix in 2004. "Phoenix loves the guy. It's hard to be in one city and play for one team for a decade. He's always said and did the right thing. I don't know if anyone could have represented them on and off the floor better."
Everything about Nash was revered, from implausible no-look or one-hand passes to every signature shot delivered off either hand or foot.
You knew when he cut his hair. You became numb to finger licks between dribbles. You might have cried with him after Western Conference finals exits.
For two stints and 10 years, Nash was the determined, smiling face of the Suns and never let the franchise fall on its face, despite deteriorating talent. Once a run of three conference finals trips in six years turned into back-to-back non-playoff seasons, the Suns took Nash's contract expiration as a time to sever ties. It prompted last week's parting -- a once-unfathomable sign-and-trade deal to the Los Angeles Lakers that Nash requested to remain close to his three children in the Valley and for title contention.
"It was the most successful time of my career personally and as a team," Nash, 38, said. "My kids were born there. It's still going to be home for part of the year. Those are the defining years of my career."
The prodigal Sun now will practice on Nash Street in El Segundo, Calif., but without his hallmark No.13, retired by the Lakers for Wilt Chamberlain. He joins forces with long-time enemy Kobe Bryant, a 1996 draft classmate who the Suns gave up on chasing in 2004 free agency before turning to Nash.
"He meant everything," Nash's former Suns coach, Mike D'Antoni, said. "He was the face of the Suns for eight years. The years he had were phenomenal for the NBA. He's been a great ambassador to the sport.
"Things go on. But those eight years, it doesn't get any better than that, even off the floor in what he did for the community."
Fans booed when the Suns drafted Nash in 1996 with the 15th pick, just two after Bryant. He played off the bench for two years before being traded to Dallas, but his impression had been made.
"During training camp his rookie year, we're practicing and Steve is picking up K.J. and bothering him full-court because he was up under his feet," Chapman said. "K.J. finally tripped and stumbled. He picked the ball up and threw it at Steve. Steve caught the ball and threw it right back at K.J. and got up in his face. K.J. backed away. After that, I promise K.J. didn't practice anymore, and it showed me there was something more to Steve than met the eye."
After more initial boos in Dallas, Nash found fitness and flair. He was chosen to two All-Star Games in six Dallas seasons, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban flinched on matching Phoenix's six-year, $65.6million offer in 2004, fearing his relentless style would break him down in his 30s.
"If you can be yourself, you're on the way," Nash said when introduced in Phoenix.
The Suns went from 29 wins to 62 wins in Nash's first season back for the third-best turnaround in NBA history and averaged 55 wins over six seasons. Nash went from 2004 All-Star snub in Dallas to 2005 and 2006 league MVP in Phoenix.
"It's a good thing I played soccer and not basketball or you never would've won that," his brother, Martin, told him, exemplifying how his family gave him dry wit and humility.
Nash and D'Antoni paired up with a wide-open, quick-striking, free-shooting style that made for beautiful basketball. It was throwback and innovation that was mimicked even last season in San Antonio, once the antithesis of Phoenix's ways.
Nash defied age, a chronic back condition and a lesser supporting cast to lead the NBA in assists in 2011 and become an All-Star this year at age 38. The sunset of his Phoenix career told of his greatness in a different way than the first six years of iconic moments, like posting a 48-point game and a monster triple-double in consecutive 2005 playoff games against Dallas or eliminating San Antonio in 2010 by making a 3-pointer with a swollen-shut eye.
"Regardless of whether I could've asked for a trade and been in the playoffs, it was a pleasure to be a Sun and to try to battle to get them in the playoffs," Nash said. "It was still my team and I was happy to be there. I loved my coaches and teammates."
Nash's grand years were marred by his role as a NBA pinata, with bleeder moments and the devastating Robert Horry playoff hip-check that sent him into the scorer's table and Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw to costly suspensions in 2007.
"I believe with every fiber of my being that they win a title without the Horry hip-check," Chapman said.
Phoenix shared pride with his home country, where Nash received the Order of Canada. His ultimate honor came when he helped light the 2010 Olympic cauldron in Vancouver. A day later, he won the NBA All-Star Skills Competition.
"But it makes it OK when you win a resume builder like this," an exhausted Nash said with endearing humor that came out more when he entered filmmaking for documentaries, commercials and goofy team videos.
Suns fans had been prepping, even asking, for Nash's departure for two years. Some wanted Nash to have a title chance elsewhere. Some wanted the Suns to rebuild. But in his final home game in April, Suns fans did not want to let him go, chanting, "We want Nash," in a mixed message for a curtain call and a new contract.
"It's too bad, but it's got to end sometime," D'Antoni said. "Phoenix will survive. They'll go on. You should celebrate what he did. It was great for the city, the state and for basketball."
Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby had been calling Nash "the sun, the moon and the stars" to Phoenix.
The sun set. The moon eclipsed. The stars flickered out.
"They were great years, mostly because of the people -- all the great teammates and training staff," Nash said. "I always think of (equipment manager) Jay (Gaspar) as part of the training staff even though he's never taped an ankle. He rebounded for me before every game. It's going to be weird not having that every game on the practice court. (Athletic trainers) Aaron Nelson, Tom Maystadt, Erik Phillips and Mike Elliott all had a huge impact on me. Alvin (Gentry) and Mike D'Antoni had a great impact on my life and mean the world to me. I'll always take away the positives more than the negatives. I'm not bitter at all. In the end, I understand what they're trying to do. I applaud them more than fault them."
Westwind Prep team goes national, draws critics - Arizona Republic
by Richard Obert - Jul. 7, 2012 09:09 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
It is a typical June basketball game in a stuffy gymnasium. A few onlookers. Running clock. No scorebook.
But this is the birth of a team that has Arizona high schools on alert -- from the young, up-and-coming player looking for something more to the high school coach fearful of losing his star player without a bylaw to get in his way.
On this day, because of vacations and some players running with their current high schools, Westwind Preparatory Academy's new "national" high school team has a few post-grad players sprinkled in to form a seven-man rotation that is crushing smaller, outmanned Phoenix Thunderbird.
Point guard Tate de Laveaga is making sharp passes inside to 6-foot-9, 228-pound forward Connor MacDougall for easy baskets.
It's over by halftime.
"It ought to be a lightning rod one way or another," Grand Canyon University coach Russ Pennell said about the formation of the team, which will travel nationally rather than compete locally. "I know the high school coaches are concerned about it."
Westwind Prep broke new ground under Gary Trousdale in Arizona five years ago when it started a post-grad program. Now it's breaking more ground under Arizona Magic club director Jeff de Laveaga, who is starting the national high school boys basketball team that won't be under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Interscholastic Association. It won't play against AIA-affiliated schools. It is working on scheduling 45 games beginning Oct. 6 against junior colleges in a tournament at Tohono O'odham Reservation.
The team intends to play national powerhouse Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep at least twice. It is working to secure games with Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and Concord (Calif.) De La Salle. The school is trying to secure a donor to build a gym on 5 acres of land the school owns at the Northern Avenue campus in north Phoenix.
De Laveaga, hired in April as the school's basketball director, plans to have two post-grad teams made from 24 players, from whom tuition monies (ranging from $10,000 to $18,000) will take care of the basketball budget, which de Laveaga figures to be between $150,000 to $200,000 to make it work.
Through early June, de Laveaga said 15 players signed for the post-grad team, paying the required $500 deposit.
De Laveaga had hopes of filling the 10 to 12 national high school roster spots with all Arizona players. In-state national high school players pay only a $200 participation fee, de Laveaga said. Non-Arizona residents on the national high school team and non-resident students pay full tuition.
Six local players have enrolled: Class of 2014 post player MacDougall and 2013 guard John Marshall, both from Desert Vista; 2013 guard Josh Braun, who helped Anthem Boulder Creek to a state title his freshman year and won't be able to play until November after undergoing knee surgery in late May; 6-6 wing Zylan Cheatham, who led Phoenix South Mountain in scoring and rebounding last season; and de Laveaga's sons, guards Kye (2013) and Tate (2014), who have left Phoenix Horizon.
Westwind picked up one out-of-state player so far, 7-0 center Namdi Okonkwo,a high-major recruit from Texas.
"I know Jeff made a lot of high school coaches mad," said Mesa coach Shane Burcar, whose team reached the state semifinals two years ago behind point guard Jahii Carson, now at Arizona State. "Here's the thing. We have the proof. ( Carson) was a top-25 player. He was the only high school player on Team USA (last summer). He was a Parade All-American. He could have gone to any prep school and played. But I don't think you need to take that path to reach your goals."
De Laveaga understands general sentiment among coaches isn't positive.
"It's not for everybody," he said. "The high school coach(es), of course, they don't want to lose their best players. But my whole point is, if they're doing right by their best players, those kids will never come here."
The curriculum at the International Baccalaureate school of about 300 students includes prepping for college-entrance tests. The training schedule is comparable to what players will find in college, with tutors, a conditioning coach and nutritionist.
"When I first heard about it, I was like, 'Oh, my God,' " Cheatham said. "It gives us an opportunity to play against kids we read about in (ESPN The Magazine) and see on TV."
There will still be an AIA varsity high school team. It could be viewed as a feeder. But Westwind Superintendent Debra Slagle said the national high school and post-grad teams are "kept completely separated from the varsity and JV teams."
"We understood that when we started the post-grad program and met with the AIA," Slagle said. "We wanted to be transparent with that process. We have kept that boundary for the national team."
But there are questions that the AIA would like answered.
"Students disappearing for their senior year is contrary to our mission statement," said Chuck Schmidt, the AIA's associate executive director. "There is a concern among members."
To avoid such conflict in its home state, Henderson (Nev.) Findlay College Prep, a six-year-old program started by UNLV booster Cliff Findlay, won't take Nevada players.
"We'll never have a Nevada kid, period," Findlay Prep coach Mike Peck said. "If we took the best players from the area, how do you think the high school across the street is going to feel? They're going to be mad at you. We didn't want to create any waves. We didn't want to create enemies in our own back yard."
Players and parents are treading new territory at Westwind.
"We had several meetings, and we talked to the various people in charge," said Lonny MacDougall, Connor's father. "We looked at the finances. We looked at the school. Certainly, they can use some help. They can use some breaks. But the people I met over there are constantly dedicated to making this better. The end-all is the idea that there is truly a place for a student-athlete that wants to excel."
The 6-4 Braun was one of Boulder Creek's more popular students. But he is projected as a shooting guard in college, and Boulder Creek needed him to play the post. At Westwind, he can play his natural position.
"As high school coaches, we have to think of the entire program, and it can be misconstrued as not looking out for the player," Boulder Creek coach Randy Walker said. "I have no hard feelings toward Josh and them. But I have concerns everything they're told comes true."
Braun has faith.
"I'm hoping we can put Arizona on the map," he said.
Westwind aspires to being a Findlay Prep.
"We're going to get our butt kicked physically," de Laveaga said. "That's going to be great for them. It's not about winning or losing. It's about developing. But if we beat one of those guys, then all of a sudden ESPN comes to us. Findlay started that way."
Shane Doan deserves better ending to free agency - Arizona Republic
by Paola Boivin - Jul. 7, 2012 08:28 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
C'mon, LA, keep your grubby mitts away, won't you? Isn't pilfering one athletically gifted, civic-minded Canadian away from Phoenix enough already?
On the heels of Steve Nash's departure to Los Angeles comes word that nearly a dozen suitors are courting Shane Doan, including the Kings, according to several reports, should the Coyotes captain choose to leave the Valley.
Swell.
That isn't the lament of a homer sportswriter. It is the reaction of a journalist who has spent several decades covering the games people play and knows how unique Doan is. Rarely does an athlete come along who spends his entire career with one organization and in the process serves as leader, scorer, mentor, promoter.
Yet his 16-year stay in Arizona is at risk of ending because of an ownership mess that appears to be growing more complicated by the minute. And it's not just the Kings who appear to have interest in Doan. Eleven teams have inquired about the player, his agent, Terry Bross, said Friday. New York, Detroit and Montreal are among the group, according to various reports.
Doan deserves better.
"It's heartbreaking for him," Bross said. "Heartbreaking."
Bross reiterated Doan wants to stay with the Coyotes. He loves it here, his family loves it here and he has developed a profound connection with the organization.
"He's such a loyal guy," Bross said. "He views the team like it's his own franchise, from the equipment manager to the trainer to the people taking tickets."
Bross and Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney speak almost daily. Doan had set a deadline for Monday to make a decision, but that could change as the team's ownership issues grows more complicated.
Monday is the day Glendale said signatures are due for a petition to make potential owner Greg Jamison's lease agreement a referendum on the November ballot. However, organizers now say they have until July 16 to submit the signatures.
Further clouding resolution is a sales-tax initiative petition recently presented to the city to make it a referendum on the November ballot. The fear is if the tax hike doesn't go through, the city might not be able to finance the Jamison deal.
How much more patience can Jamison exercise?
What is the Goldwater Institute's next move?
And how much more can the city of Glendale withstand?
Meanwhile, a group of citizens known as "Glendale First!" has formed to help educate the public about what they believe is "misinformation and exaggerated numbers" being distributed by the petition gatherers, according to its website, and to get the word out about the positive impact a professional sports team has on a city.
The problem with the uncertainty is that Doan, 35, understandably wants to sign a multiyear agreement. But if he does that with the Coyotes and the team relocates after next season because of unresolved ownership, he could end up in a city in which he has no interest in finishing his career.
And if Doan deserves anything, it is calling the shots about where he plays as his career winds down.
The idea of Doan signing a one-year deal with the Coyotes that includes an understanding that it will extend longer if the team stays won't cut it either. The NHL's collective-bargaining agreement is less flexible than those of other professional leagues in that regard. True player options aren't in the mix.
Additionally, because of Doan's age, a contract set up next season vs. this year would have a greater impact on a team's salary cap.
"Believe me, we've explored every angle," Bross said.
The agent said he has been very clear with teams that Doan's heart is in Phoenix and that he will stay here if something can be worked out.
"I've told them, if you want to wait for Shane, understand you may be waiting in vain," Bross said. "Shane would wait until the cows come home.
"Unfortunately with these things, there is a business aspect to all of this and, at some point, Shane is going to have to fish or cut bait."
The strong interest in Doan, who will be 36 in October, says a lot about what he contributes on and off the ice.
He has scored 20 or more goals 11 of the past 12 seasons and had 22 goals and 28 assists in 2011-12, plus nine more points in the postseason.
His leadership is also one of his great selling points and integral to the team advancing to the Western Conference finals.
It is rare in sports when a star plays stays with an organization his entire career. Doan started with the Winnipeg Jets a year before the team moved to Arizona for the 1996-97 season.
Who knew the marriage would be such a successful one?
Who knew it might end in a divorce?
Reach Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin.
7 Temmuz 2012 Cumartesi
European Commission: new report on tax havens, tax abuse
"Tax havens, also sometimes referred to as 'non-cooperative jurisdictions' are commonly understood to be jurisdictions which are able to finance their public services with no or nominal income taxes and offer themselves as places to be used by non-residents to escape taxation in their country of residence. The OECD has identified three typical 'confirming' features of a tax haven: (i) lack of effective exchange of information, (ii) lack of transparency, and (iii) no requirement for substantial activities. In addition they often offer preferential tax treatment to non-residents in order to attract investment from other countries. Tax havens therefore compete unfairly and make it difficult for 'non' tax havens to collect a fair amount of taxation from their residents."(An accompanying press release is here, with a FAQ sheet here) And it adds that estimates of the size of the shadow economy in the EU of nearly one fifth of GDP, gives a clear indication of the extent of the problem, with the FAQ sheet adding that
"Some studies estimate the level of tax evasion and avoidance in Europe to be around €1 trillion."(That would be a TJN study that they are referring to.) The document also reinforces the size of the potential issues.
"Well-known and marketed financial centres with strong banking secrecy laws continue to dominate the international cross-border deposits market. Cayman Islands and Switzerland alone, with a total of USD 1352 billion deposits by non-banks represent almost 20% of all worldwide deposits by non-banks."(Although of course by no means all of that is tax-evading money.) One of the recommendations is to push forwards amendments to the EU transparency arrangement known as the EU Savings Tax Directive, which we've written about extensively elsewhere; including how Switzerland is leading the charge to sabotage those amendments, with the complicity of the United Kingdom and other countries.
"The Council should swiftly give a mandate to the Commission and provide support to it in negotiating amendments to the existing EU savings agreements with Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein and San Marino."Indeed, but the political obstacles, with tax havens inside the EU such as Luxembourg and Austria on the side of secrecy, are enormous. And there are other interesting prospects for international co-operation in their sights:
"Recent developments at international level as regards the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) open new perspectives for strengthening automatic information exchange between Member States and third countries thus improving transparency at a global level."And there is, of course, plenty more in there.
Helsinki Transfer Pricing Conference: the presentations
The conference outcomes are summarised by John Christensen here, and we are delighteded to provide the conference presentations, below. These are already also placed in our permanent archive of transfer pricing materials, here; (scroll down to the news and updates section.)
- Opening remarks by Finland Minister Heidi Hautala
- The Indian Transfer Pricing System - Anita Kapur, Director-General of Income Tax
- Transfer Pricing: Alternative Methods of Taxation of Multinationals, Finland Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Erkki Tuomioja. See also his closing remarks, here.
- The South African Transfer Pricing System, Gerdi van der Westhuysen, South African Revenue Service (SARS)
- Transfer Pricing in Latin America, Isaac Gonzalo Arias Esteban, International Cooperation and Taxation Director Inter American Center of Tax Administrations
- Rethinking the Source of the Arm's Length Transfer Pricing Problem, Ilan Benshalom, Hebrew University Faculty of Law.
- Formulary Apportionment— Myths and Prospects, Reuven Avi-Yonah & Ilan Benshalom
- International Transfer Pricing Abuse: Sizing the Problem, James Henry
- Transfer Pricing: Alternative Approaches / Sub Saharan Africa, Joseph H. Guttentag, International Senior Lawyers' project
- Bananas: the case of Ecuador, Juan Carlos Campuzano S. Servicio de Rentas Internas, Ecuador
- Transfer Pricing in Nigeria, Julius Bamidele, Director (Oil and Gas), FIRS, Nigeria
- Taxation of Multinational Financial Institutions Using Formulary Apportionment to Reflect Economic Reality, Kerrie Sadiq
- Transfer Pricing - the Brazilian case - Marcos Aurélio Pereira Valadao (with additional text here.)
- Meeting the Challenges of Transfer Pricing, Marlies de Ruiter, Head of Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing, Fin. Transactions, OECD, more text here.
- SAB Miller: what happened next. Martin Hearson, ActionAid. Original report here.
- Combined Reporting with Formulary Apportionment: The Transfer Pricing System of the US States, Michael J. McIntyre Professor of Law, TJN Senior Adviser, Wayne State University
- Future of Taxing Multinational Corporations: Transfer pricing issues in Central America, Ricardo Barrientos
- Country-by-country reporting and transfer mispricing, Richard Murphy, Tax Research
- The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) in Europe, Prof. Sol Picciotto, TJN Senior Adviser
- Brazilian Transfer Pricing – A Practical Approach Could this be a Model for Developing Countries? Tatiana Falcao, IBFD
- The Role of Finland in promoting international tax co-operation. Tuire Santamäki-Vuori, State Secretary, Ministry of Finance
- Indian Transfer Pricing System, Vikram Vijayaraghavan, SAPR Associates, Chennai
- China’s transfer pricing system, Zhang Ying, State Administration of Taxation of People’s Republic of China
There are a couple of additional papers, which are available here, we will update this blog by listing them in full in due course.
Offshore: the smoke-filled room, where gentleman arrange the world's affairs over cognac and cigars.
The Guardian, in its ongoing Channel Islands series, has an editorial today about the Channel Islands, which it dubs "the Loophole Islands", with a short summary of a piece it just wrote, which describes one more escape route that people don't traditionally associate with tax havens.
"The fact that Guernsey has opted out of European standards on what claims can be made about vitamins and minerals means that it has effectively become the supplement capital of the continent, bustling with firms that for years have made unsubstantiated health claims for their wares. The number one market for these 21st-century super supplements is the UK."Why are financiers and other sharp operators so very fond of places like Jersey? It's because of this 'elsewhere' concept: they are places where they can reap the benefits of (in this case British) society, while shaking off the responsibilities: the lines of accountability have been cut. A new blog from the Treasure Islands site, copied more or less wholesale (with permission), gives the idea quite clearly.
Offshore: the smoke-filled room, where gentleman arrange the world's affairs over cognac and cigars.Yesterday I had coffee with a financial expert in Zurich, who is in the process of setting up a new financial product. The expert said to me:
"I have had laws changed to accomodate this proposition."
Me: "Where have these laws been changed.?"
"Offshore."
This reminded me straight away of a short section in a chapter of Treasure Islands.
" ‘Someone comes up with a new idea, but onshore regulation blocks it,’ said Robert Kirkby, technical director for Jersey Finance, echoing what Delaware’s insiders had boasted of. ‘You can lobby onshore, but there are lots of stakeholders, you have to get past them all, and it takes a long time. In Jersey, you can bash this thing through fast. We got the leading edge years ago. We can change our company laws and our regulations so much faster than you can in, say, the UK, France or Germany.’ "
It all sounds so 'efficient,' doesn't it? The analogy is of grit in the machine, with tax havens as the oil that makes the machine run more smoothly. But hang on a second. What, exactly, is that 'grit'? That grit is a small matter called 'stakeholders.' It is tax, it is financial regulation, it is disclosure rules, and so on.
All of those things are put in place for good reason. Adapting something I wrote elsewhere a little while ago:
"Jersey's secrecy, or its tax or financial loopholes, are designed to attract money not from locals, but from foreigners. ‘Elsewhere:’ hence the term ‘offshore.’ Offshore lawmakers are always separated from those affected by the laws they write, so there is never proper democratic consultation when these laws are written. This is not only deliberate – it is the whole point. These are laws by insiders, for insiders, without democratic accountability: they are private law-making machines. Offshore is, almost by definition, a smoke-filled room. The implications for the last financial crisis, and for the next ones, should be quite clear.
It's a point I can't stress strongly enough.
P.S. the rest of my conversation over coffee, just a few metres away from the grand old UBS headquarters (though my coffee companion was not from UBS), was fascinating too.
And the same Treasure Islands blogger had an article in yesterday's Guardian, unpicking Jersey's threats to declare independence if people put too much pressure on them.
Links Jun 29
Jun 27 - Great video explaining tax havens. (In Spanish).
Tax justice must be on the agenda for the post-2015 development goals New Statesman
Jun 17 - ActionAid's Mike Lewis writes: "As the 2015 deadline approaches for achieving the "Millennium Development Goals" - the global benchmarks for tackling poverty - questions are growing louder about how far we’ve come, and what we do next."
Bangladesh: Call to withdraw VAT that hurts poor The New Nation
Jun 28 - "Activists of 20 civil society organizations and rights groups have demanded the government to increase the contribution of direct tax in the budget making corresponding reduction in VAT to protect the poor and the low income groups from disproportionate tax burden."
See also:
Rights activists criticise VAT as regressive tax Daily Sun
Jun 28 - "In Bangladesh, indirect tax such as VAT accounts for 70 percent of the revenue earning compared to 25 percent direct tax whereas contribution of direct tax which ensures social justice is almost 70 percent even in Europe and America."
TCI business community fights back at VAT Cayman News Service
Jun 26 - The UK government’s proposal to implement VAT in the Turks and Caicos Islands has met with opposition: “This new VAT tax is not driven by a "grass roots" initiative, but is a politically driven tax imposed upon us by distant bureaucrats based in Europe without effective due process and regard to our specific economy and its future development."
The mystery of Zambia's mining millions Christian Aid Blog
Jun 14 - Reporting on a visit to Zambia, Charlote Marshall notes: "The overwhelming message was that the companies taking wealth out of their country were not giving anything back."
Tax evasion fight starts to bare its fangs Reuters Africa
Jun 28 - "Some of the money Africa loses through artful officials diverting cash into offshore tax havens could be recovered after a push by the world's richest countries to share tax data. The initiative, unveiled quietly in a report last week by the OECD, embraces the notion that countries should automatically share data on taxable income and assets."
Greek, Romanian Companies Move To Bulgarian Tax Haven Bloomberg
Jun 28 - "Greek and Romanian companies that registered in Bulgaria rose last year as executives sought to take advantage of low taxes and a stable currency in the neighboring Balkan country." Hat tip: Offshore Watch.
Spain: Expats on Hacienda tax hit list IFA online
Jun 29 - "A number of clients have reported receiving letters about their offshore bank accounts. It is the first time we have seen the Hacienda [Spain tax authority] using information supplied by a tax haven to pursue tax on undeclared income."
Why the global political class lies in fear of the LIBOR scandal The Slog
Jun 28 - On the developing story of banks colluding to distort markets by manipulating LIBOR (London InterBank Offered Rate), a fundamental mechanism of international money flows. Not tax justice precisely, but connects with activities by the financial elite to distort markets for the benefit of a privileged few.
See also:
Don't blame Barclays alone New Statesman
Jun 27 - Richard Murphy comments on "banks rigging prices and manipulating markets to mitigate their risk at cost to others."
Might of Fonterra may monopolise market Stuff
Jun 27 - Another story of the ripple effect of murky financial dealings - "Last November, the High Court in London ruled on an extraordinary case involving a wealthy Russian businessman, a Russian state-owned bank, a dairy company and various tax haven entities .."
The Price of Inequality: Interview With Joseph E. Stiglitz Rolling Stone
Jun 24 - On the new book The Price of Inequality.
World Bank: progressive income taxes 'grossly underused' in Latin America
"The redistributive potential of personal income taxes is grossly underutilized in the countries studied. although pro- gressive, these taxes represent a small share of total revenues, and some countries do not even have personal income taxes. any tax reform in the future should examine the redistributive potential coming from higher income taxes on top earners."And, as we keep repeating, a large share of personal income taxes and other taxes that ought to be shouldered by the wealthiest sections of society get evaded and avoided. The World Bank continues:
"When indirect taxes are taken into account, the net income of the poor and the near poor can be lower than it was before taxes and cash transfers. . . . Indirect or consumption taxes (mainly Value Added Taxes or VATs) are regressive because the poor consume a higher share of their incomes, and therefore pay a higher proportion of what they earn in consumption taxes than the rich."Not rocket science, but this isn't what the purveyors of the Washington Consensus have been telling us for many years.
Elsewhere, note this statement just out from World Bank Managing Director Mahmoud Mohieldin:
“Until recently,” Mohieldin told participants, the mantra was, “Growth will trickle down and we can always clean up afterwards.” Such economic assumptions have been debunked in recent years, he said.In light of the crisis, common sense seems to be breaking out all over the place, supporting what we and many of our allies have been saying for years. We have the IMF saying (albeit timidly) that it's time to think seriously about cross-border capital controls. We have The Economist saying (timidly) that it's time to tax capital. We have the OECD saying that it's time for automatic information exchange. We have participants from around the world challenging the OECD's dominant transfer pricing system. We have a Conservative British Prime Minister calling aggressive tax avoidance 'morally wrong.' We have, back to the main subject of this blog, tax justice breaking out in Latin America.
The wind is in our sails.
5 Temmuz 2012 Perşembe
Farewell Sister Peter: a founding tax justice activist
I have just heard the sad news from Jersey that Sister Peter died on Saturday 30th June 2012 after suffering a massive stroke.Sister Peter - pictured above in 2010 - was amongst the founders of Tax Justice Network. Ten years ago, even before the network was mooted and formally launched, Sister Peter participated in a conference in Saint Helier, Jersey, which focussed on tax havens and the harm they do to poor and vulnerable people.
Through her close connections with religious activists in the Republic of Congo she knew all about the role played by tax havens in enabling illicit financial flows and tax evasion. And having spent her entire life taking action to help young people in need, she understood precisely why tackling tax havens has to be an over-riding priority to secure economic justice. For the past ten years she has been steadfast in supporting TJN's activities and encouraging others to work with us.
And the motorcycle? In 2009 she told me that since childhood she had always wanted to ride pillion on a motorcycle, so the following year I took her on a tour of the parish of Saint Peter, where I grew up, and she was thrilled and happy as a young child (even if she did lean the wrong way at corners!)
Sister Peter: a wonderful person.
John Christensen
Links Jul 2
Jun 30 - "Officials in the Cayman Islands, a favorite Caribbean haunt of secretive hedge funds, say Delaware is today playing faster and looser than the offshore jurisdictions that raise hackles in Washington. And international bodies, most recently the World Bank, are increasingly pointing fingers at the state." Great report, added to our A-Z story archive.
In Caymans, It’s Simple to Fill a Hedge Fund Board DealBook
Jul 1 - "An analysis of thousands of United States securities filings by The New York Times shows that dozens of directors sit on the boards of 24 or more funds in the Caymans, which individually are supposed to be overseeing tens of billions of dollars in assets."
UK: Banks are serially corrupt. But Vince Cable's shareholder plan won't work Guardian
Jul 2 - Prem Sikka writes: "Change the whole system of banks' corporate governance. For starters, make directors personally liable for criminal costs."
UK: Scapegoats aren't enough: a Leveson for the Banks? CRESC
Jul 1 - "CRESC research shows that the problems won’t be solved by firing a few top bankers, prosecuting a few white collar criminals, or even by conducting an inquiry into the workings of Libor ... We need a root and branch reform of the system so that banks become properly functioning public utilities governed by social purposes." See comment on Treasure Islands.
The Golden Age of Financial Journalism, British Edition Bloomberg
Jul 2 - Interesting view across financial reporting in the wake of "the seemingly never-ending litany of banking misdemeanors."
News over ownership of Congolese oil blocks raises further corruption concerns Global Witness
Jun 30 - Global Witness is calling for full disclosure of the beneficiaries of British Virgin Island companies to address concerns over possible corruption.
UK: ICAEW chief denounces promoters of abusive tax avoidance schemes Tax Journal
Jul 2 - "There is ‘no place’ in the accountancy profession for the creation or maintenance of tax avoidance schemes such as those detailed in the recent ‘Secrets of the tax avoiders’ series published in The Times, the CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has declared." Hat tip: Offshore Watch.
UK laws are to blame for Vodafone tax controversy, says chief Vittorio Colao Telegraph
Jun 30 - "Vodafone's chief executive, Vittorio Colao, has attempted to draw a line under the tax controversy that has dogged the company by revealing that Vodafone would pay more corporation tax in Britain if the Government handed back some of the £5.96bn the mobile giant was required to pay up front for access to mobile spectrum.
Chesapeake’s 1% Tax Rate Shows Cost Of Drilling Subsidy Bloomberg
Jul 2 - "Chesapeake Energy Corp. made $5.5 billion in pretax profits since its founding more than two decades ago. So far, the second-largest U.S. natural-gas producer has paid income taxes on almost none of it."
U.S.: Citizens for Tax Justice working for fair and sustainable tax system The Oklahoman
Jun 30 - "CTJ has always opposed the Bush tax cuts and has criticized President Obama's plan to extend them. The tax cuts were unaffordable when they were enacted, which is why they were temporary, and they're unaffordable now."
Wealthy French consider Swiss tax exile swissinfo
Jul 2 - "Hollande promised during his campaign election to review the dual taxation agreements between France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, and would like to target tax exiles’ income and assets."
World Bank: progressive income taxes 'grossly underused' in Latin America
"The redistributive potential of personal income taxes is grossly underutilized in the countries studied. although pro- gressive, these taxes represent a small share of total revenues, and some countries do not even have personal income taxes. any tax reform in the future should examine the redistributive potential coming from higher income taxes on top earners."And, as we keep repeating, a large share of personal income taxes and other taxes that ought to be shouldered by the wealthiest sections of society get evaded and avoided. The World Bank continues:
"When indirect taxes are taken into account, the net income of the poor and the near poor can be lower than it was before taxes and cash transfers. . . . Indirect or consumption taxes (mainly Value Added Taxes or VATs) are regressive because the poor consume a higher share of their incomes, and therefore pay a higher proportion of what they earn in consumption taxes than the rich."Not rocket science, but this isn't what the purveyors of the Washington Consensus have been telling us for many years.
Elsewhere, note this statement just out from World Bank Managing Director Mahmoud Mohieldin:
“Until recently,” Mohieldin told participants, the mantra was, “Growth will trickle down and we can always clean up afterwards.” Such economic assumptions have been debunked in recent years, he said.In light of the crisis, common sense seems to be breaking out all over the place, supporting what we and many of our allies have been saying for years. We have the IMF saying (albeit timidly) that it's time to think seriously about cross-border capital controls. We have The Economist saying (timidly) that it's time to tax capital. We have the OECD saying that it's time for automatic information exchange. We have participants from around the world challenging the OECD's dominant transfer pricing system. We have a Conservative British Prime Minister calling aggressive tax avoidance 'morally wrong.' We have, back to the main subject of this blog, tax justice breaking out in Latin America.
The wind is in our sails.