February 2019 – Page 2 – GEORGE ROTHERT

Financial & Tax News Bites

The current occupant of the White House read this off the TelePrompTer during his visit to Nancy Pelosi’s house:

Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, faster than anyone else. We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit. The United States economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.
(Interesting that Republicans no longer vilify the President for using a TelePrompTer.)

Wages supposedly rising and taxes lower, yet there are seven-million Americans who are three months or more behind on their car payments. This seems counter-intuitive as so many have been enjoying larger take-home pay during the past year.

Could be those behind on car payments intended to get caught up when they received their tax refunds. Oops. Many early tax-return filers are distressed to discover their refunds are smaller than they expected, averaging 8.4% less. (The scolds out there tell us a tax refund means we have given the government an interest-free loan during the year.)

When the much-vaunted tax changes went into effect, the IRS issued revised withholding schedules for employers to use. Cynics say the new tables were skewed too low to make the alleged tax reduction appear larger than it actually was.

So much winning.

Lawyers 1,055 – Clients 145

To get paid in full, people like Tesoro would have had to take him to court, an expensive, risky, and hassle-inducing prospect.

The current occupant of the White House’s business modus operandi used fear of bankruptcy-by-attorneys as a cudgel. For example, in 2006, architect Andrew Tesoro submitted his final bill to the Trump Organization for his work on the clubhouse at the National Golf Club Westchester: $140,000. He was offered $50,000. Wanting to avoid legal hassle and expense, he sent a revised billing for $50,000. When that went unpaid, Tesoro contacted The Donald himself who said he would pay $25,000. Knowing that legal action to collect would cost much more, Tesoro took it, 18% of the billed amount, less than what he owed the consultants who had worked with him on the project.

A local news report tells of a couple in Rohnert Park California who were successful in their suit against the city. Police officers had entered Raul and Elva Barajas’s house, with guns drawn, looking for their son who was on parole.

Unfortunately for the city and its police force, they neglected to get a warrant for the search.

A federal court rendered its judgement against the city of Rohnert Park: $1.2 million. Mr. and Mrs. Barajas couple were awarded $75,000 damages and an additional $70,000 punitive damages. Their attorneys got… well, you can do the arithmetic.

St. Valentine

Were you wondering if St. Valentine was a real person? Valentinus was a priest in Rome during the third century. He was imprisoned for marrying Christian couples and aiding Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius. Apparently irrepressible, Valentinus attempted to convert the emperor, for which he was sentenced to death. He was beaten and stoned, then beheaded, in the year 269. He was buried on the Flaminian Way, north of Rome, purportedly on February 14.

St. Valentine is the patron saint of engaged couples, happy marriages, lovers. If that’s not enough, he is also patron of beekeepers, travelers, epilepsy and plague!

For more about St. Valentine, check out the Catholic version and the Wikipedia entry.

Who’s Crossing California’s Borders?

The state attracts a steady stream of college graduates, especially from the East Coast, even as many less-educated residents move to neighboring states — and to Texas — in search of a lower cost of living.

The current occupant of the White House says California is “out of control.” Something called “Hidden Dominion” posted “50 Reasons Why California Sucks” (Since updated to 72 reasons.) including such well-documented and thoughtful reasons as:

California has the worst healthcare system in the country.
Los Angeles. (Do I really even need to explain?)
San Francisco.
Oakland.

A San Francisco newspaper posted an on-line photo essay illustrating the reasons people say they hate California. As a native Oregonian, I am familiar with blaming Californians for most everything, especially their moving to the Northwest and driving up home prices and otherwise “Californicating” our pristine dominion.
It’s almost an article of faith that Californians are eager to get out, relocate to the Northwest or Nevada or Texas. Having recently repatriated to Oregon after twenty-plus years in California, I am here to say it’s not so bad in the Golden State.

Don’t Worry – Earth Will Be Fine

If you’re concerned about our Mother Earth, don’t be. The planet we inhabit will be just fine. A few thousand years after humankind is gone, Earth will have recovered from the damage done during the very brief time it suffered human infestation. The reign of people will be just a tiny blip on the planet’s many-billion-years history.

In case you were holding on to hope that the coming environmental apocalypse might somehow be prevented, our leaders are doing what they can to assure that any hope is misplaced. The current occupant of the White House has appointed an oil-and-gas lobbyist as acting Secretary of the Interior and a coal lobbyist as acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The President has announced both as nominees for permanent positions.

Which brings us to the Oyster Problem.

Allen Allensworth and Allensworth California

Allen Allensworth was looking for a place to establish a town outside the Jim Crow South, a town where African Americans could own property and pursue their economic potential.

Allensworth was born into slavery in 1842. While still a youth he was punished for learning to read and write, illegal for those in his situation. During the Civil War he escaped and made his way behind Union lines. He signed on as a civilian nurse with the Army Hospital Corps. He then served in the U.S. Navy from 1863-1865. After the war, Allensworth was ordained a Baptist Minister. He later became an Army chaplain. He retired from the service as a lieutenant colonel, the highest rank of an African American in the U.S. Armed Forces to that time.

The Allensworth family settled in Pasadena California. Allen joined with four others to establish what was then called a race colony. They founded their town in 1908 on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, aka Central Valley, a region that still today is sometimes less than welcoming to minorities. They called their new town Solito, later changed to the eponymous “Allensworth” in honor of its most prominent citizen.

A school district was formed in 1912. Two years later the state sanctioned a judicial district and a post office opened. Unfortunately, Allen Allensworth was run over and killed by a motorcycle while on a visit to Los Angeles in 1914.

The town continued to thrive, serving the growing agricultural activity surrounding it. It reached its peak in 1925. That’s when water shortages began. Pacific Farming Company, the land development company that handled the original purchase, failed to deliver the promised irrigation water in sufficient amounts. Legal battles with Pacific Farming drained the municipal coffers and lack of water resulted in farmers moving away. By 1930, the population had dropped below 300.

Today, Allensworth is mostly remembered by a state park on Highway 43, between Bakersfield and Fresno. Huge corporate farms now dominate and the Westland Water District exercises its political muscle – this is the region that gave us House Reps Devin Nunes and Kevin McCarthy – to get water from other parts of the state delivered to them at taxpayer expense.